“What happened?” I asked anyone who would answer. Kain’s beautiful face contorted in pain as he tried to control his breathing. My gaze drifted to his side where dark blood began pooling and seeping out past the hands that held his wound. With a start, I realized one of those hands was mine. I must have instantly put pressure on the injury without even realizing it.
Kain was still conscious and he turned his head to look up at me. “He was waiting in the water.” His voice sounded so soft, I needed to bend over right next to his mouth to hear. “He waited until I was alone…” Kain coughed and winced in pain the instant he moved. I felt my hand warm as more and more blood pumped out of his body.
“Shh…don’t talk.”
Besides, I already knew what happened. Lucian had been behind all of this. When I took back control over the selkies, he’d waited until one person was alone. He must have been just offshore laughing at us all while we battled the ratchets that never intended to hurt us. And as we fought against those we called friends. The anger boiled inside of me again. I was tired of dealing with this man. He had hurt his last person.
“Eviana…” Kain whispered but he never got to finish. After another cough, his eyes closed and he passed out from either the pain or the blood loss. Or maybe it was from both.
“Please call the doctor!” I yelled and Daniel slipped in next to my side.
“He’s already on the way and he’s bringing Dr. Burgess, too.” Dr. Burgess was human, but he’d worked closely with our clan doctor for a long time. He knew how to keep our secret and in exchange he got to learn all he could about shape-shifter physiology.
“Okay, that’s good.”
I didn’t really know what else to say. Instead, I stared down into Kain’s pale face and realized it would literally break apart the rest of me if I lost him, too. Brendan was already gone and my uncle was dead. He’d been the only tie left to my mother and with his death, I felt a huge void in my stomach. If Kain died too, I really didn’t think I’d recover. It was just too much.
The doctors came and began to patch up who and what they could. Palmer’s injuries were pretty critical and Troy had a concussion. They assured me that both should recover as soon as they were well enough to shift. Fortunately, no one else was killed, although I thought some of the wounds inflicted would take a long time to heal.
Julian spent the rest of the evening secluded from us and tending only to his selkies, guilt written all over his face. He’d fallen under Lucian’s spell again although I’d bet the fact he hurt those he’d sworn to protect grated on him more.
Malcolm had been one of the selkies on the beach and thought he might have been the one to hurt Palmer. But he didn’t wallow in his guilt, and instead did everything he could to assist the doctors. He’d been a medic during his military stint, and I was grateful that his training trumped all other reactions.
Daniel and Marisol prepared several of the bedrooms for the wounded. They felt like it was the best way to help, and I also think they were trying to avoid Aleksey and Quinlan. Their loved ones had viciously attacked them. Even though we now knew why, I wasn’t sure if their relationships would be able to move past this.
I felt bad for all four of them. Finding true love is hard enough. When that person is someone whom you are not supposed to love, it makes it even more difficult. Especially when they do something to betray your trust.
I shuddered and looked at the clock. It was nearly dawn. The flight Kain and I were supposed to take to Montana would leave in just a few hours. Exhaustion tried to pull me under, but one look at Kain gave me the strength I needed to keep going.
We moved him into a guest bedroom by himself. The doctors were able to stop the bleeding but it would be days before Kain would walk again. Lucian literally skewed him with a sword. In his brief moments of consciousness, Kain told us how Lucian appeared behind him and stabbed him through the back. Lucian didn’t say anything to my friend, just simply tried to kill him. The doctors seemed to think the location of the wound was deliberate. It wouldn’t kill Kain right away, but was instead intended to cause a slow, agonizing death.
I stayed by his side until he finally fell asleep from the concoction the doctors gave him. They said it would allow him to remain unconscious all day then they’d try and encourage him to shift later tonight. Transitioning should help with the healing although it could take several days of shifts before he would recover completely.
Being asleep allowed Kain’s body to heal, but it also gave me a reprieve from what I knew would’ve been a sure argument. I had every intention of traveling to Montana and meeting Lucian face to face and I knew Kain would have argued against it. In fact, one of the Council’s own members discouraged me to go. In thinking about Graham, I decided to at least return his phone call to let him know what happened here.
I locked myself in my bedroom to make the call. All of the blood, glass, and broken bodies downstairs did nothing to calm my angry and frazzled nerves. I needed a few moments away.
Graham answered on the first ring. “Where’d you go? I thought Lucian was attacking you again.”
“He was.” I let out a deep breath and told him everything. I went back to the morning Brendan left and filled him in from there. Graham stayed quiet, only adding the occasional question or comment. Thankfully, he left the whole Brendan situation alone.
“So you have the sprites on your side?”
“Yes. They helped us last night.” Well, Abhainn had, but he didn’t need to know every last detail.
“I really don’t think you should go to Montana, Eviana. Lucian wants something from you and he’s obviously willing to kill anyone who gets in the way.”
“Have you guys figured out why he wants me yet?” I hoped that the Council, in all their glory, would be able to provide some answers. When my question was met with silence, my heart began to pound in my chest. “Graham? You know something don’t you?”
More silence. Suddenly very uneasy about this conversation, some gut instinct of mine sent chills down the back of my neck. Graham knew and he wasn’t telling me.
“I can’t talk you out of this can I?” he asked, instead of answering my question.
“Why?”
“Because it’s not safe. Lucian is…he’s crazy. He won’t ever stop.”
“Then why won’t you tell me what he wants?” I yelled into the phone.
“Because I can’t,” he whispered. It was barely audible and his tone sounded full of pain.
“What do you mean?”
“Eviana….please.”
“I’m going Graham and if this thing is so bad, then you should tell me before Lucian kills me.” I hoped a guilt trip would help my cause, but I think it just made him angry.
“You are the stubbornest woman I’ve ever met. When are you leaving?”
“In two hours.”
He snorted. “Fine. I’ll see you when you land.” He hung up the phone before I could argue. I didn’t want to see him and I didn’t need Graham fighting my battles for me.
Or did I? He was a powerful merman, Council member, and someone who really did seem to take an honest interest in my safety. Now that Kain couldn’t be there with me, I suppose I shouldn’t protest the presence of someone as strong as Graham by my side.
I took a quick shower and packed a bag of warm clothes. Even though it was almost summer, the Rockies still had snow and we planned to stay in the middle of the mountains.
I had just over an hour before I needed to be at the airport. With one last check on Kain, I walked to the kitchen and into the middle of a cleaning frenzy. Quinlan, Aleksey, and Daniel worked with a few other selkies to remove all the blood and glass. The smell of bleach overpowered the room, but they were doing a good job.
The doctors removed my uncle’s body and I knew I’d have to tend to his arrangements when I got back. The meeting with Lucian was happening tonight, so I had every intention of being home tomorrow morning.
“Eviana, please don’t go.” I looked behind me to see my sister standing in the archway that led to the living room. Daniel and the selkies stopped what they were doing to stare at me as well.
“You’re still going?” Daniel asked.
“I have to.”
“But look at what he’s done,” Marisol pleaded as she moved closer toward me. “He’s hurt us all so much. Why would you want to speak to him?” She was hurting and her pain threatened to break through the wall I’d built up around myself in the last hour. I lifted my arms and she ran to me. I hugged my sister and felt her tiny, shaking body against mine. This stupid war was killing everything we loved and everything we were.
“It’ll be okay, Marisol. The Council will be there and they’ll have a dozen protectors.”
“I want to go with you,” a deep voice growled from the other side of the kitchen. We all looked over to see Julian standing there with his hands in his pockets and his head down. “I’d like to see Lucian again.”
“That’s not a good idea,” I said.
“Yeah, she’s right,” Daniel added.
Julian paced around the kitchen while he fisted his hands at his side. “He needs to be stopped. This has gone way too far. His stupid reasons for this war are no longer justifiable.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, abruptly aware that Julian may have more information regarding Lucian’s motives.
He stopped moving but never looked up. “I just mean that whatever his intentions are, he’s hurt enough people to last a lifetime. He made me attack your friends and kill your uncle. I’m tired of being controlled like a puppet and I do not want to live our lives in fear of that man dictating our behavior any longer!”
No one said anything because he had a valid point. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have all of my free will taken away without warning and be forced to do horrible things to people that I care about. Julian was the strongest selkie of their kind, and even he couldn’t resist the wrath of Lucian.
I unwrapped myself from my sisters arms and walked across the room to grab Julian’s hands. “No one blames you. It wasn’t your fault.”
He looked down at me with such sad green eyes that my heart instantly crumbled. I’ve seen that look before on another selkie’s face. It was the look of disappointment and defeat. “Please let me go with you,” he pleaded.
I shook my head. “No, it’s too risky and the rest of your group needs you to stay here right now. The Council and their guards will be there. I’ll be fine.”
“But…”
“No. You can’t. I won’t risk it.” I didn’t need to say it, but we both knew what I was talking about. If Lucian could control him again, it would be disastrous when the Council’s elite protectors were there. Julian didn’t stand a chance. There would be no forgiveness. “Will you please watch over Kain for me?”
It was a request I’d trust to few others and I think Julian realized this. Not only was Kain an important political figure in our world, but he was an important person in my life. The thought of him not being in it anymore terrified me and I believe Julian understood that better than anyone else.
He nodded and walked toward the bedroom where Kain slept without saying another word to any of us.
I said my goodbyes and promised to be back in one day. I hoped we’d have some type of solution in place when I returned to my clan. It was time to end this.
As I flew on the private jet to the secluded mountains of Montana, I tried to come up with a plan. But the only thing I knew for sure is that I’d do my best to temporarily appease Lucian by giving him what he wants. We all needed that time to prepare a final attack on him and his allies and if I could buy us a few days or even weeks, then that was what I needed to do. That’s what was in the best interest of my clan and what would hopefully save some lives.
