Into the Triangle (20 page)

"Father Willis killed those people, didn't he?" a young man asked, stepping forward to look at Gabe with horror filled eyes. "He's been lying to us all this time, hasn't he?"

The whole village seems to be holding their breath as they waited for his answer. Many of them probably hoped to hear that it had all been a mistake—that the one man they'd trusted to lead them hadn't betrayed that trust so horribly.

Gabe hated to be the bearer of bad news, but they'd all been lied to enough.

"Yes," Gabe answered simply. There was nothing else he could say.

A number of people began to cry, while some shook their heads. Others seemed lost, as if unsure what to do now that the very foundation of their world and personal beliefs had crumbled into nothing.

Unfortunately, Gabe didn't get a chance to reassure them.

A loud sound floated on the air, blaring from the beach, and Gabe knew they were out of time.

"What's that?" someone asked.

"It's the sound of a conch-shell horn being blown," Gabe explained, sharing a look with his friends. He could tell by the looks on their faces that they too knew what the horn meant. "It's a warning."

The Merfolk are here
…

Chapter 19

Time seemed to stop and everyone in the village as a whole appeared to hold their breath.

Far off in the distance, the low
thump thump thump
of numerous feet coming up the beach could be heard.

"What do we do?" Aaron whispered as he moved over to Gabe's side. Together the two men turned to look back at the gathered crowd. The fear and desperation on the thin, gaunt faces made Gabe cringe.

"I guess I'll try to talk to the soldiers, see if I can hold them off a bit until we can find either Pax or Leando." Reaching up, Gabe ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I just hope they'll listen." He couldn't be too sure that they would. After all, Gabe and the others had ignored an explicit command not only from his mate, but the King of the Merfolk. All he could do was pray that his mate would understand why he'd lied and abused Paxton's trust.

"Listen up, everyone!" Gabe hollered, addressing the villagers. "I'm going to try and reason with the mer. Hopefully they will listen and understand most of you are innocent." He shot a quick glare at Father Willis and his goons before continuing. "For now, please stay together and try not to panic. I'm sure everything will be fine!"
Once we hand over the evil priest and his meatheads
.

Whispers exploded through the gathered crowd following his little speech, and Gabe sighed.
So much for not panicking
.

Motioning Mary over, he waited until she was close before leading his friends a little ways away from the anxious humans.

"Okay, I'm going to try and talk reason into the mer and my mate. Aaron, I want you and a few of the other men to watch those three"—he motioned over to Father Willis and his henchmen—"while Mary, you try to keep the crowd as calm as possible. Move the children toward the back." Gabe paused and bit his lip for a moment before continuing. "If something bad does go down, I don't want them seeing it." He then removed the satchel he wore, and carefully handed it over to Mary, mindful of the two boxes and their precious cargo inside. "Take these too. Keep them safe and make sure no one else gets their hands on them. Only give them to Pax or Leando. Nobody else. Pax mentioned before that even being in possession of stolen mate-pearls was punishable and I don't think the average foot soldier will give us a chance to explain where we got them."

Both of his friends nodded, looking nervous but also determined. Aaron patted Gabe on the shoulder, squeezing gently before walking off, calling out to a couple men and issuing orders. Mary carefully took the satchel and slipped if over her shoulder before leaning over and kissing Gabe on the cheek.

"Good luck," she whispered before she too walked away, moving over to speak with a few of the women softly.

Gabe watched them go, feeling a little sick. So many were depending on him; so many innocents were facing the threat of death and imprisonment and the only thing standing between them and an uncertain fate was him.

"Buck up, man," he told himself sternly, "and get on with it. You've got an island to save."

Taking a deep breath, Gabe slowly made his way toward the trees on the far side of the village clearing, heading toward the beach. Glancing over his shoulder one last time as he reached the trees, Gabe gave all the watching worried eyes a wan smile before heading into the forest.

The shadows of the towering trees seemed to dance and move about him as Gabe carefully made his way deeper into the forest. It was oddly silent, only the sound of his own harsh breathing and panicked heartbeat ringing in his ears. The noises of advancing soldiers from the beach seemed to have completely stopped, and Gabe shivered as the sensation of hidden, unseen eyes watching washed over him.

The feeling grew stronger the farther into the forest and closer to the beach Gabe got, and tension was thick in the air by the time Gabe finally decided to stop. It made no sense for him to keep walking toward the beach when the mer were already in the forest, watching his every move. They knew he was there, and although Gabe didn't know how many were watching him at that very moment, he didn't want to take the chance that anyone would be slipping past him and getting to the village before he had a chance to talk some sense into his mate.

Gabe stopped underneath a large, swaying palm, and looked around. His pearl was thrumming softly, reacting to other pearls being close by. Gabe knew in his heart that meant the mer were near.

"Hello?" he called out into the silent woods. "Is anyone out there. My name is Gabriel, and I'm the mate of King Paxton. Please, I need to speak with him before this war goes any further. There are innocent people—men, women, and children—on the island who do not deserve to be hurt. They've all agreed to allow the Merfolk to take Father Willis and his goons as long as no one else is punished for his actions."

No response. Gabe felt his heart begin to race again as the silence stretched on and on around him.

What if they won't listen to me? What if they don't believe me
?
Oh God, everyone is depending on me and I've failed them
!
They're all going to die for some madman's crimes and there's nothing I can do to stop
—

"Ahh!" Gabe cried out, as his feet were suddenly swept out from underneath him and he was crushed to the ground as a heavy weight landed on his back. His face was pushed into the dirt so hard he feared his nose might break, and rough hands grabbed his arms and twisted them up behind his back. Gabe's eyes watered at the pain and he couldn't stop himself from crying out again.

"Ow! Wait, please?" he gasped, turning his face to not only make himself heard more clear but to suck in a lung full of precious air. "You don't understand, I—" He didn't get any further before his face was shoved hard into the ground again, dirt, rocks, and twigs scraping his cheek.

Quicker than Gabe realized, he had both hands tied tightly behind his back and was being jerked up by his hair. Gabe hissed in pain but otherwise didn't complain for fear of worse abuse to come.

His eyes widened when he was finally on his feet and he saw who had tackled him.

A troop of mer soldiers surrounded him, each with varying shades of hair, scales and pearls, all with a look of deadly intent in their eyes.

"Walk, human!" One of the mer snarled at him and a hard shove got Gabe stumbling forward. It only took him a second to realize they were going the wrong way however; instead of moving toward the beach, they were heading back toward the village.

"No, wait—" Gabe tried, only to be cuffed on the back of the head and shoved hard from behind.

"Shut up and walk!" a voice behind him commanded, and Gabe had to take a moment to shake off the effects of the blow before he was able to comply.

Tears burned in his eyes as they reached the clearing. He'd failed and now everyone, including Aaron, Mary, and himself, were going to die.

Cries rang out once people caught sight of Gabe and the soldiers, and glancing up, Gabe noted that the villagers were huddled together on the far side of the clearing, clinging together in terror.

There was nothing he could do or say to soothe them, so Gabe stayed silent.

A sharp kick to the back of the knees had him falling to the ground and with his hands tied behind his back there was no way to catch himself. Gabe's breath
whooshed
out of him in a painful burst as he landed, and his shoulder ached horribly as it took the brunt of his body weight as he crashed. None of the mer tried to stop his fall, not even when the side of his head smacked the ground hard.

Gabe's vision darkened and wavered for a moment, and nausea filled him. A sharp pain seemed to echo through his skull, and it took several long moments and even more deep breaths until Gabe was sure he wasn't going to puke.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gabe thought he heard Aaron yell right before a faint buzzing sound filled his ears.

The buzzing continued and suddenly Gabe's pain seemed to lessen. His head stopped aching and even his shoulder seemed to improve. Even his heart felt lighter and more at ease for the first time since they had left the underwater palace days earlier.

Gabe didn't understand why any of that was happening until a very familiar pair of bare webbed feet with blue-green scales appeared in his line of sight.

"Pax," Gabe whispered. Slowly he dragged his gaze up those legs encased in tight black breeches, over muscled thighs covered in armor, past the shiny metal breastplate over the strong chest and dark green hair that cascaded over broad shoulders. Finally he locked eyes onto the handsome face he'd spent hours memorizing over and over again.

Cold, gray eyes watched him impassively, and Gabe tried not to shiver under their cool regard.

"Gabriel," Paxton responded, voice deep and hard.

Gabe could tell by the way his mate watched him that he was in trouble. He swallowed down his fear and told himself to believe in the love the two of them held for each other.

Holding that thought firmly in mind, Gabe smiled softly up at his mate from his prone position on the ground, trying not to look sheepish.

"I can explain everything," he began, only to be cut off by a sharp wave of Paxton's hand.

"Are you going to explain to me why you broke your promise to stay safe and sound in Lavantia? Or why I received an urgent message from my sister telling me that not only was my mate missing, but that Leando's and hers were as well? Or perhaps you're going to explain to me why you would willingly put yourself in harm's way, with little to no regard for my thoughts or feelings?" Paxton was shouting by the end, and Gabe bit his lip to hold back the words desperately wanting to pour from his mouth. Pax had a right to his anger, and Gabe couldn't explain his actions until the bigger man was done ranting.

Finally, Paxton ran down and he stared down at Gabe with a pinched look on his face.

"Well, my own?" he asked. Just hearing the familiar nickname made Gabe sigh and all the tension he's been holding melted away.

Everything is going to be okay
…
Paxton still loves me
.

So lost in a haze of relief, Gabe didn't notice the group of mer surrounding them growing larger by the minute. He didn't notice anything until Paxton crossed his arms over his chest and gave Gabe a look that clearly stated he'd better get his head out of la-la land and start explaining fast.

And Gabe planned to do just that, but first…

"Do you think you could untie my hands first, love? I can't feel anything below my wrists anymore." He looked up at Paxton pleadingly, unable to hide his wince when he attempted to shift into a more comfortable position.

Paxton gave a short nod to whoever was standing behind him, and Gabe sighed gratefully when the bindings holding him were sliced and his hands freed. Sitting up gingerly, he rubbed his aching shoulder and looked up at his mate.

"Thanks."

Paxton nodded. "Now explain, Gabriel."

So Gabe did. He told Paxton all about the scheme to get to the island and stop the war by confronting the villagers and Father Willis. He confessed to stealing the box of pearls and the seahorses, and sneaking out of the palace and Lavantia. He told his mate all about the worry he and the others had shared about innocent mer and humans dying. Finally he told Paxton all about how Father Willis's lies had been exposed, and the village agreeing to hand the priest and his lackeys over to the mer, as long as they promised no one else would be hurt.

Paxton was quiet for a long moment, staring down at Gabe with an unreadable look on his face. Gabe was beginning to worry when suddenly his mate sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, looking both amused and exasperated.

"Only you, my own," he said, shaking his head. "Only you have the nerve to ignore a direct order, steal from me, then put yourself in danger all to prevent a war and the death of innocents."

Gabe shrugged and slowly stood, ignoring the various twinges from his recent injuries.