Whirl (Ondine Quartet Book 1) (15 page)

"I thought you might like it."

He settled down on the sand, his arms
wrapping around his knees. I pulled off my sandals and sat next to
him, enjoying the grainy feel of the sand under my bare feet. We
stayed together in silence, watching the sun as it slowly set.

The approaching dusk transformed the color of
the water from a clear turquoise to a deeper blue, reflecting
shades of orange and purple. A gentle breeze swept around us and
the smell of Tristan's aftershave, mixed in with the salty scent of
the water, washed over me.

My headache and the tension in my muscles
eased.

"Why did Nexa send you after me?"

"Why do you think?"

I didn't need to answer. Considering what I'd
been about to do to Amber, we both knew she'd been right.

I scowled. "What's her story?"

"Nexa's a very powerful ondine. She's been
around for a long time."

I snorted at the understatement. She had to
be the oldest person I'd ever seen.

"Her magical knowledge is extensive." Tristan
gave me a reproachful look. "She's the best person to teach you
about your abilities."

"Yeah, right," I muttered. "She's so good,
she didn't even bother to show up for our lesson."

"She doesn't work for the Academy. And she
had an urgent assignment today that came up at the last minute. It
was unavoidable."

"What assignment?"

Tristan hesitated. "I can't tell you."

"Why? Because then you'd have to kill
me?"

His mouth curved. "It's classified."

"No way." Excitement coursed through me.
"Like top-secret security stuff?"

He laughed softly. "Yes."

Well, go Nexa. The old crone suddenly became
a lot cooler in my mind. I made a mental note to see what I could
worm out of her the next time we met.

That is, if there was a next time. I couldn't
even figure out the bizarre lesson she left for me today.

Nexa believed in the prophecy, so I'd assumed
she would push me to make as much progress as possible. But she
didn't show up for our first lesson and left no sign that she'd
provide any more guidance.

She was behaving like my mother.

"She should've told me."

Tristan knew I wasn't talking about Nexa.
"I'm sure your mother was only trying to protect you."

"She kept everything from me!"

"Naida
gave
everything to raise you."
His voice was kind, but firm. "So that you could become who you
are."

"We fought all the time."

Even on her last night
.

A ghost of a smile played on his lips. "It's
like that between a parent and child. My father and I fight all the
time. You fight because you're so much alike."

That idea bothered me. My mother had been
cold, hard, and rational. Everything had revolved around careful
calculations, tactical advantage, and survival. Emotions were a
weakness and liability. She'd constantly warned me against forming
attachments to others.

I didn't want to admit to the possibility
that I might be like her. It brought up other scary things.

Things like whether or not she'd passed any
craziness on to me.

"How did you know her?"

He stared silently at the ocean for a few
moments. "I met her before you were born. I'd finished my gardinel
training and moved to Haverleau. Your father and I became
friends."

Something inside me clenched. I rarely had
the chance to hear stories about my dad.

"Ansel was good to me," he continued. "He was
a strong leader, someone I respected. A few weeks after I arrived,
he asked me to go with him to bring your mother back from the
hospital."

I swallowed. "You provided protection."

"Ansel and I brought Naida home from
Lyondale. She was pregnant. I left the next day because of an
emergency in my kingdom. When I returned six months later, you'd
already been born and the three of you were gone."

The question burned inside my throat. He'd
seen my mother at the hospital. Did he see the same darkness in her
that I felt in me?

Despite what I told myself, a part of me
believed in the very real possibility that my mother
had
lost her mind. I was too scared to say it, though. Voicing the
question aloud would make the fear too real.

But Tristan didn't need me to say it.

"When I saw her in San Aurelio, she was
exactly the same as that day at the hospital," he said quietly.
"She was always strong, independent, and brave. Naida and Ansel
were so happy to be together."

Tristan's words released the tension wound
tight inside me. If he thought she wasn't crazy, then I believed
him.

What you really want to believe is that
you're not crazy
, the shadows inside me whispered. I ignored
them.

My toes curled into the warm sand. I stared
at the light gold grains as they sifted through the spaces between
them.

My mother had asked Tristan to personally
take me to Haverleau. The woman who had insisted I not trust
anyone, had trusted him. I remembered how safe I felt when he stood
by us last night at the club, and suddenly realized that I now
trusted him as much as my parents had.

"Why did she want you to wait until I came of
age before bringing me here?"

"I don't know," he said slowly.

"But you have an idea."

"I suspect she wanted to keep you in the
human world until your latent magical energy awoke." He was silent
for a moment. "Perhaps she wanted to wait until you had enough
strength and perspective to make even the most difficult
choices."

A childhood memory flashed in my mind. I was
a small, skinny eight-year-old, training with my stubborn mother in
the basement gym of our home in Virginia. We'd been working on
katas for hours and no matter how much sweat poured off me, she
kept pushing.

Kendra, you have to fight with everything
you've got. Hands, legs, body, teeth, magic, your mind. Everything!
Faster! Stronger! Don't give anyone the advantage!

Tristan watched me, his eyes sweeping over my
face with careful consideration. There was again that inexplicable
something in his dark eyes, as though he were noticing me, too.

I suddenly wished I could use my Virtue on
elementals, because I would've given anything to know what he was
feeling at that moment.

He shifted and rose, his tall body standing
over me. The sun had dipped so low that it was now almost
completely below the horizon.

"It's getting late. We should go."

I slowly got up and followed him back to the
steps carved into the cliff. He didn't once look back at me and I
felt like kicking myself.

The more I thought about him in that way, the
more pissed off I got.

This was nothing but trouble. I was getting a
stupid crush on a guy who was way older than me. Like way, way
older. He'd known my parents. He'd experienced things out in the
world. He was an adult who'd already lived a lot of years. Probably
with a lot of women. Given the way he looked, I was sure the number
of girls he'd been with was a lot.

That pissed me off even more.

Not only that, he was a
selkie
. I
mean, it was impossible. Besides, he was supposed to keep an eye on
me and provide protection. Both my mother and grandmother had
trusted him to make sure I didn't toe the line or break any rules.
He was just doing his job, nothing more.

Yeah. I better keep reminding myself of
that.

ELEVEN

"Hey, Kendra."

Dylan Rosamund strolled up to me as I
approached the dormitory doors. I put on my best smile.

"Hey, yourself."

He leaned over and spoke in a low voice. "I
was thinking of hanging out in your lounge tonight. You think maybe
it's time to get to know one another better?"

I turned my full attention on to him,
momentarily forgetting about my shitty day. Looked like my chance
to score came sooner than I thought.

"I actually heard about something you do.
Something with risky dealings." I touched his hand with a finger
and gave him a smoldering look.

Dylan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Where did
you hear that?"

"I have my sources," I said evenly. "And I
have the cash. I want in." That wasn't quite true. I had a measly
twenty-four dollars in my wallet, but he didn't know that.

He stared at me for a few moments,
considering. A small, almost cruel smile spread across his face. So
predictable. He'd sized me up and concluded I was just another
chick, weak under his wily charms and easy to take advantage
of.

He underestimated me. It was a common
mistake.

Chuckling, he glanced over at a group of
Redavi demillirs approaching the dorm.

"Let me see what I can put together. Meet me
in five minutes at the last room on the east end of the third
floor. It's an old storage room that's never used."

I nodded and went into the lobby.

"The warrior returns." Ryder jogged up to me.
His face glowed and his blonde hair was disheveled in that cute way
of his. It looked like he just got out of the shower.

"Extra training?"

"Yup. Put in a workout at the Training Center
with Alex and Cam." He gave me a wide grin. "Chloe and Aubrey
filled me in on your badass moves last night."

I shrugged. "I couldn't really do much. Got
injured, too."

"I can imagine what you'd do with that body,"
Ryder said, wriggling his eyebrows outlandishly.

"I'd knock your sorry butt right to the
ground," I teased.

"Your beauty alone would be enough to do
that."

I laughed. "You're laying it on thick today,
Ry." He was such a flirt.

"Hey, a guy's gotta do something to get your
attention." His smoky grey eyes gleamed with their usual merriment.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dylan head up the east stairwell
with Andrew and Bernie.

"Listen. I've got to go take care of
something." Chloe, Aubrey, and Cam were already seated at a table
in the back corner of the lounge. "I'll meet you guys here in about
an hour."

The storage room on the third floor was
completely unused. Dusty metal shelves filled with old cleaning
supplies lined the walls and the only light came from a single
light bulb that dangled from electric wiring protruding out of the
ceiling.

By the time I arrived, Dylan, Bernie, and
Andrew had set up a square folding table in the center of the room.
Blue and red chips were stacked on the middle of the table and
Dylan shuffled a deck of cards.

After first talking to Dylan in Broussard's
class, I'd done some checking. He was a piece of work. Most of the
girls my age were smart enough to stay away from him, with the
exception of Amber and her Redavi groupies.

He and his friends targeted younger
underclass girls, seducing them with promises of a relationship and
inclusion in their group. After sleeping with them, they dumped
them and made sure everyone knew who they had scored with.

Dylan, in particular, liked to brag. He'd
taken Chloe's virginity two years ago and then walked away,
spreading stories about how easy she was.

Alex also told me that Dylan's greed not only
centered around girls, but money, as well. Mr. Horny had a gambling
problem and his family was having trouble controlling his
money-leeching behavior. He and his Redavi friends played regular
games of illegal poker, and Dylan had a reputation for losing
control.

"We play for high stakes, baby." He gave me a
suggestive look. "You sure you up for it?"

"I've only played it once, but I know the
basics," I lied, trying to look innocent and helpless. "I'm sure
I'll learn as I go along. Besides, the risk is what makes it worth
it."

I put as much womanly charm as I could into
my eyes. Andrew made a condescending noise, but I ignored him.

I made sure I lost every hand, increasing my
bets with every round. Dylan's grin grew wider with each loss,
especially when I pretended to desperately increase the stakes in
the hopes of winning my money back.

They were such easy marks—all three of them
were full of tells when they bluffed. Andrew scratched his nose.
Dylan blinked. And Bernie's lips twitched on the right side.

"Don't worry, baby," Dylan said smugly as he
dealt a new hand. "You're catching on real fast. I'm sure luck's
going to turn your way soon."

Finally, I put all my chips in and bluffed
everyone else to do the same. When it came time for the reveal,
Bernie said he was out and dumped his cards. Andrew smirked
confidently and showed his hand. Three queens and two fours. Full
house.

Dylan's eyes gleamed with anticipation. With
a triumphant look, he lay out his cards. Four nines and one five.
Four-of-a-kind. Andrew groaned in defeat and Dylan laughed.

His eyes met mine across the table. "Sorry,
baby. Luck still seems to be smiling on me. Why don't you show us
what you got?"

I made sure my expression betrayed nothing.
Slowly, my eyes never leaving Dylan's, I laid my cards on the
table. Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and a ten of diamonds. A royal
flush.

Three sets of eyes widened in shock and a
satisfied smile played on my lips.

"Sorry, boys," I said sweetly. "Looks like I
got lucky. Guess I take the pot."

"What the hell?" Dylan was pale. I saw the
addiction in his eyes, the refusal to believe that he wouldn't be
the one to come out on top. "No. Let's play another round."

I stood and stared at them, letting my eyes
harden. "Sorry. No more rounds. Give me my winnings."

Understanding flooded Andrew's face. "You
played us."

"Whatever makes you feel better, buddy." I
leaned forward, my voice ice cold. "Now pay up."

Flinching a little at my tone, they
reluctantly took wads of cash out of their pockets.