Promises (Book One of The Syrenka Series)

Chapter Eleven

ELEVEN 

A full day passed before Brendan could stay awake for more than an hour at a time. At least when he slept, I was able to tend to his wounds. Some of the smaller scrapes and bruises healed, but he was unable to move much of his right side, and his face was still swollen around the gash that bisected his cheek.  

I'd called his new boss and told him that Brendan had the stomach flu and would most likely be out for a few days, hoping that would buy us some time. But what I really wanted to do was go after those that had attacked us and retrieve the skin. I was making a small dinner when I heard Brendan stir on the bed. Bringing him a glass of water, I sat down on the edge and looked at his pale face. 

"How are you feeling?" I asked. 

"I've been better," he said with a strangled smile. 

"Are you well enough to talk?" We hadn't been able to develop a plan or discuss the attack yet and I was anxious.  

He squeezed my leg and sighed. "Let's eat first." 

So we did. I made up a plate of grilled chicken breast and his favorite mix of spinach and tomatoes and helped him with each bite. The food seemed to instantly give him strength and a small part of that tight knot in my stomach began to unwind. Perhaps he could get through this without his skin after all. 

"So how much of the mermaid-selkie relationship do you know?" he started suddenly, surprising me with the topic. 

"Um, well, I remember some of the stories they told us when we were young about those who could call the selkies and other water creatures under their spells. But it's more like the human fairy tales about mermaids drowning love-sick sailors. It's just a story and it obviously isn't possible," I replied while waving my hand back and forth between us to indicate our special relationship. "I don't control you." 

He swallowed a forced laugh and shook his head. "No, you don't. But you're not a leader." I glared at him for that remark. "You're not a leader yet," he edited. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Selkies don't live together or hunt together. We're an independent bunch, only seeking human companionship for the purposes of fostering a child. The selkies that attacked us were commanded to do so." 

I nearly choked on my food. "By mermaids? That's not possible." 

"There was a reason they didn't hurt you more, Evs. Either they were told to leave you alone or they're incapable of attacking a mermaid." 

"But they did attack me," I reminded him. 

"Not like they attacked me," he replied solemnly. He was right, but I still couldn't wrap my brain around what he was implying. 

I set our plates down on the floor while trying to formulate my next question. "So you're telling me that there's a pack of selkies out hunting...what? Other selkies? And that they're doing this under the command of a mermaid clan leader? That just seems a bit ridiculous, don't you think?" I could barely contain the sarcasm tainting my comment. 

"I think there are a lot of things that your mother kept from you," he said with a hint of pity. "I've been on my own since I was sixteen, but before I left my father, he had one warning for me."  

"And that was..." I said, asking the question he wanted me to voice. 

"Stay away from mermaids." 

I stared at him in disbelief for what must have been a full minute before bursting into laughter. "Well, you really blew that one didn't you?" I squeezed out between giggles. "I guess we're not all that scary now are we?"