Betrayal 2012 (24 page)

“You know him?” Palmer asked.

“Yes, I do.”  Turning to my cousin I said, “It’s alright.  He’s here to help us.”  When Palmer didn’t move, I gave him a little pat on the shoulder.  “Really, it’s okay.  He’s here to see Kain and me.  I promise we won’t leave the front porch.”  That last part was meant to ease Palmer’s apprehension, but I’m not so sure it did the job.  After a glare in Abhainn’s direction, Palmer retreated and Kain filled the empty space in the threshold.

While I continued to be stunned with Abhainn’s appearance, a thought suddenly occurred to me.  I groaned.  “Abhainn, no.”

He smiled and shook his head.  “No what, lassie?”

I sighed and lowered my voice so that no one else could hear.  “You ate another one didn’t you?”  A smile filled with hundreds of pointy teeth was all the confirmation I needed.  “Where?”

Kain shifted beside me.  “Do ye really want to know that?” Abhainn asked.  Did I?  Probably not, so I didn’t respond.  “The consumption of humans is a necessity for my kind.”

“I know,” I replied.  “But it doesn’t mean that I have to like it.”

This time, Abhainn laughed.  “Well, lassie ‘tis true.  But I’m no’ tellin’ ye this for yer mind.  I’m tellin’ ye this because the water fairies ‘ave agreed to join yer fight.”

“Really?” Kain and I said in unison, but Abhainn held up his human-like hand to stop us.

“Aye, but with some requests.”

“Requests?” Kain asked.

“Aye.  Requests.”  He began to pace back and forth on the porch and after several moments, I got impatient.

“And those requests are…” I urged him to continue.

“Food.”

I swallowed.  “You can’t eat anyone in this house, Abhainn.  They are my family.”

He chuckled and reached out to rub the top of my head like an annoying big brother.  “Aye, we suspected as much.  And donna worry, no one likes the taste of yer kind.”  He made a face.  “Or those dogs.”

“You mean the selkies,” I groaned.

“Same thing.”

Kain cleared his throat in an attempt to stop my impending response.  “So how are we supposed to feed you, exactly?”

“Aye, good question.”  Abhainn walked back towards us and straightened the dark jacket that hung from his impressive frame.  “Here’s the deal.  Since we are somewhat…limited with the distance we can travel from the water, the water fairies ‘ave requested that ye turn the other way when we need to feed nearby.”

“You want us to sit back and let you kill humans?” I asked incredulously.  “You have got to be kidding!  The whole point of this stupid war is to save humanity, not eat them!”

Kain rested a hand on my shoulder.  “What kind of numbers are you talking about?”

“Kain!” I yelled.

“Eviana, I’m just trying to understand exactly what their demands are so we can think about this rationally.”  Sometimes his calm, cool, and collected persona irked me more than anything else.  But he did have a point so I crossed my arms and looked at the sprite.

Abhainn was rubbing the illusion-induced stubble on his chin.  “Well, let’s see.  One a week should do it, I think.”

“For each of you?”  I gasped.  Kain gave me a look and I rolled my eyes but closed my mouth.

“Is that absolutely necessary?” he asked Abhainn.

“Yes.  Otherwise we will only be able to help ye from the water.”  So eating humans allowed them to assume the solid form we would need in battle.  As much as I hated the idea, I also hated the fact that we were severely outnumbered.

“We will think about your terms,” Kain replied diplomatically.

Abhainn nodded.  “’Tis all that we ask, yet I should tell ye that they are gettin’ restless.  The sooner you can solidify this agreement, the better.”

“We understand,” Kain said. 

Did we?  I’m not so sure that I did.  But I didn’t get a chance to say anything more.  For Abhainn suddenly stiffened and tilted his head to the side like he was listening to something.  Then, with a curse, he exploded into a million tiny water droplets and disappeared from our sight.

“What just happened?” I shrieked at Kain.

“I don’t know.”  He ran to the edge of the porch and looked all around like he could find Abhainn.  “Where could he possibly go?”

“There’s no water out here.  Maybe in the ground…”

A scream from somewhere nearby closed off the rest of my thought.  It seemed to echo around the house, making it difficult to determine its origin.  Kain and I froze, waiting for something else to happen.

The second scream sent us running back inside and out to the deck.  Almost everyone had dispersed.  I saw only a handful of protectors and selkies guarding my sister, uncle, and Daniel.  The rest were running towards the beach.

“What’s going on?” I asked anyone who would answer.

“We’re being attacked!” Marisol screamed.  “Look!” I followed her shaking arm to see that she was pointing to the edge of the water line.  It was several hundred yards away but from our view, it was easy to see a dozen animal forms rising up out of the water and approaching our army.

“No!” I gasped as the ratchets shook their body like a wet dog and bared their teeth at the protectors and selkies who had made their way down to the beach.  “No, this can’t be happening!  Kain!”

I yelled at my friend as he took off down the stairs.  “What is he doing?” my uncle asked, but I barely heard him because I was chasing after Kain.  With his long legs and the near foot of extra height, he bounded down the stairs and onto the beach way quicker than I would have expected.  There was no way that I was going to catch him.

“Kain!” I yelled again.  My mind suddenly remembered the night that Graham and I were running for our lives over the sand dunes at Jeremiah’s.  Panic seared through my body and almost paralyzed me.  I was afraid of these ratchets and I was probably one of the only ones to witness the extent of their destruction up close.  The rest of my army would fight them like any other enemy but I wasn’t sure that would be enough.

Stumbling along the beach, I heard myself yelling without really knowing I was doing it.  Perhaps a part of me was in shock.  There had simply been too many attacks for my mind to cope. 

But something was different this time.  I stopped when I saw that nothing was happening.  No one had moved.

The ratchets were on all fours in an aggressive stance, hunched over and teeth flashing, but they hadn’t stepped any closer.  Maybe these were friends of Abhainn.

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, Abhainn appeared twenty feet behind the ratchets, floating on the surface of the water in his aqueous form.  “Master Matthew, now would be a good time to show them what ye can do.”

Three of the ratchets whipped around to growl at the sprite while the rest remained transfixed on us.  Kain stepped forward in front of all our protectors and selkies that were better trained for these kinds of fights.

“Kain!”  I yelled again.  This time he stopped, although I knew it was hopeless the moment he turned his head and winked at me.

With a flick of his hands he began to raise his arms and finally, we weren’t the ones being hunted anymore.

Seventeen

Several people gasped at the site in front of them.  A wall of water formed behind the ratchets, effectively trapping the creatures and blocking their escape.  When one of the smaller ones tried to flee into the ocean, Kain flipped his hand and a tendril of water shot out from the wall to slam the ratchet back onto the beach.  I watched closely, but didn’t appear to be moving after that.

Abhainn’s face eerily appeared in the liquid barrier and I stared in horror as he extended an inhumanly long arm from the water and grabbed a ratchet by the rear legs.  The creature screeched and instantly twisted its body to reach behind and bite at his captor.  The two rear legs quickly turned into a serpent tail, just like I’d encountered at Jeremiah’s.  But that didn’t deter Abhainn.

The ratchet was making the most horrible yelping sound as the water sprite pulled the animal closer towards his growing head.  By the time the ratchet was hanging in mid-air, Abhainn’s face consumed the majority of the watery wall.  His sharp teeth were each a foot in length and I had to turn my head when he flung the ratchet into his mouth and chomped down.

A piercing yelp followed by the sound of crunching bones let me know that we were now down to ten enemies. 

Kain’s arms were shaking but his face was filled with determination.  One by one, Kain and Abhainn subdued or ate the remaining ratchets while the rest of us sat back and watched in awe.  No amount of training could ever prepare us for something like this.  Although it did appear that Kain had been practicing his skills.  Perhaps the contract with the water fairies could be altered to include water control sessions for all of the mermaids.  

When the last of the enemies were no longer a threat, Kain let out a breath and dropped his arms.  The wall of water fell so suddenly it caused a miniature tidal wave to wash up on shore.  We tried to jump out of the way, but it was futile.  The wave swept up past our waists and nearly dragged each one of us back into the sea.  I stumbled against Kain and we both crashed into the water.  His hand wrapped around my upper body, touching parts it shouldn’t while my knees came awfully close to hitting areas sensitive to him.  It was one of the most awkward moments we’d ever shared.  My gaze met his face and I started to giggle.  He quickly joined me and soon we couldn’t stop laughing, even after the wave subsided and we were lying on the beach like two broken bodies.

“That was pretty awesome,” I said even though my mouth was pressed against his chest because of the way we were positioned.

“Huh?” he mumbled while detangling our limbs and rolling off of me.  “The water trick or the synchronized swimming?”

I blushed a little even though I knew he was joking.  “The water trick,” I groaned.  “Someone’s been practicing.”

“Well, I can’t let you be the all-powerful one on your own.  What kind of co-leader would I be then?”

“A jealous one?” I teased and that earned me a poke in the ribs.

“Very funny.”  He pushed up to his knees and reached a hand towards me.  “Come on.  It’s getting dark and everyone’s staring at us.”

I turned my head to the side to see that yes, in fact, everyone was staring at us.  I even saw Palmer wink at me.  Rolling my eyes, I allowed Kain to help me up off the ground.  I brushed the sand away the best I could even though I was soaking wet.  Despite the fact that I spent half of my life in the ocean, I still hated to wear wet clothes.

“He’s gone,” Kain said beside me.

“Who?”

“Abhainn.  He’s gone.”  I followed his eyes to look out at the spot where the sprite’s giant head had managed to consume eight of the twelve ratchets.  Chills swept through me thinking about how dangerous those creatures were.  And I wasn’t just referring to the ratchets.

“Where are the bodies?” I asked.

“Swept away,” Palmer answered.  “Almost like you two.”  I glared up at my cousin.

“I think that I can handle a wave, Palmer.”  When he glanced quickly at Kain and back to me, I knew that he wasn’t exactly referring to being swept away by the ocean.  He was implying a different kind of danger.

Ignoring him, I stared up at the house.  In the growing darkness, everyone on the porch looked like a silhouette against the back lighting of the indoor house lights.  I thought that I saw five or six people standing up there.