I wanted to punch him in the face.
For at least the hundredth time today, I swung my fist toward his rapidly growing smirk. He easily dodged it, of course, and proceeded to look down at me like a child.
“You’re getting closer,” he teased.
Throwing my arms down in frustration, I shook my head. “How am I supposed to learn if you won’t even let me hit you?”
He laughed and resumed a fighter’s stance. “How are you supposed to learn if I just stand still and let you pummel me? That’s not ever going to happen in the real world. Now, try with your legs.”
I rolled my eyes and shifted my feet so that my stronger right leg was in front. Ideally, I’d be having this battle underwater where my legs were not an issue.
“Protect your face,” he yelled at me and I lifted my fists up to nose level. I could do this. He’d taught me how to incapacitate my enemies. Just go for the knee.
I faked a few smaller kicks, pretending to hesitate. Then, like a ninja, I struck. The underside of my right foot was directly on target and I expected it to land a perfect hit to the side of his left knee. Only it didn’t happen.
Something grabbed my ankle and I was suddenly airborne. The world spun around me once before I landed with a thud on my back, effectively knocking the air from my lungs. I think I even saw some stars floating by. My training sessions were getting harder every day, and after this debacle, I decided it was time to quit.
A shadow moved above me and I used my hand to block out the rest of the sun. Looking up at the ominous figure I said, “I’m done.”
Another laugh rumbled through my trainer’s chest while he reached down and grabbed my arm. In one swift motion, he pulled me up off the ground.
“You would’ve broken my knee with that kick, Eviana. I had to stop you.”
I glared at him.
“What? I’m not going to let you hurt me. But you did well. I knew you’d learn eventually.”
I jumped toward him as fast as I could, intending to get him in a choke hold. My arms slipped around his neck, but my body kept rolling over him as he bent forward and used my momentum to toss me toward the ground. In less than two seconds, I was on my back again with a forearm pressing against my throat and my pride seeping away into the dirt.
“Ahh!” I screamed in frustration.
The annoying grin on his face told me I would never beat him in a fair fight. Palmer was my cousin and also one of the numerous protectors now living at my house. We’d been training for the past two weeks and although I couldn’t hurt him yet, Palmer reassured me that I was improving.
Ever since Lucian Sutherland killed my parents a few weeks ago, the security around here had been increased. We were also learning how to fight, since no one wanted to be helpless against an attack. There was a war brewing amongst the various merfolk clans, with my clan seemingly taking the lead against the uprising. It was not a position I’d ever expected to be in, nor ever wanted. In fact, I ran away from this life for a chance to be with my boyfriend and not be forced into an arranged marriage and clan leadership. But that all fell apart the moment Lucian and his followers attacked me and my friends and pulled me into the center of the merfolk politics I’d always tried to ignore.
“Do you yield?” Palmer asked while pressing a little too hard against my throat.
I gave him the most deadly look I had and tried to push against his mind. It was futile. Mermaids couldn’t control each other like that.
But we could use compulsion on humans. It was what the clans were fighting over now - the right to practice The Legacy and secure our status of god-like creatures in this rapidly evolving world. Controlling humans meant directing the stock market, influencing world politics, and dictating numerous other scenarios I really hated to think about. Lucian wanted me to join him in his cause to help persuade the Council, our governing body, to allow us to manipulate the minds of lesser species. I’d refused his offer and that had cost me everyone that I loved.
Thinking about this made me angry. I kicked my legs, aiming for any part of Palmer’s body that I could reach. His arm pressed harder against my throat as he scrambled out of the way, barely avoiding a hit to his most precious area.
“Oh, you’re in trouble now,” he warned. Palmer’s grip lightened slightly and his free hand moved to my ribs. In an instant, he began tickling me so hard that although I tried to resist, I couldn’t. Tears leaked out of my eyes and I had a hard time catching my breath.
“Stop it! You’re going to make me pee my pants,” I managed to say in between the giggles.
“That wouldn’t be very attractive,” a new voice chimed in. Palmer and I sat up instantly and I felt the heat rising to my cheeks.
“Good afternoon, Master Matthew,” Palmer said after he jumped to his feet.
I remained sitting on the ground to give myself a chance to recover and to make sure that I really did have control over my bladder.
“Palmer, you know you can call me Kain,” the new guy said lightly.
Kain was almost six feet tall with an athletic body and sun bleached shaggy blond hair. It had grown out a little bit now, and it seemed as though he didn’t quite know what to do with it. He was my age and a clan leader himself. His smile had always been friendly but I knew his dark sunglasses hid disturbingly haunted eyes.
Kain was the fiancé I’d abandoned not long after his father died and he assumed leadership. We’d been promised to each other since childhood but I never really had any intentions of marrying him.
My heart had always belonged to Brendan, my selkie. As a shape shifting seal, and with my abilities to control all selkies, no one thought that we should be together. After the events a few weeks ago, Brendan began to feel the same way and had decided not to return to California with me. I hadn’t heard much from him and often worried our relationship might be over.
My friendship with Kain was still on the rocks due to my actions, but we were trying to keep our clans united in the face of war. He frequented our guest house and his budding relationship with Carissa seemed to keep him content. We never spoke about our almost kiss. That was probably for the better, although I’d sometimes find myself wondering what would’ve happened had I chosen a different path. Kain was an amazing guy and quickly becoming a respectable leader. And I couldn’t help but realize that Carissa was a lucky girl.
“Sure, Master….um…Kain, sir.” Palmer continued stuttering out his words as though standing in front of a rock star. “Are you here for practice?” My cousin looked around nervously like he may have forgotten their appointment.
“Oh no. I had a water session this morning and I’m spent,” Kain said with a smile. He had a way of making those around him feel at ease with very little effort. It was a really great quality and one I wish I could master. “I’m actually here to talk to Eviana.” Kain looked down at me and I couldn’t tell if we were going to have a good or a bad conversation.
I stood and brushed off the sand from my body. My hair pulled against the back of my head, so I retied my ponytail to keep the long blonde pieces from falling in my face again. Trying to be casual and confident I threw back my shoulders and faced my cousin.
“Palmer and I are finished now.” Turning back to Kain, I added, “Why don’t we go inside so I can get a drink.”
He nodded and we began the trek back to the house. I felt something hit the back of my skull and spun around to glare at my so-called protector. He stood there with a huge smile on his face tossing a small pebble up and down in his right hand.
“What? Your training is never over, Eviana. Remember that.” He threw the pebble at me again and I swatted it away. Tipping an invisible hat in my direction, Palmer turned around and jogged off toward the other guys training further down the beach.
“Jerk,” I muttered under my breath.
Kain laughed. “That’s pretty tame of you.”
“Yeah, well…see how grown up I am now? I didn’t even begin to call h
im all of the nasty names that went through my mind.”
He smiled at me. “I’m impressed.”
My heart did a little flip-flop at that comment. I knew I’d messed things up pretty bad, so when I got a compliment from Kain, it really meant something to me.
We had almost reached the top of the stairs leading up to the expansive redwood deck my ancestors had built around our house when a petite figure with long dark hair like my mother’s leaned over the top of the railing and began waving her arms at us.
“Eviana! Kain! You need to come inside now!”
“We’re already on our way, Marisol.”
My little sister had been forced to grow up quite a bit as well after our parent’s death. She and I still did not get along most days, but over the past few weeks it seemed as though she realized that putting our differences aside was going to be the only way to make living together practical. Plus, I was her legal guardian now so she really didn’t have much of a choice.
“Well move faster!” she yelled. “You need to see this!”
I had no idea what she was talking about. Maybe she learned a cool defensive move or maybe her new cat did something cute. I didn’t really care to be honest. She was still blaming me for our parent’s deaths and she certainly didn’t hide her true feelings about me becoming our clan’s leader. We had a damaged relationship for sure.
Her slim body disappeared inside just as we reached the top. Shrugging my shoulders, Kain and I silently continued to the sliding glass doors that opened up into a large kitchen and dining area. The television blasted from the adjacent living room as though summoning us. Quickly grabbing a bottle of water, I leaned around the counter to see that almost everyone inside had gathered around the large flat screen, vying for a spot to see the show. I looked questioningly at Kain, who waited for me, but his slight shake of the head told me that he didn’t know what was going on either.
“Eviana!” Marisol’s squeaky voice called again, although this time it was tainted with something I couldn’t quite place. Maybe fear or despair and my stomach dropped at her tone.
I pushed my way to the front of the crowd to see what all the fuss was about. One of the local news channels was on and the words “Breaking News” kept flashing across the top corner of the screen. Marisol sobbed as one of the female protectors tried to soothe her.
“Can someone turn this up?” I asked trying to ignore her sniffling so I could hear what was happening.
The newscaster, a thirty-something year old man with perfectly manicured hair and an award-winning solemn face, began to speak. “I am standing outside of The Wensler Academy where a student has just been arrested for shooting several others earlier in the day. Eighteen-year-old Justin Bernard,” he said while reading from his notes, “was detained by police almost an hour ago. Sources say that Mr. Bernard came to school with a loaded pistol and brutally attacked three female students.”
Pictures of the injured girls flashed on the screen and I sucked in a panicked breath. “Kristy Smith, Carlee Robinson, and Mia Sarcowski all sustained serious injuries when Justin opened fire on them without warning.” The newscaster disappeared and clips from an earlier student interview filled the screen.
“He just kept mumbling the same words over and over. I couldn’t understand him but it sounded like I must hurt her friends.” The redheaded boy kept shifting nervously and his eyes darted to and from the camera.
“Do you know whose friends?” asked the reporter. But the boy continued shaking his head.
“No. I don’t. It’s just so weird. Justin wasn’t like that. He would never hurt anyone. I…I don’t understand…”
His attention jerked toward the crowd behind him where Justin and the police had just emerged from the building. The star athlete’s hands were cuffed behind his back and two officers escorted him by the elbows. They hustled him to the car, but not before the reporter stuck the microphone in front of his face.
“Why did you do it, Justin? What was going through your mind?”
I didn’t know Justin well, but from what I could see of him right now, there was something very wrong. His pupils looked dilated and his lips never stopped moving. He wouldn’t answer the reporter’s questions and instead stared straight ahead like a robot. Just before the police pushed his head into the backseat of the car, the camera man got a close enough shot for me to pick out a few words.
It was only three little words but they sent ice through my veins. How was this possible? What could he possibly mean? None of it made sense to me and when he kept saying hurt Eviana Dumahl over and over, the reality of what this could represent suddenly came crashing down.
Want to find out more about the newest releases, bonus material, and more? Sign up for Amber Garr’s newsletter.
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review online. Word of mouth is the best publicity for authors and this one thanks you for helping her out!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amber Garr spends her days as a scientist and nights writing about other worlds. Her childhood imaginary friend was a witch, Halloween is sacred, and she is certain she has a supernatural sense of smell. Amber is a multiple Royal Palm Literary Award winner and author of the bestselling novels The Syrenka Series, the award-winning Water Crisis Chronicles, The Leila Marx Novels, and the Death Warden Series. When not obsessing over the unknown, she can be found dancing, reading, or enjoying a good movie.
Connect with Amber Online:
www.ambergarr.com
www.facebook.com/AuthorAmberGarr
@AmberGarr1
TITLES AVAILABLE NOW
The Syrenka Series:
Promises
Betrayal
Arise
The Leila Marx Novels and Novellas:
Touching Evil
Scorched
The Water Crisis Chronicles
Waterfall
Waterproof
The Death Warden Series
Hidden Souls
Furthermore: An Anthology
Twisted: A Collection
Somewhere South of Normal: An Anthology
Somewhere South of Sane: An Anthology
Candy Cane Kisses: A Short Story Anthology
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends