Rule (Roam Series, Book Five) (27 page)

“What’s wrong?” I turned toward the castle, and then looked up at the sky. The sun was excruciatingly hot; I felt my fair skin burning just by standing on the open floor of the ship. Eric ushered us under the deck.

“Meredith has breached our fortress, Will. She has claimed to have murdered Asher.”

“What?” I fell back, shaking my head. “She can’t! He’s immortal, he-…,”

Eric lowered his eyes to the sea. “There are ways. In the same way Troy’s life ended… She is said to have fed him to the sirens.”

“Sirens?”

“You know them as mermaids,” Will glanced overboard before turning to me. “The thing that attacked me. It must have come through the portal from this land. These oceans are filled with them, thanks to my father.”

My mind skipped. “My grandfather is dead?” I stared at the castle in revulsion; nothing made sense.
Mermaids?

“That is what we are told. Meredith orders your surrender. I have sealed off the portal to your world, Eva, but
my magic is not nearly as strong as yours.”

“She’s trying to get to Christopher.” I turned toward the mountain, sensing the spell that Eric had cast over the inclined plane. “Take me to her,
now
,” I hissed, shrugging at my wet gown. “She fucked with the wrong queen.”

“Her demands do not stop at your surrender.” Eric bowed his head
. “She wishes to use your magic to open a portal to the past. Her intent is to use your parents and Logan to bring her father back here… to reign.”

“Troy? What the
fuck
.” I kicked at the table in my way, knowing my nostrils flared unattractively but not caring. “I will
kill her
.”

“Eva,” Will turned me toward him,
giving a sad shake of his head. “Do not underestimate her.”

“
She’s just another crazy bitch,” I argued, turning to Eric. “What do you suggest we do?”

Eric looked to Will, and then back to me. “Meredith rules an army of miscreants. Criminals. They are greater in number and strength. She knows the castle; she uses its secrets to her advantage.”

“Let’s just
attack
,” I said, watching Eric’s eyes flash black.

He turned to Will, as if I no longer existed. “Eva is too petulant. She will not be reliable in battle. We need help, Will.”

“Hey!” I balled my fists, knowing my eyes now matched his.

Will held his hand up, silencing me. “Logan?”

“The immortal, yes. But also Roam and West. They are invested in this battle. They will protect their children at all costs.”

I felt my heart drop out of my chest and roll across the deck of the ship. “
No!
I won’t let them get hurt-…,”

“I am your king. You will
do
as I command.”

Closing my mouth, I stared at Will, the hurt evident in my eyes.

“I can get you both through the water, and protect you from the sirens. But you must control the portal, Eva. You must open it.”

“Fine.” I knew I could convince Will to leave my parents alone, I just needed time. “Now?”

Eric gestured to the ocean. “Now.”

I had no time to watch Eric shift into whatever a selkie was; Will and I kept moving without looking back. When we finally surfaced, I gasped, spittin
g out salt water. Air filled my relieved lungs.

We were in the Atlantic Ocean, not a half mile from the shore of my house.

“Swim, Eva,” Will prompted, and we moved closer to the shore through the freezing water.

How long were we gone, in England? In Icepond?

I’m so confused.

“Almost there,” he called, and as we waded into shallow water, people turned to look at us in dismay. Fully clothed and in medieval England attire, we drew the attention of
the handful of people at the shore.

“What is the date?” I fired at a fisherman, and he squinted through his sunglasses.

“The date? February twelfth.”

“…and the
year!” I demanded, hearing Will groan inwardly at my impatience.

“2032.”

“What?
Over two years?
” I broke into a run, and Will caught my arm by the time I reached the dunes.

“Eva, we don’t know that they live here…,”

“Of course they do! I disappear in the night, am gone for two years, and you think they’d move?” I took two steps at a time over the steps on the dunes, nearly tripping over my long, sodden dress.

“You must slow down-…,”

“Eva?”

I froze at the man’s voice in front of me. I knew it was Christopher; from his sandy-blonde hair to his blue eyes, I
knew
my brother. Now only days from turning seventeen, he was so tall, broad shouldered, and looked very much like my dad.

“Chris?” I held my arms out, and he lowered his duffle bag to the ground, staring at me in awe. Finally, he staggered to me, folding me in his arms.

“What in the hell happened to you? It’s been over two years, Eva!” He pulled me away from him, holding me steady. “Is there a war? Is that why you came back?”

I watched a glimmer of excitement flicker in his eyes.

“War? Christopher, where are Mom and-…,”

“Eva.” My father’s reverent voice drew my attention to the house.

I backed away from Christopher as my dad took slow steps to me. “Dad?”

He was holding me before
I could take another breath. I blinked at the saltwater running down my eyelids from my hairline as my feet, inches from the ground, dangled. He smothered me in his arms.

“
We thought you were gone,
” he spoke into my wet hair, his grip on my head so firm that I had to gasp for breath.

“I fell asleep… and had the water dream… but it took
us both to the castle… and then I got angry for a stupid reason and took all of your memories of Icepond, the prophecy, and everything away… and Grandfather sent me back into time to find you… and…,”

“
I know,
Eva...
I know.
This dress, you… 
I remember
,” he lowered me to my feet, gesturing to my gown. “It
was
you. I believe that now… that day on the forest road. No wonder you were so restless… and spoke so differently
…
,”

“Thank you for listening that day,” I straightened my shoulders, wiping away the stubborn tear that burned my cheek. “And I’m so,
so sorry
for what I said in the living room, about this all being your fault, and that
I hate you, I could never hate you Daddy…
and I hope you can forgive me and still love me, I-…,”

“Eva Anastasia Perry,” he silenced me with one look, capturing my chin in his fingers lovingly. “There is nothing you could say- or do- that would ever make me stop loving you.”

My resolve collapsed, and I could only nod. My father lifted his eyes over my head, and I felt Will’s arms around me.

“Only a short time has passed for us, while we were in England, but we are exhausted and hungry.” He said ‘we’ but I know he meant
me
.

“Hungry and tired… not a good combination for my sister,” Chris teased gently, and I scoffed a breathy laugh,
near tears as I turned into Will’s chest.

“Our kingdom has been taken over by my sister, Meredith. She has imprisoned my army, and means to lure us back to the castle. Asher is presumed dead.”

“Al-right,” Chris grinned, gesturing to his duffle bag. “Dad and I were just going shooting. Change of plans.”

“Chris,” West warned, turning back to Will. “What are her intentions?”

“Though the portal to Pennsylvania has been sealed, the magic is weak. She means to break the seal and collect Christopher and Eva. She intends to kill Christopher.”

“She can try.” He muttered.

“And Eva?” My father brushed his hand over my hair.

Will’s grip tightened on my shoulders. “Eva’s magic has grown very powerful… but is still quite unpredictable. Meredith wants to use her to open a portal to the past, and she wishes to b
ring our father through to rule.”

“The only thing that I can imagine that would be worse than Troy… would be the Troy from the past.” My mother’s voice drowned my turbulent thoughts, and I
pulled from Will’s grasp, running toward her.

She held me, weaving comforting words through kisses. I pressed my face into her delicate shoulder, flattening my hands over her back.

“This is
different
.
Time travel
is different from the enchanted fountains… the past lives.” West turned to Will. “If she were to succeed, she would ultimately break off a new timeline in which Troy disappeared. We could… cease to exist.”

I threw my hands upwards. “If Troy held Meredith captive and abused her, beat her and raped her, why would she want to bring him
back?
” I demanded, anger finally drying my moistened eyes.

“What?
His own daughter?
” My mother’s words shook with disgusted wrath.

“I can only imagine that she has completely lost her mind.” Will’s uneven voice told me that he still cared for his sister.

“He has that effect on people.” Roam gathered the base of her shirt in her hand, twisting the material repetitively. “How much time passed in Icepond while you were in England?”

“About three months.” Will said.

“And Eva, you can open a portal to the past?” My mother asked me.

“I have no idea, Mom. I can open one between worlds.”
I shivered as a cold drop of water slid from the base of my hairline and down my neck.

“Can you create a door… to that life? Like the fountains?”

I narrowed my eyes, shrugging. “I… don’t know. Maybe?”

“Call Logan,” West ordered to Christopher, and he nodded.

Roam turned to West. “If we can convince Meredith that we are going through… to the past, to get Troy and return with him, she will expect
months
to pass.”

“Because so much time passed while we were in England,” I concluded, following my mother’s logic.

She nodded. “
Instead, if we succeed, Eva can send us to the past
life
, when all of this started- and not truly time travel. We could carry inanimate objects through the other fountains- clothing, money- and
weapons
.”

“But we were only gone for a few minutes,” my father agreed, nodding.

“That will give us the precious minutes that we will need to obtain weapons, come back through, and
attack
.”

My father listened to her. Finally, after a long minute, he shook
his head. “No, Roam. I won’t do that to you. I won’t put you near Troy again, not for any length of time.”

“Then think of something else,” she snapped, gesturing both of her hands to Christopher and me. “Think of some other way to protect our children, West.”

He met her eyes, and I watched the silent conversation between the two of them. Will reached for my hand. “First, we must attend to basic needs, love. Food, clothing. We have very little time,” he reminded West, and my father nodded.

I walked straight to my bedroom, Will following. Nothing
in the room had been touched since the night we disappeared.

Moving to the bathroom, I turned on the hot water, peeling away the sopping gown.

He climbed into the luxurious heat behind me, and I turned into his arms. The water cleared my mind, drummed on my muscles, and I refused to back away from my husband.

“There, now. Let them fall,” he murmured against my forehead, kissing at my salted cheeks. I forced the tears away again, shaking my head adamantly.

“All of my life, I’ve trained to protect myself, and the ones that I love. How am I supposed to do that now? You know she’ll separate us,” I growled at the waiting sob in my chest, irritated with my lack of control.

“She will not harm me.” He promised. “She will threaten, but my sister loved me very much.”

“And she hated your father, but now wants to bring him back. I don’t need a Rorschach test to tell me she’s lost her shit and can’t be trusted.”

He sighed, reaching for the shampoo still sitting on the shelf. “Your brother will fight.”

“I won’t let him.”

“Eva,” he lathered my curls with the frizz-free formula, and I watched the water trail over his face. “This war is not yours.
It is ours.
”

I considered his words, taking over with my hair. We washed in silence, and as I pulled the soap over my flat abdomen, I met his eyes. “You were so… resolved. You didn’t want to bring a baby into a burning world. What now?” I asked, gesturing to my naked torso. “What if Vadoma was right, and I am pregnant?”