03 The Fate Of The Muse - Marina's Tales (34 page)

Two loud popping sounds cut through the
buzzing in my ears, and then I could no longer hold my head up,
feeling my chin hit my chest as I slumped forward in the chair. The
blackness clouded my vision, and the very last thing I saw before
my eyes closed was Congresswoman Barbara Watson, sprawled akimbo
across the floor at my feet.

I could smell acrid smoke, and feel my body
being lifted and gently cradled. A soft voice crooned to me in an
unfamiliar language, and I could feel something stroking my face. I
was floating, drifting in and out of consciousness, when a fresh
blast of cool sea air hit my face. I fought a losing battle to keep
my drooping eyelids open, and one last strange thought crossed my
mind before I succumbed.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

CHAPTER TWENTYFOUR

THE FIRE

I was swimming in the warm water of Hawaii,
the motion of the waves rocking me and soothing away all my pain.
The turquoise waters gradually darkened, and a spinning whirlpool
formed all around me. I struggled desperately to escape the
powerful force, but it pulled me in, whirling me around and around,
forming a funnel that reached all the way down to the bottom of the
sea. “No!” I cried, fighting against the irresistible pull of the
water,“Nooo!”

I opened my eyes, struggling to lift my head.
The sharp smell of unwashed man hit my nostrils and I fought to
focus on the shadowy figure looming over me. My head started
spinning and I turned aside, coughing and retching. A hand brushed
the hair out of my face and I flopped back down weakly, trying to
make sense out of the blurry shapes and fuzzy images that swam
before my eyes.

“Wherum I?” I croaked, my voice hollow and
slurred, “Whoer you?”

The shadowy figure stirred, leaving and
returning to cup the back of my head and lift a plastic bottle to
my lips. I was parched, and I took a sip of cool water, squeezing
my eyes shut and swallowing. I concentrated, my eyelids flickered
open, and I focused on a familiar face looking down at me, smiling
with a dreamy, glazed look in his coffee colored eyes.

I shrank back in shock as I recognized the
curly black hair, dark eyes and thick neck. His nose had been
flattened by many crushing blows; his skin was criss-crossed with
the scars of past battles. It was a face straight out my
nightmares, but I was pretty sure I was awake. Peter’s enormous
brutish guard had me alone and helpless, completely at his
mercy.

“Curly,” I whispered in terror.

He raised his enormous paw to my face and I
flinched, quivering as he traced his fingers down the side of my
cheek. I tried to sit up, but my limbs were unresponsive, still
leaden from whatever they’d given me. I closed my eyes, trying to
make sense of what had just happened, recalling images of Barbara
and her muse-proof guards being hurled around the library as though
they were weightless. Clearly, Curly wasn’t working for them.

I felt something brush my lips, lifting my
heavy lids to see that he had bent down to kiss me, upon which my
eyes flew open in shock. The adrenalin rush gave me the strength to
scoot away, clawing my way backwards through a tangle of blankets
like a crab until I came up against a camouflage green tarp that
was staked into the ground

“Mah-rhi-na,” he said, grabbing me by the
ankle.

I cast my eyes about in the dim light, my
head reeling. I could smell plants and dirt, and I realized I was
in some kind of makeshift tent. It was dusky outside, and I figured
that I’d probably been knocked out cold for at least an hour. It
would be night soon, and the thought of being there in the dark
with him was terrifying. There was only one way out, and it was
just past the enormous giant that had a hold of my bare foot. What
had happened to my shoes?

“Please,” I spoke with trembling lips, “let
me go.”

He smiled, and pulled me towards him, his
eyes like black coals in his rugged face. I clawed at the ground
frantically, unable to grab hold of anything, and finally froze,
rigid with fear. He lifted me into his arms, cradling me like I was
a baby and stroking my hair. I was afraid to breathe, afraid to
move. He bent down to kiss me again, and when I cringed away with a
whimper he stopped, his brow wrinkled in uncertainty.

“Is okay,” he said softly.

He seemed surprised by my fear, and it dawned
on me that I was very different from the girl he thought I was. I
had been a defiant captive, seemingly calm and in control. He
remembered a smiling seductress, casting him come-hither looks and
purposefully flirting with him. I’d intentionally drawn him to me;
hoping that I could convince him to release me and Lorelei.

It had very nearly backfired on me, but luck
was on my side that day, and his lack of resistance to my muse
powers had turned out to be our salvation. I had clouded his mind,
fanning the flames of his attraction to me until it rapidly
developed into a full-blown obsession, which finally led to his
downfall. I’d stumbled upon what Evie and the muse council already
knew– how easy it was to manipulate the vulnerable. It never
occurred to me that it would come back to haunt me.

But now the tables were turned, and I was
under his control.

As the fog in my head slowly cleared, I
panicked, struggling to break free, afraid of what he might do
next. He placed me back down on the pile of blankets, looking at me
adoringly and stroking my forehead. He took my hand, and I winced
as he inspected the torn skin on my wrist, murmuring gently to try
and calm me.

It reminded me of how Ethan had spoken to the
horse, and I thought of him getting back from his day on the boat,
expecting to hear about my time surfing...

“Cruz!” I gasped, my heart pounding.
Everything came flooding back to me at once.

I sat up, swaying, overcome with a terrible
sense of dread. There was a metallic taste of fear in the back of
my throat, and I started shaking. I had to find him before Barbara
had a chance to carry out her diabolical plans.

I looked up at Curly’s rugged face, “I have
to help my cousin!” I cried, meeting his confused eyes.

“Yuri,” he said slowly, pointing to
himself.

My eyes flooded with tears, and I dropped my
face into my hands. I was weakened, tired, and dizzy. I gave in to
despair, and started sobbing, overcome with fatigue and emotion. If
something happened to Cruz I could never live with myself.

I felt his hand on my back and I flinched,
looking up to see him offering me water again. I hiccupped and took
it, drinking too fast and coughing. He patted my back gingerly, his
eyes increasingly nervous. My crying was clearly making him
uncomfortable, and it stopped him from looking like he wanted to
kiss me again. I took that as a sign to keep it up.

“Is okay,” he said nervously.

I cast my eyes about, noticing how lived in
the place was. There were empty cans strewn about, and a large pair
of binoculars lying on a grimy pillow. Curly, who I now knew to be
Yuri, looked like he’d been staying here a long time, and he
smelled like it too. I struggled to my knees and crawled towards
the tent opening, watching in dismay as he moved to block my exit
with his body.

Peering around him, I was surprised to see
exactly where I was. Yuri had set up his makeshift camp on the
ocean bluff just outside of the Edwards mansion. From the tent
opening I had a direct line of sight through the swirling fog and
up into the vast picture windows that looked out towards the sea.
God knows how long he’d been staying here, watching, lying in wait.
I realized that Yuri had been stalking me too, right along with the
Edwards family.

The thought made me even more scared, and
when my tear streaked face met his eyes, his brow knit together,
and he looked at me as if he were seeing me for the first time. I
could tell that this was not going at all the way he had hoped, and
I laid it on even thicker, shivering and putting on the saddest
face I could imagine. I had to get away– I had to get to Cruz, and
I was going to have to trick him into letting his guard down again.
I slumped onto the ground with a moan, crying softly and clutching
my stomach.

He knelt by my side, pulling a filthy blanket
over me and tucking me in tenderly. I watched through half closed
eyes as he sat back on his haunches and contemplated me, no doubt
wondering exactly what he’d gotten himself into.

My mind started racing as the numbing effect
of the drugs wore off and I thought about what Barbara had told me
about Nixie. It was sickening to think that her own father would
want to use her as some sort of laboratory rat in his quest for
immortality. I wondered what Nathan Edwards would think of the fact
that I had turned down my own chance for eternal life.

I had to survive this, and get away to find
Cruz in time. I vowed I’d never let myself be fooled again. I would
find a way to protect my family, both human and mermaid. I would
stop Barbara and her brother if it was the last thing I ever did.
The familiar surge of anger I felt strengthened me, and I pretended
to fall asleep. I watched Yuri hover over me as I forced my
breathing to grow steady and even.

A faint, faraway siren broke the quiet of the
foggy evening and he turned his head to listen.

The siren grew louder, and was joined by
another one. My heart leapt with the hope that help was on the way,
and I struggled to keep still. I watched as he turned and left,
standing outside of the lean-to in a protective stance. I tensed
up, preparing to run. Once he was out of my line of sight I
scrambled to my hands and knees, gathering myself and taking a few
deep breaths.

The sirens grew louder and more numerous, and
it was starting to sound like the whole police force was converging
upon us. Yuri paced outside nervously, producing a backpack and
stowing away some things from the campsite into it. I realized he
was planning on leaving, and I knew he wouldn’t leave me behind. I
was going to have to make my move now or never.

I waited, poised at the edge of the tent
until he moved away again, and bolted. I fled the campsite,
tottering out of the bushes and down the narrow dirt path that led
back towards the house. I must have looked like a crazy person,
flapping my arms at my sides as I struggled to keep my balance. I
nearly fell several times, but with each step I took the drug’s
grip on me lessened.

For a moment, I thought I might just make it,
when suddenly Yuri appeared directly in my path, his enormous arms
stretched out to stop me.

“No, Marina,” he said beseechingly, “No
good!”

“Please…” I whimpered, “I have to get to my
cousin…”

He shook his head no, pointing back towards
the house, “Is wery bad,” he said seriously.

I wheeled around, running back the way I
came; looking for a way around him. I turned onto a narrow deer
path that branched off and wound through some thick underbrush. I
could smell smoke, and my throat burned as I ran through the dark
misty fog. I struggled on, coughing and gasping, and my mind
flashed on the vision I’d had on my surfboard. I screeched to a
halt with a sharp intake of breath, barely making it in time. I’d
stopped mere inches from running straight off the cliff.

I turned to see Yuri’s huge form bearing down
on me, hot on my heels. He grabbed me, his eyes bulging with fear
as he looked down to the rocky beach, far, far, below. His arms
locked around me tightly and he took a step back, but it was too
late. All at once, the sandy ground beneath us gave way and we fell
together, along with a patch of earth, bouncing off a clump of
pampas grass and tumbling down to the rocks below. I shut my eyes
and thought of Ethan; for a split second I was certain that I’d
never see him again.

I lurched to a sudden halt, and opened my
eyes to find myself dangling high above some jagged rocks. Yuri had
one hand clamped on my upper arm, and the other onto a root that
was sticking out of the eroding cliff. He was straining with the
effort, and I looked up to see him gritting his teeth in
single-minded determination.

The root he was clinging onto began to tear
out of the wall, sending little rivulets of dirt raining down on
the rocks below. He adjusted his grip on it as we slipped, jerking
down inch by inch. He could have let me fall and saved himself, but
he didn’t. With a fierce groan and a superhuman effort, he pulled
me up to his chest. He brought my hand to within reach of the root
for me to get a hold of it and I did, fully aware of what was at
stake.

Now we both had a hold of one flimsy root,
and it started ripping out of the sandy soil even faster. He took
my other arm and pulled it up, urging me to get another handhold. I
grabbed the root with both hands and gripped it for dear life. The
sparkling ring on my left hand caught my eye, and I held on with
renewed ferocity, remembering the look in Ethan’s eyes when he gave
it to me.

Yuri kept trying to pull me up, still hanging
on with only one hand himself. Now it was obvious that he meant me
no harm, and I no longer feared him. He panted with the effort, his
heavy breathing echoing off the sheer cliff walls. The root came
tearing out another foot, jerking us down violently, and his eyes
met mine. What he did next astonished me.

He let go.

“No!” I screamed, watching as he fell,
bouncing hard and disappearing from view. “Yuri?” I called,
listening for a response. All I could hear was the roar of the
ocean, and I realized that I was now completely alone. I dangled
there numbly for a couple of minutes, and after I caught my breath
I looked up. There was no time for shock or sorrow, or even relief.
I had to make it back to the house. I had to find Cruz.

I flattened myself against the dirt wall and
dug my bare toes into the crumbling sediment. I reached up to
scratch out a hand-hold, finding another small root I could pull
myself up with. Slowly, painfully, I worked my way up the cliff,
finally crawling back onto the narrow path.