Torrents (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 3) (36 page)

     My stomach flipped and the world around me rocked back and forth. Leaning forward, my head rested on his chest and when he touched my hair, the darkness clouded my mind.

     My arms were unhooked and I was lifted off the floor, drifting in a weightless world until my face rested on something soft.

     Fighting with everything I had left, I struggled to open my eyes, but couldn’t.  I fell into the depths of the pit, drowning in fear of what was happening. My body was burning in ways I had never experienced, and still I fell. It was with one last ditch effort, I pulled my mind together and cried out. Whether the sound actually passed through my lips, I would never know, but the image in my mind was strong as I held onto the memory of my warrior.

     And from somewhere above me, I heard a name I had been trying to run away from. The voice said the name over and over again. Telling her to wake up.

     The rage inside, long-buried, began to flow, and a new mind began to take shape.

     The siren was smiling.

Rain poured in torrents all around me, coursing down my face in silky trails like fresh-fallen tears. With open palms, I let the ribbons of water pass between my fingers. Something inside me stirred as I gazed through the grey curtains of storming rain. This was how it felt to be alive. Turning, the sand ground between my toes as I walked along the open beach. Waves crashed to my right, the foam nearly reaching my footprints, and all around me was water. A voice called to me through the violent surge and I straightened—my name hanging in the wind. Facing the direction of the voice, a man suddenly appeared. He was tall and strong, his chest bare and shining as the rain coursed down it. I felt as though I had seen his face before, as though in a dream; or a dream of a dream. He lifted his hand and beckoned to me. My heart smiled and I walked to him. When he wrapped his fingers in mine, I let my other hand reach for his face and traced it along his jawbone. He was stone. Perfect and smooth, his features definite and familiar. Biting my lip, I looked up through my eyelashes until I met his dark gaze. There was a storm behind his eyes, a grey storm to reflect the rain all around us. I was drawn to him and when he bent his head toward mine, I leaned in, running my fingers through the black hair curling beneath his ears. He was a breath away…

    
I woke with a gasp—heart thundering in my chest with ferocity. I placed a hand over it, hoping to quell the madness storming inside, but it did nothing. I only felt the overwhelming desperation in its pulse.

     Opening my eyes slowly, I suddenly felt barren and dry. Dark shadows loomed all around the stone walls, and stiff sheets covered my body.  Adjusting my fingers, the mattress gave way beneath my hand. To be so suddenly pulled away from my dream left me feeling cheated.

     Shifting my head, a sudden scorching pain shot along my shoulder, my breath left me for a moment. Moving more carefully this time, I rolled onto my side, keeping the throbbing shoulder away from anything which might touch it. Only when I was finally on my side, did I realize I had been holding my breath.

     A high arched ceiling rose above my head, peaking directly above the bed where the stone walls sloped back toward the floor without hindrance. There was no light in the room, no windows, candles, or even a fireplace to give some form of warmth. For some reason, I felt comfortable.

     On my right, heavy tapestries adorned the wall beside smooth oak furniture; nothing more than a chair, chest of drawers and a table, laden with uneaten plates of food. A closed door was just visible in the shadows across from where I lay and though the bed was the focus of the room, I was drawn to the tapestries. I traced the worn threads of the depiction of merfolk lying on rocks, bathing in the sun.
A
nother wove a masterpiece of the world beneath the ocean, merfolk swirling around one another, their hair streaming behind their glistening bodies. But it was the tapestry in the center which captivated me. It depicted the aftermath of a battle. Corpses lay on the ground, heads severed with grotesque faces and half-transformed bodies discarded as though they were dead fish.

     For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes away from it. Over and over again, I traced the forms of those who remained standing in the midst of the dead. One mermaid drew my attention. There was something about her that was familiar, and yet I couldn’t remember.

     I couldn’t remember anything.

     Taking a heavy breath, I expelled the thought from my mind. There was an innate need to move, to figure out where I was.

     Sweat beading on my brow, I pulled myself into a sitting position. As soon as I had moved, an overwhelming pain shot across the back of my left shoulder. If I hadn’t seen the room was empty, I would have thought someone had placed a hot poker against my flesh. I grimaced and moaned, but the pain didn’t stop even as I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

     My left arm seemed to be attached to my chest. If I so much as even shifted it, the fire burning along my shoulder doubled.

     Breathing deeply, the pain settled, and I could feel the eyes of the tapestries leering at me from above. I ignored their faces as I thought back to my dream. It was another distraction from the pain. Try as I might, there was nothing I could recall aside from the dream. I grasped within, trying to reach for something hidden in my mind, but there was no way to remember—no foothold to even begin. 

     Glancing at the waves in the thread-woven picture made my mouth go dry. I needed water, any type would do. I wanted to feel the cool embrace of it rushing over my skin, caressing my arms and pushing against my fins.

     Tilting my head back, I let the idea of water cool the fire in my shoulder. I needed to leave this room, but the thought of standing was enough to make me flinch back in pain. It would make me weak in the knees, and I wondered if I would even be able to stay on my feet. It seemed such a simple idea, but I was certain I wouldn’t be able to do it.

     Just when I was beginning to work up the courage to stand, a soft click resounded. I turned toward the sound, to see a dark haired man enter the room. He shut the door as quietly as he had entered. His back was strong, broad shoulders angling toward a trim waist, leading to shapely, agile legs. I traced his hair, falling down to the nape of his neck where the ends curled in slightly and strands were brushed back away from his face. As he turned, my breath caught.

    
It’s him.
I thought, and the pain in my shoulder seemed to ebb into the background.

     His features were just as sharp as they had been in the dream, his cheeks carved by high bones and an angular jaw, flexed to a point near his chin. His hair fell in soft waves, but it was his eyes which drew me in. Grey pupils met my own and I couldn’t help but feel I was falling, as he looked back at me. When he began to walk in my direction, my stomach clenched.

     “You’re awake,” he said, and his words coursed through me.

     I didn’t respond as he came closer, his approach only made my heart begin to stir beneath my chest. With every step he took, I felt more alive. He stopped before me and reached out to pass his fingers over my cheek. The touch was soft, a delicate brush and I closed my eyes, reveling in the sensation.

     “How do you feel?”

     “I’m fine.” My voice was higher than I thought it would be. The simple thought sent my already confused mind reeling again.
Why can’t I remember?

     Meeting his eyes once more, I let myself feel safe with him. He was all I knew and there was something about him which drew me in.

     “How’s your shoulder?” He cocked his head to the side, still looming high above me.

     “It stings,” I said; an understatement. “I don’t remember…who are—what is—I’m confused.” I hung my head, unable to come up with a clear thought.

     The merman chuckled, the sound easing my nerves. “My name is Lord Morven and you are in Hyvar. You have a right to be confused, you went through quite an ordeal.”

     “I did?”

     “Yes,” he nodded and curled his hand beneath my chin to raise my eyes to his again. “Do you know your name?”

     I began to shake my head, but the dream came back to me. I remembered the wind, the rain, the water frothing near my feet, and then the voice, calling to me. He had said my name.

      “Marina?” I asked, and he smiled.

     “Yes,” he said again.

     “What’s Hyvar?” I asked barely above a whisper. “Why am I here? I don’t, I don’t remember anything.”

     “Ahh,” he said and held up his hand. He walked over to one of the chairs and placed it before the bed, directly in front of me. When he sat, he was closer, his features sharper and more defined.

    
Like smooth stone
. I had the thought again and knew it was right.

     “You’re special, Marina. You have abilities other merfolk don’t.” He held up his hand when I opened my mouth to speak. “I can see you remember me, and it’s true we have known each other for a while now. But you used to be weak. I made you stronger. You have more power than any mermaid or merman.”

     My brow furrowed. He wasn’t making any sense.

     “I still don’t understand.”

     “I don’t expect you to” He chuckled again, the sound pleasant. “But you don’t need to worry about anything.”

     I nodded and attempted to smile back, the result was a feeble lifting of my lips. He ducked his head, drawing my eyes back up to his.

     “I need your help. There are merfolk attacking Hyvar and we have to protect it.”

     Startled, I gazed into his eyes and found him to be completely serious. “What can I do?”

     “You will use your gift,” he whispered.

     “Oh.” My mouth rounded as I tried to think of what he could mean. There was nothing special about me, except for the prickling burn in my shoulder.

     “Hyvar has to be protected from those who seek to destroy us.” He grasped my hand and the contact had an immediate effect on me. Where my skin had been on fire, it now cooled with a delicious softness I reveled in. This was the water I had been longing for.

     “Why are they attacking Hyvar?” I asked, nearly breathless. The space between us closed, if only slightly.

     “We’re holding one of their mermaids captive.” He waved a hand to dispel it. “They’ve been trying to break in for three days, but we’ve held them back.”

     “That’s a long time,” I said, still focused on the thumb rubbing against the back of my palm.

     “Yes, yes, it is.” He squeezed my hand.

     “If I’m as powerful as you say, can I stop them?” I whispered, looking up through my eyelashes to meet his grey gaze.

     He was calm, body relaxed and casual, but his eyes were what drew me to him. There was something stirring deep inside him, a passion and excitement hidden behind the façade of composure.

     “You will stop them.”

     As soon as the words left his mouth the burning in my shoulder increased, I closed my eyes feeling the need to please him. His words ran through my mind over and over again, until I was certain I could do nothing else but stop these enemies trying to take over. My body hurt, throbbing with fire and unrestrained pain, but it all drifted back as his words overcame all further thought. He believed I could—his confidence is what I needed. My hand balled into a fist beneath his fingers. 

     “I will,” I breathed. He nodded.

     “Yes,” he leaned in and his breath swirled around my lips. “Now, stand.”

     Again, his voice pulled at something inside me. To obey him was all I could think of.

     My mind had gone foggy, his command running through my head and taking over all thought. The fear of what kind of pain I would feel, no longer concerned me, and as the confidence of his words spread, a coolness began to seep into my shoulder.

     The fire tamed for a moment, prickling with ice, but the feeling was anything but refreshing. Pushing against his hand, I braced my feet and stood on shaking limbs. Sweat beaded on my brow and slipped down my cheeks, as the ice in my shoulder doubled, but I refused to let the tears pooling in my eyes fall.

     He was watching me when I reopened my eyes, his face slowly coming into focus. He straightened his body, and I only came up to his chin when he stood to his full height. My throat went dry as I took in his shoulders and the overwhelming size of him.

     He was all I could see, his body blocking everything else around me.

     He lowered his head and I knew what he wanted. Without thought, I turned my mouth up to his. Our lips met, and I sighed. The world beneath my feet fell away, drifting into the background, as I reveled in his touch.

     He was ice to quench my fire, and I gave a soft groan as he deepened the kiss. I leaned into him, wanting more when he drew back, leaving me in a fire of my own.

     Our breath mingled, the sweet scent of his mouth pulling me to him.

     “Clean yourself up.” He gestured toward a tub I hadn’t noticed before. “I’ll wait outside.”

     I was moving before he finished speaking.

     The metal basin was cold to the touch and as the door clicked behind me, I moved with stiff limbs to peel off the dark clothing I was wearing. There were gashes in the fabric in various places, and I was shocked to see the flesh beneath was bruised. In more than one spot, traces of deep cuts and slices to my flesh were evident. Their scabs crusted and dried, some peeling off, as I attempted to remove the tattered shirt. 

     Each move sent a shattering burn across my shoulder, and my blades appeared as if from nowhere to cut away at the fabric. It was already ruined.

     The fabric fell to the floor without ceremony. When I stepped into the metal basin, I found the water pleasantly lukewarm. After scrubbing my body and removing the dried blood from my skin, I stepped out of the water feeling fresh. For a moment, I stared at the lavender scar on my hip, wondering why it was different from the others. Its color shimmered, though there was no light for it to reflect.

     “Hurry up,” his voice came through the door like a beacon, and I began to move faster than I thought possible.