“That’s your plan!” Carissa exclaimed. “Just control them all and waltz out of here.” She was standing now, pacing back and forth between Kain and the table. One hand rested on her slender hip and the other combing furiously through her hair.
“Carissa…” Kain pleaded, reaching for her arm.
She jerked away from him and turned so she could face us both. “No! This is absurd! First we drive across the entire country to help out someone who did nothing but break your heart, then we get kidnapped trying to stop her from getting killed, and now you want me to follow her insane idea that she can just mesmerize them all and set us free? Why do you continue to be so blind, Kain?”
“I’m not blind, Carissa. Not anymore.”
Something squeezed my heart with those bitter words. Tears began to blur my vision, but I pushed them away, determined not to let them get the best of me. Kain stood and pointed to me while speaking to Carissa.
“She has a plan and she can do it.”
Shocked, I had to ask. “I can?”
He turned to face me. “Yes. I saw you at the bridge. You took control of those selkies and stopped them from beating me to death.” He walked toward Carissa and grabbed both of her hands in his. “You didn’t see it, but she has the power. And right now we don’t have a better plan.”
Carissa gazed up into his eyes, although with her height, she didn’t have far to look. They glistened with tears and dread, but the way she looked at Kain seemed to soften her anger. “You think this is what we need to do?”
“I do.”
He pulled her into an embrace but not before giving her a quick kiss on the lips. I flinched without any type of effort to stop myself. Averting my eyes to the floor, I saw Daniel’s hand reach over and rest on my clenched ones. He squeezed tightly and I shut my eyes to stop the tears. I shouldn’t care. I should be happy for Kain. And even for Carissa who’d been nothing but a friend to me. But still, the sight of him kissing another girl only invoked feelings of jealousy and rejection. Perhaps this is the way Kain had always felt about Brendan and me. And if that was the case, I was sorrier than I would ever be able to apologize for.
The door to our prison creaked open, sending shards of light into the shadowed crevasses. Kain and Carissa detached themselves as Daniel and I stood up to move next to them. I hoped they were ready for all of us, but was sadly disappointed when Julian walked in the door and pointed at me.
“Come with me, Eviana.”
“What about the rest of them?”
“They will join us shortly.”
Daniel squeezed my arms. “Don’t go with him,” he whispered into my ear.
“She’ll be perfectly safe,” Julian replied, apparently capable of hearing private conversations.
Kain stepped slightly ahead of me, effectively blocking my view of the selkie. “What do you want with her?”
Julian stared at Kain for a moment. Then his gaze slid over to Carissa and back to me. The corner of his mouth turned up and Kain straightened his shoulders, puffing up for the fight.
“My master wants to speak with her.” When none of us moved, Julian continued. “You have my word that he is only going to speak with her.”
“Your word doesn’t hold much stake with us,” Kain chided.
“No, but it means something to her.” He pointed at me again.
At once, all eyes were on me but I just continued to stare at Julian. He hadn’t seemed cruel when we had our conversation not too long ago and there was something about him that made me want to believe him. It wasn’t trust, exactly. Maybe it was more of a mutual respect?
“I’ll be okay,” I promised while moving away from my friends and toward the door. Pulling down the back of my short robe, I walked through the opening before turning to look at my friend’s faces. “Just sit tight and I’ll see you soon.”
Daniel shuddered with emotion, terror filled Carissa’s eyes, and Kain stood as still as a statue watching me leave them behind. I followed Julian down the tunnel once he closed and locked the door behind him. We didn’t speak but somehow I didn’t have anything to say. I figured I needed to save my questions for whomever it was that I was going to see now.
After another hundred yards or so, the tunnel began to lighten and we entered a second large cavern. But unlike the entrance into the pool, this one had been manipulated to accommodate a number of guests. Almost like a grand ballroom, it had hanging candelabras and archways breaking up the open expanse of the space. The center was filled with large pieces of rock, artfully placed together to create a tiled floor. Along the edges, humans, selkies, and other merfolk watched in silence as we passed by. It reminded me of Jeremiah’s home and I instantly got chills down the back of my neck. I feared I was witnessing another sample of what I’d one day be able to do - control my own army.
We made our way to the opposite side where several thrones sat. There were three of them; one in the middle and one on each side, but slightly behind. The two on the sides were filled with one male and one female mermaid. I’d never seen them before even though I frantically searched my brain for some memory of their faces. It wasn’t until I noticed the man standing up next to the largest throne that my fear finally grasped every last nerve. I’d never forget those eyes. He held his arms out wide, gesturing for me to come closer.
“Eviana Dumahl. It is such a pleasure to see you again. Welcome to my abode.”
“Master Sutherland?”
Lucian Sutherland, the man from Cotillion and the one leading the charge to reinstate The Legacy, stood ahead of me as pompous and confident as he was before. It is typical to bow slightly out of respect to other clan leaders, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Apparently, Lucian didn’t mind my lack of etiquette. Instead, he hustled up beside me and gave me a hug like we were best friends reuniting after several years. I pulled away and looked at him in disgust.
“Why are we here?” I asked forcefully.
“Well, you’re here because I need to speak with you. The others are here due to an unforeseen circumstance.”
He twirled his fingers in the air like an eighteenth century composer. In fact, his outfit kind of reminded me of that era as well, with the long tail on his velvet jacket hanging down past his knees and the white puffy shirt underneath reminiscent of years past.
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Oh don’t be so hasty, dear. You may very well have something to say after I’ve given you my proposition.”
He began to walk back to his throne but when I tried to follow, Julian grabbed my shoulder and held me in place. Lucian’s theatrical display continued as he whirled around in front of his chair, effectively pushing the long coat tails behind him and out of the way so he could sit. Once settled, he waved his hand at someone in the back of the room and I heard another door open followed by scuffling. Julian’s hand tightened on my shoulder once the new guest became visible to both of us.
Brendan.
He was still in bad shape despite being forced through a transition earlier. In his human form, his ribs stuck out, his cheeks were sunken in, and his skin looked pale. The normally tall, statuesque figure was gone, replaced instead by a hunched, gaunt one. It was completely heart wrenching to see him like this. Julian allowed me to move toward Brendan, but his two human guards stopped short. They weren’t going to let me touch him.
“Are you okay?” I whispered to my love.
He tried to smile and for an instant his green eyes lit up the room. “I’ve been better.”
I smiled back and felt the tears spill from my eyes. Lucian clapped loudly and startled us both.
“Ain’t love grand?” he asked the room. No one responded except for the two mermaids in the other thrones who snickered in our direction. “Now, Eviana I need you to focus on me.” With great reluctance, I turned to face him, wishing I could hurt him somehow. “Now, it seems as if we have a bit of problem to deal with. You see, I heard you were able to take control of some of my
selkies, and that is something that does not make me happy.”
I heard Brendan shift his stance, uncomfortable with what was just revealed. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” I denied.
“Now don’t be coy, little girl. I’ve heard it from two of my best. You controlled them and I want to know how it felt.”
“How it felt?”
“Yes. How intoxicating was that power? That total control over another creature.” He placed his elbows on his thighs and leaned over. “It’s wonderful isn’t it?”
“No!” I screamed.
“No?”
“I didn’t even know what happened. But once Julian told me, I realized how wrong it was. No one has the right to control another.”
Lucian slumped back in his chair like he was bored and played with a piece of his blond ponytail. “Well that sure is a shame. I’d hoped this conversation would go in a much different direction.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Legacy, Eviana. For too many years we’ve been suppressed and forced to live in a world where we’re not respected amongst both shifters and humans. The time has come to end those ways.” He stood again and waved over two selkies that replaced Brendan’s human guards. I recognized the female as one of our original captors.
“What are you doing?” I asked with a shaky voice.
“You’ll see,” he replied coyly as he nodded at the selkies.
With one quick move, the female jerked Brendan’s hands behind his back. Not hesitating for a second, the young male pulled a knife from his belt and plunged it into Brendan’s stomach.
“No!” I screamed. Brendan’s face contorted in pain but the female would not let him fall. I watched in slow motion as the male selkie raised his arm again, preparing for another thrust. This time, I felt the power rise in me without even thinking about it. I pushed it out from the center of my core, through my limbs, and past my fingertips.
“Stop now!” I commanded.
The room seemed to take in a collective breath as the selkies froze mid-motion before dropping to their knees and giving me the lost puppy look again. All of the humans followed suit, and much to my surprise, there must have been at least thirty of them. Julian seemed to be somewhat unaffected although he was shaking his head as if trying to get rid of my command.
I took a brief moment to look back behind me at Lucian who smiled with the kind of pride a father would have for his daughter. That just made me angrier and I knew we had to get out of here as soon as possible. But could we? Did I have that strength? Now was my chance to test it. I pointed to four humans kneeling along the back wall.
“You. Come here and take these selkies away.” I found an older looking female who I hoped would have a strong, maternal instinct and said, “Help fix this wound.”
Immediately, they sprang into action, doing just what I commanded. The selkies didn’t fight, and instead went willingly out of the room and out of my sight. I watched as several people assisted the female human with Brendan. They carried him out of the room as well, although his eyes never left mine the entire way. The green globes didn’t seem to represent the pain he felt and my stomach dropped when I suddenly realized I’d seized control of him as well. He had warned me about this and it was one of the worst feelings in the world to control someone I love like that. As quickly as it appeared, I dropped my newfound power and marched toward Lucian and his arrogant smile.
“Why the angry face my dear?”
“This isn’t right! I don’t want to have this kind of power over people. No one should!”
He shot to his feet and closed the gap between us in a few strides. “We should! It is our birthright, given to us a long time ago by our creators. Being forced to live like a human is cruel and condescending.” His gray eyes bore into mine. “You just saved your pet’s life. Doesn’t that mean something to you?”
“He’s not my pet! I don’t ever want to take over his mind again.” I sobbed, but didn’t care how immature I looked. This was something that I just couldn’t accept.
“You will when you need him,” Lucian stated matter-of-factly.
I shook my head. “No, I won’t. I can’t.”
“You’ll be a leader soon, Eviana. And not only will you join me, but you’ll also bring along the Matthew clan as well.”
This caught me completely off guard. “You people really don’t have your facts straight do you? I walked away from all of that. My mother shunned me and Kain hates me. I’ll never be a part of our families again.” I watched a hint of confusion pass over Lucian’s features before he quickly hid it behind his leader pretense. “You didn’t know that did you? Perhaps living in a cave in the middle of the Virginia mountains isn’t quite the best way to keep up to date with the world.” Feeling a little more confident, I threw back my shoulders and glared into his cold eyes. “That’s right. I mean nothing to them which means I mean nothing to you.”
Without saying a word, Lucian Sutherland turned on his heel and marched back up to his throne. He sat down, resting his head in his hand like he was in deep thought. Julian’s arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me away, back toward the tunnel that led to my friends. As soon as we turned the corner and were out of sight of everyone else, the adrenaline that had flooded my body dissipated and left me trembling. They stabbed Brendan and I’d stolen his mind.
“I’ll make sure he’s all right,” Julian said, surprising me for a moment. “Brendan. I’ll go and check on him. One of the mermaids is a healer and I am sure Master Sutherland doesn’t want him to die.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I couldn’t even muster up the other questions I wanted to ask. So we walked to the room in silence, with the opening of the stone door being the only sound in the tunnel. I didn’t want to face anyone right now. All I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry. My world was falling apart, and I feared I’d just lost our only chance for escape.