Betrayal 2012 (19 page)

“You’re back,” he said.

I nodded, not quite able to say anything.  He took another step towards me and held out his arms.  I rushed to him and wrapped myself around his body. 

“You came,” I whispered and started to cry.

He kissed the top of my head and squeezed a little tighter.  “I told you I would.  When Julian made the decision to back your clan, I knew that this had to be it.” 

I looked up at him in confusion.  “This was Julian’s doing?”

“Yes.  He put a call out to all selkies and asked for their assistance.  It’s not typical amongst our kind but Julian’s…different.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s kind of like an alpha of sorts.”

“Like wolves?”

“Something like that.  He’s a good man.  So when he asks for a favor, most are obliged to give it to him.”

“Hmm.”  I rested my head back against his glistening chest.  “And you decided to join us too?”

“I decided to try and get my life back here.”  He pushed me away slightly so that he could look into my eyes.  “I wasn’t supposed to be in Seattle.  I told you that it just didn’t feel right.”

“And now you’re here.”

“Yes.”

“How does that feel?”

He laughed and kissed me quickly on the mouth.  That brief moment of contact sent a wave of shivers tingling through to my toes.  “Good, now that you’re home.”

Home.  This could be it.  I had a second chance of the life I’d always wanted with Brendan, here, in my home.  Our home. 

“Will you stay here?”  I was almost afraid to ask, but his smile helped me relax.

“I planned on it.”  He bent forward and kissed me again.  Only this time it wasn’t so quick and it wasn’t so chaste.  Someone cleared their throat.

“Eviana, you’re needed inside.”  I turned to see Kain standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and a strained look on his face.  I swallowed and looked up at Brendan.

“I think that I’m going to be tied up the rest of the day, but can we talk at dinner?”

His green eyes stared straight into my soul and if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that they held a hint of something other than excitement. 

“Of course.  I have much more training scheduled for today anyway.”  With one last kiss on the forehead, he nodded to Kain and bounded down the stairs.  I watched him the entire way with so much longing, and happiness, and a thousand other emotions that I thought I would explode.  Kain made another noise.

“I’m coming,” I grumbled.  Walking towards him, I noticed that he looked really bad.  “What’s wrong with you?”

He snorted.  “Come on.  I’ll explain at the meeting.”

“What meeting?”

“The one with our advisors.  You guys weren’t the only ones attacked last night.”

“What?”  But he wouldn’t answer me, so instead I chased after him through the house and to the conference room where we held all of the important events and meetings.  Maybe I should have returned some of his phone calls on the plane.  Now I was walking into something that I was completely unprepared for.  Most of these merfolk were just waiting for a reason to get rid of me, and not having a plan at a time like this would give them the excuse they needed.

Kain pushed through the double door entrance and proceeded to walk to the far side of the room where he picked up his cell phone and punched in a number.  The rest of the area was filled with a dozen powerful members of our clans, all of whom were pacing, screaming into their phones, or a combination of both.  My top advisor and uncle, Andre, sauntered up beside me.

“I’m glad to see that you’re okay.”  The look on his face told me that he was actually being sincere. 

“Thank you.”  Turning my attention back to the room, I asked, “Can you please fill me in?  What else happened?”

“It seems as though Lucian coordinated several attacks last night.  First, there was yours.  Then he broke a dam along the Mississippi and flooded one of the major organic farms owned by the McCormick clan, and then early this morning he launched a financial attack.”

“A financial attack?”

He nodded.  “It started in Europe while our markets were closed so by the time the exchange opened this morning, almost half of our money was gone.”  I looked at my uncle with confusion.  “Lucian crashed the stock market and most of our larger investments have been reduced to nothing.”

“How is that possible?”

“Apparently, he’s been working on this for a while.  Three major European banks closed their doors today, causing their American branches to crumble.  All of them are contributors to our fund.”  He ran his hands over his face and through the few pieces of hair he had left.  “This was no coincidence.”

“No, it doesn’t appear to be,” I said. 

With so few merfolk left in the world, a trust fund of sorts was set up in each country to aid in times of emergencies, like when we needed to cover up our existence.  I remember hearing a story as a child about an aquarium that claimed they’d captured a mermaid, which of course sent a panic through all of the clans.  Someone had, in fact, been captured and it took a small fortune to straighten out that mess.  I’d also heard that Hollywood made a movie based on that incident.

As I scanned the room to see those who were much older and wiser, lose control, I realized that now was the time for me to show everyone that I was meant to lead my clan.  Mr. Wallace, Kain’s second-in-command, walked up to him and started pointing at a bunch of papers while waving his hands around.  I could see the tension in Kain’s shoulders, but when he turned to face me, I noticed that he maintained his composure on the outside.  He waved me over and I excused myself from Andre’s side.

“What do you think?” I whispered to my counterpart.

“It’s a mess.  We need to get everyone in their seats and focused.”  He sighed and rubbed his neck.  “Were you able to speak to Graham?” 

At the mention of his name, my heart squeezed.  I was beginning to hate that I reacted that way and I hoped that Kain hadn’t noticed.  “Yes, and we’re both in agreement that we should honor Lucian’s request for a meeting.”

Kain lifted his eyebrows and looked down at me.  “Really?  The Council has agreed to that?”

“Well no, not yet.  But Graham was going to convince them.”  Kain snorted.  “And I’m going to go, too.”

Instead of freaking out like I expected, he only stared at me some more.  He was studying my reaction as I waited for his.  Finally, he took a deep breath.  “Okay.  Now we just need to convince them.”  He waved his hand around the room and I inwardly cringed.  It was time to show what I was worth.

Kain cleared his throat and began to speak.  “Everyone.  Please take your seats so that we can get started.  We have much to discuss.” 

Two hours later, we were finally getting around to the attack at Jeremiah’s house.  I told them what happened and how Graham had fought off the ratchets with his water control.  They were stunned into silence as I told my tale.  When I finished, I worried that I may have said too much.

“Master Forrester has that kind of power?” my uncle asked in awe.

“Didn’t one of Lucian’s followers just sink a cruise ship?” an older female from Kain’s clan asked.

“Yes, they did.  They killed most of the Shannon clan,” Mr. Wallace confirmed.  My stomach twisted with pain.  They had murdered Lily and her family.

Suddenly, the room went quiet and everyone turned to stare at me.  I didn’t understand why I was a subject of their scrutiny.  “What?” I finally yelled.

“Wasn’t Master Forester on the east coast with you?”

“Yes.”

Another round of silence.  Why were looking at me that way?  Finally, it hit me.  “No!”  I swallowed hard and forced my body to calm down and speak like an adult.  “No.  Graham would never do something like that.  He couldn’t have.  He loathes Lucian.  Plus, he’s a Council member.”

“And apparently a very powerful one,” my uncle added.  I glared at him.

“Was he with you the whole time?” one of my female advisors asked.

“Yes.”  I tried not to blush thinking about some of the time we spent together.  “Well, most of the time.  I didn’t keep tabs on him when I was working with Jeremiah.”  I didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell them about his nights away.  No one said anything.  “Come on!  Graham would not do that.  He’s on our side!”  I walked around to the head of the table and rested my hands on the back of an empty chair.  “In fact, he’s speaking to the Council on our behalf right now, trying to convince them that ignoring Lucian will only mean more murders.”

“They won’t negotiate,” someone said.

“Graham will make them,” I said, so sure that he was going to come through.

“Even so,” my uncle continued, “you most certainly will not be meeting with him.”

“Excuse me?” I asked with every bit of attitude that I had.  Andre stood.

“We know that he’s asked to speak to you and the Council.  We will not allow you to meet with him and jeopardize our clan any further.”

I sucked in a breath.  I was in charge here and right now my uncle was doing nothing but belittling my power in front of the very people who shouldn’t see something like this.  “You do not get to make that decision for me, Andre.”

“Eviana, please…”

“Mistress Dumahl,” I interrupted and the entire room stopped breathing.  My uncle stared at me until he finally lowered his head.

“Mistress Dumahl, I strongly advise you not to meet with him.  It is no doubt some sort of trap and we simply cannot risk it right now.”

“Then I will go with her,” Kain said as he rose.

“What?” Mr. Wallace shouted.

“We rule our clans as one, therefore we will face Lucian as one.”  Kain walked around to the other side of the table opposite me and I watched in awe as everyone in the room focused on him.  He’d grabbed their attention instantly and no one was arguing with him.  There was a part of me that seethed with anger, but I managed to keep that buried deep down inside.  “He’s asked for a meeting, most likely to negotiate some terms.  I think that the past twenty-four hours have shown us that his reach stretches far beyond the few clans in the United States that support him.  He has a world-wide following and if we don’t at least hear him out, I am afraid for what will happen next.”

“But it’s too much of a risk,” my uncle said lightly.  Even he wouldn’t be too argumentative with Kain.

“It’s one that Eviana and I are willing to take in order to secure the future of our clans.”

“Do you know where he wants to meet?” one of my advisors asked Kain.  No one was looking at me right now and it nearly sent me over the edge.  I’d just spent several days with the shunned Jeremiah Williams in order to strengthen my power so that I could better protect my people and this was how they treated me?  Damn them.

“No, but I’m sure that we will know soon.”

“What if it’s a trap?  You certainly can’t walk in there with an army of protectors and selkies with you.”  There was no hiding the disgust when my uncle mentioned
selkies
.  “Besides, that isn’t going to be enough.”

Kain looked up at me and for some reason, I knew exactly what he was thinking.  “We have the water,” I said quietly.

“What?” Mr. Wallace snapped.

I looked down at him.  “We have more than just those brave soldiers training outside right now.  We have someone in our clan who has just as much control over water as Graham.  We also have some friends of the aqueous persuasion.”  I smiled at Kain and got a wink in return.  He was encouraging me to go on.