Betrayal 2012 (29 page)

I almost lost everything in my stomach.  In just a few short moments, my entire world changed.  Lucian Sutherland, the merman leading a war amongst his own kind, was my biological father.  His demented blood coursed through my veins.  I looked at him in his black leather pants and bright red button up shirt and wondered if half of me was like that.  Was I really evil deep down inside?  Would I end up destroying all the goodness around me?

I sat there in silence for what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably closer to a few seconds.  A thousand thoughts ran through my mind and I felt dizzy and nauseous when I began to piece it all together.

“Why did you attack my house?”  The negotiating meeting with Lucian had already been set, so he knew that I was coming to Montana.

“Master Matthew had to be stopped.  His powers have grown considerably in the last few weeks.  I couldn’t have him messing up my plans.”  Lucian smiled and my temperature dropped.  “I haven’t used a sword in a while.”  He looked at me.  “I hear those can really hurt.”

It took everything I had not to attack him right now.  “Kain’s going to be okay.  You failed.”  Lucian chucked in response.

“No, I don’t think that I did.”

“What are you going to do at the meeting tonight?” I asked.

Lucian had been sizing up Graham, but he turned back towards me when I spoke.  “Oh, Graham saved me all of that trouble by bringing you here.  There will be no meeting tonight.”

I glared at the man I’d assumed was my friend.  “You brought me here for him?”

“No, Eviana, I swear.” 

I jumped off the boulder and marched up to Graham.  His eyes were pleading with me and if I hadn’t been so angry, I might have tried to believe him.  He had purposely removed me from my protectors and now Lucian had what he’d always wanted.  I pulled back my hand and slammed my fist into his face like Palmer had taught me.

Lucian laughed as Graham fell to the ground.  I didn’t waste any time and jumped on top of the deceitful merman, slamming my forearm into his throat.  At this moment, all I could see was red.  I was so angry at Graham, at Lucian, at Brendan; all of them had betrayed me in some way and unfortunately for Graham, he was the one taking the beating right now. 

I could feel him fighting against me, but it was as if I had an out of body experience and no one could stop my rage.  All of this energy came pouring into my body like I had the strength of three men.  Almost every person in my life had let me down in some way.  Graham used his charm and power to trick me into a friendship.  Lucian killed my parents, my uncle, and my friends.  My mother lied to me my whole life about who my father was, even when she was facing death by his own hands. 

And Brendan.  Brendan, the only one I loved, left me to surrender to the call.  It was something he promised he’d never do.  Julian made it sound like he was miserable, yet he still managed to spend the night with me without any hesitation.  He didn’t have any problem reaching in and tearing my heart out because that was what was best for him.  I struggled to breathe.  I was so angry and so distraught.  Why was this happening now?

“Eviana?”  Lucian’s voice broke through my concentration.  “Eviana, you might want to let go.”

I looked at him and then followed his gaze down towards Graham.  His face was bright red and it seemed as though I had nearly chocked the last breath from him.  Maybe I should finish the job.

As if hearing my thoughts, Lucian bent forward and pulled me off of Graham.  I stumbled backwards and tried to put some space in between us. 

“Get your hands off of me!”

“Eviana…”

“Don’t even speak to me.”  I brushed myself off and looked down at Graham.  He had rolled to his side and was beginning to push himself up to his knees.

“I’m sorry, Eviana,” Graham’s strangled voice whispered to me. 

I pointed my finger at him.  “Don’t you talk to me, either.  I don’t want your apologies.”

“Daughter,” Lucian started but changed his mind after I glared at him.  “Eviana, you must make up with the man, for he is your betrothed.”

“No, he isn’t.”

“I’m afraid it is true.  Your bloodlines will finally be joined again,” he continued then sauntered over to Graham and offered him a hand up off the ground.  “Although, he may need to get back into my good graces before I offer up my only daughter to him.”

Graham coughed while I stared at the bizarre situation in front of me.  It was like someone dropped me into a parallel world and everything was jumbled.   This couldn’t be real.  Maybe I was still dreaming.

I pinched my arm and winced.  Nope, not a dream.

But I didn’t need to live this nightmare any longer.  I turned and ran as fast as I could back towards the cabin, hoping that I could make it close enough to yell for Caleb and Gregory.  I leapt over a boulder and ran around another before I got to the edge of the forest.  Lucian was yelling for me, but I didn’t dare stop.

I didn’t want to stop but sometimes situations are out of your control.  I felt his body slam into mine right before I went down.  Lucian jerked my arms behind my back and lifted me off the ground.  I struggled, but my shoulders hurt and he outweighed me by almost a hundred pounds.  I screamed.

“Be quiet!” he demanded and I felt the headache burn through my skull.  There was a sudden urge to relax, and I realized with a jolt that Lucian had the ability to control other mermaids.  I pushed his presence out of my head but remained silent.  Perhaps I could trick him.

Lucian laughed and the sound reverberated through my core.  “You are strong, but I am stronger.”  I suddenly felt a pain so sharp that I collapsed to the ground holding my head.  I thought it was going to explode and I cried out in pain.

“Stop it!” Graham yelled and I knew when he crashed into Lucian.  My arms were yanked sharply again, but the pain in my head trumped the muscles revolting in my shoulders.

As the two men rolled on the ground, my headache began to ease.  I watched as Graham fought against Lucian and was amazed at how futile it was.  Lucian was fast and strong and in less than a minute, he held Graham up in the air by a hand wrapped around his neck.

“How dare you?” Lucian asked through gritted teeth.  “After everything I’ve done for you!”  I could see Graham begin to lose consciousness, and whatever hint of sympathy I may have felt, I pushed that aside and used the distraction to try and escape again.

I struggled up to my knees, lifting one foot at a time.  When I was finally on two legs, I ran.  Lucian pushed into my head again and commanded me to stop, but I tried to feed on that energy and use it for my own survival.  I heard him growl in a way that reminded me of the ratchets, just before I watched Graham’s body fly through the air in front of me.  Lucian had used him as a projectile aimed at stopping my escape.

Graham’s head slammed into a boulder and he fell to the ground.  I screamed and almost ran towards him.  He may be a liar but he had been trying to protect me from Lucian.  Only the sound of footsteps running in my direction kept me moving forward.

“Eviana!” Lucian yelled.  “You can’t get away from me this time.” 

As soon he said those words, I couldn’t move my legs any more.  It was as if I was sinking into the ground and being swallowed by the earth.  When I looked down at my feet, I noticed that was exactly what was happening.

I panicked.  Drowning in the sea was one thing, but being suffocated in the earth was not a death that I wanted to face.  Looking over at Graham, I tried to force him awake with my mind.  If Lucian had that ability, and I was his daughter, than I should too.  And if Graham woke up, surely he would help me, right?

But Graham didn’t respond.  In fact, I wasn’t sure if he was even alive.  I struggled against the water and the ground that I was now knee deep in.  Focus on the element.  My water control was nowhere near Kain’s or Graham’s but I had to try. 

Kain.  What would Kain do?  He was rational and calm and always knew what to do next.  He was stable.  He was the only stable part in my life and I suddenly understood how important that was to me.  I didn’t want to live a life without him in it.  I don’t even know if I could.

Thinking of my friend helped give me the strength I needed.  I concentrated on the water and forced the tendrils to dissipate into the earth.  In another few seconds, I felt my body rise out of the ground as the water pushed me towards the surface.  I was doing it!

“Impressive,” Lucian said directly behind me.  I gasped and turned around to see him standing there with a smug look on his face and a glimmer of pride in his eyes.

Someone called out my name.  Lucian and I turned towards the path where I could only assume Caleb and Gregory were coming to rescue me.  For the first time in the last hour, I finally felt some hope.  Lucian wasn’t going to win.

“I guess that’s our cue,” he said and grabbed at my arm.

Jerking away from him, I stepped around the puddle and moved towards the path.  “I’m not going with you and my protectors will be here any moment.”

“Come!”  The headache was back but I pushed against it.

Lucian sighed in frustration and threw out his arm towards me.  “Fine.  Sleep Eviana!  Sleep now!”

An overwhelming urge to close my eyes and curl up on the ground flowed through my body.  I could barely keep my eyelids opened and it was hard to focus on Lucian.  The shouting from the woods got louder.  I just had to hold out a little bit longer.  They were almost here.

“You are as stubborn as your mother,” Lucian snarled and that brought a smile to my face.

“You can’t have me,” I said.  “It’s too late.”

“It’s never too late,” he replied and barreled towards me.  I thought that I saw Caleb out of the corner of my eye, but my focus was on Lucian.  He reached behind his back and pulled out a broad sword that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed earlier.  The silver metal gleamed in the sunlight and the look on his face sent a wave of terror through my bones. 
He was going to kill me!

“I’m not going to kill you,” he said just as he slammed the hilt of the sword against the backside of my skull.

There was a moment of pain, followed by one of numbness.  I began to fall towards the ground not really capable of moving any other part of my body.  I thought I saw someone running in slow motion into the meadow with a gun in his hand.  The world looked hazy for a moment, but as soon as the fog lifted, my vision narrowed and everything went black.

About the Author

Amber Garr spends her days conducting scientific experiments and wondering if her next door neighbor is secretly a vampire.  Born in Pennsylvania, she lives in Florida with her husband and their furry kids.  Her childhood imaginary friend was a witch, Halloween is sacred, and she is certain that she has a supernatural sense of smell.  She writes both adult and young adult urban fantasies and when not obsessing over the unknown, she can be found dancing, reading, or enjoying a good movie.

Other Titles Coming Soon

Book Three of The Syrenka Series

Touching Evil
– A Leila Marx Novel

Connect with Amber Garr Online:

www.ambergarr.com

http://ambergarr.blogspot.com

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