The Sheik and the Siren (Elemental Series) (11 page)

Chapter 12

Ebba woke before Ace and decided to go for a swim, since she’d spent the entire night in the castle – in bed with Ace – and she needed to replenish her strength. She
hadn’t spent much time in the water at all yesterday, and she knew it was risky to have stayed here all night, but she did it for him.

Once she’d heard about his horrific past, she knew he needed comforting. She’d planned on telling him she’d seen her mother in the crystal and also that the sheik’s ship was headed straight for Dolphin Island, but she hadn’t had the heart after what he’d been through.

But she’d tell him this morning, she decided. Right after she replenished herself in the sea. She was quiet so as not to awaken him, and threw on her shift, out of habit now, not that she needed it since they were alone. She made her way through the corridor, across the bailey and down to her coral reef.

She was singing to herself, happy, but very weak from her long stay on land. Still, she’d had an unbelievable night with Ace, and was enjoying their private time together without the rest of the men around.
She was happy that it was just the two of them and didn’t even miss Juturna.

She walked into the sunshine and was headed for her beach when all of a sudden she realized the sea was calling to her – in a warning. If she hadn’t been so distracted, she would have heard what it was saying earlier – a ship was docked on the south side of the island.

She ran toward the beach, at first thinking Juturna and the men had returned, but then realized they would be on the north side of the island, not the south. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the foreign ship docked just outside her bay. She recognized the flags immediately as they were the same as the flags of the ship carrying the man who had abducted her mother. This was the ship of the sheik and she knew he’d come back looking for her. The day her mother was taken, she’d been instructed to stay in the ocean, and far from the battle as well. She was only following her mother’s orders at the time, but now cursed herself for having done naught to help.

“Nay!” she said, taking a step backwards, only to knock into someone.

“So there you are, my little siren.”

She turned to look straight on into the dark eyes of the evil man of the desert.
The man who would now be her abductor as well.

“What do you want?” she asked. “Leave me alone!”

She tried to run for the water where she knew she’d be protected and also be able to replenish her powers to fight this man and his crew. But with a nod of the man’s turban shrouded head, half a dozen of his soldiers stepped out from behind the rocks.

“Grab her!” he instructed,
then told his men something in a language that was foreign to her ears. Two men took her arms tightly and started dragging her toward their ship. If only she could touch the water. But as they approached the small boat that would take them to the ship, he said something else in a foreign tongue. As if he’d read her mind, he instructed his men to lift her up and keep her away from the water.

She fought against their grip, and when she tried to lift her arm to comm
and the sea, one of the men slapped her. Within seconds, they had her hands tied behind her back. She felt her strength diminishing quickly, and knew she had to think of something to distract them.

“Why do you take me?” she cried out. “Isn’t it enough that you already have my mother?”

“Your mother was to give me heirs – powerful children who could rule and command the sea. But unfortunately, she is too old to bear a baby I fear. I just recently found out she had a daughter that she’d hidden from me the last time I was here. That’s why I’ve come back personally to take you to my homeland instead.”

“My mother would never tell you about me, so I know you lie.”

“People tend to talk and tell secrets when they are being tortured.”

“Nay!” she shout
ed, feeling her energy slipping just using it for speaking. “If you hurt my mother I would . . .”

“Ebba!” Ace’s voice called out from beyond the rocky ridge and she looked up to see her lover appear, but barefoot and weaponless and only wearing his braies. “God’s eyes!” he cried out when he
saw what was happening. She saw him instinctively reach for his sword, which of course was not there.

“Son, so nice to see you again,” called out the sheik with a malicious grin upon his face. “I didn’t expect to find you here too, but I guess it is my lucky day.”

“Son?” said Ebba. “Ace, tell me this man is not your father, please. He is the same sheik who has abducted my mother. I know because I watched it happen from below the water the day it happened.”

“I am not your son,” Ace ground out, his mouth
set in a firm line. “And I would never let you take my girl, nor would I let you live for killing my mother.”

Ace
raced forward like a madman, being stopped immediately by three of the sheik’s warriors as they seized him, one holding a blade up to his throat. He kicked the man in the gut with his feet and squirmed out of their hold, grabbing the dropped blade and taking on three men at once.

“Asad, stop this foolishness and come back to Tamaris with me, son. We can rule together.”

“Never,” he shouted, parrying the men. “And nor am I your son, so stop calling me that.”

“Not true,”
he called out. “Your uncle, Malik, my own brother, told me after the death of your mother that she had lied because she wanted you to go to the mainland with that wretched Pendragon warrior. “I would have come after you myself if my brother hadn’t convinced me you were weak and a traitor and not worth the effort, neither worthy of my throne.”

Ebba watched as Ace looked over in shock at this announcement, distracted enough that he lowered the tip of his sword and the three men he was fighting were able to grab him. A second
small boat sat on the shore next to them, waiting to take them to the main ship.

“Tie his hands and bring him with,” instructed the sheik. And as they loaded the stru
ggling Ace into the boat, the sheik joined the second boat in which Ebba sat, tied and nearly drained of her powers. Her head dizzied and her stomach turned. She was so close to her precious water. All she had to do was reach over the side of the boat and touch it – but her hands were tied behind her back and she hadn’t the strength left to do even that anyway.

The sheik’s men rowed the two boats toward the ship, and Ebba could not help but think how awful this was for Ace.

“Take me then,” Ace tried to bargain with the man, “but leave the girl.”

“Never, sirrah,
” said the sheik, calling him by the derogatory title. “She is to be the new mother of my children. Children that will have the power to rule the sea and conquer my enemies with the mere wave of their hand.”

“Nay! Don’t you dare touch her or I’ll . . .” He struggled to stand in the boat and one of the men knocked him back to a sitting position.

“You would make no threats to me, Son. And I would do what I please with the girl.” Then he turned to Ebba and put his hand on her chin, raising it and forcing her to look directly into his eyes. “Your mother sang her siren’s song and I heard her mention a crystal dolphin. A tool that holds the key to the past, present and future within it. I need that dolphin but she wouldn’t tell me where to find it. Now I want you to tell me where to find it instead.”

“Never!” she said, spitting into the man’s face. He reached out and grabbed her by her hair and tilted her head backwards, pulling a dagger from his side and holding it to her throat.

“Don’t harm her,” Ace cried out. “Ebba, use your powers and stop this already, please.”

Tears formed in her eyes and she just looked at Ace and shook her head slightly. She hadn’t the strength left to do anything to s
top this, and now because of her they may both lose their lives. She knew Ace would do anything to try to save her. She also knew he hated this man more than she did and would not stop until he killed him. But he was half-naked and unarmed, and severely outnumbered. If only the other men were still on the island, mayhap they’d be able to help somehow.

She felt her eyes closing and a fog starting to cover her eyes. She needed water, quickly. She could see it lapping at the side of the boat, but yet to her it felt as if it were leagues away.

“Let her go,” Ace said, once again standing in the boat. “Let her go and I’ll tell you where the crystal dolphin is. I’ll even get it for you. Just please, don’t harm her.”

Ebba was slowly losing consciousness, but when she heard what Ace just promised to give the man, she fought hard to keep her eyes open. “Nay . . . Ace . . . don’t tell him.”

“I have to, sweetheart. ’Tis the only way.”

“Then speak already,” shouted the sheik. “Tell me where to find this precious piece.”

“Would you let her go then?” he asked.

“You are in no position to bargain with me,” snarled the sheik. “So I guess that is the chance you’ll just have to take. That is, unless you want to watch as I severe her head from her body, just like your mother.”

Ebba couldn’t stand it any longer. She could see the horror on Ace’s face and knew the memories that haunted him still about the day he’d seen his mother struck down in front of him. She didn’t need to read his mind to know he was going to tell the sheik where to find the crystal dolphin. And if it was the last thing in the world she ever did, no matter how weak she was at the moment, she was not going to let Ace tell the evil man where to find it. She took a deep breath and called out to the sea to help her. She tried to feel the connection to the water and to the dolphins and all the life under the sea, but her state was so weak she couldn’t do it.

“You would
find the crystal dolphin in . . .” started Ace.

With every last bit of her energy, she called forth the waves. And before Ace could finish his senten
ce, a wave hit the side of the boat, knocking Ace, who was standing, over the side and into the water. The sheik’s men managed to hold on and to keep the boat from tipping.

She watched
with wide eyes as Ace – hands tied behind his back – sunk into the water and quickly disappeared.

“Get him!” cried out the sheik, and his men dove into the water and splashed around, looking for Ace. After several minutes of searching, they looked up to their leader.

“We can’t find him,” said one of his men.

“He has sunk to the bottom of the ocean with his hands tied,” said another.

Ebba realized Ace had not resurfaced, and even after several more minutes he was nowhere to be found. What had she done? In trying to protect the secret of the crystal dolphin, had she killed the man with whom she’d recently fallen in love?

Despair tore at her insides, and she fought to keep conscious
ness, knowing she had to do something to save him. If only she could get into the water, then mayhap she could. She used all her might to stand, hoping to fall into the water as well, but the sheik himself reached out and grabbed her, pulling her against his wide chest.

“Don’t even try it,” he warned her. “Men, get her to the ship anon. Give her only enough water to keep her alive, no more.” Then he said something to them again in his native tongue.

She looked out into the water and saw a fin of one of her dolphins in the distance. With the last bit of her energy she tried to give the dolphin a mental message.
Help Ace
,” she called out in her mind. And then, against her will her eyes closed and her world became black all around her.

Chapter 13

Water closed in around Ace as he quickly sank to the bottom of the ocean. He struggled against the ropes that bound his arms behind him, but was unsuccessful in freeing himself. He used his legs to kick to try to bring him to the surface, but the currents were strong beneath the water today, and he found himself a victim of the sea.

Damn Ebba for knocking him overboard with a wave to keep the secret of the crystal dolphin
safe. Couldn’t she see he was doing it to save her life? It was only a carved stone and could be replaced, she couldn’t. He didn’t care that in the wrong hands it could prove to be a deadly weapon. It had been the only bargaining tool they had, and now because of the siren’s addled move, they were both going to die today.

If only she had used her powers to knock the sheik and his men int
o the water instead. But he realized she’d been drained because of staying at the castle all night, and he knew that he was to blame for that.

He looked up, seeing the bottom of the rowboats as they headed to the ship. He sank lower and lower, and the more he fought against his binds, the more air was used up from his lungs. He felt his lungs burning horribly and his head pound
ed as the blood rushed to it, sending shooting pain through his ears.

Then he stopped his struggling, trying to think instead of the wonderful times he’d spent with Ebba under the water and how she gave him the breath of life when he needed it the most. If only she were here to do it right now.

Seaweed tangled around his legs and he knew he was nearing the bottom. This is not how he thought he’d die, consumed by the sea. And the irony of it all was that while he was drowning and needed air, Ebba was above the water, dying from his precious air and needing the water to survive.

Ebba, I love you!
He cried out in his mind, hoping she would be able to read his thoughts one last time before they both perished from this world. His eyes started closing and he felt his consciousness slipping from him, and then his body went limp, relaxing in the position just before death.

That’s when something poked him hard in the back.
Not once, but thrice, waking him from his slumber of death. And through the sun streaming down through the water he saw the most glorious site. Smiling dolphins surrounded him, rubbing up against him in a subtle reminder that they could bring him swiftly to the surface.

He felt some more nudging at his wrists and thankfully felt his bindings loosen. He hurriedly pulled the ropes from his hands and reached out on both sides of him, ho
lding on to the dorsal fins of two dolphins.

Hold on,
he told himself, though his lungs felt as if they were going to burst and he already could taste the sea water at the back of his throat. The dolphins made it to the surface quickly, taking him with them. Breaking through the surface of the water, he felt the air on his face and the sun in his eyes and gasped and choked and coughed, trying to get a breath.

The dolphins brought him almost all the way to the shore, dropping him waist deep in the water.

Thank you
, he told him with his mind since he was unable to talk. Then he crawled up to the beach and collapsed on the sand, the gentle waves washing at his back. He hadn’t the energy to move, and fell into an instant slumber.

* * *

Ebba-Tyne woke with a splash of water to her face. Her eyes flickered open and she realized she was on the sheik’s ship somewhere out at sea.

“Hit her again with the water until she starts moving,” instructed the sheik. “Just don’t let her get near the side of the ship or she’ll dive in and disappear.”

One more time, a glorious bucket of water hit her in the face, bringing her back to life. She stirred, and realized she was lying on the wooden deck with the sun pounding down upon her.

“More water, please,” she said in a soft voice, knowing the hot sun was going to kill her.

“Take her out of the sun and put her in my cabin,” said the sheik looking out to the sea. “She’ll be no use to us right now. But we’ll need her to find the crystal dolphin later.”

“I’ll never tell you where to find the crystal dolphin,” she said.

He turned to look at her then, and it was the first time she realized that Ace had a lot of this man’s features. She could only hope for Ace’s sake this man was not really his father. And she could only hope the dolphins had heard her call and saved him from drowning and sinking to the bottom of the sea.

“You won’t have to tell us,” he said. “As soon as your mother
knows your life is threatened by my hand, then she’ll give us the information of exactly where to find it.”

“She is a true fae. Not
even by threatening my life would she divulge that secret.”

“And I’ve heard her say you are pa
rt human,” he said. “If she would not tell us, then you would, as I’ve heard it said that human’s do not have the will of the fae.”

“I would
never tell you,” she spat.

“Not even to save the life of your own mother?” he asked, coming closer. He bent down and looked into her eyes. “I have no use for your mother anymore as she has not been able to bear me a child. But you, my fair one,” he reached
out his hand and grabbed her breast. She jerked back and pushed him away. “Your body is ripe and willing and would bring forth all the children I want.”

She hugged her arms around her
self, feeling sick to her stomach. She wished now she’d donned more clothes than just this thin shift. She needed to get into the water. That was the only thing that could possibly save her. But she couldn’t leave her mother in this killer’s hands. Nay, she decided. She had to go to his land with him first, in order to find her mother.

She missed her mother
as well as Ace, and wanted nothing more right now than to be in Ace’s arms. She closed her eyes and tried to read his mind to see if he was still alive. She held back the tears that threatened to consume her when she realized she could not reach him. He must be dead, she thought, and she was to blame. If she’d never have sung her siren’s song and kissed him aboard his ship that very first day, he never would have been compelled to come back and find her.

The sheik
laughed and stood up straight. “Feisty little thing, aren’t you? I like that.”

This
man was disgusting, the epitome of evil. He was responsible for killing her father as well as Ace’s mother. And now, he was planning on taking her mother’s life as well. She would play his little game for now, but only until she found her mother and regained her strength. Because he didn’t deserve to live, nor would she ever let him find the crystal dolphin. Aye, she decided, straightening her spine and matching his stare. If it were the last thing she ever did, she would kill him. For the death of her father and the death of Ace’s mother – and for the death of the man she loved!