Part 18 (1/2)

I swung my head around to look up into his face. ”What are you talking about?” Just then, I heard it. The sound that water makes right before a wave peaks. The deep rumbling of power.

Brendan's teeth sank into Graham's neck moments before the two of them were encircled by angry water. The globe trapped them both and sent them hurdling away from us and down the sand bar.

I think what happened next only lasted a few seconds, but it would forever change my life.

Brendan ripped out Graham's throat. The merman grabbed for the hole, but was unable to slow his death. It came quickly and horribly. I could barely see it through the water, but just as Brendan seemed to have won, he dropped to the ground and sucked in a large amount of liquid.

The aqueous barrier disappeared, and Kain couldn't stop me from running toward them. I reached Graham first, and although we'd shared a few intimate moments in our brief life together, I jumped over his corpse and dove to the ground next to Brendan.

His seal skin now rested over a human body as though he were taking a nap. Blood seeped out from several wounds, with the worst one being just above his heart.

”Brendan,” I cried and threw off his skin. What I saw stopped me cold. Graham's knife had pierced through every opening between his ribs. Part of his internal organs were showing, and the blood pumping from his heart began to slow. ”No, no, no.”

Kain fell to the ground next to me and placed his hands over Brendan's heart, trying to stop the bleeding. I sat there and cried. We were not going to be able to save him, and only a few seconds later, Brendan left me forever.

My world stopped being. My heart seemed to stop beating and I stopped living. Brendan was dead. He died fighting for me and after all of the bad things that happened between us, I didn't think I could survive his death. It was one thing to know that he left me yet was still in this world, it was another to lose him completely.

My gut ached with longing. Brendan had been a part of me for so much of my life, I simply couldn't imagine him not existing anymore.

”Eviana?” Kain's heavy arm wrapped over my shoulders, but I really didn't feel anything. The weight of the world already pulled me down. ”Eviana, we have to go.”

I snapped my head in Kain's direction, annoyed that he wanted to leave so quickly after Brendan had just died. When he saw my look he tensed up, but then pointed in the other direction. Abhainn was floating above the surface, just past where the sand bar dropped off, waiting for us.

”I am very sorry, Mistress Dumahl,” he said. ”But we must get ye to sh.o.r.e. Now.”

I couldn't speak, but somehow I moved. I don't remember exactly how I did it, but I reached down and gave Brendan's beautiful face one last kiss, then grabbed his skin. Kain gave me a look that I ignored. I wasn't ready to let go completely just yet, and they could keep their opinions to themselves for all that I cared.

I walked into the sea deep enough to change and dove head first under the surface hugging all that I had left of Brendan tightly against my chest.

Twenty Three Eviana The silence under the water should have calmed my senses, but instead it infuriated me. Was everyone dead? All of the ratchets that fought for our cause? All of Lucian's supporters? Was this war finally over?

I had my answer the moment we reached the sh.o.r.e. Bodies littered the beach, some moving and groaning, other still. The once romantic resort had been reduced to a battlefield reminiscent of years past. Several of the private villas looked like they'd weathered a hurricane, while the gazebo continued to burn. Even though the scene was disturbing in so many ways, my focus couldn't be deterred.

I walked from the ocean, transitioning as soon as my tail brushed the bottom. Dragging behind me like a symbol of my fury, Brendan's seal skin splashed in the waves. I don't know why I carried it really, I guess I couldn't let it go. I felt Kain and Abhainn hovering behind me, but I only had eyes for one merman.

Those left standing in the crowd had formed a semicircle around Lucian, who waited patiently for my arrival. His back was toward the flames, yet I could still see that his hair hung wildly around his shoulders, and his chest was covered in sc.r.a.pes and cuts. He leaned on a long sword s.h.i.+ning against the background.

I marched up closer to him, ignoring Kain and Abhainn's warning to stay back. As I got within ten feet of my biological and psychotic father, I noticed the rest of the preparations he'd made.

On their knees in front of the brooding merman, were what was left of my friends and family. Marisol's black eye and swollen lips made her almost unrecognizable. She sobbed and shuttered like it was her last day on this planet. Daniel's face was hard and determined despite the fact that he cradled his arm I was sure would be broken. Troy and Palmer slumped against the ground, unconscious and possibly dead. To the side, Julian stood with Malcolm, but their focus was on Lucian. He had them under his control.

”I brought you a present, daughter.” He waved his arms around in front of him. ”I must say that I am quite impressed with the efforts here tonight, but you all need learn your place now.” He looked around the crowd. ”And I think I will start with her.”

A protector pushed his way forward, towing a woman behind with little care for her well being. He tossed Adele Lyonetta to the ground in front of Lucian. I knew I should have felt something, but my emotions were so numbed by Brendan's death that I failed to harness the energy.

”This woman is no longer your leader. She has committed treason by directly attacking me this evening and for that she will pay.” He raised his sword and prepared to swing. Adele's eyes met mine just before she smiled. If I hadn't been looking for it, I never would have noticed her slight nod. At first I thought she was accepting her impending death, but then I saw her mouth something to Kain.

He grabbed my hand and squeezed so hard, I snapped back into action. Lucian's sword swung in slow motion while I commanded him to stop. Even when practicing the last couple of days, I'd only been able to get partial control over Lucian. He was too strong.

But this time, I had Kain. His strength flowed through me like a warm blanket and an electrical pulse of power. In one hand, I held on to a symbol of my past that fueled the hatred I had toward Lucian. And in the other, I held my future.

With the a.s.sistance of Kain's energy, I felt like I could compel the world. Everything around me disappeared aside from Lucian and his swinging sword. I threw out all of my focus on his actions and commanded him to stop. It was like I could almost see the compulsion explode from my body, cross the sandy beach, and dissolve into Lucian's head. The time for sticky hands and glowing minds was over. My power now resembled a lightning strike; deadly accurate and powerfully destructive.

In slow motion, Lucian lifted his eyes to meet my fierce gaze. I could see the disbelief cross his features at the same time he dropped the sword, inches away from Adele's neck. No one interfered, and no one spoke. Or if they did, their words were dead to me. I screamed in frustration when I felt Brendan's seal skin brush against my leg. With that, came another push of my compulsion, and almost every merfolk, selkie, and sprite on the beach dropped to their knees.

I vaguely remember looking over at Kain and wondering why he was still standing, but the errant thought floated away when I refocused on Lucian.

”You do not win!” I yelled at him. ”You will no longer torment us, threaten us, or rule over us! You are finished!”

My throat hurt, my heart hurt, but the anger inside of me dulled all of the pain. I was seeing red. Images of my parents, my uncle, the Shannons, Jeremiah, and Brendan swarmed my vision, almost causing me to lose my balance. Too many had died at the hands of this man.

Lucian Sutherland, the manipulating mastermind who single-handedly destroyed my family and so many others, knelt before me like an obedient dog. In a haze, I moved toward him, feet sinking into the sand, my wedding gown dripping with seawater and whipping in the wind. With Brendan's skin wrapped tightly in my left hand, I broke contact with Kain. The power surging through me didn't cease. So I embraced it.

Lucian's sword lay just out of reach of fallen merman, but he never made a move. I had total control over his mind and body and for the first time, I relished in that feeling. Bending forward, I picked up the sword. It was heavier than I imagined. The steel blade reflected the reds and oranges of the fire behind us, and the dark pits of shadows encircling us all. I lifted the sword up high and stared at it. Could I do it? Could I kill him?

”Eviana?” Kain asked. He hadn't moved, but he was still immune to my compulsion. I c.o.c.ked my head to the side trying to put together a cohesive thought. Brendan's skin tingled in my hand so I held it up next to my chest. I think I shed tears, but I still couldn't feel everything. There was pain in there, deep inside the pit of my stomach, and I couldn't let it out just yet.

The only semblance of emotion I could fathom was revenge. Lucian had to die tonight.

I placed the sword in his hand and commanded him to rise. He complied and awaited his next order. Lucian had to die tonight, but I didn't have to be the one to do it. With a quick force of words in his head, I set us all free from his torturous reign. He plunged the sword into his chest, piercing his heart, and ending his life for good.

”Eviana!” Kain shouted and ran toward me.

”Gather the rest of them and do what you will to end this,” I said to Adele and anyone else who would listen. My head throbbed and my legs gave out. I was so tired.

The moment I broke my hold on my audience, Elizabetta screamed and attacked the closet mermaid to her which was a costly mistake. Adele took one look at Elizabetta and forced the water in her cells, tissues, and organs, to suffocate her faster than I would have thought possible. The beautiful creature fell to the ground, face twisted into a panicked look that would stay there forever. No one else attacked after that.

I felt a pair of warm, strong arms wrap around me and hold tight. ”Eviana, I'm here,” Kain whispered in my ear. ”I'm here.”

Realizing it was over, I began to sob. Brendan's skin fell limply over my lap, causing me to cry louder and faster. Another set of arms joined us, followed by several more. Marisol nestled up against me and Daniel hugged my back. I think Palmer and Abhainn even joined in. The feeling of comfort and peace overwhelmed me. After everything that happened, we were going to make it out okay. Or at least some of us were.

The last thing I remembered was the body of Lucian, on his knees and tilted forward, resting on the hilt of his sword. We'd ended this war, and I could finally rest.

I closed my eyes and let the blackness surround me.

Three days later, we gathered on the beach in front of my house to say goodbye to Brendan. Malcolm and Julian had been seriously injured in the fight, but with Julian's master selkie status, they managed to make their way here. Troy was one of the few protectors to survive. He'd saved Palmer from that fate as well, and I would forever be grateful.

I'd remained unconscious until late in the night, and after Adele managed to take control of the situation. Most of the merfolk still siding with Lucian decided to step down and accepted Adele's offer to rejoin their communities in return for complete support. The other choice had been death. Still, half of the merfolk leaders who had attended Lucian's little celebration lost their lives. Isabel reported that a dozen ratchets were killed, and one selkie died. My selkie.

I'd functioned in a haze since we left the islands and returned home. Life continued on. Even this new life post Lucian and the brutal merfolk war that needed to hidden from humans. The bodies on the beach were removed and dumped at sea. The resort received a hefty donation for repairs for the unfortunate ”lightning strike” and subsequent storm damage. With the loss of so many merfolk leaders, a new regime was evolving. I knew I would have to play my part in it all, but today was reserved for Brendan.

”Does anybody have anything else they'd like to say?” Daniel asked. His eyes were puffy and his nose red. He'd loved Brendan too, even after all that had happened.

We stood in a small circle an hour before sunset, looking down at a picture of Brendan. It had been taken on this very beach a year ago. His green eyes shown in the sunlight and his smile brightened the entire day. It was one of the only photos I had. His body stayed behind in the Bahamas, taken far enough out into the deep waters that it would never be seen again. Julian promised me that it was the way of the selkies and I had to accept that he would have wanted to finish his life underwater.

I still held his skin in my arms, refusing to let it go just yet. ”Thank you all for this,” I whispered. Kain smiled at me across the circle, and Marisol squeezed my hand. ”I'm going to go now.”