Promises (Book One of The Syrenka Series) (28 page)

That comment caught my attention.
“What do you mean?”

“
Your mother and I had all
but joined our two families together after you left.” I cringed at
the hidden meaning behind those words. “We presented a united front
and I think it’s in all our interest if we continue to do so.” He
finally dropped the shield but picked up my hand instead. “You and
I are going to have to work closely together in order to keep
Lucian away and build trust amongst our clan members. We are young
and not everyone will think that we’re up for the job. But together
we are strong. We can prove to them that we are worth following and
that we will protect our people.”

I looked into his blue eyes and smiled
wistfully. He had such faith in me. Even after I’d proven that his
loyalties were misplaced time and time again, he was still standing
by my side. I’d literally left him at the altar but yet he came to
help me when I asked. I didn’t deserve this kind of treatment from
anyone, but most of all from him. I squeezed his hand. “Why are you
so good to me?”

He sighed and looked down at his feet.
“Because I love you, Eviana.” Before I could reply, he continued.
“It might be a different kind of love now, but I still care. I
always will.” He reached up and wiped away a tear that was falling
silently down my cheek. We just stared at each other for a
moment.

“
I’m so sorry for what I
did to you.”

“
I’ll live,” he replied
with a crooked grin.

“
No, it wasn’t right. I
didn’t handle things right. I’m sorry. You deserve so much more.”
He huffed and tried to pull his hand away, but I held tight.
“Carissa is good. She’s good for you,” I finally said.

He quickly turned his head away. “It’s
not like that with her.”

“
But maybe it can be. And
you deserve it, Kain. You deserve to be happy.” He just smiled and
stared at the floor. It was incredibly uncomfortable to have this
conversation with each other, but it needed to be said. He needed
to know how important he was to me and how much better off he’d be
without me consuming his heart.

“
We should go. It’s going
to be a long trip.” He stood and offered me a hand up. I accepted
and when I was off the bed, he pulled me into an unexpected hug.
“I’m so sorry about your parents,” he breathed into my
ear.

Suddenly, it dawned on me. I didn’t
get to be selfish about the death of my parents or the loss of the
love of my life because he’d never had that opportunity either. His
father died, he became clan leader, and I ran away all within a few
weeks of each other. But his responsibilities trumped all other
situations and he was forced to carry on. Ironically, I was now in
a nearly identical situation. But I also had Kain by my side to
guide me through it. Maybe Brendan was right after all. Maybe
everything was about to change for me.

I pulled back and looked up at Kain.
He smiled down at me with sympathy in his eyes and his wonderful
heart on his sleeve. His attractive tanned face and streaked blonde
hair only added to the beauty that he possessed inside. I reached
up to touch his cheek, feeling another tear trickle down my face.
He placed his hand on top of mine and held it there, against his
face, then briefly closed his eyes. For a moment the whole world
felt right. No more pain. No more war. Just the two of us standing
here on the precipice of a new beginning. He started to lean
towards me and I didn’t stop him. I wanted to feel the warmth of
his lips on mine again. I needed it right now. I needed someone to
love me.

“
We have to get…going,”
Carissa stuttered from the doorway. Her presence filled the room
instantly and I could not only see, but feel Kain tense. He jumped
away from me guiltily and pushed his hands into his pockets. I just
stood there, not really knowing what to do or say.

“
Huh,” Carissa said. She
hadn’t moved any closer but her hands were now on her hips and she
was glaring at Kain. “Looks like I got here just in
time.”

“
Carissa…don’t,” Kain said
with a sigh. He started to walk towards her, but she turned on her
heel and stomped out of the room. He followed closely behind,
calling after her with despair. And for the second time that day,
another guy walked away from me.

I finished packing my meager
belongings, opting to leave behind some of the things that Brendan
and I had bought together. It was too painful to see them and
perhaps they would give the next couple better luck. With one last
look around the tiny efficiency, I pulled the door shut for the
final time.

Daniel quickly grabbed my bags without
saying a word. He hauled them to Kain’s expensive car and loaded up
the trunk. Carissa was already in the passenger seat, staring ahead
and forcing herself to appear indifferent. But I could tell that
she was upset, and that was just one more person that I now owed an
apology too.

It was going to be a nightmare when we
got home. I doubted that anyone had heard about my mother yet and
my heart dropped when I thought about my sister. She would be
devastated. And she would blame me. In all honesty, she had every
right to. It was my decision to run away that ultimately led to the
death of our parents and my ascension to clan leader; two things
that she would have never wanted to happen.

I sighed and looked up at the sky. The
warm salty air wrapped me in its embrace, soothing me for just a
moment. I recalled meeting the lake naiad and her premonition that
I had a lot to learn and my journey would not be long. She was
right in saying that I had little time to adjust to my new life. I
had absolutely no time at all.

There was a war coming amongst our
people. A war that needed to be handled before the humans suspected
anything. All of us would have to fight and some of us would likely
die. I was the one making those life and death decisions now. Me
and me alone. Kain may say that he’ll be there too, but he had his
own clan to worry about. And now he also had Carissa.

But I was alone. Brendan was off
deciding whether or not he wanted to be with me, which hurt me more
than I could ever imagine. He needed his space and his time, but
how long could I really wait for him? How long would it be before I
stopped hurting? I didn’t have the answers right now. Only time
would tell how my life was going to go. And right now, my time was
running short.

Two car doors slammed shut as Kain and
then Daniel crawled inside. The ignition purred while my friends
waited for me to join them. With one last deep breath I stepped
forward. It was time for me to face my destiny. It was time to go
home.

Continue reading for a sneak peak at

Betrayal
, Book Two of The Syrenka
Series coming in 2012.

One

I wanted to punch him in the
face.

For at least the hundredth time today,
I swung my fist towards his rapidly growing smirk. He easily dodged
it, of course, and proceeded to look down at me like a child.
“You’re getting closer,” he teased.

Throwing my arms down in frustration,
I shook my head. “How am I supposed to learn if you won’t even let
me hit you?”

He laughed and resumed a fighter’s
stance. “How are you supposed to learn if I just stand still and
let you pummel me? That’s not ever going to happen in the real
world. Now, try with your legs.”

I rolled my eyes and shifted my feet
so that my stronger right leg was in front. Ideally, I’d be having
this battle underwater where my legs were not an issue.

“
Protect your face,” he
yelled at me and I lifted my fists up to nose level. I could do
this. He’d taught me how to incapacitate my enemies.
Just go for the knee
.

I faked a few smaller kicks,
pretending to hesitate. Then, like a ninja, I struck. The underside
of my right foot was directly on target and I expected it to land a
perfect hit to the side of his left knee. Only it didn’t
happen.

Something grabbed my ankle and I was
suddenly airborne. The world spun around me once before I landed
with a thud on my back, effectively knocking the air from my lungs.
I think I even saw some stars floating by. My training sessions
were getting harder every day, and after this debacle, I decided
that it was time to quit.

A shadow moved above me and I used my
hand to block out the rest of the sun. Looking up at the ominous
figure I said, “I’m done.”

Another laugh rumbled through my
trainer’s chest while he reached down and grabbed my arm. In one
swift motion, he pulled me up off the ground.

“
You would have broken my
knee with that kick, Eviana. I had to stop you.” I glared at him.
“What? I’m not going to
let
you hurt me. But you did well. I knew that you’d
learn eventually.”

I jumped towards him as fast as I
could, intending to get him in a choke hold. My arms slipped around
his neck, but my body kept rolling over him as he bent forward and
used my momentum to toss me towards the ground. In less than two
seconds, I was on my back again with a forearm pressing against my
throat and my pride seeping away into the dirt.

“
Ahh!” I screamed in
frustration. The annoying grin on his face told me that I would
never beat him in a fair fight. Palmer was my cousin and also one
of the numerous protectors now living at my house. We’d been
training for the past two weeks and although I couldn’t hurt him
yet, Palmer reassured me that I was improving.

Ever since Lucian Sutherland killed my
parents a few weeks ago, the security around here had been
increased. We were also learning how to fight since no one wanted
to be helpless against an attack. There was a war brewing amongst
the various merfolk clans, with my family seemingly taking the lead
against the uprising. It was not a position I’d ever expected to be
in, nor ever wanted. In fact, I ran away from this life for a
chance to be with my boyfriend and not be forced into an arranged
marriage and clan leadership. But that all fell apart the moment
Lucian and his followers attacked me and my friends and pulled me
into the center of the merfolk politics I’d always tried to
ignore.

“
Do you yield?” Palmer
asked while pressing a little too hard against my throat. I gave
him the most deadly look I had and tried to push against his mind.
It was futile. Mermaids couldn’t control each other like
that.

But we could use compulsion on humans.
It was what the clans were fighting over now; the right to practice
The Legacy and secure our status of god-like creatures in this
rapidly evolving world. Controlling humans meant directing the
stock market, influencing world politics, and dictating numerous
other scenarios that I really hated to think about. Lucian wanted
me to join him in his cause to help persuade the Council, our
governing body, to allow us to manipulate the minds of lesser
species. I had refused his offer and that had cost me everyone that
I loved.

Thinking about this made me angry. I
kicked my legs, aiming for any part of Palmer’s body that I could
reach. His arm pressed harder against my throat as he scrambled out
of the way, barely avoiding a hit to his most precious
area.

“
Oh, you’re in trouble
now,” he warned. Palmer’s grip lightened slightly and his free hand
moved towards my ribs. In an instant, he began tickling me so hard
that although I tried to resist, I couldn’t. Tears leaked out of my
eyes and I had a hard time catching my breath.

“
Stop it! You’re going to
make me pee my pants,” I managed to say in between the
giggles.

“
That wouldn’t be very
attractive,” a new voice chimed in. Palmer and I sat up instantly
and I could feel the heat rising up to my cheeks.

“
Good afternoon, Master
Matthew,” Palmer said after he jumped to his feet. I remained
sitting on the ground to give myself a chance to recover and to
make sure that I really did have control over my
bladder.

“
Palmer, you can call me
Kain,” the new guy said lightly. Kain was almost six feet tall with
an athletic body and sun bleached shaggy blonde hair. It was
growing out a little bit now, and it seemed as though he didn’t
quite know what to do with it. He was my age and a clan leader
himself. His smile was always friendly but I knew that his dark
sunglasses hid disturbingly haunted eyes.

Kain was the fiancé I’d abandoned not
long after his father died and he assumed leadership. We had been
promised to each other since we were children but I never really
had any intentions of marrying him. My heart had always belonged to
Brendan; my selkie. As a shape shifting seal, and with my abilities
to control all selkies, no one thought that we should be together.
After the events a few weeks ago, Brendan began to feel the same
way and had decided not to return to California with me. I hadn’t
heard much from him and often worried that our relationship might
be over.

My friendship with Kain was still on
the rocks due to my actions but we were trying to keep our clans
united in the face of war. He was frequently a guest at our house
and his budding relationship with Carissa seemed to keep him
content. We never spoke about our almost kiss. That was probably
for the better, although I would sometimes find myself wondering
what would have happened had I chosen a different path. Kain was an
amazing guy and quickly becoming a respectable leader. And I
couldn’t help but realize that Carissa was a lucky girl.