Betrayal 2012 (5 page)

A figure appeared in the center of the column and the rest of the water fell back to the earth revealing a human sized creature with a jacket and a bowler’s hat.  He had a solid liquid body with very little coloring to hide his transparent nature.  “Good to see ye again, lassie,” a thick Scottish accented voice greeted me.

I jumped to my feet.  “Abhainn!”  The water sprite I’d saved from a crazy merman was somehow in this pond before us.  “Where did you come from?” I saw our protectors lurking nearby, but a quick wave of my hand sent them away.  Abhainn smiled. 

“Around.”

“Well, how did you get here?”

“I ‘ave my ways,” he replied evasively.  “I think the better question would be what is yer friend here hiding?”  He looked at Kain with something disconcerting written all over his liquid face.  When we didn’t say anything, Abhainn continued.  “I thought I’d play a little trick on ye but he was able to stop me.”

“What?” Kain finally asked.  “The water ball?”

As Abhainn continued to float above the water’s surface, he threw his hands up in the air in frustration.  “Yes the water ball ye arse!  When did ye learn to control it?”

“What?” we asked together.  He looked back and forth between each of us several times.

“Oh, ye ignorant syrenkas,” Abhainn huffed.  “Controlling water?  Manipulating moisture?  Any of this sound familiar to ye?”  We shook our heads and Abhainn laughed.  “Well then, seems as if it’s time fer a lesson.”

“I can control water?” Kain asked in disbelief.

“Ye all can.  Some more than others, but aye.  How else do ye think I was captured?”  He directed that last question to me.  I always wondered how Jeremiah had imprisoned the sprite in his decorative water fountain.  My silence was met with another snort.  “It’s what makes ye so dangerous for those of us who live in the water.  Well, that and the mind control.”

Great.  Another creature that mermaids had power over.  They really needed to update our history lessons.  It seemed as if our kind liked to wait until we became leaders before divulging all of our dirty secrets.  I was certainly getting a crash course now.

“Here, catch,” Abhainn said right as he threw three balls of water towards Kain.  In a knee-jerk reaction, Kain held up his hand and swatted them away.  But they didn’t fly back towards Abhainn.  Instead they hovered in the air somewhere between the sprite and the merman.  Kain’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning and he just saw the presents under the tree for the first time.  He flicked his hand back and forth and with each move, the water balls mimicked him.  Moving one finger in a circular motion, he made the three globules spin around each other in an intricate dance.  The smile on his face grew as he continued to manipulate the water.

“I want to try,” Daniel whispered and without hesitation Abhainn threw another group of droplets his way.  Using the same “hand in the air” technique, Daniel was able to stop them in mid flight and force them to do his bidding.  He had them joining together, moving apart, and then reforming into one larger one again.  The two guys played with their water like it was the coolest thing in the world.  Like kittens with a new toy.

“Abhainn, give me some,” I said wanting to try too.  The sprite tossed another stream of water in my direction and I held up both hands to try and force control over the particles.  I didn’t know what I was doing, but it seemed to come naturally to Kain and Daniel.  So I stood there, with my eyes focused, concentrating on stopping this water.  But nothing happened and within a split second, I was soaked from head to toe. 

I gasped.  “What?  What’s wrong?”  All of the guys were laughing at me while I stood there with my long hair matted to my face and the claustrophobic feeling of wet clothes clinging to me.  “What did I do?”

“Apparently nothing,” Kain replied dead pan.  I glared at him.

“No’ everyone can do it well,” Abhainn added with a shrug.

“Here, take mine,” Daniel said and he gently tossed me the three water balls that were circling his head.  Trying to focus, I willed them to land in my outstretched hand.  They floated over to me but once they were a few inches above my hand, each one fell to the ground with a splat.

“Ugh,” I huffed in frustration.

“Practice makes perfect, Eviana,” Kain teased as his water continued to dance around in front of him.  I threw my arm in his direction and the water soared back out over the pond and slammed into Abhainn.  I smiled in satisfaction.

“Hey!” Kain yelled.  “Don’t be jealous.  We can’t all be perfect.”  I wanted to punch him again, but I’d already been childish enough for the day.

“Well, I have better mind control,” I blurted.  So much for maturity.

“Hey, maybe that’s why.”  Daniel looked back and forth between the two of us.  “You’re a natural with the compulsion, but he’s better with the water control thingy.”

“Thingy?” I asked.

Daniel waved his hand.  “You know what I mean.  Maybe you aren’t supposed to excel at every power we can supposedly acquire.”

“I think the young laddie has a point,” Abhainn added.  “There aren’t many of your kind that can wield enough control to capture one of us.  Therefore, it would seem that most have limited abilities.”

“Well, we should practice,” I declared, determined to master this skill.

“Yes, let’s,” Kain said with an air of arrogance.

“Oh, it’s on,” I challenged.

“Deal,” he replied as another stream of water leapt from the pond and landed in my face.  “This is going to be so much fun!”

“And ye all may learn something useful,” Abhainn added.

We spent the next several hours working with Abhainn like we were in a batting cage.  He would toss stream after stream of water at us, expecting some response.  Daniel was good at swatting them away, Kain had enough control to toss them back at Abhainn, and I just got soaked.  It was incredibly frustrating and as much as it would strain my brain from concentrating so hard, I simply couldn’t get the hang of it. 

It seemed as though I was at the bottom of the group when it came to the water manipulation abilities.  I needed another practice session at the playground in order to mend my bruised ego.

The sun was beginning to fade behind the surrounding forest casting dark shadows around the edges and bringing a chill to the air.  Abhainn told us that it was time for him to leave, but that was all right.  Even though I was wet from head to toe, the day had been fun.  Plus, Daniel and Kain weren’t totally dry either since I had my revenge during our water battles.

We left Abhainn with his promise that we’d see him again sometime soon and made our way back to the park entrance.  Our protectors stared but didn’t make any comments when we emerged from the woods soaking wet and giggling like school girls.  Let them think what they want.  They already thought we were too young to rule the clans, why enlighten them to our newfound powers. 

Well, Kain and Daniel’s new powers.  It didn’t seem like I had much ability with the water control.  I’d improved a little bit by the end of the day but Kain was the real star.  It was as natural for him as compulsion was for me, and that made me realize even more that we were a great team.  It was also something I told him he should show the Council.  He disagreed, of course, but said that if the situation called for it, he would be willing.  What that meant exactly, I didn’t know.  I’d just have to wait and see how things went tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow, there was an email waiting for me when I got home.  Brendan agreed to meet and I could barely control my happiness.  I read the message at least a dozen times before replying with a plan.  I told him which hotel we were staying at and he’d suggested a nearby coffee shop.  We were going to get together after my meeting with the Council.  A rush of nervousness streamed though my body.  I was excited to see him but also scared.  What if he’d decided that he didn’t want to be with me anymore?  Were we even really together now? 

There were too many unanswered questions.  Tomorrow, I was going to have to prove my strength to a bunch of people who could control the fate of our species with one decision.  Plus, I was going to have to face my biggest fear; rejection.  I needed to prepare myself for the worst in case nothing went the way I wanted it to with Brendan.  The Council’s decisions were out of my hands, but I still felt like I could have a say with Brendan. 

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.  Tomorrow was going to dictate how the rest of my life would play out.

Four

We arrived in Seattle after a short flight and a mixture of Kain’s calming concoction.  I still hated to fly, so I begged him to make me another milk and whatever drink to keep my nerves under control.  He had tricked me when we flew to Florida for Cotillion earlier this year, but this time I requested it.  It wasn’t the flying that I was so terrified about.  It was more like the crashing and burning.  And that supposed fact that we were much safer in a car and such?  Well, that really didn’t matter when I was up in the air bouncing around at thirty thousand feet.

The driver dropped us off in front of a swanky hotel right in the heart of the downtown waterfront district.   The marble building and elaborate chandeliers hanging in the lobby was just a taste of the extravagance that awaited us.  Being a clan leader certainly had its perks when it came to travelling.  There were four protectors with us, one of them being Palmer, and although Daniel and Marisol wanted to come, we had to leave them behind.  When it came to dealing with the Council, you didn’t show up uninvited.

After checking in, we headed upstairs.  Our group of suites was almost on the top floor and when I walked in the room, I was momentarily taken aback by the view.  It was almost like we were above the clouds.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t raining and the late afternoon sunlight cast shards of orange, pink, and blue over the water and surrounding cityscape.

“I’m going to get cleaned up,” Kain said while lifting his suitcase.  We were in a two bedroom suite with my bed in one room and his in another.

I looked at my watch.  “Guess I’ll see you in two hours then,” I teased.  Kain had a tendency to take three times as long getting ready than any girl would.  I still didn’t know what he did to primp himself.  It was an ongoing joke between us.  I would often tell him that I needed him an hour earlier to make sure that he’d ‘clean up’ in time.

“Ha, ha.  Very funny,” he replied before closing the door to his room.  I smiled and thought about the time we’d spent together at Cotillion.  Since we were playing a happily engaged couple, we were given a cottage with one bed.  It had been an interesting situation to say the least, but we made it work.  Then his dad died.  And then I left him at the altar.  I really hadn’t been a good person to Kain and thinking about it now made me feel even worse.

I told him about my planned meeting with Brendan tonight and he listened without comment.  Perhaps there was a part of him that was curious to know how it would work out as much as me.  There was friction between Kain and me, and Brendan’s presence was always a silent thorn in our cohesive ruling relationship.  It was our unspoken problem.  The topic we avoided like the plague.  Maybe after tonight, I would have a better understanding about what was going on between Brendan and me.  Then Kain and I could move our professional relationship beyond this.

I grabbed my bag and went into my room to take a shower and get ready.  Meeting with the Council was a formal affair, so I needed ample time for hair and makeup. 

An hour later, I was done and Kain still hadn’t emerged from his bedroom.  I laughed and raided some of the hotel snacks sitting out by the bar.  Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I took a moment to acknowledge that I looked good today.  I’d twisted my blonde hair up into an elegant knot in order to show off the cut of my lilac dress.  A halter style in the front joined a T-shaped back, and clear rhinestones were sewn throughout.  The gold shield attached to my hip served as my only piece of jewelry.