Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children (18 page)

“Bah! He is too busy having galas at the mayor’s estate
to care what happens out here.”

Kane’s expression hardened. These pretenders came to Massa under the pretense of friendship, but have done nothing but exploit the hospitality of his people.
The
question was, how were the Ellvinians able to convince the Massans to such odd behavior? Were they being threatened with harm? Somehow that did not seem right.

Jain!

Yes, I am here.

I need to get closer to listen in on the Ellvinians. Stay here and wait for me.

I cannot promise that.

You must. I have to find out how these strangers are so easily manipulating the Massans. If you make yourself known, they will feel threatened, and I will learn nothing.

A large snort sounded in his head.
I will try to do as you ask, Prince.

Not good enough, my friend. You must promise that whatever happens, you will stay concealed. You know that I can disappear if I need to.

If one tries to harm you…

Even then. Remain hidden, Jain, or else I will not have the opportunity again. The safety of the island may depend on what I learn.

The snort turned into a
low
growl.
It will be as you say.

Kane stepped away from the doorway and hugged the brick wall to the end of the alleyway. He did not feel like he was in any real danger, but still wanted to avoid being seen if he could. The sailors would be much more free with their words if they felt they were not being overheard.

Large
hanging lanterns
spaced along the
wharf
at intervals
provided
Kane
with the shadows he preferred as he stalked the group.
Fat drops of rain began to fall, hitting the
wooden
pier
in
clipped
splats. Kane cursed silently.
Rain was the bane of the sightshifter as the falling droplets
would make
furrows in
his
magically created images and render them useless.

Lost in his thoughts, it caught him completely off guard when a hand reached out and
touched him. “Kane.”

Kane looked down the pier
with a scowl. The
Elves
were getting further away. Swallowing his impatience, he turned to the voice. His eyebrows rose in shock. “Alia? What are you doing out in Northfort in the middle of the night?”

The girl tossed her long red hair over her shoulder. “Looking for you.”

“Now, what could a mermaid possibly want with me?” he teased.

She blushed and straightened a dress that did not need straightening. Since
the watershifters were no longer in hiding,
Alia spent much more time in the Surface World than the previous generations of watershifters,
and
her body had not
developed
the androgynous quality of
so many other Aquatainians.

She was also one of the few people he felt comfortable enough
with
to
let
down
his guard. At eighteen, she was three years older than him,
but
his eyes never seemed to bother her
the way they did others.
“Does Digby know you’re here?”

“No, he is with your sister in Haventhal.” She grabbed his hand and drew him further under the awning of one of the shops lining the pier. “I am glad I finally found you. I tried to visit at the mayor’s estate but was turned away.”

“There is a gala there tonight.”

“I don’t think that would have mattered. These peculiar
Ellvinians
roaming around
seem to be keeping
everyone away.” She pulled him closer into the shadows. “Kane, the watershifters that I sent to
greet
the Ellvinian ships never returned to Aquataine.”

“What do you mean?”

“They never came home. I checked with the families of all twelve
watershifters. They are missing.”

His eyes turned to ice
when his instincts screamed at him that the Ellvinians were
responsible for the
disappearances.
“It is not safe here, Alia. You really
must
return home
while I look into what you have told me.”

To his surprise, she stepped into him and put her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed hard
against his chest. “I feel safer
when I am
around you.”

His breathing caught in his throat at the unfamiliar feel of a girl pressed so tightly to
him. Clumsily, he patted her back. “I will find out what happened to the watershifters, but you must go back to Aquataine, Alia.”

She looked up at him through big blue eyes framed by long eyelashes
and pursed her lips.
“Only if you promise me a date when this is all said and done.”

“A date?”

“Yes, unless, of course,
you have something against watershifters
because wherever we go, I
will
have to have access to a lake or the ocean or even a bathtub.”

Despite everything, he laughed.

She tilted her head
and looked up at him. “You don’t do that
often
enough.”

“Do what?”

“Laugh.”

“I know.”

“Well,
my Prince,
what will it be?
I am still waiting for your answer.”

“You win,
mermaid.”

She smiled victoriously. “I will be looking forward to it.”

He stepped back to let her go, but she lifted up onto the tips of her toes and brought his face down to hers. Their lips met
and she
smiled against his mouth. “I have wanted to do that for a very long time.”

The kiss was over
as soon as it started, but it was enough to ignite a fire in his young body. He was thinking of pulling her close for another, when a sardonic voice cut through the quiet of the night.

“Ah, young love!”

Kane spun around. It was the group of four Ellvinians he had been following.

“Alia, you were just leaving, were you not?”

The girl squared her shoulders and stood up next to him. “No.
I will not leave you, Kane.” With a flick of her wrist, a puddle of water that had formed from the rain rose up from the ground
in a long stream
and settled between her hands. She twisted and turned
until she held a circular liquid ball.

Oddly, the Ellvinians began to sniff at the air. “Magic,” one murmured.

Another
licked his lips.
“I would give anything to taste the blood.”

Blood?
Kane stepped back. “Alia, go. Now.”

“No.”

An Ellvinian reached out and grabbed her by the waist. “We could have some fun with this one.”

“Leave her alone,” Kane hissed.

Alia took the water orb in her hand and smashed it on top of
her
aggressor’s head.

His cohorts laughed. “You said you wanted feisty, Joff!”

“Alia! Go home!”

The wet Ellvinian smirked
at Alia. “I do not have time to deal with you tonight, but I will find you. I promise you that.” He ran a finger along her jaw. “Look in my eyes. You want to go home. You wish nothing more than to go home.”

Alia nodded. “Did you hear that Kane? What a lovely song! Yes, I will go home.” Without
another glance his way, she
turned and walked away down the pier.

A song? What was she talking about? How they were able to get people to do as they said? “Why are you here?” he questioned harshly.

“We ask the questions, young man.
Let us start
with why were you following us?” The dark Ellvinian stared at him with a sneer
and when
Kane
did not answer,
the Elf
backhanded
him
across the face. “Answer me! How much did you hear?”

Kane put the back of his fist up to his lip and it came back with blood. His first instinct was to summon his magic, but he did not do so. He had a theory to prove out.
“I heard nothing.”

One of the Ellvinians
bent toward
him. “That’s right. You heard nothing. You know nothing. You will go home and forget this night.”

“Yes, I will go home and forget this night.”

“What a sheep.” The
Ellvinian
cuffed
him
on the back of the head
and
laughed as he
walked away with the others.

Kane turned and returned
to the alleyway where Jain was hiding. Immediately, the white cat peeled away from the shadows of the buildings.

Can I kill them now, Prince?

No.

Well then, did you find your answers?

Yes.

What did you learn?

I learned that the Ellvinians use a form of mind control.

Jain growled.
Anything else?

Yes.
I learned that whatever power they
possess, it does not work on me.

C
HAPTER
13

T
RAPPED

Izzy Falewir
crouched in the corner of the room thinking that she had
never
felt this
frightened
or confused in her life.
Frightened
because she knew the
two
Elves
in the room with her meant her harm and confused because she did not understand why she followed them here in the first place. She remembered walking beside them willingly, but why?
More importantly,
why did everyone
else abandon
her?

Jala,
Kellan, Kane,
Elon, her
brother, Reilly. Even her parents.
All those she cared about discarded her
into the hands of
these
strangers.

Jala promised not to let go of her hand, but she did. A tear trickled down her cheek
as she pressed her body
deeper into the corner of the guest room. The Ellvinians were arguing. Arguing about who would have her first.

She cast out with her magic for any nearby animals that she could summon to her aid, but found none. She assumed the Draca Cats were in the mayor’s estate, but her magic did not work on them.
Her eyes searched wildly for anything she could use as a weapon.
Maman! Father! Please help me!
The tears turned to sobs and the dark Elves turned to look at her.

“Let’s get this over
with,” one suggested.

The other
glanced
at her sideways, a frown on his face. “We are not animals, Oren.
Maybe we should let her go.”

“No,” Oren responded. “You can leave if you want, but I
have
never seen anything like
this white Elf, and I will have her.”

“She is so young.”

“Old
enough for what I have in mind,”
Oren
leered.

The other Elf looked at her once again with sadness in his eyes.
For a hopeful moment,
Izzy thought he might try and stop Oren from what he planned to do, but then
he said, “Fine.
I
will wait outside.”

“I won’t be long.”

The Elf
nodded and left the room without a backwards glance.

Izzy stood and raced behind the sofa to put it between her and
Oren.
“Leave me alone!”

“Now, now, wildcat. Just be calm and do as you are told.”

“Never!”

“I don’t even think I will use Ascendency on you, little one. I want you to remember this.”

Izzy picked up
a candleholder on the stand next to the sofa and threw it at him. He easily evaded the missile and laughed.

Desperate now, she reached out with her magic once again. Yes!
There! Her heart raced as she
entered the mind of one of the mayor’s hound dogs
from
the stables.