It was a horrible day. Once Kain and I returned to the house, we were immediately swept up into a flurry of meetings. Our advisors had a change of heart overnight and now insisted that some of them accompany us to Montana. I was too worn out to argue and let Kain handle it instead. Cowardly, yes, but I’d return the favor someday.
In the end, we agreed to have four protectors travel with us. Selkies had been mentioned but we feared Lucian would be able to take control if I wasn’t around. So it was decided that Troy, the leader of our little army, would designate who best fit the job.
It was just before dinner when the doorbell rang and I heard a commotion downstairs. I’d retreated to my room as soon as possible, mostly to wallow in my sorrows, but also because of the incorrigible headache that exploded behind my eyes. A voice called for me and I groaned. Why couldn’t I just disappear for a while?
Trudging down the stairs, I heard Kain arguing with someone. He didn’t usually raise his voice so I picked up my pace to see what was going on.
“She doesn’t need to see this right now!”
“Yes, she does. She should know what she’s getting into. What she’s getting all of us into,” my uncle shouted.
“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to sound stronger than I felt. No one said anything. Palmer, Jason, and Troy huddled behind Kain, Andre, Marisol, and Daniel. Kain held a long box in his hands. “What’s that?”
“It’s from Lucian,” my uncle said with a slanted glance toward Kain.
“Eviana, don’t worry about it right now,” said Kain. He tried to leave the foyer area but I ran down the stairs and reached for the box.
“It’s okay, I’m fine.” When he wouldn’t let go of it, I looked up at him and tried to smile. “Really.” Plus I needed a distraction. He opened the lid to reveal another black orchid inside. It looked just as beautiful as the first one despite the ugliness that it’d come from Lucian. “Is…,” I cleared my throat. “Is there a note.”
Kain shook his head. “No, just the flower this time.”
“Well, that’s creepy,” Daniel vocalized my thoughts exactly.
“He is unbelievable,” my uncle stomped away but then quickly turned back to face us. “You should not be meeting with that lunatic!” For the first time in a long time I noticed my uncle seemed to be really concerned for me. And for the first time in a long time, I agreed with him.
“We’ll have the Council with us, plus the protectors. We’ll be all right.” I think I was trying to convince myself just as much as everyone else. I looked up at Kain and he draped his arm lightly around my shoulder.
“Yes. They aren’t going to put us in harm’s way,” he agreed.
“How do you know that? You don’t have any control over this!” My uncle screamed at us. “He already took your mother away from me. I couldn’t bear it to watch him destroy you too.”
His eyes misted with tears and without thinking, I ran into his arms. He was still mourning my mother. In all the chaos that had become my life since returning to California, I never really thought about how much my uncle had suffered. He was the only one left in their family now.
His shoulders shuddered with every sob, making it impossible for me to hold my composure. I felt another pair of small arms wrap around us just as I began to lose control. My sister joined in the hug and all three of us wept like babies.
“We’ll be in the kitchen,” Kain whispered close to my ear before retreating with the rest of our audience.
We stayed there, crying and mourning together for several more minutes. We didn’t really speak, just held each other. A part of me spent a bit of my time crying for Brendan, too. I felt so alone in the world right now. If I could just go back a few months, even for one day, I think it would help me get through all of this.
We were called into the kitchen by Palmer and also by the smell of someone grilling. Laughter filled the room where the protectors challenged the selkies to a cook-off. Apparently, the selkies thought they had the advantage when it came to preparing seafood. It had to do with their seal diet or something. I guess when they catch it and eat it raw, they knew what was best.
I stood in the background and watched everyone gathered in the kitchen and dining room area. Our house had been invaded by Julian’s selkies just a few days ago, but already it seemed like we’d forged our own family unit. Something eased in my heart. This house had been the center of everything since my parent’s death, and for the first time I realized this was the way it was meant to be. It may not be traditional, but we were a family now.
Several of us set up tables outside on the deck while the remaining chefs finished up their masterpieces. In the end, we ate a smorgasbord of fish, crab, abalone, and mussels. And although it was a contest, I certainly couldn’t pick a winner. It all tasted good.
I was inside clearing plates when I heard the doorbell ring again. At once, twenty heads turned in my direction asking the silent question. I waved my hand, letting the protectors and selkies know I didn’t need them to open the door, but Palmer and Kain still came inside with me.
“I’ll get it,” Palmer said while Kain and I followed closely behind. He looked through the glossy window before unlocking the deadbolt and pulling the ornate wooden door open. “Can I help you?”
“Aye. I would like to speak with Mistress Dumahl,” an accented voice answered.
“Who are you?” Palmer asked just as I pushed around him.
“Abhainn,” I said and then gasped when I saw him. He’d done it again. His body was fully formed and completely solid. Tonight he stood six feet tall with broad shoulders and a flawless face that any male model would want. It still looked like Abhainn, but he’d perfected the chiseled jaw and high cheekbones many would pay good money for. He also dropped the bowler’s hat this time. The water sprite leaned casually against the doorframe watching my assessment of him. His lips curled up into a grin then he nodded his head slightly.
“You know him?” Palmer asked.
“Yes, I do.” Turning to my cousin I said, “It’s all right. He’s here to help us.” When Palmer didn’t move, I gave him a little pat on the shoulder. “Really, it’s okay. He’s here to see Kain and me. I promise we won’t leave the front porch.” That last part was meant to ease Palmer’s apprehension, but I’m not so sure it did the job. After a glare in Abhainn’s direction, Palmer retreated and Kain filled the empty space in the threshold.
While I continued to be stunned with Abhainn’s appearance, a thought suddenly occurred to me. I groaned. “Abhainn, no.”
He smiled and shook his head. “No what, lassie?”
I sighed and lowered my voice so no one else could hear. “You ate another one didn’t you?” A smile filled with hundreds of pointy teeth confirmed my suspicions. “Where?”
Kain shifted beside me. “Do ye really want to know that?” Abhainn asked. Did I? Probably not, so I didn’t respond. “The consumption of humans is a necessity for my kind.”
“I know,” I replied. “But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
This time, Abhainn laughed. “Well, lassie ‘tis true. But I’m no’ tellin’ ye this for yer mind. I’m tellin’ ye this because the water fairies ‘ave agreed to join yer fight.”
“Really?” Kain and I said in unison, but Abhainn held up his human-like hand to stop us.
“Aye, but with some requests.”
“Requests?” Kain asked.
“Aye. Requests.” He began to pace back and forth on the porch and after several moments, I got impatient.
“And those requests are…” I urged him to continue.
“Food.”
I swallowed. “You can’t eat anyone in this house, Abhainn. They are my family.”
He chuckled and reached out to rub the top of my head like an annoying big brother. “Aye, we suspected as much. And don’ ye worry, no one likes the taste of yer kind.” He made a face. “Or those dogs.”
“You mean the selkies,” I groaned.
“Same thing.”
Kain cleared his throat in an attempt to stop my impending response. “So how are we supposed to feed you, exactly?”
“Aye, good question.” Abhainn walked back toward us and straightened the dark jacket hanging from his impressive frame. “Here’s the deal. Since we are somewhat…limited with the distance we can travel from the water, the water fairies ‘ave requested that ye turn the other way when we need to feed nearby.”
“You want us to sit back and let you kill humans?” I asked incredulously. “You have got to be kidding! The whole point of this stupid war is to save humanity, not eat them!”
Kain rested a hand on my shoulder. “What kind of numbers are you talking about?”
“Kain!” I yelled.
“Eviana, I’m just trying to understand exactly what their demands are so we can think about this rationally.” Sometimes his calm, cool, and collected persona irked me more than anything else. But he did have a point so I crossed my arms and looked at the sprite.
Abhainn rubbed the illusion-induced stubble on his chin. “Well, let’s see. One a week should do it, I think.”
“For each of you?” I gasped. Kain gave me a look and I rolled my eyes but closed my mouth.
“Is that absolutely necessary?” he asked Abhainn.
“Aye. Otherwise we will only be able to help ye from the water.”
So eating humans allowed them to assume the solid form we’d need in battle. As much as I hated the idea, I also hated the fact that we were severely outnumbered.
“We will think about your terms,” Kain replied diplomatically.
Abhainn nodded. “’Tis all that we ask, yet I should tell ye that they are gettin’ restless. The sooner you can solidify this agreement, the better.”
“We understand,” Kain said.
Did we? I’m not so sure that I did. But I didn’t get a chance to say anything more. For Abhainn suddenly stiffened and tilted his head to the side like he was listening to something. Then, with a curse, he exploded into a million tiny water droplets and disappeared from our sight.
“What just happened?” I shrieked at Kain.
“I don’t know.” He ran to the edge of the porch and looked around like he could find Abhainn. “Where could he possibly go?”
“There’s no water out here. Maybe in the ground…”
A scream from somewhere nearby closed off the rest of my thought. It echoed around the house, making it difficult to determine its origin. Kain and I froze, waiting for something else to happen.
The second scream sent us running back inside and out to the deck. Almost everyone had dispersed. Only a handful of protectors and selkies guarded my sister, uncle, and Daniel. The rest were running toward the beach.
“What’s going on?” I asked anyone who would answer.
“We’re being attacked!” Marisol screamed. “Look!”
I followed her shaking arm to see her point to the edge of the water line. It was several hundred yards away but from our view, it was easy to see a dozen animal forms rising up out of the water and approaching our army.
“No!” I gasped as the ratchets shook their body like a wet dog and bared their teeth at the protectors and selkies who’d made their way down to the beach. “No, this can’t be happening! Kain!” I yelled at my friend as he took off down the stairs.
“What’s he doing?” my uncle asked, but I barely heard him because I decided to chase after Kain. With his long legs and the near foot of extra height, he bounded down the stairs and onto the beach way quicker than I would have expected. There was no way that I could to catch him.
“Kain!” I yelled again, my mind suddenly remembering the night that Graham and I ran for our lives over the sand dunes at Jeremiah’s. Panic seared through my body and almost paralyzed me. I was afraid of these ratchets and probably one of the only ones to witness the extent of their destruction up close. The rest of my army would fight them like any other enemy but I wasn’t sure that would be enough.
Stumbling along the beach, I heard myself yelling without really knowing I was doing it. Perhaps a part of me had slipped into shock. There’d simply been too many recent attacks for my mind to cope.
But something was different this time. I stopped when I saw nothing happening. No one had moved.
The ratchets crouched on all fours in an aggressive stance, hunched over and teeth flashing, but they hadn’t stepped any closer. Maybe these were friends of Abhainn.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, Abhainn appeared twenty feet behind the ratchets, floating on the surface of the water in his aqueous form. “Master Matthew, now would be a good time to show them what ye can do.”
Three of the ratchets whipped around to growl at the sprite while the rest remained transfixed on us. Kain stepped forward in front of all the protectors and selkies better trained for these kinds of fights.
“Kain!” I yelled again. This time he stopped, although I knew it was hopeless the moment he turned his head and winked at me.
With a flick of his hands he began to raise his arms and finally, we weren’t the ones being hunted anymore.
