Ripples (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 2) (26 page)

    “Always,” my response was quick and he nodded.

    “Good, now remove it,” he said, it was a command and not to be questioned. I hastened to do as he bid. “You will learn how to defend yourself without that dagger.”

     Pulling the dagger from its sheath, I dropped the open blade to the ground near my feet. I immediately felt exposed and naked without it strapped to my body.

    “Now,” he said, looking up from the weapon, “what would you do if I attacked you right now?”

    “Uh,” there was only one possible option in my mind and to tell the truth it hadn’t worked out so well for me in the past. “I guess, run.”

    He shook his head, “No, I would be faster than you, as all merfolk would. What else?”

    I bit my lip trying to think of something, “Wait for them to get closer and kick them in the crotch?” For a moment Zale looked like he wanted to laugh, but instead he shook his head again.

     “You need to find a weapon. You’ve already lost your dagger, so now you must look for something else,” he said.

    “Come again?” I asked completely confused.

    “Find a weapon,” he restated, visibly frustrated with my slowness. “You must find a way to obtain one without putting yourself in further danger.”

    I thought for a moment and came up with nothing, “I don’t know.”

    “Look around you,” he waved a hand at what appeared to be nothing. All I could see were other forms of nature, nothing that could be used as a weapon in defense. 

    “See that stick on the ground?” he asked, and I nodded, “You could use it to stab your attacker in the eyes, thus blinding him. Over there around that tree branch hangs a vine, it can be used to choke someone. Or those rocks, the smaller ones can be used to keep your attacker from getting too close, but the larger one could be used to smash someone’s head in. And—”

    I didn’t hear anymore as the dreaded fear of being completely at the mercy of others flooded into my veins. The cold reality of what he was saying broke what little semblance of courage I had gained since the night of the Lathmor battle. Ever since I had used my dagger against the Hyven soldier, I had been living in a small bubble of hope that I would be able to protect myself.

     Yet, there was more to this feeling of security than I realized. It was because of the warrior, I felt safe. His words were a promise to me and though he had tried, and nearly succeeded in killing me, there was something in him that couldn’t do it. With him on my side, I had begun to feel I was safe and to have that feeling suddenly pulled out from beneath my feet, left me breathless. The world was spinning on its own and I felt as though I was drowning. All the moments of my helplessness piled on top of one another and came crashing down around me.

     It was as though I could see Morven walking toward me, his blades out, slashing my hip open. I could see him the night he took me to the beach and showed me what Marina’s life would really be. The crippling fear of that dreaded night in Hyvar when he had kissed me, and I had tried to fight back. The dark room where I stood all alone, before Morven knocked me out. The beach in Coveside surrounded by the Hyven soldiers, awaiting my death. 

     I blinked furiously trying to get my eyes to see what was really before me, and to hear what Zale was saying but I couldn’t shake the thoughts. They were there, a living nightmare inside my mind was becoming all too real and still Zale went on.

    “Stop!” I yelled, and shook my head from side to side. I tried to still the panic building in my chest but couldn’t get it to subside.  I could feel Zale’s eyes upon me, but I couldn’t seem to focus.

    “Lissie?” he asked, and it felt as though his voice came from a far off place. It was almost an echo. “Lissie?” This time the voice was clearer, and I could hear the confusion seeping into his normally serious barrier.

     Cautiously, he stepped closer, making sure to move carefully, and I felt a warm hand touch my face. My lips trembled but I stilled the fear in my stomach and focused my gaze on him.

     “I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said and I closed my eyes, turning into the palm of his hand. Within moments I was wrapped up in his warm embrace, my head leaning against his powerful chest.

    I didn’t say anything, for the moment I let myself drink in the security I felt in his arms. Slowly, my heart began to settle, as the memories faded from my mind, and Zale’s hands rubbed my back softly. His head gently rested on mine and for all I knew, we could have been standing there for hours.

    “Feel better?” His deep voice seemed to rumble within his chest. I nodded, my head still leaning against him and my eyes closed.

    “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He repeated and I sighed softly,

    “I know,” I pulled back to look up into his face. “Remember when you asked me why I wasn’t more afraid?” he nodded, and I continued. “I am afraid. Almost all the time. And lately I’ve been living in a false hope that I can protect myself, when really I can’t.” He cradled my head in his hand again and I closed my eyes reveling in the feeling of being safe.

    “Someday,” he said, his voice husky and I opened my eyes to meet his, “you will feel safe forever. I will get rid of Bolrock, and when he is dead you will have no one to be afraid of.”

    I looked away, my heart sinking. This was who he thought I feared most. He still couldn’t see who the real puppet master was behind the curtain, and until he did I could never truly be his. We would be forever apart until he could realize the threat of death that lay behind the façade of his master’s words.

    “How bout we go for a swim again?” he asked, dipping his head to look at me. I knew he was trying to distract me from the fear in my mind, and the effort was appreciated. Maybe a swim wouldn’t be so bad after all.

    “Yes,” I said, “a swim sounds nice.”

_______________

Night seemed to creep up quickly while we swam. It wasn’t so much that we enjoyed each other’s company, it was more that we were lost in our own thoughts and were there to comfort one another. Just as the day before, we laid at the bottom of the waterfall pool looking up through the clear blue to the shimmering surface. Rather than talk, we simply stretched beside one another in comfortable silence.

     As we lay on the patted sand, he reached over and grabbed my hand. Shivers ran down my spine as he traced the lines of my palm, the feeling almost feather-like. Every now and again he slid his fingers higher up my arm, but they always returned to my hand. His black fins lay next to mine, every now and again they brushed against each other and I smiled each time they did. It was feeling him, experiencing him, in a whole new way and to feel his scales brush against my own made me feel as though we truly belonged. It was in these little moments, the touching in the silence, I felt my heart open up to him. In the past it was because of who he used to be, but for the first time I began to realize I was truly falling for him, and him alone.

     As though he could hear my thoughts, his eyes met mine and our lips met again. This time, his large body pressed mine into the sand. The scales covering my chest brushed against his bare flesh and I pulled him close by knotting my fingers into his hair. Without warning, he pulled away and I chased him through the depths of the pool. It was a dance between us. He dashed in and out of corners, and I followed until the game changed and he chased me. I laughed, and the sound echoed throughout the small pool, as he grabbed my fins and slowly pulled me back to him until our lips met once more. Beneath the surface, our fins and hair swayed as though one with the water and as the roar of the waterfall filled my ears, my chest expanded with a happiness I thought I would never feel again.

     Smiling to myself, I pulled away and transformed back into human form and sat upon the flat rock as I let my mind wander. I watched Zale dart back and forth in the crystal blue of the water, and he suddenly appeared above the surface with two dead fish.

     Pleased, I grabbed the one he offered to me and began to use my knife to cut open the scales and pull out the raw meat. Beside me, the transformed warrior rested with his feet in the pool and a fish in his hand. Ravenous, we ate in silence.

     In the cloudy night, there was hardly any light to see by. The solid body beside mine remained focused on his measly dinner, but the set of his mouth told me his mind was nowhere near here.

     Without a sound, I leaned my head against his shoulder and felt him relax. The fish forgotten, he wrapped an arm around my body and kissed me deeply. The roaring of the waterfall surrounded us as our lips parted and I rested against him feeling as though it was right. He leaned his bare back up against a rock and before long I felt the deep rise and fall of his chest. Just looking at him made me wonder how long we could keep this. For how long would he remain a secret?

     Moving gently, I played with the back of his hand and every now and again his hand would twitch. My fingers passed over his still arm, barely grazing the surface, and I shifted my head to rest on his bare chest. With each breath, my head lifted and fell and I found myself getting closer to sleep, though my mind wanted to stay awake.

     A shiver ran through his body and I saw the little bumps of goose flesh rise on his chest in the cool night air. Although our inhuman bodies kept us warm, the lack of a shirt kept him bared to the wind. With my mind as restless as it was, I decided to go back and get him a shirt. There were drawers in Patrick’s old room filled with clothes that would fit him, although they might be tight in the shoulders and arms.

    
They are his, anyway
, I thought wryly and moved to slip out from under the dead weight of his relaxed arm.

    I dragged my eyes away from the peaceful, sleeping face beside me and stepped cautiously across the rocks to the other side of the watery pool. The further I got away from the waterfall, the more the wind began to stir. As though the waterfall was tucked away in a little pocket of seclusion. It was a place which drowned out all other sounds, even the ocean waves were silent in that part of the island and the wind seemed to slip by without really touching it. Now outside of the area, I felt the wind tug at my clothes and folded my arms around my body. The movement was instinctual to keep me warm, even though it wasn’t necessary, but for some reason the motion felt odd as though something were missing.

     Looking down at my hands, I saw the smooth white pearls of my bracelet. They looked dull in the darkness of the night, and as my eyes grazed the round stones I realized what was missing from my left arm. My dagger was gone, left behind in the clearing earlier that day. With the sheath still tied to my arm, I hadn’t noticed the actual weapon missing.

     Changing my course, I made my way through the shrouded night air as the wind whipped high above me in the trees. A storm seemed to be forming somewhere in the distance.

     The closer I got to the clearing, the faster I began to walk. The dark shadows around me began to press upon my mind and I hurried to keep the fear at bay. Every sound seemed to reach my ears and heighten my anxiety, but I tried to ignore it and act calm. I wanted to laugh at my worry, but couldn’t seem to shake the feeling. It was as though everything Zale had brought to my mind in the clearing earlier, was coming back.

     Breaking through the trees, my eyes landed on the spot where my dagger lay. It was exactly where I had left it, the short blade and wooden handle gave me small comfort as I picked the familiar weapon up within my grasp. The blade slid into the sheath with perfect ease and the weight of it brought me back to reality. I felt my heart still and I tried to calm the growing dread in my mind.  

    Biting my lip, I debated whether or not to return to the waterfall, or retrieve a shirt for Zale. I knew I would feel safer by his side, but the thought of also taking a blanket to combat the cold, hard stone we would sleep on was too tempting

    My body moved of its own accord taking me back toward the house. The cabin loomed up ahead in the shadows and I was beginning to get the feeling of being followed again. Hurrying through the trees, I kept glancing behind me every few steps. Up ahead, I was just able to make out the shape of the stairs through the pitch of the night when a loud rustle resounded.

      “Well, well, if it isn’t the little traitor herself.” The voice reached my ears and I spun around.

     Fear spiked quickly in my gut, as I watched the footsteps of the merman moving out from the shadows of the trees. The last time I had seen his face, I had used the blunt end of my dagger to knock him out. The memory of the cloud of blood swirling around his head on the night of my escape from Hyvar pervaded my mind.

     His eyes were lit with blood lust and a sneer crept over his thin pale lips. My heart skipped a beat and I felt my body lock down in terror, as I met the eyes of Bolrock.  

Everything around me seemed to still and all I could see was the lurking form of the Hyven soldier in front of me. His pale hair made him appear ghostly, and the dark clothing did little to hide the strong muscles that lay beneath the fabric. I swallowed heavily, unsure of what to do as my hair lifted in the whistling wind.

    “Yes, Lissie.” Bolrock’s lip curled, and he said my name like a curse. “I found you, or I should say
we
found you.”

    I tore my eyes away from his face and counted the shadowy forms of seven Hyven soldiers joining their leader. Unconsciously, I moved backward a few feet and they followed me with their eyes.

    “H-H-How?” I was able to mutter through my shaking lips. “How did you find me?” Although the fear was freezing my mind, I knew my only chance of survival was to distract him.

    Bolrock’s sneer deepened, “It was only a matter of time before I got to you. Although I must say you have proved harder to catch than I’d originally thought.”

     “Why is that?” I asked, still stalling.
But who will help you?
My mind raced, as I tried to think of something I could do to alert Zale, but looking at the group in front of me I knew he couldn’t defeat them all. I remembered how hard he had fought against the soldiers in Coveside on the beach. That had only been four, but before me stood eight highly trained soldiers.

    “Well, well,” Bolrock sighed heavily, “You seem to be delaying. Waiting for help, are we?”

    “No,” I shook my head, trying to summon up some semblance of courage.

    “I really don’t believe that,” he said and a few of the on looking Hyven soldiers chuckled. “Tell me where he is.” His words were a demand that shattered the façade of pleasantries.

    “I don’t know who you are talking about,” I said and a thought clicked into place. This group hadn’t come here for me. They wouldn’t need so many soldiers to hunt me down. They were here to get the one who had always resisted Bolrock, who had stepped in his place, as Morven’s right hand man.

     All my fear turned into defiance. It didn’t matter if Zale couldn’t remember who he really was. It didn’t matter, I had lost all hope of his ever remembering. What mattered was my love for him, as he used to be and as he was now, and nothing was going to take that from me. He was present in my being, with every beat of my heart, and the thought of losing him after suffering what had been done to Patrick, was too much to bear. For losing him, would be losing them both.

    “Oh, I think you do know,” Bolrock said, pulling me from my thoughts. His eyes constantly searched my face as he stepped closer. I forced myself to hold my ground. “You know exactly where Zale is. And I don’t care what I have to do to make you tell me.”

    “Get away from me,” my hand whipped the dagger out of its sheath and I pointed it directly at his chest. Again chuckles whispered through the night.

    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Bolrock said his voice calm, but the kindled light in his eyes spoke of long awaited anticipation. I prepared myself for the pain that was surely coming. He raised his hands up in surrender, “You don’t have to get hurt. All you have to do is tell me where he is.”

    “I already told you I don’t know!” My voice rose as I tried to make it more convincing.

    “Fine then,” he said and his blades flashed out of his forearms. He stepped toward me.

     My hands were shaking as he came closer; each step seemed to take days as I waited for him to be within striking range. I wanted to throw the weapon but knew even if I managed to hurt, him there were seven other mermen I would have to face defenseless.

     Just a few feet in front of me he raised his arm, I waited, ready to slash him when the arm got closer, but instead his other hand shot out and knocked the dagger from my grip. The sudden jolt rattled my teeth and I looked up just in time to see the blades flashing toward me and a hard slice slit across my left shoulder. I gasped loudly, too afraid to scream, and my legs buckled sending me to the ground, clutching my left shoulder which oozed blood over my fingers.

    “Now would you like to tell me where he is?” Bolrock’s voice held no hint of laughter anymore. He was the torturer, and I was the victim. Air went in and out of my mouth in raspy gasps, the pain shooting up and down my arm was excruciating, but I knew Bolrock was very well skilled in methods of torture. He had cut me in a place that wouldn’t hit any major veins. It wasn’t deep enough to kill.

    “Where is he?” he said again, and a hard fist pounded into my right shoulder knocking me to the ground, I moaned in pain when the injured one hit the dirt. For a moment my vision was gone, but it came back suddenly. I was on the ground with my face in the grass, I rolled slightly so I could see Bolrock above me. His presence was dominating and fear of being weaponless and totally alone flooded my veins, spreading to every part of my body.

    Slowly, he lowered himself down closer to me and his forearms rested on his knees. The blades had retracted back into his arms, but I stared at them with wide eyes, waiting for their reappearance.

    “Do you want to know why I am doing this?” Bolrock asked, his voice gruff in the dark night. I didn’t respond, but he continued anyway. “Unlike some of the other Hyven, I don’t agree with every single plan Morven fabricates. I don’t know where he got this idea to create a siren and warrior, but he seems to think it is the only way to win. I think different.”

    My gaze lifted to the face that was now closer, it was serious, the eyes looking at me as strands of pale blonde hair rippled in the soft wind. When my eyes finally met his crystal blue pupils he spoke once more.

    “But for years we searched for the perfect girl to transform, and somehow Morven stumbled upon you.” Flashbacks of the night Morven found me in the storm flooded my mind, I pushed them aside trying to concentrate on what he was telling me. “Funny isn’t it, you were soon lost too? Morven thought he had you under his control, but he didn’t. He should have stopped the moment he realized you weren’t old enough.” Bolrock chuckled to himself, although no one else joined him in his mirth this time. I wondered if they could even hear what he was saying.

    “Morven has always been under the impression he has a hold on you and Zale. But I knew different. When he thought Zale was finally ready to run missions, he was wrong.” Bolrock’s hands tightened and his jaw clenched. Somehow, the many times Zale had warned me about Bolrock rose in a new light. It was obvious they had merit, but I would never have believed Bolrock was more dangerous than Morven. “Zale was working against him from the beginning. There was never a moment when he was truly Morven’s.”

    In spite of my predicament, I remembered what Zale had told me about his anger and how he could control it. I had always thought of Zale as Morven’s puppet, doing whatever he was told. Now it seemed there was more to the story than I had perceived.

    “He would disappear,” Bolrock continued, “for days at a time and come back with some story about how he couldn’t find you because the Lathmorians had hid you so well. Or he would say he had found some lead that took him to some far off place. Finally, I grew tired of his lies and Morven’s belief, that’s when I sent five of my men to bring you back.”

    Shivers fluttered down my spine. That night in Coveside, on the beach, lived in my every nightmare.

    “Just as I presumed, they didn’t return, and Zale was nowhere to be found.” A strange look passed over Bolrock’s face, it was as though he wanted to smile at his cunning but couldn’t find the energy to do so. “When he did return, I confronted him and we argued. So when he left again, I sent some men after him. When he arrived near your home waiting for you, well, he got a little battered in the process.” He moved his hands, cracked his knuckles and I swallowed heavily. This was the creature responsible for the cuts and gashes in Zale’s body, the night I went to prom. Just thinking of all the blood, sent a chill through my spine and I pressed my hand harder against the wound on my shoulder. 

     “I realized then, what Morven could never see,” his voice grew deeper, the hatred spilling from his lips. “I’d thought Zale was in charge of his own actions, but it wasn’t him. It was you.”

    The icy blue eyes snapped into focus, glaring at me. I stared back in surprise.

     “You’re more cunning than the rest of us, and it’s time you start owning up to your choices.” He unfolded his body gradually, until he reached his full height, again proving the dominance he had over me. “I found you because I know of your pathetic love for that messed up creature. And I knew you would be right here, in the place where you hoped he would remember.”

     Stunned by his words, I couldn’t understand what he had meant, how could he have known where to find the island? None of the Hyven knew the location.

     “I do have to say,” he said, and his arms flexed, “it’s a pleasure to have the privilege of dealing with both you and Patrick.”

     My eyes widened and my nostrils flared at his words as I sat up, my knees awkwardly bent beneath my body. The blood from my wound seeped between my fingers.

     “Yes,” he chuckled delighted by my reaction. “That morbid beast you claim to love is all my doing. Do you want to know the details?”

    Frantic to not hear any more of this, I could think of nothing to do but what Zale had told me. A stick lay near me on the ground and I picked it up quickly, happy to see it had a rather sharp point. With the snapping wrist I had been taught to use, I threw the stick at Bolrock hoping it would lodge in his throat. Instead, he simply ducked out of the way and again chuckled, this time the other soldiers joined in.

    “At least you fight better than he did,” a small smile made his eyes glint eerily. “Oh, he fought for a while, but once he thought you were dead, he gave up. Too bad you only thought of yourself when you escaped that night.”

    “Shut up!” I yelled, breaking my silence.

    “Why?” he cocked his head to the side, clearly enjoying himself.  “It’s the truth. He was able to take it all, day in and day out, until he thought you were dead.”

    Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized my worst fears were true. I remembered that moment in the castle when the alarm of my escape had been raised, I had stood hesitating, not sure of what to do, and then I left. It was to escape and come back to save him, only Morven had worked quicker than I ever could. For by our return, Patrick had erased all memory of me. He had given up because he thought I was gone, he had let himself go because I didn’t take the chance to let him know I was alive and I was to blame for it all.

    A solid knot wedged into my throat and I tried to hold back the wet pressure just behind my eyes. Bolrock laughed again, and my trembling lip gave away all my efforts to show his words caused me no pain.  

    I moved unsteadily to my feet and set my jaw. “Why?” I spit out.

    “Why, what?” The voice returned to its deep tone, the one that sent chills up my spine.

    “Why now?” I said, rising up to the challenge in his voice. “You could’ve come for me when I was home, but you didn’t.”

    I looked hard at his face, wanting to see if the next words he spoke were true. His face toughened and for a moment, I thought he wouldn’t tell me.

    “Because I wouldn’t have the proof I need to show he was betraying us. But when he didn’t show up after the battle at Lathmor, I went to Morven, and he finally came to reason. He sent me to bring him back. You are a thing of the past, Lissie. We’ll get you eventually, but for now you’re going to tell me where he is.”

    Rather than lie to his face, I simply glared at him. I knew more pain would follow but I didn’t care. What he had said about Patrick was enough for me to no longer care about physical pain. My soul felt as though it had been ripped and shattered into thousands of pieces, but as I tried to breathe the pieces gathered back together only to split once more when I thought of what I had done. I glared back at Bolrock, knowing the wound he had given me would be carried forever in my heart.

    “I guess I’ll find out in a moment or two,” he said in response to my silence and his fist hit me across the face sending me sprawling onto the ground. My vision darkened and for a moment bright flashes covered my eyes. Blood filled my mouth and I spit it out onto the ground. The next blow hounded my back, and then it was my ribs, then my back, my head, my legs, and on and on. I held strong, not giving him the pleasure of hearing my pain, I bit my lip to keep quiet and knew my teeth were cutting into my flesh.

     He paused and I thought he might give me some rest, but then his fist collided with my wounded shoulder and I screamed in agony. The pain blinded me, throwing me into a world of shadows. I heard sounds of torture and somewhere in my mind I knew it was my own voice screaming. But before my eyes all I could see was Patrick tied to the dungeon wall, his back flowing with blood and Bolrock whipping him over and over again. He struggled against the restraints, his entire body shaking with pain and I cried out his name, knowing I was the reason for it. 

    Suddenly it all stopped and my vision cleared, Patrick disappeared once more from my sight but that didn’t matter. What I had seen was burned in my mind.

     A rough hand tugged on my hair to raise my face. “Where is he?” A voice entered my ears and I tried to think of where I had heard it. Slowly, my brain brought me back to reality. Shivering on the ground, I turned my face and met the eyes of my torturer. I stared at him knowing he would hurt me even more, but I didn’t care. Some part of me had died inside.