Promises (Book One of The Syrenka Series) (21 page)

“
Did you see them? Do you
know if they have Brendan’s skin?” Abhainn placed a hand on my
shoulder for comfort.

“
No, I didn’t see them.
An…acquaintance reported back to me about their location.” I pushed
his arm away.

“
Well, how do you know that
your acquaintance is telling the truth or that they even know who
you were looking for?” My voice was high and nearly screeching. The
tightness in my chest came back again and I struggled to
breathe.

“
I am confident in her
assessment. She could identify a selkie from a mile
away.”

“
Did you find them?” Kain
asked. He must have heard my panicked cry and decided that he
didn’t care if this was a private conversation anymore.

I looked at Abhainn again, wondering
if I could believe a sprite that ate humans and who outsourced his
obligations. “As I was telling your friend, aye. But I don’t know
if they ‘ave the skin or if it is the group being controlled,” he
continued. “Since yer selkie seems to believe living in a group is
rare, than we deduce that this must be the selkies you are looking
for.”

“
Who’s ‘we’?” Kain
asked.

“
His
acquaintance
,” I snapped. Abhainn
looked at me with little patience and much annoyance.

“
She is to be trusted,” he
stated as though that was the end of the conversation. “You will
find them at this address.” He reached into his pocket and pulled
out a tightly folded piece of paper. But before we could make the
exchange, a sickening sound pulled our attention back over towards
Carissa. The ominous crunch of a soft body being beaten and the
thump it makes when it falls to the ground was unmistakable. The
bridge lights from above cast an eerie shadow over our meeting
place and I could see that Carissa was lying in a heap at the foot
of a large man. His silhouette revealed a long object dangling from
his hand that appeared to be a bat or baton of some
sorts.

“
Carissa!” Kain cried and
darted towards her. The man that knocked her out raised the bat and
pointed it at Kain.

“
Not another step or the
next hit will meet her skull.”

Kain froze and I stepped up beside
him. “Did you kill her?” I cried out.

He looked down at Carissa and used his
right foot to push her over onto her back. The way her body moved
like rag doll caused my stomach to drop. She couldn’t be dead. Not
this way. Not because of me. “She’ll live,” the man stated
coolly.

Three more figures made their way into
the light. From where we were positioned, tourists and drivers
wouldn’t be able to see us. The land had sloped slightly towards
the water, and right now we either ran up the hill past our
assailants or used the water as our escape.

“
Don’t even think of it,” a
female sneered at me. “We’ve covered that area as well.”

As one, Kain, Abhainn, and I turned
towards the bridge and the dark waters splashing underneath. At
first I didn’t see anything, but when Abhainn inhaled a sharp
breath, I followed his gaze to the first piling. Nearly twenty tiny
heads popped up at once and began to swim towards us. Their
synchronized movement caused a large wave to form, and the sound of
the rolling water was nearly overwhelmed by the cackling and
laughing coming from the sharp toothed nymphs. Large wings sprouted
on a few of the approaching bodies and they took to the air like it
was as natural as the need to breathe. In an instant, our escape to
the sea was blocked by six human-like figures. They were at least
as tall as Kain and I couldn’t tell if the leathery bodies were
male or female. Each one had long hair that hid their slightly
slanted eyes, an elongated crooked nose, and fangs that were too
large to be concealed. Although they were naked, their bodies were
anatomically indistinct from one another. And they also smelled.
Bad.

“
Nereids…” Abhainn
whispered in awe. “Where did ye find them?” He was reaching towards
the largest of the group as though he needed to touch it in order
to believe it existed. The creature snapped at Abhainn and let out
a screech that reminded me of an owl. Or more like that of a mouse
being caught by an owl.

“
I think she likes you,”
the man said. “Calypso, you may take him.” In an instant, chaos
broke out. Kain ran towards the man that had attacked Carissa and I
pulled on Abhainn’s arms as the nereid’s tried to drag him back
into the water. They seemed to be equally matched as I watch
Abhainn fade in and out of existence as he melted into a liquid
form making it difficult for any of the nereids to grab him. As it
was quickly evident that Abhainn wasn’t incapable of handling
himself, I focused my attention back on the fight taking place over
top of Carissa’s limp body.

“
Stop!” I cried out and
jumped on the back of a smaller man who had Kain in a choke hold.
Without missing a beat, the man threw me off of him and I landed to
the ground with a smack. Immediately, the female selkie was on top
of me, straddling my hips and holding my arms down.

“
So you’re the one he
wants?” She cocked her head to the side like a ravenous bird. “What
is so special about you?” Grabbing my chin with her hand, she
turned my head from side to side as though her answers were hidden
somewhere on my face. “You are just a child. Just an ignorant,
hideous, ahh…”

She screamed when Kain’s foot landed
hard in the side of her ribs, knocking her nearly off of me. I used
her forward momentum to toss her the rest of the way and sent her
rolling down the slight hill. Kain pulled me to my feet and looked
around. He was breathing heavy and I thought that I saw blood above
his eye. Though before I could check, my legs were yanked out from
underneath me and I went sprawling to the ground. The air was
knocked from my chest and I saw stars for a few seconds.

At the same time I was incapacitated,
the three remaining selkies attacked Kain in unison. He didn’t have
a chance. Two of them held his arms behind his back while the large
man, who seemed to be the leader, punched and pummeled Kain in the
face, ribs, and stomach. The only female of the group pushed her
knee into my upper back and yanked on my hair until I was bent as
far backwards as my body could go. “You are so weak,” she hissed
into my ear. “Just like that boyfriend of yours.” Each time I
struggled, she would pull on my hair until I was sure that it would
be ripped out.

Abhainn let out a horrified scream and
I turned as much as I could to see that one of the nereids had torn
off his arm. There was no blood, since his body was only magically
induced, but the site was still gut-wrenching and apparently the
move had caused him pain. That thought made me forget about my own
body for a moment and focus instead on what I needed to do to help
my friends.

Pulling my arms around to the front of
my chest, I launched myself off of the ground while slamming my
head back into the female selkie’s face. The crack of her nose sent
a trickle of satisfaction through my bones and gave me the energy I
needed to face off with her. She fell backwards onto her butt and
covered her nose with both hands; blood pouring out from between
her fingers. I was smiling, but little did I know that my glory
wouldn’t last very long.

Upon seeing his companion on the
ground, the smallest male let go of Kain and rushed at me instead.
I barely had a chance to block his fist that he intended to knock
me out with. He hit the back of my neck instead but the force was
still great enough to cause me to stumble. I fell to my hands and
knees and instantly the man was behind me with his arm wrapped
tightly around my neck.

From this position, I got my first
real look at Kain and I nearly lost all desire to fight for my own
life. His eyes were already swollen and blood covered his face.
Only one selkie was holding him now, while the leader landed one
punch after another. When I saw the man raise the bat to take a
swing at Kain, something inside of me snapped.

“
Stop now!” I
yelled.

And when I did, it seemed as if time
slowed. Some bundle of energy from deep within me rose to the
surface and exploded from my skin. It felt like a million tiny pins
pricking me from the inside out, yet the sensation wasn’t painful.
The energy rolled off of my body leaving it quivering and wanting
for more. Something had happened. Something had changed.

I belatedly realized that no one was
holding on to me anymore. The female and male selkies that had
attacked me were now kneeling on the ground and staring at me in
awe. Cars continued to rhythmically bang over head as they crossed
the pieces of bridge pavement. There were no more fighting noises,
no more cries. I stood on my own and looked at Kain’s attackers.
The large man had stopped mid-motion with the bat still raised high
above his head, readying for a swing. But he was no longer looking
at me or Kain. Instead, he was staring at his minions with his jaw
hanging open.

The man behind Kain was kneeling like
the other two and watching me like a lost puppy. Kain had crumpled
to the ground on his hands and knees, wheezing and spitting up
blood. When he finally looked at me, I could see a hint of fear on
his face. “Eviana?” he whispered.

That sound seemed to be enough to
break whatever spell the selkie leader had fallen under. He lowered
the bat and shook his head. Running his hand through his hair, he
let out a partial laugh. “You are strong, but not strong enough.”
He turned towards me and straightened his shoulders. “These ones do
not belong to you.”

I didn’t even have time to interpret
his declaration. The man took two giant steps towards me and swung
back his arm. I remembered trying to avoid the blow just before I
felt the sharp pain from the impact and everything went
black.

Sixteen

Someone was hitting me in the face.
First on the right check; then the left. Each slap sent a new wave
of pain through my head and neck. When I finally opened my eyes,
the darkness of the evening blinded me to my surroundings. I could
smell a dense forest interspersed with a slight scent of wet
animal. Something moved beside me, but when I tried to turn my head
in that direction, I got another slap in the face.

“
Enough! I’m awake,” I
yelled.

“
It’s about time,” grumbled
a deep voice that I think belonged to the leader from the bridge. A
second later, I was yanked to my feet; the back of my head
screaming at me in pain. The force of the hit that had knocked me
out must have cracked my skull because I was feeling nauseous and
weak. A large pair of arms wrapped around me before I could fall
back to the ground. “Move!” he commanded.

I stumbled along a dirt path, tripping
over rocks and slipping in the mud. The air was cool but humid,
making me believe that we were somewhere near water. As if on cue,
the distant sound of a rushing waterfall encompassed the evening
silence. I popped my head up and towards my left to see if I could
find the source, but I saw something much more disturbing instead.
“Daniel?”

Sitting against a tree just a few feet
in front of me was my friend. His hands were tied around his back
and his head was hanging at an awkward angle. When I yelled for him
again, he stirred, moaning as though he couldn’t speak. I tried to
run towards him, but the selkie still holding on to me jerked my
arms back so quickly that the searing pain in my shoulders brought
tears to my eyes.

“
I’m sorry,” Daniel
croaked.

I leaned me head backwards to try and
face my prison guard. “What did you do to him? Where is Brendan?”
If they had Daniel, then they knew where Brendan was. I hoped that
he was in this forest with us because the alternative was not
something that I could even begin to fathom. The man behind me
wouldn’t answer and instead continued to push me towards the bank
along the river below us.

As I walked past Daniel, the female
selkie appeared and I could hear her slapping and pushing my friend
around. I wanted to do something, but the pain in my skull was
causing me to focus my efforts on simply not passing out. When we
reached the edge of the forest, I could see the waterfall
reflecting in the moonlight, and scattered around the large pool
were several bodies.

“
Ah, she wakes,” someone
cooed from the water’s edge. My captor pushed me towards the
embankment causing me to lose my footing and roll down the rough
terrain. Thankfully, my hands were not bound and I was able to save
my head from incurring further damage. Lying in a crumpled heap, I
decided not to move until they forced me to. The scenery was
spinning and a headache pulsed behind my eyes. I thought that my
vision was blurring until my brain realized what I was looking
at.

“
Brendan? No!” A large seal
was sprawled out over the rocky beach of the pool, but he didn’t
seem to be capable of moving much. One of his large brown eyes
rolled up to look at me. The pain in it was evident but what really
took my breath away was the look of disappointment. “How did
you…?”

“
Find him? Change him?” The
man standing on the river’s edge started moving closer to Brendan.
He was tall but svelte, with dark hair that hung past his
shoulders. His bare chest glistened in the moonlight and his jeans
hung loosely on his body. The selkie knelt down and rubbed his hand
slowly over my boyfriend’s back. “Your hotel key was in the car.”
He looked up at me and shook his head. “Not too difficult to figure
out.” Returning his attention back to Brendan he spoke directly to
him. “You almost died and I saved you. Now you just need to do one
more thing.”