Promises (Book One of The Syrenka Series) (5 page)

We landed and after a twenty minute
ride in another limousine, we finally made it to our destination. I
didn’t know the name of the key, but it seemed to be far away from
any type of civilization. When we turned off the main highway, a
set of large iron gates opened slowly without the driver speaking
to anyone. Although it was dark, the full moon highlighted the
sandy road and the brilliant palm trees lining our path. We passed
over a small bridge onto another piece of land. I lowered my window
to hear the water splash against the shore and to breathe in the
scent of the warm salty air. Kain copied my move and we both
grinned at each other in agreement. Florida wasn’t so bad. Maybe
this weekend could be fun after all.

The limousine pulled over to the side
of the road and parked. When I got out of the car, I could see that
the driveway continued ahead only to end a few hundred feet in
front of a large house. It seemed to glow in the moonlight and I
instantly thought about how much it reminded me of my own home. I
could see two large wrap around decks and windows encompassing most
of the second and third floors.

The driver started rolling our
suitcase down a path to the right that I hadn’t noticed before. It
was lined with boulders interspersed with conch shells. The large
mangroves almost created a tunnel since their braches had nearly
grown together. The only sound was the soothing water and the hum
of a distant car along the highway. It was incredibly
peaceful.

Without saying a word, the driver led
us to a small cottage off the side of a dock. There appeared to be
a few more just like it further down, but there were no lights on
inside. He opened the door and gestured for us to enter. I led the
way, followed by Kain and the driver. The boat house was
breathtaking. It was reminiscent of what I’d always imagined an
island hut would look like. There was one large open room with a
tiny kitchenette, a small bathroom behind that, and one large king
bed.

One bed.

We would have to discuss this later,
but I was too overwhelmed with my surroundings right now. The
ceiling was at least twenty feet high and covered in light wood
that matched the flooring. A ceiling fan hung from the center with
rotating blades that looked like bamboo stalks. On the side wall
across from the bed was a brown whicker dresser with a matching
mirror and a vase full of fresh bird-of-paradise
flowers.

“
Pretty sweet, right?” Kain
moved up beside me and I belatedly realized that the driver had
left. I looked at him and then the bed. It was an unconscious
reaction but he followed my gaze.

“
Oh yeah. Well, I can sleep
on the floor,” he stammered.

Waving my hand at him I said, “Let’s
not worry about that now. I want to go for a swim.” I smiled up at
him and we had a moment of total understanding. There was also
something mischievous brewing in his eyes.

“
Race you,” he said and
took off towards the double set of sliding glass doors on the far
wall.

“
You’re a cheater!” I
yelled and ran after him. His clothes were off before he was out of
the room and mine weren’t far behind. I heard the splash of his
dive and tried to think of a way to get even with him.

The balmy air was a wonderful treat,
but the warm water was even better. My transition was so smooth it
had me wondering if the temperature had something to do with that.
Swimming away from the dock, I rushed past Kain who seemed to be
waiting for me. I pushed forward with all my energy taking very
little time to look around. Our eyesight was decent at night, and
the full moon certainly lit up our underwater seascape, but I would
have a chance to explore the reefs more tomorrow. For now, I just
needed to swim.

I glanced behind me to see where Kain
was. His blond hair glowed in the moonlight and I could tell that
he was just a few tail lengths away. Looking ahead, I tried to find
some kind of landmark. A concrete channel buoy caught my attention
and I hurdled myself over to it. Nearly five seconds later, Kain’s
head popped up out of the water and he smiled without showing his
teeth.

“
You didn’t say where the
finish line was, so I picked it and now I win,” I
declared.

A stream of lukewarm water hit me
right in the eye as Kain spit in my face. He laughed and I
scowled.

“
I think I win now,” he
said. I splashed him but it barely made contact before he was back
under the water again. And then the chase was on. We must have
spent an hour playing around and exploring the shallow shoals until
the long flight and late night began to catch up with us. It was
well after midnight before we headed back to the boathouse with the
great ceilings and that one bed.

This weekend was about to get more
interesting.

Four

I sat on the back of the dock dangling
my tail in the water while Kain took a shower. Phone in hand, I’d
sent about ten messages to Brendan telling him that I arrived
safely, that the water was amazing, and that I missed him more than
anything. He had to work, so I didn’t expect a response right away,
but I was still disappointed. I needed to hear from him.

I was lost in thought when Kain
stepped through the doors with one towel wrapped around his waist
while he used another to dry out his hair. He was too busy
shuffling his hands around his head to notice me staring. I’d
always tried to keep my mind away from him when it involved my
hormones. But sitting here, staring up at him in such a private
moment, I suddenly had butterflies in my stomach. And they were the
kind that I’ve only ever had for Brendan before.

He stopped moving and caught my eye.
“Sorry, I wanted to tell you that the shower was free.” We just
looked at each other a few moments too long before he broke the eye
contact and pointed to my tail.

“
I guess you’re not ready
to come inside yet,” he grinned.

“
I’ve often wondered why I
couldn’t just live in the ocean permanently. And this,” I said
gesturing towards the calm waters in front of us, “this makes it
very tempting. I could get used to living here.”

He sat down beside me and passed me
his damp hair towel. Nudity was not something that we were
unfamiliar with, and my long hair was covering up most of my upper
body but I still appreciated the gesture. I wrapped it around my
chest and secretly wondered if it was bothering him more than
me.

“
You know that we don’t
have to stay in Massachusetts all of the time. We’ll be able to go
to college somewhere or travel around for a while. Maybe we could
come back to Florida.”

He was referring to our life
post-wedding and I felt nauseous. I was running away with Brendan
so I couldn’t possibly sit here and discuss our future together.
That would be wrong on so many levels. So I just made a non
committal noise, shrugged my shoulders, and left it alone. Kain
seemed to take the hint and dropped the subject. However, his
silence only made me feel worse.

“
So do you have any idea
what we have to do the next few days?” I asked.

“
They really didn’t tell
you anything did they?” I gave him a look and he held up his hands
in surrender. “Okay, okay. I think tomorrow is the meet and greet
stuff, followed by some training activities. The ball is Saturday
night and I’m not sure about Sunday. They are supposed to give us
some free time before dinner tomorrow, and I’ve already signed us
up for a trip to the reef. Granted, we will be going at dusk so we
aren’t seen, but I still think that it will be cool.”

He was always on top of things and it
made me wonder what kind of leader I could possibly be in
comparison to him. We could never be equals. I wasn’t good enough
for that. Even though he was only a few months older than me, he
definitely had it more together than I did.

“
Sounds good,” I said and I
meant it. This was our first Cotillion, but I’d never asked about
his personal friendships before. “Are you going to know any of the
other syrenkas here?”

“
There’s one guy, Vance
Donnelly. We met at a gathering a couple of years ago. He’s nice.
You’ll like him.”

“
He’s a Donnelly?” I
asked.

“
Yes, but not from the
Florida group. His uncle is Clan Master, which puts him back about
third in line.”

I nodded in understanding. “And
speaking of, how are you doing with all of this. Knowing that
you’re next up for leadership? Doesn’t it freak you
out?”

His nervous laugh was all the answer I
needed. He was scared and I’d finally found something that worried
him. “When I think about me leading, all I do is torment myself
with the reasons why. I will be leader when my father dies and that
is not something that I want to imagine.” Now I felt like a total
idiot.

“
Oh, I’m so sorry. I-I
didn’t mean to imply anything,” I stammered.

“
No, it’s okay. I said I
don’t
want
to
think about it, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t have to. His
health is deteriorating. We all know it. It just sucks.” He laughed
again, but it was not happy. “How’s that for regal
vocabulary?”

I didn’t know what to say now. Merfolk
typically didn’t get sick. Our shifting bodies will usually heal
broken bones, scrapes, and bruises. The traditional remedies can
often take care of the rest. But Harlan Matthew had been diagnosed
with an incurable autoimmune disease. I didn’t know the details,
but it was apparently very rare in our kind and usually shortened
the victim’s life span by about twenty years. Kain’s father had
been sick ever since he was born. I couldn’t imagine that and it
made me very sad every time we talked about him.

“
Seems like you’re ready
for that shower now.” Kain’s voice interrupted my thoughts. I
looked over to see him pointing at my legs. They had transformed
back without me realizing I’d given the command. Shifting the towel
around me again, I stood and glanced down at him.

“
You’re going to be a great
leader Kain.”

He shrugged his shoulders and tried to
smile. It was pretty weak, so I bent forward and kissed the top of
his head. “I mean it. There are good things in store for someone
like you.” He didn’t say anything as I made my way
inside.

I used my time in the shower to think
about my relationship with Kain. We had always been friends, even
though I’ve pushed him away more and more in these last few years
hoping that he’d find someone deserving of him. I knew that he was
in love with me and it really hurt that I couldn’t return his
affection. If Brendan hadn’t entered my life, I could pretty much
guarantee that things would be different and I’d be looking forward
to our arranged marriage with delight. But that was not my
reality.

When I walked into the large room,
Kain was shifting through his suitcase and hanging up a few things.
He had changed into a pair of grey baggy sweatpants but kept his
chest bare. I was caught up in his beauty for the second time
tonight as I watched his back and arms muscles move with
grace.

Before he could notice me, I climbed
into the bed. I had taken my two piece pajama set into the bathroom
so I didn’t have to worry about dropping a towel or something and
making an already tense situation even worse. He stopped what he
was doing when he heard the bed squeak.

“
I’m almost done,” he said.
“I think that I’m going to sleep on that chair out on the
dock.

I took a deep breath. “No you’re
not.”

He turned to face me.
“What?”

“
You can sleep here,” I
patted the other side of the bed. “I’m not going to sleep in a
chair and neither are you. We’re at The Cotillion for goodness
sake. As an engaged couple no less. I think that we can handle
sharing a king sized bed. Besides, it’s so large we probably won’t
even realize we’re sharing.” There, I said it.

He raised his eyebrows and finished
folding the pair of jeans in his hands. “Are you sure about
this?”

“
Yes. It’s fine. You stay
over there and I’ll stay over here, and we’ll both get to sleep on
the bed.” He smiled, showing all of his teeth and exuding a vibe I
didn’t want to react to. So I tried to cover my unease with a
threat. “Do I have to set some ground rules buddy?”

Laughing, he shook his head and put
the last of his clothes away. A few moments later, he was crawling
into the far opposite side of the bed and turning off the light. I
was lying on my shoulder facing away from him and I think he did
the same.

“
Goodnight, Eviana,” he
whispered.

“
Night, Kain.”

We didn’t say anything after that and
although I thought it would be impossible to sleep, in no time at
all I felt my eyes close. I dreamt that I was flying through
shallow water like a manta ray. I was moving at a good speed over
seagrass beds and coral reefs, all the time knowing that something
bad was about to happen. Nothing ever did, but that nagging feeling
kept looming in the back of my mind and was there even after I woke
up. Although I was rested, my stomach was upset and nervous and I
didn’t know why.

Until I rolled over and looked at
Kain’s face.