The Fate of the Muse - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,116
much she knew.
“Yes! Cruz and Boris are right here with me… I had no idea! My God– how did you know about Olivia? Wh-why couldn’t I see it?” her breath caught a little in her throat, and I felt terrible for her. Betrayal was one of the most painful things I could imagine.
“What happened? Where is she?” I asked in alarm.
“She got a phone call yesterday and had to leave suddenly… I was so disappointed that you wouldn’t get a chance to visit with her…” her voice trailed off.
“Where did she go?”
“She appears to be in hiding,” she said grimly, “But I have people looking for her.”
“Do you know who Brad is?” I asked.
“Yes, dear, he’s right here with Cruz. The boys told me everything… I’m still having a hard time believing it.”
“They were going to kill Cruz,” I said, “If it hadn’t been for that crazy Estonian, who knows what might have happened!”
“Ahh yesss… Yuri. Marina, we need to discuss this whole situation in person. Can you come to me right away?”
“No. There’s something I need to do right now. How about tomorrow?”
“Alright, come early and we’ll have a little meeting. We can do lunch afterwards– there’s a fabulous new restaurant I’ve been wanting to try out.”
I almost laughed out loud, for even massive trauma couldn’t stop Evie from enjoying life. She was probably planning her wardrobe in her mind as we spoke, and it was like comic relief to me. Despite the shock she’d just experienced, Evie was already a few miles down the road to recovery.
I hung up the phone, freshly reminded of the importance of my mission. I needed to see Nixie, and to warn Nerissa and Lorelei about the danger in no uncertain terms. I only hoped that they’d listen to me.
I gathered my things, checking my wetsuit carefully for any kind of electronic devices before putting it into my bag, and hurried past Dutch and Abby, telling them I was going to meet a friend. I raced outside into the late afternoon sun with a sense of urgency, completely focused on my mission. I had to do it now, had to warn them to move, to get as far away as possible before Edwards and Olivia had time to re-formulate their plans.
I sprinted down the street, ponytail flying behind me. With dogged determination, I hustled down the steps as fast as I could manage with my surfboard tucked under my arm. If I hadn’t looked up when I did, I would have run smack into him.
“Ethan!” I gasped, looking down to see he had his bag and board with him.
He stood there in silence for a moment, finally speaking in a voice thick with emotion, “Marina… Please… Take me with you.”
CHAPTER TWENTYSEVEN
UNITE
We paddled out together, swimming towards the setting sun.
“We have to get pretty far away from the beach,” I told him, and he nodded, his long arms and even strokes easily outpacing me, making him pause every so often to stay even with my board. When I felt we were out far enough I stopped, sitting up on my board. Ethan pulled up close to me and looked around.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bowing my head and focused on calling Lorelei to me, hoping she could sense the urgency behind my summons. Within a few minutes I could hear her thoughts in my mind, wondering, “Why is there more than one?” I called her to me again, trying to reassure her. When I looked up Ethan was watching me, long golden rays of sunlight reflecting in his concerned eyes.
“Marina!” Lorelei burst forth, startling both of us. She took one look at Ethan and slipped back down below the surface.
“Lorelei! Don’t go! It’s important!”
I could sense her hovering deep below us, finally slowly swishing to surface on the far side of my board, “Why did you bring one of them?” she asked me with huge, frightened eyes, “It is forbidden.”
“It’s alright,” I reassured her, “He’s the one who helped us to get away from the bad people… remember?”
It was rule number one in the mermaid playbook to avoid people, and with good cause, but I was neither entirely mermaid nor human, so if anyone could bend the rules, I figured it would be me.
She peeked over my board, and upon seeing Ethan, her face broke into a delighted smile. She cocked her head from side to side, inspecting him, “It is the nice one! He’s very pretty to look at.”