Promises (Book One of The Syrenka Series) (15 page)

“
They took it, didn’t
they?” I slid down the sand and stopped in front of my
boyfriend.

“
I’m so sorry, Brendan! You
couldn’t move and I was exhausted. I thought that I hid us well
enough, but I fell asleep. I fell asleep and now it’s gone.” I was
sobbing and as much as I wanted to wrap my arms around Brendan, I
knew that it would only cause him more pain. He looked down at me
with absolutely no expression on his face. It was probably the
worst thing that he could have done and I suddenly knew that things
had changed between us.

“
We need to go,” he said
sharply. Yes, maybe we could track them down. I pushed to my feet
and reached out towards him. Surprisingly, Brendan grabbed my hand
and squeezed. “I have to get home.”

“
We’re not going after
them?” I asked. He let out a muffled laugh, sending chills through
my body.

“
We will never find
them.”

He didn’t say anything else as he
slipped on his clothes with much resistance from his screaming body
and started to walk back towards the car. I knew that a selkie
could live for a while without their skin, but not without
consequences. There were a thousand questions racing through my
head and we would have to talk about them soon. However, I
understood well enough that now was not the time. We would give him
a chance to heal and then we could go after the selkies that
attacked us.

Eleven

A full day passed before Brendan was
able to stay awake for more than an hour at a time. At least when
he was sleeping, I was able to tend to his wounds. Some of the
smaller scrapes and bruises were healing, but he was unable to move
much of his right side and his face was still swollen around the
gash that bisected his cheek.

I had called his new boss and told him
that Brendan had the stomach flu and would most likely be out for a
few days, hoping that would buy us some time. But what I really
wanted to do was go after those that had attacked us and retrieve
the skin. I was making a small dinner when I heard Brendan stir on
the bed. Bringing him a glass of water, I sat down on the edge and
looked at his pale face.

“
How are you feeling?” I
asked.

“
I’ve been better,” he said
with a strangled smile.

“
Are you well enough to
talk?” We hadn’t been able to develop a plan or discuss the attack
yet and I was anxious. He squeezed the leg that was wrapped
underneath me and sighed.

“
Let’s eat first.” So we
did. I made up a plate of grilled chicken breast and his favorite
mix of spinach and tomatoes and helped him with each bite. The food
seemed to instantly give him strength and a small part of that
tight knot in my stomach began to unwind. Perhaps he could get
through this without his skin after all.

“
So how much of the
mermaid-selkie relationship do you know?” he started suddenly,
surprising me with the topic.

“
Um, well I remember some
of the stories they told us when we were young about those who
could call the selkies and other water creatures under their
spells. But it’s more like the human fairy tales about mermaids
drowning love-sick sailors. It’s just a story and it’s obvious that
it isn’t possible,” I replied while waving my hand back and forth
between us to indicate our special relationship. “I don’t control
you.”

His swallowed a forced
laugh and shook his head. “No you don’t. But you are not a leader.”
I glared at him for that remark. “You are not a leader
yet
,” he
edited.

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Selkies don’t live
together or hunt together. We are an independent bunch, only
seeking human companionship for the purposes of fostering a child.
The selkies that attacked us were commanded to do so.”

I nearly choked on my food.
“By
mermaids
?
That’s not possible.”

“
There was a reason they
didn’t hurt you more, Evs. Either they were told to leave you alone
or they are incapable of attacking a mermaid.

“
But they did attack me,” I
reminded him.

“
Not like they attacked
me,” he replied solemnly. He was right, but I still couldn’t wrap
my brain around what he was implying.

I set our plates down on the floor
while trying to formulate my next question. “So you’re telling me
that there’s a pack of selkies out hunting…what? Other selkies? And
that they are doing this under the command of a mermaid Clan
Leader? That just seems a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?” I could
barely contain the sarcasm tainting my comment.

“
I think that there are a
lot of things that your mother kept from you,” he said with a hint
of pity. “I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen, but before I
left my father, he had one warning for me.”

“
And that was…” I said,
asking the question he wanted me to voice.

“
Stay away from
mermaids.”

I stared at him in disbelief for what
must have been a full minute before bursting into laughter. “Well,
you really blew that one didn’t you?” I squeezed out between
giggles. “I guess we’re not all that scary now are we?”

Brendan reached out for me again and I
snuggled into his arms with my back against his chest. “You
aren’t.” He kissed the top of my head and sighed. “But we need to
find out who’s controlling the selkies on the east coast. And if we
figure that out, then maybe we can get my skin back.”

“
And just how are we
supposed to figure that out?” I asked skeptically.

“
You will need to talk to
your mother.”

I jumped away from his arms so fast
the room spun around me. “What? No way!”

“
Fine. Kain might be able
to help too. But you need to talk to one of them.” I just stared at
him with my mouth hanging open in disbelief while he continued to
speak of crazy things. “We have to find out who is powerful enough
to control the selkies. I don’t know anyone around here and
considering the warm welcome I received last night, I doubt that
another selkie would be able to get close to us without trying to
kill me.”

I shook my head and began
pacing the room. “You know that’s impossible, Brendan. I
left
him. On our wedding
day. I doubt that Kain or any of my friends will ever talk to me
again.” I ran a hand through my hair and tucked a stray strand
behind my ear. “Besides, my mother probably shunned me.”

“
Don’t be silly. She
wouldn’t shun you. Didn’t you say that practice hasn’t been used in
several centuries?” he asked jokingly.

“
Yes, but it’s my mother
and I’m sure that she will never forgive me for the embarrassment I
brought to my family.”

“
Evs…” Brendan tried to
reassure me.

“
There has to be another
way, okay? Just let me think about it. Maybe there is someone else
that I could contact.” I thought about Daniel or even Carissa. But
if my mother really did shun me, I could get them in a world of
trouble just for speaking with me. Besides, I wouldn’t even know
how to get in contact with them anymore. My cell phone was gone and
the only numbers back home that I knew by heart were my parents and
Kain’s. “I’ll figure something out.”

Brendan suddenly began to cough and I
rushed to his side in a panic. He tried to wave me away, but when
his hand pushed against my arm, I felt something sticky cover my
skin.

“
You’re bleeding!” I yelled
at him. There were several smears of blood around his face where he
had tried to stop the coughing. “Why are you spitting up blood?” I
asked in desperation. He just shook his head and took several deep,
soothing breaths as the coughing fit subsided and he regained his
composure.

“
It’s the skin,” he panted.
“The sickness.”

I stared at him in confusion for a
moment. “But I thought that took weeks before you would start
feeling bad?”

“
Yes,” he pushed out. “But
I’m already weak…” His eyes began to drift shut again and I reached
over to pull his head close to my face.

“
Brendan. Brendan!” I shook
him a little bit, not caring about the pain I may be causing. I was
scared and I didn’t know what was happening to him. “Brendan, wake
up!”

A shadow of a smile pulled at the
corner of his lips and I let out a sigh of relief. “I’m okay, Evs.
I just need to rest.” Kissing the top of his head, I let him lay
back and fall asleep again.

I walked to the kitchen to grab a wet
towel, all the while thinking about what was happening. My
incompetence over protecting Brendan and his seal skin may now cost
him his life. I had already ruined any semblance of a family when I
choose to run away, and now the only person in my life was getting
closer to death at an alarming speed. Why would a mermaid command
selkies to kill? What would be the benefit to their
domain?

While gently wiping the blood off of
Brendan’s sleeping face, I tried to step into the mindset of a Clan
Leader. Kain had mentioned that there was political unrest amongst
some of the clans, but this couldn’t possibly be related, right?
Stealing the skin of a selkie doomed them to a life on land that
would eventually kill them. How could the death of one lone selkie
be a factor in mermaid politics? It just didn’t make sense. Brendan
was right in suggesting that Kain may be able to shed some light on
the situation, but contacting him for the sole purpose of asking
for his help was out of the question. How could I possibly do that
to him? I already felt bad enough.

Two more days passed, albeit slowly
and painfully. Brendan’s conditioned worsened and he spent most of
the time sleeping or coughing. The wounds didn’t get any worse but
it seemed as if his healing had stopped. My selkie’s normally tan,
taut skin withered and paled like a rotting apple. The spark in his
beautiful green eyes was hidden behind the tragedy of the
situation, only peeking through briefly when he smiled up at
me.

I was still unable to come up with a
solution and today I decided to put my feelings and fears aside and
do what I could to save Brendan. Using a prepaid cell phone that we
had purchased just after our arrival, I locked myself in the tiny
bathroom and slid down to the uninviting floor.

My heart was hammering in my chest,
threatening to escape its boney enclosure. I needed to get a handle
on my emotions before I could make the call. It took thirty
minutes. Thirty minutes of me sitting on the cold tile floor with
my back pressed up against the dollhouse sized vanity, sweating and
shivering with dreaded anticipation. Thirty minutes trying to
decide if I was making the right choice. Finally, I dialed the
familiar number and sucked in a breath.

“
Hello?” the voice asked in
trepidation. When I didn’t say anything it continued pressing, “Who
is this?”

“
K-Kain,” I stammered.
“It’s Eviana.” The deathly silence on the other end of the line cut
through my heart like a thousand tiny glass shards. He hated me. I
never should have called.

“
Evaina,” he said after a
full minute of silence. “Where are you?” He was curious, I could
tell, but he wasn’t asking out of concern for me and my safety.
That was clear by his tone.

“
In Maryland,” I replied
softly.

He made some sort of noise that
sounded like a laugh but it was way too wicked. “Couldn’t get far
enough away, could you?”

I swallowed the giant lump in my
throat and tried unsuccessfully to stop the tears. “Kain, please
don’t do that.”

“
Do what?” he snapped.
“It’s bad enough that you ran away, but to find out that you ran
all the way to the opposite side of the country? What am I supposed
to say?” He was so angry and hurt and I deserved every bit of his
wrath. I wasn’t denying that fact, but knowing it still didn’t take
the sting out of hearing him vent his frustrations with me. “Do you
even have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused for our families?
Your mother shunned you, Eviana.
Shunned
you! I would be relieved of
my duties and expelled from the clan if someone even knew that I
was speaking to you right now.” He sucked in a deep breath and I
heard him blow it out a few seconds later.

“
I’m sorry I called, Kain.
I don’t want to make things any worse for you.”

“
They can’t really get much
worse now, Eviana.” His tone was cold and harsh. I was saddened
that my actions had turned this caring, virtuous man into the
hateful creature on the other end of the line. “What are you
calling for anyway?”

My heart was torn. Brendan was lying
in the other room, fighting for his life as it dwindled away each
day like a leaking bucket. But Kain hated me and it wasn’t right
for me to ask him to help save my boyfriend. “Eviana, what do you
want?” he asked more loudly but with a slightly softer
attitude.

“
Brendan’s sick and we need
your help,” I blurted out. Kain laughed deep and strong, but the
sound froze the blood in my veins and nearly stopped the beating of
my heart.

“
Wow, you have some nerve.
Asking me to help your
boyfriend
? Are you crazy or just that
inconsiderate?” I knew that I should have been humble and
apologetic, but my emotions just snapped at that point.