Tempest Unleashed (15 page)

“He worked with Cecily for years to imprison Tiamat,” Violet told me quietly. “It was Cecily’s magic, Cecily’s plan, but if Malakai hadn’t fed her as much of his power as he had … Well, a lot of people believe your mother would never have succeeded.”

“Now isn’t the time for that.” Hailana’s voice was sharp.

Violet regarded her calmly. “I disagree.”

Hailana said something else, but to be honest, I wasn’t listening. I was too busy reeling from Violet’s big reveal. Cecily hadn’t imprisoned Tiamat by herself. She’d had help. Selkie help. From Kona’s father of all people.

I didn’t know how I felt about that. One, because of the way everyone always treated me—like they truly believed I was going to single-handedly bring Tiamat to her knees. Part of that, I knew, came from the prophecy they believed was about me, but I’d always assumed the other part came from the fact that Cecily was my mother. One of the most powerful mermaids in existence, she had brought Tiamat down once. Was it such a stretch, then, that I could do it a second time? Even if I disagreed, even if I didn’t feel powerful, I could at least understand where people were coming from.

Finding out she didn’t do it alone … that just left me thinking that I didn’t have a chance. Like everyone really was expecting the impossible from me, expecting something that had never been done before.

Even worse, I couldn’t help wondering about Kona. I knew he was strong, knew he had a lot of power on his own. But was one of the reasons he was my boyfriend simply that he knew we had to combine our talents to have any chance of defeating Tiamat?

Kona loves me
, I told myself fiercely. I was being ridiculous. Letting a bunch of stupid assumptions undermine my confidence in him. Kona had always been there for me, had never let me down. I owed him more than to suddenly start second-guessing him now.

At the same time, though, Hailana’s conviction kept running through my head, that there was no way Kona would ever marry a nonselkie, no way his father would ever allow him to put a half-breed mermaid on the selkie throne.

Was there a kernel of truth to it? Or was I just allowing my fears, my own doubts about myself, to latch on to the most reasonable explanation I could find? I didn’t know, and from the stricken look on Violet’s face, I wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding those anxieties.

So I did what I found myself doing more and more down here: I buried my worries deep inside myself and instead focused on presenting a brave face. On showing everyone in this world that I really was okay. And if most days I felt anything but, then that was no one’s business but mine.

“Tempest.” Violet’s voice was tentative. “Just because your mother had help doesn’t mean—”

“It’s fine, Violet.” I cut her off.

“Tempest, really—”

“I said, it’s fine. We’re not actually here to discuss my delicate emotional state, are we?” I injected as much sarcasm into the words as I could manage. Was it rude? Maybe. But I was struggling just to keep my head below water. I didn’t need anyone else to know that, though.

I glanced down the table at Hailana—I couldn’t help myself, though the last thing I wanted was for her to think I was seeking her approval. She gave it to me anyway, eyes gleaming and head nodding, as if I had passed yet another one of her incomprehensible tests.

“You’re right, Tempest. That’s not what we’re here to discuss tonight,” she said, her voice ringing with authority.

Although it might be interesting to explore those vulnerabilities.
Sabyn again, this time on an intimate path into my thoughts that I’d never felt before. One I hadn’t given him access to.

One he’d been powerful enough to forge anyway.

Of all the disturbing things that had happened to me in the last forty-eight hours, that freaked me out the most.

“Tiamat is playing with us,” Hailana continued, her voice weak but still ringing with authority. “She has no particular grudge with Stormy Point—”

“Except that they’re our allies,” interrupted Veracruz.

“Yes, except for that,” Hailana acknowledged. “She hit them because she wants us to be afraid. She wants us strung out, always looking over our shoulder waiting, so that we jump at the mere thought of her. It’s classic psychological warfare.”

“It’s working,” Violet told her. “I jumped at shadows all the way over here. And I know I’m not the only one.”

“Exactly,” Hailana said, leaning back as if her point had been proven.

And, in part, I suppose it had been. But there was more to this, I could sense it—a nebulous knowledge floating just out of reach.

“You really think that’s all this is?” Sabyn questioned sharply. “Intimidation tactics?”

“No,” I said, as things suddenly became clear. “This isn’t intimidation—it’s strategy. She knew Stormy Point would come to us when they were attacked—where else would they go?”

“Exactly,” Hailana said. “She’s using the attack to divert our attention, so she can strike when we least expect it.”

“Or when we’re tired.” I leaned forward, more convinced of my argument with every second that passed. “Think about it. The refugees from Stormy Point come here, and what do they do? They weaken us. Drain our food resources, take our medical supplies, splinter our attention between defense and caretaking.

“Doing both will work our soldiers into exhaustion very quickly,” I continued. “Even if we stagger shifts, try to rest them, there just won’t be enough time. Enough manpower. Enough resources. There won’t be enough of anything.”

I looked around, saw that for the first time the Council was listening to me. Really listening. Only Sabyn looked like what I was saying was amusing.

From the end of the table, Hailana smiled at me. Then used our private path of communication to say,
It looks like you’ve got quite a bit of your mother in you after all, Tempest.

I knew she meant it as a compliment. I just didn’t know if I was going to take it that way.

“Hey, Tempest, wait up!” Sabyn called to me as I left the Council meeting.

I closed my eyes, resisted the urge to groan. Hadn’t I been through enough tonight? All I wanted to do now was to see Liam and then fall, face-first, into bed.

“What?” I asked, not even trying to sound polite as I turned to him.

“Whoa!” He held up his hands. “What’s got you so upset? I thought you’d be flying high after what happened in there.” He jerked his head toward the room we’d just left. “By the end, you had the whole Council behind you one hundred percent.”

“But not you.” The words came out before I even knew they were there.

He looked uncomfortable, like he hadn’t been expecting such honesty from me, either. “It’s not that. I just think we need to be ready for an imminent attack from Tiamat.”

“But we’re not ready. I think that’s the point all of us were making. We’re not strong enough to fend off a sustained attack from her forces.”

“You’re ready,” he said.

“Yeah, right. I couldn’t sustain an attack from you this morning, let alone one from Tiamat.”

“You held your own.” He glanced outside. “In fact, I thought I’d see if you had time to go back down, do another few rounds. My aunt wants us practicing twice daily from now on.”

I actually felt my shoulders slump. I knew Hailana had said she expected me to practice tonight, but I hadn’t thought she was serious. Not after the council meeting from hell. It was already close to midnight.

“Come on,” he said. “It’ll be good for you. Tire you out so that you can sleep.”

Not being able to fall asleep hadn’t even entered my mind. I was so exhausted that the only worry I had was actually staying awake long enough to get to my room.

Still, he was looking at me like he expected I’d refuse. And that’s when I knew—he hadn’t chased after me because he’d actually wanted to spar. He’d come so that he could tell Hailana he had tried and I’d been the one to say no.

Anger spiked inside of me, chasing away the foggy tendrils of exhaustion. When I’d lived on land, I’d hated guys like him. Guys who thought they were so slick, that the rules didn’t apply to them. Guys who thought they could be total jerks and then turn on a little charm and all would be forgiven.

My chin came up and I glared at him, even as we dived back into the water.
Where do you want to practice? The training circles
are a little full right now.
I gestured to the huge white tents full of refugees.

How about the park? It should be pretty quiet at this hour.

Fine. I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.

He raised an eyebrow.
You wouldn’t be planning on standing me up, would you?

Do you always think the worst of people?
I mimicked his tone and his eyebrow.

That startled a laugh out of him.
I guess I do.

Well, stop. It’s not good for you
. I glanced behind me, toward Mahina’s house.
I’ll be there in a few minutes. There’s just something I have to do first.

He nodded and I turned around, swimming straight for Mahina. And Liam. I hoped he was okay …

A couple minutes later, I was standing over his sleeping form, rubbing his back.
He was waiting up for you
, Lily, Mahina’s mother, told me.
But the poor little thing ended up crashing. He’s so tired.

Guilt trickled through me.
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to just abandon him here.

Don’t be silly. The kids had a great time. Besides, he’s got a bed, toys. I have extra clothes. Leave him until you find a family member.

I hugged her, and after assuring us both I’d be by first thing in the morning, I headed back outside. I knew Mahina’s family would take great care of Liam, but I had started to think of him as my responsibility. I didn’t like pawning that off on anyone else.

Besides, I’d rather be tucked up with Liam right now than facing down Sabyn for the second time today.

He was waiting for me as I approached the well-trimmed kelp forest—in the middle of a huge clearing surrounded by gardens of sea anemones and oyster beds, it was the closest thing to grass we had down here.

I stopped about fifteen feet from him, braced myself for an imminent attack. I’d let my guard down this morning. I wasn’t about to do it again.

You look ready for battle
, he called to me.

More like bed
, I answered.

Oh yeah?
A spark of interest lit up his face.
That could be fun.

I rolled my eyes.
That’s why you brought me out here? To make innuendos when I could be sleeping? Can we just do this thing?

Sorry.
The look he gave me was a little disgruntled, like he couldn’t believe I didn’t want to flirt with him. Which seemed ridiculous considering he’d tried to kill me less than twelve hours ago.

You have good form
, he told me, covering the distance between us with a couple swishes of his tail.
But you leave yourself too open during battle.

Intrigued despite myself, I asked,
What do you mean?

You’re very straightforward. You face every threat head-on.
He came around behind me, placed his hands on my hips.

I stiffened.
What are you doing?

Relax. You former humans are so uptight.
He applied a little pressure, turning me so that I was at an angle.
You’re left-handed, correct?

Yes.
I didn’t like him touching me, wanted to knock him back a few steps. But again, I wasn’t going to be the one to end this little practice session. I’d already pushed Hailana as far as I could this morning—if she thought I was blatantly disobeying her orders, there would be Hell. To. Pay.

So you should stand with your right arm forward.
He turned me a little more, ran his hand over my waist and up my rib cage.

I elbowed him in the stomach.

He just laughed.
You have really soft skin for a mermaid.

And you have a really soft brain for a merman superstar. Don’t do that again.

Why not? What Kona doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

I yanked away.
You’re disgusting.

I’m joking, I’m joking.
His fingers clamped down on my hips and he yanked me toward him again, so that we were pressed together—my back to his chest.

Sabyn
, I said warningly.

Stop being such a prude and just listen, will you?
He slid his hand down my right arm, then cupped my elbow and lifted away from our bodies.
This is your shielding arm. If you keep it to the front, it gives you an advantage, a little extra boost that can mean the difference between living and dying.

Shields thrown up flat are more vulnerable
, he continued,
easier for your enemy to find a weakness in
.
If you keep it off-kilter, the energy is harder to read. Not impossible, but harder.

What do you mean?
I turned back to look at him, realized our faces were only an inch or so apart, and jerked back.