"You will go through with it all, Eviana, or I will kill your merman piece by piece," Lucian threatened me just after swooning over how beautiful I looked. He was beyond crazy.

Since Graham wasn't allowed to see me, and Lucian needed to "greet the va.s.sals", I would walk down the aisle by myself. Thinking this may be an opportunity to act, I agreed. But when I reached the main lobby area for which I needed to pa.s.s through to the courtyard, I saw that Lucian made sure a security detail watched my every move. I probably would have been able to control one or two, but I didn't think I could hold all of them at once. Plus I had to a.s.sume Kain and the others would have a plan.

So when I started that dreaded march to my social demise, I frantically wanted to see his face. One look to a.s.sure me that we were going to get away from here. For a moment I thought I saw him, but the crowd quickly pushed together to get a closer view of the ceremony and I accepted that my mind was playing tricks on me.

A string quartet played a cla.s.sical piece I recognized but didn't know the name of. The music should have calmed me, but it had the complete opposite effect. My palms leaked with sweat all over the stupid flower I had to carry. If my heart beat any faster, I believed that it would go into cardiac arrest. Maybe that could be my way out.

I saw Lucian standing next to Graham at the end of the aisle and in the center of the gazebo, glaring at me. I was taking too long. I couldn't help it if my feet wouldn't move, could I? Lucian made a small sign with his hand that was only for my eyes. The fake knife across the throat, disguised by a touch to his hair, let me know that he was insinuating death again.

I was really tired of being threatened.

A few moments later I reached the gazebo steps. To my right sat Lucian's drones. His supporters that would stop at nothing to betray their kind. And to my left was everyone else. I saw Adele Lyonetta and we shared a moment. Her face looked tired and worn, but her eyes were anything but. There was a plan, I knew it.

Lucian cleared his throat, forcing me to look up at him and my husband to be. Had the situation been in a parallel world without kidnappings, betrayal, and my biological father, I may have been happy to marry Graham. His handsome face captivated me for the briefest of moments until I remembered that it was just the blood talking. Still, he looked amazing in his black suit which hugged his frame in all the right places.

He smiled at me like he knew where my thoughts had drifted. Deciding that I was tired of playing along, I glared back. Lucian immediately walked forward and yanked me up to the makeshift altar. He squeezed my arm hard, for sure leaving a mark.

"Behave," he whispered in my ear without even moving his lips. In fact, he smiled the entire time.

"You could at least pretend to love me," Graham said in a mocking tone. "I love you."

"You have no idea what love is," I spat back. Lucian quickly began his speech to cover the noise of our argument.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Leaders of our kind. It gives me great honor to present my daughter, Eviana Anne Duhmal to be wed to Graham Marcus Forrester on this night, in the presence of all." Lucian lifted my hand and firmly placed it into Graham's. He smiled and I fought back tears.

"The union of these two commanding individuals will secure the future of our kind." I tried to pull my hand away from Graham, but he held fast and sent a cunning wink in my direction. I dug my nails into his skin.

"If anyone here should wish to deny these two their birthrights and destined union, now would be the time to speak."

I frantically looked around the crowd, particularly those on my side of the gathering, but no one said a word. Where was Kain? Or Troy? Someone. Someone had to stop this.

"Very well, and excellent choice..." Lucian's voice cracked. "Excellent..." he tried to finish, but began coughing instead. Clearing his throat, he started again. "As I was saying, agreeing to this union is a wise..."

This time, he grabbed at his chest and began sucking in shallow, raspy breaths. The crowd started to whisper and move about, wondering what was happening. Lucian's protectors ran to the gazebo and caught him under the arms.

"Master Sutherland, what's wrong?"

Lucian continued to gasp, but his eyes were scanning the crowd. When they reached their target, I saw his face contort into rage. "Her!"

We all looked in the direction his hand was pointing and I nearly cried with joy. Adele had removed herself from the ma.s.ses and was now standing in the front, staring at Lucian. It took a moment for me to realize that she was controlling something within him.

"You are not the only one with power, Lucian. Now!"

Her command brought a flurry of action. Almost at once, the left side of the audience attacked the right. Our supporters finally enacted their revenge on Lucian's cronies.

Fists flew, compulsion wars began, and I stood there. Frozen. It probably wasn't for very long, but time seemed to stand still. As if in slow motion, I watched our side fight with an amazing show of strength and force that Lucian's new friends didn't stand a chance. However, the weaker ones in the horde were easily taken down by mental commands. I only caught a glimpse, but I looked on in horror as Marisol dropped to her knees in front of Elizabetta, one of Lucian's new Council members. She was forcing them to obey left and right until an entire cl.u.s.ter of merfolk surrounded her. As one, they moved through the crowd, her protective circle blocking an intruder then turning them into a puppet like the others.

Daniel screamed. I'm not sure how I knew it was Daniel, but I did. His voiced sliced through the night, even though I couldn't spot him. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I yelled out in frustration. I looked for Kain, yet couldn't find him. My heart hammered in my chest until I finally saw two other familiar faces.

Troy and Palmer fought with the new Council's a.s.signed protectors, leaving a wide gap between them and Elizabetta who continued to squash those around her like bugs. They were doing a great job at defending themselves and working together as a team to accomplish their goals. In the few seconds I managed to see, they had subdued five protectors.

Lucian dropped to the ground and hacked until I thought an organ would fall out. Adele moved closer, never breaking her concentration. She was actually winning.

That was until an older merman in a dark green cloak appeared by her side. Lucian smiled and stopped coughing long enough to turn his head and look up at Graham. They exchanged a look so evil that I knew what came next would not bode well for Adele.

"No!" I shouted, but it was too late. Graham had already seized control of the old man, who was now beating his own head and face. I saw the glistening tears in Adele's eyes, but she tried not to look away from Lucian. He coughed again, this time spitting up blood.

The old man fell to the ground, hard enough to break bones. His head slammed against the concrete patio, then he went still. Adele yelled out and dropped to help him, severing her hold on Lucian.

"Get her out of here," he growled at Graham.

"No! Help!" I yelled, hoping someone would hear me. With all of the commotion and fighting and compulsion going on, I knew it would be useless.

"Eviana!" It seemed like a trick; not a real voice. "Eviana!"

Kain had found me.

"Kain!" I yelled back, not sure where he was coming from. Graham dragged me by my hair backward over the far side of the gazebo and down to the beach. "Kain!"

We stumbled past battles between mermaids, mermen, protectors, and leaders. Our supporters appeared to be corralling the others toward the water's edge. Why would they do that? They might be able to hold their own on land, but it would be tough to compete with an element controlling leader in the water.

I fell to the ground and screamed when Graham pulled on my hair. "Shut up!" he snapped. "Get up, now!"

"Kain!" I didn't hear him anymore. The mult.i.tude of fights drowned out any chance of me finding his beautiful voice. I started to cry.

And then I felt the warm, inviting water wash over my legs. I don't know why I hadn't realize this sooner, but being in the water might just give me the edge I needed to get away from Graham.

"Mistress Dumahl!"

Someone called for me but it wasn't Kain this time. Turning my face toward the sea, I felt my heart swell. A giant sprite head bobbed along the surface, showing me the mouthful of dangerous incisors. I couldn't remember the last time I had been so happy to see Abhainn. He survived and if he was here, that meant the ratchets were too.

As Graham dragged me backward into the water, I watched in silence while Lucian's followers were forced into the ocean. They changed into mermaid form quickly, but many of them never surfaced again. I knew the water sprites were having a feast tonight.

Several streams of water exploded around us, as the losing team began to fight for their last breath. Tendrils controlled by the merfolk snaked across the surface, latching on to ratchet necks and squeezing them until they burst. That only sent the sprites into a frenzy and soon, merfolk body parts flew through the air.

I swallowed the bile in my throat and decided that I was tired of Graham controlling my every move. Reaching up behind me, I focused on him harder than I'd ever concentrated on anything before. Release me! I commanded in my head. For a brief moment, his grip loosened. I pulled my hair free and stood in the knee deep water to face him. In the quickest way possible, I drew the water up from the surface and attempted to wrap it around his throat, just as I'd been practicing the last two days.

For a second, he froze in terror. But when I saw the smirk snake its way through his features, fear slammed me in the gut. I wasn't strong enough yet.

He jumped at me and managed to push us both into the surf. The water pounded against our bodies, nearly drowning me in the process. The only thing I could do was change.

The dress would have normally been an obstacle, but tonight my legs shifted freely without the need to shred my clothing. In seconds, I felt the final tingle and lifted my tail hard into Graham who was still pinning me down.

The impact knocked him over my head, so I dove into the water and began to swim. Somewhere in my peripheral, I could sense others following. But at this moment, I needed to put some distance between Graham and me.

After several minutes, or maybe it was seconds, of swimming, I stopped to see where he was. Some instinct was encouraging me to do so. My wedding gown weighed me down, yet the adrenaline kept me afloat. I looked around the surface, trying to take in the situation. Just past the surf, and moving fast in my direction, I noticed the wall of water.

The tactic was undeniably Graham's, but it was Kain I saw first. There, on the beach, was my Kain. He held out both hands like he was commanding somebody to stop, but his focus was entirely on the wall moving toward me.

I only had a moment to wonder why he was sending the water in my direction, when I saw him. Graham exploded from the surface five feet in front of me, in full merman form, and slammed against my chest. I could barely grasp a breath before we plummeted into the dark waters.

Graham's hands tightened around my arms as we hurdled down and away from the scene on the beach. My shoulder slammed into a piece of coral, slicing it open and forcing the burning salt water inside. I tried to scream, but then realized I didn't have much air in my lungs. If we didn't surface soon, I worried for my survival.

Feeling the cool, yet painful sting of my blood leaving my body, I attempted to knock my head into Graham's chest. But with the way he was holding me, almost like a surf board, I couldn't reach an area on him that would do any type of harm.

The sudden, piecing howl sent a wave of relief through me. There was simply no mistaking the war cry of a selkie.

In a whirl of motion, Graham was knocked away and something nudged me in the side. The seal head banged against me several times before I had enough sense to swim up to the surface. I knew without looking that Brendan was here.

I wouldn't be able to describe the range of emotions my heart experienced at that moment. After all we'd been through, after his instinctual nature prevailed, Brendan was still trying to save me.

When I didn't move fast enough, he nudged me in the direction he wanted to go. First, I needed to get to the surface, so instead of going to the side as he requested, I headed straight up to catch a breath of salty air. The mumbled sounds beneath the sea suddenly exploded into an orchestra of battle noises. Yelling, fighting, the cracking of burning buildings all caught my attention at the sh.o.r.eline. Where did the fire come from?

It was the briefest of thoughts, but for some reason I was fixated on it. Perhaps that was because it reminded me of the night Graham and I escaped Lucian's attack at Jeremiah's. Part of his house had burned along with the sleeping quarters of so many human servants. It had been my first encounter with ratchets and it had changed my opinion of the world I lived in.

Brendan suddenly bit down hard on my arm and pulled me further away from the sh.o.r.e. His teeth hurt, yet I was temporarily lost in the past and incapable of moving forward. Within a few minutes, my back hit shallow ground. It woke me up out of my haze and I looked around wondering why I was on land this far out in the ocean.

Brendan released his hold on my arm, but continued to nudge my side. Rolling over so that I could see in front of me, I pulled myself up onto the narrow sandbar. Why did he push me here? This was land, not sea. As if reading my thoughts, Brendan barked at me. It was a sound unique to him and I knew what it meant. Change.

I closed my eyes and willed my legs back to me. It took way too long, and I began to panic. A warm, furry body sidled up to me, instantly putting my mind at ease. Brendan had always been able to comfort me with one touch, and now I felt like I needed him more than ever.

He nestled against me and growled. It wasn't a mean growl, it was more like a purr. Relax Eviana, it meant. And so I relaxed.

The p.r.i.c.kly sand grains pressing through my toes was the first feeling I noticed when my legs returned. Although shaky, I used them to sit back on my knees. Brendan looked at me for a moment, then placed his seal head in my lap. I couldn't help but stroke his fur while all of our years together danced through my mind. The first time we met, our first kiss, the night in the mountain lodge...all of the wonderful memories we'd shared.

He had been a part of my life for so long, and now he was back in it. Saving me. Protecting me. A new hole opened in my heart and I began to sob uncontrollably. Resting my head against his, I held Brendan in my arms, with no intention of letting him leave. He whimpered and tried to pull away, but I wouldn't let him. I couldn't let him go so easily.

"Well, isn't that a sight." Graham said as he emerged from the water and walked along the sand bar. His pants were missing, but the white wedding shirt remained. He shook the water off his head, and smirked. "Too bad this will be your last moment together."

I didn't have time to register the threat before a wave swallowed us both.

Twenty Two Eviana I tumbled over backward, the ground skimming my legs and the water swallowing me whole. Reaching out for Brendan, I barely caught a glimpse of his form and a touch of his hair, before being ripped away from him again. It took several moments of being tossed around like a stone before I could orient myself, and by then, my body was battered and nearly broken.

The rumbling of the churning water drowned out all other sounds. In its own way, it was peaceful. I was meant to be under the water, it was in my nature. But the constant feeling of defeat was not something I would ever be accustomed to.

Just as I decided to take back control of my fate, the water suddenly disappeared. I stopped rolling against the ground and sucked in a deep, energizing breath. Landing on my back, I opened my eyes to see that the water hadn't vanished, it was instead hovering in the air around me. Had I done that?

Someone grunted nearby, but the water surrounding me blocked the view. I heard a shout, followed by the unmistakable sound of a fist hitting skin. Without much thought, I stood and forced the water to fall to the sides. Finally free of the element, I could see how isolated we really were on this sand bar. The sh.o.r.eline was still visible, but when I was knocked backward in that wave, I'd been pushed further out to sea.

Standing ankle deep in water, I struggled to find the source of the commotion nearby. Two men fighting in the distance made an eerie silhouette against the flames burning brightly on the beach. They were too far away for me to notice who was winning, but in my gut I knew Kain and Graham wouldn't stop until one of them was dead.

That thought dropped me to my knees as the pit in my stomach ripped open. Kain couldn't die. Not for me. Not ever.

I had to end this.

Swallowing the fear, and pain, and worry pulsing throughout my body, I forced myself to stand and began to move toward them. A small wave, one not caused by a merman, rushed up against my legs causing me to stumble. Something large and furry landed in front of my shins, making me jump over it. However, I wasn't quick enough, and I ended up stepping on top of him instead.

"Brendan?" Still in his seal form, he seemed to wake up and take in the situation. I kneeled down next to him to look for injuries. There weren't any obvious bites or tears, but he was disoriented and slow in his movements. "Are you okay?"

I'll never forget the look in those green eyes for the rest of my life. He stared at me with such intensity, such love, that it settled deep into my soul. Never to be thrown out or forgotten again.

I sat down, unable to breath and unable to stand. Brendan crawled a little closer so that his flippers straddled both of my legs. Although initially serious, his eyes now twinkled with mischief. Again I was reminded of the very first time we met. The world disappeared around us for the briefest of moments while stared at each other's eyes.

Kain's scream ended everything. I remembered that there was someone else in my life now. I remembered that Brendan left me and we would never be together again. And I remembered that we had to help Kain.

Brendan must have noticed the change in my expression, because he narrowed his eyes at me and snarled. He wanted me to stay out of it.

"No way. I need to help him!" Wiggling backward, I tried to get out from under the two hundred pound seal. He barked in my face. "Get off of me, Brendan!"

Kain yelled again, only this time the end was cut off with gurgling sounds. Brendan turned toward them and then back to me. He huffed and hung his head. It confused me for a minute, until his eyes caught mine again. I swear they shimmered with fresh tears, even though I didn't know selkies could cry in their animal form.

Brendan leaned forward and touched the tip of his snout against my nose. He brushed it lightly from side to side, giving me his seal version of a kiss. It felt like a lifetime since I'd last had that kind of touch from him. Without thinking, I lifted my arm to pet the top of his head, and closed my eyes for one quick second. I knew right then that a part of me would always love him.

When I opened my eyes, Brendan was gone. I glimpsed his back flippers disappearing off the edge of the sand bar and into the sea. He was heading straight for the two mermen and I panicked. Brendan wouldn't stand a chance against Graham's compulsion.

Demanding my legs to work, I ran toward the three guys in my life. For good or bad, they were all connected to me and all fighting for me in different ways. It was time that I stood up for myself.

I'd almost reached the far side of the sandbar, when I realized why Kain had been yelling. He had managed to trap Graham's legs in a cyclone of water, but he was holding his head and howling in pain. Just as I got close enough to attack, the last of Kain's water drizzled back into the surf. Graham's focus intensified and Kain began to sink into the sand.

"Enough!" I yelled at Graham. He flew backward through the air so quickly I didn't even know what happened. When his body slammed into the ground, he actually laughed.

"Nice work, tart." It wasn't more than a whisper, but using his nickname for me sent me into a rage. I ran forward and jumped on his stomach. It surprised him enough that I was able to get two quick punches to his face before he caught my hands. "We'll have time to role play later. But for now I must ask you to stop ruining the best part of my body."

I couldn't believe he wasn't taking this seriously. I began to push the back of his head into the ground, trying to will the water to swallow him whole. As soon as he realized what I was doing, a look crossed his face that sent fear running through me.

He wrapped both of his hands around my throat and squeezed. It wasn't time to use compulsion or water control, he was simply trying to kill me. "I thought we would be happy together, Eviana. You know how much I've wanted you since the day we met in Seattle. Why couldn't you make the right choice?"

He squeezed harder. I tried to pull his hands away at the same time I reached deep into my mind for the ability to control others. But my brain was fighting for oxygen right now and it wouldn't focus on the task at hand.

"Really, tart. I feel like killing you is such a waste." In my weakened state, he was able to roll me off of him so that he now straddled my waist. It gave him much better traction for the strangulation posture. He pushed down. "I asked, no begged Lucian to keep you alive, but he insisted that you would be a problem if you didn't submit."

I clawed at his face, tried to kick his legs, but nothing worked. My body was shutting down. I managed to catch a glimpse of Kain, buried chest deep in the sand and completely unconscious. How had Graham done that?

Stars. I saw stars above my face. Some were real in the sky, others flitted by as the last of my will to fight disintegrated into a haze. For a second, I thought that this end was fitting. Lucian would not have me. Graham would not have me. In my own way, I was going to win.

A large shadow flew over top of me and slammed into Graham, knocking his hands away and pulling me back into this world. It hurt like h.e.l.l. My lungs burned and screamed for oxygen, yet when I opened my mouth to inhale that much needed air, every muscle in my throat seized in pain. I wondered if Graham had broken something; my windpipe, my spine, my will to survive. No, I couldn't let this happen.

In the amount of time it took for me to recover, Brendan and Graham had created a bloodbath. Literally. The water splashing around our legs had a darkened tint to it that only blood can produce. I could even smell the metallic flavor in the sea spray.

When my eyes finally focused, I watched Graham slam his hand into Brendan's side. He yelped in pain as Graham repeated the same motion over and over. At one point, the light from the beach fire glimmered off the knife the he was plunging relentlessly into my selkie. Where did he get a knife?

I crawled toward them, still unable to speak or breathe very well, but someone grabbed my ankle. Kain, buried in the sand, shook his head and stopped me from helping Brendan. Before I could ask if he was crazy, he squeezed his eyes shut and started to lift from the ground. Even in the dark I could see the moisture of the dampened sand disappear while Kain forced it to move his body out of the trap.

Brendan snarled and this time Graham screamed out in pain. The two of them twisted and turned in a horrifying dance that wouldn't end well. I tried to step closer again, but Kain wrapped his arms around my chest and held me back. I felt the empty knife sheath on his waist and panicked.

"Let go," I shouted, but it only came out as a hoa.r.s.e whisper.

"No, we cannot help them."