02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (50 page)

“I’m sure the place has been scrubbed of any
trace of his activities by now,” Evie said.

“Peter was going to double-cross them,” I
said.

“Honor amongst thieves,” sighed Evie.

“You mean murderers,” I added darkly.

Evie shrugged, a gesture of resignation, “The
wealthy have been getting away with murder since the beginning of
time.”

“No kidding… did you see that horrific trophy
room?”

Evie laughed, and for a moment I felt
better.

“Will the council leave me alone?” I asked,
and the smile left her face.

“I’ll do my level best to put them off until
this summer,” she pressed her lips together in an uncharacteristic
grimace, “But it’s likely they’ll demand a meeting, even more so
now that the situation with Peter has come to light.”

“What if I refuse?” I asked.

“They’ll send envoys... here.”

I looked around at Abby’s kitchen. I couldn’t
imagine bringing that sort of thing into her peaceful little home.
My worst fears were becoming reality.

“Peter knew about Abby and Cruz,” I said
quietly, “He threatened them.”

There was a shuffle of feet and Boris’ face
appeared in the doorway. Ethan stood behind him with an annoyed
look on his face.

“Is okay?” Boris asked Evie, gesturing
towards Ethan.

“Yes Boris! Of course it is!” I said, jumping
up to take Ethan’s hand and pull him into the kitchen. He sat down
close to me, wishing Evie a good morning. I smiled to myself,
picturing him climbing out of my bedroom window.

“Good morning tiger,” Boris winked at me.

“Good morning Boris,” I replied with a roll
of my eyes. He smiled and started to leave. “Uhm, Boris?”

“Da?” he turned back to me.

“Could you please check my car for a bug?
They planted something on it.”

He nodded firmly, walking out with a
purpose.

“He’s incredibly impressed with how you
handled yourself,” Evie commented.

“So what happened to those men?” I asked.

Evie glanced at Ethan.

“He knows everything,” I said, scooting
closer to him and taking his hand in mine.

Evie told us the two guards were indeed
former Estonian military, and that they were being deported as we
spoke.

“Superstitious fools! They thought they were
capturing evil sea witches or some such nonsense. One of them
claims to be madly in love with you and the other one says that you
cast a spell on both of them.”

Ethan looked at me with his dad’s raised
eyebrows.

“But never fear,” Evie went on, “They’re on
their way back to Estonia with their passports revoked for life.
It’s simply amazing what terrible things people will do for
money.”

I thought about Peter’s plans and my stomach
hurt.

Evie turned to Ethan, “I’ve done my best to
raise Marina to be unimpressed with the trappings of wealth and
fame. I wanted for her to be above any temptation.”

“You did a great job,” he said, squeezing my
hand.

“There’s a difference between enjoying the
fine things the world has to offer and selling your soul for them,”
said Evie.

“Like Faust,” I said, nodding, thinking of
the opera Evie had taken me to long ago.

Evie smiled indulgently at me, “I’m surprised
you remember! You were only ten.”

“It was pretty memorable,” I said, for now
that I knew the truth about Evie I was able to see how she’d been
preparing me my whole life to assume a role similar to hers: an
aficionado of creativity, a patron of the sciences and arts, but
most of all, a champion of true talent.

“You always did remember everything,” she
smiled, “I should have known how powerful you’d grow to be.”

The thought that I had been groomed gave me
the creeps, and I flinched a little. I recoiled inside, not certain
how to come to grips with the idea of bearing that kind of
responsibility. I could never look at another person the same way,
and I was suddenly sad that life as I knew it was over.

Ethan put his arm around my waist, reminding
me to breathe, instantly making me feel better.

“So Fatima’s prediction came true,” Ethan
said.

“Fatima
is
truly psychic,” Evie
sighed, “But it’s aggravating really, how unspecific her visions
are.”

“That’s for sure,” I commented, “They never
turn out the way you might think they will.”

Ethan and Evie exchanged a look.

“I must be going, I have business to attend
to,” said Evie, standing up and smoothing her skirt. Ethan stood
and she reached out her hand, “Keep your eyes open,” she said as
they shook, once again exchanging a grave look.

She turned to me, “Walk me to the car
sweetheart.”

Evie said goodbye to everyone on the way out.
Ethan took a seat on the couch and watched me leave with a
suspicious look.

There was a huge Humvee parked in the
driveway and Boris opened the door for Evie, helping her to climb
in with an outstretched hand.

“Come,” she said with authority, gesturing
for me to follow.

I shrugged off Boris’s help and clambered in
after her.

She looked at me with deadly seriousness,
“It’s imperative that you come back to San Francisco. It’s the only
place I can insure your safety,” her breath caught in her throat a
little, “I should have never agreed to send you here... none of
this would have happened if I’d just kept you with me… I’m so
sorry.”

I thought about it for a moment, “I’m not! If
I hadn’t have come I never would have met Ethan! I wouldn’t have
found out about my mother, or met Lorelei... Dutch and Abby
wouldn’t be together...” I paused again, “I’m glad I came. I don’t
want to leave.”

“You have their safety to consider,” she
nodded towards the house.

We both knew she was right.

“I’ll think about it,” I whispered, looking
at Abby’s cheery little porch. I could see Ethan standing at the
window, watching us anxiously.

She patted my arm and I turned to give her a
quick kiss on the cheek, opening the car door to climb down.

“Marina,” she called after me.

I ducked my head back in.

“You could come back and visit once this
whole thing blows over.”

I walked in slowly, thinking.

Ethan met me at the door, his eyes searching
mine. Dutch and Abby were on the couch, looking up expectantly.
Nobody said anything.

Finally Dutch cleared his throat, “That
Evie’s really something, isn’t she?”

Ethan’s eyes met mine. That was an
understatement.

Abby’s face was a mask of concern, “What did
she do with those awful people?”

“They’re gone... out of the country. They
won’t be coming back,” I replied, sounding more certain than I
really was. My mind was reeling with everything Evie had just told
me.

“Anyone hungry for breakfast?” Dutch asked,
springing up from the couch. Abby followed him into the kitchen and
Ethan sat down, patting the cushion next to him. I went to his side
numbly, and sat down quietly. He took my hand, waiting for me to
say something.

I didn’t know what to say. I laid my head on
his shoulder with a sigh and he draped his arm around me, kissing
the top of my head.

“What do you want to do today?” he asked, not
pushing me to talk.

“I don’t know,” I said quietly, and for the
first time in a long while I really didn’t.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. All I
could think about was what I should do about the council, Peter’s
threats and most of all about the fact that I really should leave,
putting some distance between myself and everyone I loved. Shayla
and Megan came over, full of questions about what had happened. I
told them what little I thought I could, mostly just describing the
house. I insisted I didn’t want to dwell on negative memories.
Ethan stayed by my side, giving anyone who dared press me a warning
glare.

“Why are you so quiet... what did they do to
you?” asked Shayla innocently.

“I’m fine,” I said, “I’m just tired.”

“You look worried.”

“Leave her alone,” Ethan said.

I was feeling kind of spacy, as though I was
sitting outside of myself, just observing. Like a deep sea diver
undergoing decompression, I found myself slowly adjusting to the
new atmosphere, trying to catch my breath. I was reminded of taking
my first few breaths of water, and the total shock to the system
that transformation brought.

I was undergoing a radical change in my view
of myself, and I sat numbly, grappling with a new knowledge of the
world and its dangers. My father would have called it a paradigm
shift, for once again I was being forced to deal with a whole
different set of circumstances– an entirely new reality. I excused
myself, standing in the bathroom to be alone for a few minutes;
when I looked at my face in the mirror I could barely recognize
it.

I returned to an uncomfortable silence, and
knew that they’d been talking about me. They were as concerned for
me as I was for them, only they didn’t know the things I did, and I
didn’t know what to do about it. I slipped into a warm spot nestled
close to Ethan and listened quietly as Cruz tried to talk Megan
into going to the prom.

“No way,” she said firmly, “Absolutely no
way.”

“What about you?” Cruz asked Shayla, “We
should all go as a group and show this town how awesome we
are!”

“I dunno,” Shayla said with a skeptical look,
“I’m not sure...”

“What is
wrong
with you girls?” said
Cruz, “You should never pass up an opportunity to dress up! Don’t
you want to go out with your heads held high?”

“You just want an excuse to show off your
clothes,” said Megan acerbically.

“And what’s wrong with that?” he snapped, “My
girls will put everyone else to shame.”

“I don’t really care about everyone else,”
she replied.

Cruz looked exasperated, “It’s a rite of
passage,” he whined, “You’ll regret it if you don’t go.”

“I’m surprised it means so much to you,” said
Megan, softening a little.

“You should see the dress I’m making for
Marina,” he said.

“Me?” I asked.

“It was going to be a surprise,” Cruz treated
us all to a long martyred sigh.

We had a little over a month left until
graduation, and I was beginning to think I might not be around for
that long, “I don’t know...”

“Not you too!” Cruz cried, looking at Ethan,
“Please don’t tell me you two aren’t planning on going! I mean, you
already have the suit and you look so great together!”

Ethan hugged me closer to him, “Whatever she
wants to do.”

Cruz looked at me, his eyes imploring,
“Marina? Say you’ll go...”

I wanted to say yes, to think about trivial
things, to laugh and joke and feel happy again.

“I’ll think about it,” I said numbly.

“Think hard,” he said, his eyes imploring
me.

Megan jumped to my defense, “Don’t push it so
hard,” she told him.

“That’s what she said,” I tossed out, looking
back and forth at Cruz and Megan, wanting to go back in time,
wanting a return to our lighthearted banter. They laughed, but I
sensed that those days were gone, and we could never go back.

They all started chattering again as I
drifted off into my own troubled thoughts. I was slowly coming to a
decision nobody was going to like, not even me. I kept thinking
about the word Peter had used in describing Abby and Cruz...
vulnerable. They were, and I couldn’t bear the thought of something
happening to either one of them because of me.

“Hey,” Ethan whispered in my ear, “Do you
wanna get out of here?”

I clung to his arm, nodding yes.

Ethan jumped up, taking me by the hand, “We
have to take off, see you guys later.”

I raced to get my purse, rushing out the
front door and climbing into Ethan’s truck.

“Where to?” he asked.

“Anywhere,” I replied, my thoughts drifting
away again.

CHAPTER TWENTYEIGHT

Promise

I was relieved to be out from under the
weight of their worried eyes. We were rumbling down the street in
Ethan’s truck when he turned to me, “I
was
going to ask you,
you know.”

“Ask what?” I said, thinking about how to
tell him.

He smiled, shaking his head, “You really
don’t care, do you?” I stared at him blankly. “About going to the
prom?” he added, with a glance over to me.

“Oh,” I sighed, “I suppose it would make Cruz
happy.”

He was laughing to himself a little as he
pulled onto a gravel road leading into a dense redwood forest. He
pulled over and parked, looking at me with a funny little smile,
“You really are one of a kind.”

I looked him in the eye, for he just echoed
exactly what Evie had said, and it wasn’t funny to me at all. I
didn’t want to be different... a freak, a target. Everything that
was happening seemed to be pointing me towards the only possible
decision I could make.

His smile faded as he regarded my face.

“Tell me,” he demanded, running out of
patience. I turned to kiss him, reaching up to pull his face down
to mine, wanting to delay the inevitable.

He grabbed my wrists and held them, pushing
back, forcing me to look at him, “Tell me,” he demanded.

“I have to go,” I said, my throat tightening,
“I have to move out of Abby’s house.”

“Go where?” he asked with blazing eyes.

“Back to San Francisco.”

“No! You can’t just leave!” he gripped my
wrists tighter, “It’s Evie’s idea, isn’t it?”

“You don’t understand,” I said, pulling back
my arms, “I’m putting them in danger by staying there. He– he
threatened them. Peter... he knows he can get to me through
them.”

“I thought Evie was taking care of him,” he
said in a low voice.

“She’s taking him to go before the council,
but he’ll tell lies about me, and she thinks they’ll probably let
him go,” my voice crackled a little and I looked at him sadly, “And
when they release him he’ll come back for me... I know it.”