Chapter 10

Amuffled sound made Caroline turn to see what looked like a short figure dressed like Merrick darting between two sections of the reef. At the same time, she noticed two other shapes speeding toward her, and got ready to defend herself until she recognized Nyall's dark red hair and Jamaran's white braid.

I'm not alone this time.

She shoved her free hand through the kelp weave, making a stop gesture as they drew close. When they did she pointed down to where the net had been tethered. Jamaran and Nyall glanced at each other, and the commander drew a long dagger and dove down. The captain swam closer to her, using his blade to cut a hole in the kelp in front of her face. The seaweed stuck to his dagger, making it hard for him to slice apart.

Stop everything.

The kelp trap and water stopped moving around her, but Jamaran remained in motion. She'd given him a few minutes to work, but that wasn't going to help her breathe. She couldn't understand why he darted to the surface and then came back down to her. Did he want her to drown? Then, just as he cut a large hole in the trap, he reached in with his other hand and pulled her against the gap, and put his mouth on hers.

Above them white light flashed, and thunder boomed so loudly the sea seemed to shake around them, but nothing else moved.

At first Caroline didn't understand what he was doing until he forced the breath from his lungs into hers. That gave her starved lungs enough air to ease the smothering sensation, and explained why he'd surfaced. The commander kept his mouth on hers as he continued hacking at the kelp, probably to keep her from breathing in water. He yanked the sticky net away from her wet suit until he was able to drag her out of the trap. In his eyes she saw panic, as if he knew they were running out of time. Once he'd freed her from the trap, time snapped back into motion, and the sticky seaweed net sank to the bottom of the bay.

It"s too late. Caroline's head spun, and her vision began to darken.

Another pair of hands grabbed her, which made her release the last breath in her lungs. She clamped her mouth shut and fought the need to inhale. Bubbles swirled around her as Nyall and Jamaran dragged her up to the surface. Water churned around them as she coughed uncontrollably before she could breathe. Nyall looked furious, but Jamaran kept scanning the sea around them.

Dark clouds spread out over the bay, lightning veining their dark gray billowing masses.

"What was that, a fishing trap?" she asked once she could speak.

The commander shook his head. "'Tis too large, and we never place them in the reefs here. 'Twas meant for trawling, but refashioned."

"Aye, and 'twas baited to catch more than fish." Nyall lifted his fist from the water, from which the rope of pink pearls dangled. As Jamaran muttered in French, the captain looked all over Caroline's face. "Did you see any Selseus watching, or swimming toward you?"

"I thought I saw someone hiding in the reef just before you two came." She described the figure, and how his skinsuit resembled Merrick's. "It wasn't the king, though. He looked way too short."

"Bered," Nyall told Jamaran, and a huge bolt of lightning rammed down into the mountains behind Dun Ard.

"Wait," Caroline said as the commander turned away from them, and gripped his arm. "I didn't see his face. It could have been anyone."

"Only Bered would attempt such." He glanced at Nyall for a long moment, and then nodded. "Come now, my lady."

By the time they reached the wave-swept sand of the little islet Caroline could breathe normally, but her legs wobbled badly and she still seemed dizzy as hell. She sat down at once and put her head between her knees, hoping she wouldn't throw up. Nothing could be less attractive than puking in front of the two guys she wanted.

Like I could have them both.

"I shall carry her up," Nyall said.

"I don't need to be carried," she told him, grabbing his hand as she tried to stand, failed, and groaned. "Just give me a damn minute, okay? That's the second time this month I almost drowned."

The captain crouched down in front of her. "You stopped time again."

"I thought it might buy me a few more minutes, but it had no effect on my lungs. I can definitely die during a time stop." She rubbed her eyes, which had grown hot and stung. "Why would this Bered guy want to kill me? The only Selseus I've met are Merrick and Jamaran."

"His intent, 'twasnae so he might end you," the commander said, his voice tight. "Doubtless he meant capture you. Many sea caves near those beds hold enough air for a landwalker breathe."

Caroline wondered if she should take up a trade that didn't involve her swimming in the ocean. "If he wanted a woman that badly, why didn't he try to transform me?"

"I reckon he wished use you as leverage," Nyall said. "You've more value as a bargaining tool than a mate."

"Right. Unless you want to see how good I am with a knife, don't ever introduce me to Bered." Finally, her legs had grown steady enough for her to rise. "I see a cottage through there."

"We should return to the stronghold, where the clan may protect you," Nyall said.

"You two can protect me," Caroline told him. "Come on."

The stormthat had suddenly come over the island from the bay made Meg wonder if she should hurry back to the farm. When she first came to work for the Mackays they had offered to board her in their own house. She had gently refused, as with five sons and three daughters, two of their spouses, and a small horde of their young bairns, they simply had no room to spare for her. She also preferred the little chamber she'd arranged for herself in the empty granary beside the cow barns, which would serve her well until winter. By then she hoped to be wed, possibly to one of the Mackay's unmarried sons, and settle into a small cottage with her husband to get on with her life.

Once I forget him, 'twill be simple.

After she finished her daily work Meg often walked the shore as she watched the night tides. She liked the sensation of the cooler breeze on her face, and tolerated the smell of salt and the endless lapping of the waves. She never expected to see the Finfolk king; even before she had come to work on the farm he'd promised to stay away from her. Merrick would keep that vow, too. He knew as well as she how dangerous they were together.

The loneliness still gnawed at her with small fangs.

Lady Valerie had sent her a few message scrolls, all of which contained happy news until the last, when she revealed another woman from the future had arrived on the island. Unlike the laird's wife and Lark, Caroline Parish did not care for living at the stronghold or having anything to do with the clan. Her hostility bewildered the laird's wife, who truly believed everyone should be kind and befriend each other.

Meg understood the newcomer's ire, for she'd often hated everything and everyone on Caladh. I wager I'd like Mistress Parish.

The ground vibrated slightly, and then Meg heard the hurried slogging of uncertain footsteps. That could only mean her tag-tail had caught up with her.

"Halo, Meggie." Ceardach, the youngest of the unmarried Mackay sons, trotted down to meet her. He slipped a little and wheeled his arms to remain upright, and then behaved as if he hadn't just come close to planting his face in the sand. "Why didnae you come share the evening meal with us?"

"I ate early with the other maids." She forced a smile for the lad, who at fifteen stood a head taller but had yet to put much muscle on his long limbs. He'd been plaguing her for weeks now, but every time she saw his sweet, beardless face she hadn't the heart to set him down. "You should head back, for your da shall need your help with setting the pans."

"'Tis Dashel's turn in the creamery." He grinned and spread his arms wide. "I may walk with you, far as you wish."

Meg looked into his sweet eyes, which glowed with so much affection and hope they hurt her heart. Because his family's farm occupied a remote part of the island, there weren't many maidens his age nearby. Those he knew from the nearest farms and crofts shared the Mackay bloodlines, and so could not marry into his family. For those reasons it seemed she would have to be more direct.

"I'm too old for walking anywhere with you, lad," she told him. "When 'tis time for me find a beau, I shallnae choose you. You dinnae even ken what you should do with a woman. I need wed a man, no' a bairn."

"I'll be sixteen in summer, and you may teach me what you wish," Ceardach said, his voice shifting unevenly in pitch. "Da shall surely give me leave offer for you."

"Your da shall beat me bloody for tempting you before he sends me away. I want this work, but no' some wee lad as a husband." She turned from him. "Now go back before I fetch your da and tell him all."

The boy fled without another word, and from the muffled sound she heard he would doubtless sob all the way home. He'd hate her for a time, perhaps until he reached manhood, when he'd realize her cruelty had in truth been but kindness.

"Do I spend the rest of my days denying myself?" Meg murmured.

Perhaps she should consider looking beyond the Mackay's farm for a suitor. A fishing village nearby offered the best prospects, but she had no desire to spend her life mending nets and cleaning and salting the catches brought in by the boats. A glimmer of gold and the sound of something slogging through the dark waves made her stiffen. She spun around, afraid to see what was coming for her.

He wouldnae act so foolish. He's a king.

"You yet seduce those you cannae wed?" a beautiful voice asked. "Shall a clutch of spurned lads watch us from the dunes? We should proper entertain them. Come here, woman."

"Every facking man I dinnae want plagues me," she muttered.

Two webbed hands curled over her shoulders, and drew her back against a tall, hard body. A lean cheek rubbed across the top of her head, and a sigh stirred her hair. In that moment the teeth of her loneliness took a huge bite of her heart, judging by the stabbing pain in her chest. At the same time every bone in her body turned to pudding. This was the man she wanted, this thing that only looked like a man.

Merrick ducked his head to press his cheek to hers. "Do you miss me, Margret?"

"No' in the slightest, fish king." She would not weep in front of him again, nor laugh with him, nor do anything that would haunt her dreams for weeks. "Surely you've guessed as much. I've put the island between us, and I'm happy now. I search for a man I may wed. Indeed, I expect I shall marry by summer's end. Go away."

"You're a wretched liar," Merrick murmured, sliding his hands down her arms to encircle her wrists. "You walk the shores here every night and look for sign of me. I ken, for every night I come here and watch you, Margret. I ache and long for you, and curse myself a fool a thousand times over. I only came closer when I saw that lad, and thought him your swain. End my suffering and yours, and come away with me."

Now this. Did he imagine her made of stone? "No."

"I shall name my heir, and surrender the throne to him. I shall find an island where you may live and I may dwell in the waters." The king turned her around to face him. "For I reckon I shall soon go mad without you."

Meg wanted to slap him, but seeing his face again kept her riveted. No man on Caladh looked as handsome or noble as Merrick. She had imagined seeing him again every night since leaving the stronghold; indeed, she had yearned for this encounter. Now she quailed before his bejeweled blue and gold eyes, for he seemed a hundred times more stunning than her memories. The closeness of his body, still dripping with sea water, made her wish she could press herself close and have all his lovely bulging muscles against her own thin frame.

"'Tis the same for you, aye?" He pressed his mouth to her brow. "Let us torment each other no more, Margret."

"You'll want me, aye? As a man does his lady love, then. Doubtless you've planted your seed in many young fish wenches without worry. Yet when my belly swells, for surely 'twill before the snows come, shall you ken our son's fate?" She poked his chest. "Can a lad we birth together even draw breath with a Selseus sire and a yet-mortal màthair?"

"Join me in the sea once I name Jamaran king," he suggested. "We shall find a place far from here where we may abide together forever. Then our son shall come as all Selseus do."

"You speak of the sea, that choked the life from my sisters," she reminded him. "The sea I've ever hated, and spit in, and sometimes used as my privy, every day since I came to Caladh. The sea that near drowned me but a few weeks past. The sea that could I boil the whole away and make the world a salt flat, I surely would. That sea."

"I've missed you, my stubborn wench." His mouth curved into a stunning smile. "Very well, find a method that shall make me a landwalker."

"Dinnae you hear yourself speak?" She would have smacked him in the head, but if she touched him willingly she'd soon be kissing every beautiful, hateful part of him. "Why came you here? The truth now."

"If you refuse me as husband, then return to Dun Ard." Before she replied he pressed a finger to her lips. "If I cannae wed you, at least permit me look upon you."

Meg wanted to agree, rather more than she thought she would. At least when she had served at the stronghold there had always been a chance—a very small one—that she would see Merrick. Even when he remained away, she took comfort from knowing he abided so close to her. Yet she also knew if she returned then he would ask more and more of her, and wear her down, and convince her that her love for him far outweighed her hatred of his world.

And that, Meg suspected, would be the death of her.

"Never." She stepped back until his arms fell to his sides. "You shallnae ask me thus again, or come here after tonight."

"Margret." That was all he said, but he poured into those two sounds that made her name all the longing he must suffer, even now.

"My name, you shall never again speak aloud," she told him. "You shall return and keep your throne, for 'twas your sire's gift. You shall rule fairly your people, and keep the truce with the MacMar, and never again even think of abandoning all who depend on your wisdom and courage for love of me." She gulped in a breath. "For if you do, I shall end you myself."

"Marry soon," was all Merrick said in return.

She made it to the top of the dunes without glancing back, and there stopped only to wipe the tears from her eyes. The sound of water splashing told her Merrick had gone, but she would not look back. If she did and he still stood there, she would forget her hatred of his world, run to him and beg for all he had promised her.

Nyall had never seenJamaran so angry. He knew from the rage burning inside his own chest that if they both went after Bered, the disgraced heir would likely end up dead. Caroline had also been shocked and terrified by her ordeal in the kelp trap, and needed soothing. The storm overhead grew worse by the moment. Since his friend was better with females he looked to him.

Take her to the cottage. I shall find Merrick.

Jamaran closed his eyes for a moment. Dinnae leave us. We need you here.

If you wish make her yours, I shallnae stand in your way. As badly as he wanted Caroline, he would never deny her the man who should have been his brother from birth.

Now his friend looked impatient. She's already yours.

"Enough of that," Caroline said, her expression fierce as she moved to stand between them. "The way you've been talking around me ends tonight. Use words I can hear, not your immortal perks."

"'Tis only that we worry for you, my lady," Jamaran said, putting his arm around her.

"Good. You should be worried. I'm about to explode." She took hold of Nyall's hand. "Don't let go, unless you want to bury yourself."

Nyall followed along, aware of her and his friend as he'd never been. Being alone with the two of them seemed in this moment the most reckless of notions. As soon as they reached old Dugles's dwelling he still planned to leave Caroline with his friend so he could find the king and alert him to what Bered had attempted. For that Merrick would either kill or exile his former heir, which he should have done when his treachery in encouraging Lark's abduction had been revealed.

Once inside Caroline abruptly stripped out of her wet suit, jerking at it as if she could not wait to be rid of it. She flung it over the back of a chair by the dining table, her breasts rising and falling rapidly with her quickened breaths. Although he knew she had no idea how she appeared in the small, tight garment she wore beneath the suit, the sight of her made Nyall swallow hard. The wet fabric acted like a second skin as it clung to her full breasts and hips, even showing the hardened peaks of her mounds clearly. When he became aware of how much his cock had stiffened he decided to build a fire in the hearth to occupy himself and warm her.

Jamaran took a long look at them both before he disappeared into the back room.

Saying anything more seemed unwise given his anger and her temper, so Nyall took his time with stacking the kindling. He then spent a few moments finding a firesteel left by the hearth to light it. He would not act the fool before her and his friend; he should leave as soon as possible. The fact that her closeness had him sweating now boded nothing good.

"Thanks, I'm freezing," Caroline said, crouching down beside him and holding her hands out to the flames to warm them. "Who lives in this place?"

"No one. The mortal who once dwelled here died long ago." For the first time he noticed many small abrasions on her fingers and arms, and the ugly snarl of his emotions knotted tighter. "The one you saw by the reef, did he touch you?"

"He never got close enough. I wish he had. I'd have stabbed him." She dragged in some air as if she were trying to calm herself. "How did you and the commander know something was wrong? I didn't spot either of you by the water before I swam out."

"A scullery walking the shore saw you dive down but never surface, and came running to us." Nyall couldn't stop himself from reaching out and gently caressing one livid scratch on her forearm. "From the net?"

"I hit the reef coral a few times when I was trying to get out. It tore through my suit." She ducked her head. "That kelp is like rubbery iron covered with epoxy. I really thought I was done."

"'Tis grown only in the waters here, for use by the Selseus as netting," Jamaran said as he returned to put a jug and some cups on the table. "From what I saw, 'twas badly woven. Our net makers, they'd never fashion one in such a manner, nor leave such in that place."

"Whoever did it, I want five minutes alone with him," Caroline said, rising to her feet.

I must leave,Nyall thought to him. Look after her.

Merrick left, and shallnae return until morn. His friend regarded him with a strange yearning look now. Dinnae go.

As he started for the door Caroline stepped into his path. "You're not going."

"I've duties awaiting me at the garrison hall, my lady," he told her.

"Screw your duties," she said, putting her hands on his chest and pushing him back toward the hearth. "Someone just tried to drown me—again. I want to know who it was. I want to know right now."

The fact that Caroline had shouted the last words smashed through the last crumbling wall of Nyall's patience.

"Reckon you I dinnae?" he told her, taking her by the arms.

"Let go of me." She twisted in his grip as she tried to push him again, this time away from her. "You should know who did this to me. This is your wonderful island with all your family. I have no one on my side here."

"'Tisnae true, Caroline." He caught her hands. "You've us."

"You weren't there today," she snapped. "I was drowning in ten feet of water. Ten feet. Do you know what it's like, being helpless when all you want is to save yourself? You can't scream underwater when your last breath is burning in your lungs. You can't do anything but fight, even when you know it won't do any good. Why do these bastards keep trying to drown me? The sea was all I had left. It's been my whole life." Her voice broke as she said, "I can't handle this anymore, Nyall. I can't."

He drew her into his arms, holding her as she wept against his shoulder, and looked over her head at his best friend, who quickly moved across the room to come up and embrace Caroline from behind. Holding her between them should have been wrong, but the three of them matched as if she were some missing piece that completed the puzzle of their friendship.

"You're no' helpless, my lady," Nyall told her. "Twice your enemies left you in their traps. Twice you escaped."

Caroline lifted her head to look at him. "What happens the next time, when you and Jamaran are too busy to notice I'm missing?" A sob broke from her lips. "Are you going to find me washed up on shore, with crabs crawling all over me? Or will I just end up in the belly of your man-killer shark?"

Offering her protection wouldn't reassure her, Nyall knew. She needed to learn how to protect herself.

"You shallnae, for now we ken someone intends you harm." He cradled her face between his hands. "You dinnae need guards, Caroline. You need stay on your guard. I shall show you how you may fight on land. Jamaran shall reveal what hurts his kind, and all the ways you may swiftly kill them in the sea. You're strong and fierce, and with some training, you shall gut this fack, should he ever try capture you again."

"Aye," his best friend said softly, stroking her arm. "So we shall teach you."

Nyall kissed her brow, and then watched with pleasure as Jamaran kissed the side of her throat. The terror and rage had finally emptied out of her eyes, leaving them ablaze with some other fierce emotion. Caroline shifted, turning slightly toward the commander so that they stood at her sides before she lifted her mouth and kissed Nyall. She then turned her head and did the same to Jamaran.

"Don't leave me tonight, please." She twined her arms around them. "I want you both to stay. Stay and be with me."