Always Remembered (10 page)

“What?” Ula looked shocked. “Where?”

“He couldn’t tell me, but he showed me a map.
They’re in the Minch. The last place they were was the Isle of
Lewis.”

“Is that where they are now?” Ula nibbled on
her nail. Her gaze was distant. I could tell she knew the area, at
least a little. “Do the Blue Men live near the Isle of Lewis? We’ve
always known that they live in the Minch strait, but we’ve searched
for their dwelling before with no luck.”

“He doesn’t know where they are exactly. They
were unconscious when the Blue Men moved them to their
fortress.”

She switched to another nail, lost in
thought. If she kept that up, she wouldn’t have any nails left.
“Why now?” she mused. I raised an eyebrow at her and waited. I
didn’t know what she was getting at. She sighed in frustration. “I
mean, why did your dad wait to contact you?”

I swished my feet back and forth in the surf
as I considered her question. Bubbles frothed over my toes. It
really went against our nature to stay away from the water. I could
feel the energy from it as it coated my skin. The water! Of course!
Kicking up my foot, I sprayed us lightly with the salty
droplets.

“Hey!” She splashed me back.

“This is it!” I said, tapping the water with
my foot for emphasis. “He couldn’t contact me until I was touching
the water.”

Ula’s mouth dropped open. “Why didn’t I think
of that?”

“None of us did, but it makes sense, right?
Our power comes from the water.” I wiggled my toes to prove my
point. “I feel better already, stronger, from only immersing my
feet.”

“Me, too,” she admitted. “What are we going
to do now?”

“Go rescue them,” I said without hesitation.
By the look on Ula’s face, I knew I said the wrong thing.

“O-kay,” she drawled. “What did your dad tell
you to do?”

“Um…”

“Meara—” Her voice held a warning, like any
good aunt scolding her niece.

“Fine,” I huffed. “He said to send Drust and
Judoc.” I didn’t think much of my dad’s guard, especially those
two. Drust and Judoc were your typical meatheads, all muscle and no
common sense.

“That makes sense. They are two of the most
skilled, third and fourth in command respectively. That’s why your
dad left them here in the first place, to protect us.”

“Who’s first and second?” I asked.

Ula rolled her eyes at me like ‘duh!’ “David
and Brigid.”

“Oh yeah.” My dad’s guard was small, and he
and Brigid were the best fighters that we had.

“You’re going to tell Uncle Angus,
right?”

I hadn’t really planned on it. If I went, the
less who knew the better. I would already have to contend with my
angry father; I didn’t want to fight with my great uncle first.

“If you don’t tell him, I will.” Ula knew
what my silence meant. She crossed her arms and gave me the stink
eye. I silently counted the taps of her foot on the ground. I got
to twenty when she spoke again, “You need to do as your father
asked. Send the guards. I won’t let you go and do something
stupid.”

“You won’t
let
me?” I asked dryly. If
I chose to go, there was nothing Ula could do to stop me.

She leapt at me and pushed me off the rock.
Caught off guard, I toppled back and bumped my head. Her curls fell
in my face and tickled my nose. She pinned my arms and grinned at
me.

“Ow!” I cried. There were sure to be bruises
later. “That hurt.”

“Baby,” she retorted. Her voice held the
irritating singsong tone of winning. “I was proving my point. I can
and will stop you. Now, do you promise to tell Uncle Angus and let
the guards handle it?”

“Ula, get off me!” I bucked, and she hung on
like a burr.

“Promise,” she said.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, I gave in.
“Okay, I promise. Now, get off me.”

She rolled back on her heels and offered me
her hand. I eyed it skeptically before placing my hand in hers. She
pulled us both to standing, and I winced.

“Head hurt?” she asked, although her voice
held no remorse.

“Yes,” I bit out, rubbing the back of my
skull.

“Shouldn’t be so stubborn,” she said. “Now,
let’s go.”

“Where now?” I hated the whine in my
voice.

She grinned at me, a flash of tiny, white
teeth, and I realized she could be fierce when she wanted. “Uncle
Angus’ room, of course. You’ve got news to report.”

****

Uncle Angus listened silently as I recounted
my conversation with Dad. When I finished he said, “I’ll send Drust
and Judoc as your father wishes.” Rubbing his beard, he hung his
head. “I pray they are successful.”

“If not, I’m going next.” I raised my chin
and dared him to challenge me. He surprised me by laughing and
slapping one heavy hand on my shoulder, pushing me down in the
chair with more force than he intended, I was sure.

“I’d expect nothing less of you, niece, and
it would be stupid for me to argue with you.” Another tap, this
time it was gentler. “You have that same stubborn set to your jaw
as your father.”

Ula made a noise of protest, but Uncle Angus
cut her off. “It’s no use, Ula. If our two best guards can’t find
them, I will allow Meara to try.” He turned and pierced me with his
eyes. “But you must promise to give them a fair shot first. I won’t
have you running out there with them, potentially compromising the
mission and risking your life.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at my
uncle’s lack of confidence, like I would do anything that stupid.
If I said I would wait, then I would. The question was how long.
“How long is fair?”

“Two weeks.” He rubbed his eyes and sunk back
into his chair. “But let’s hope they are successful. We could use
some good news, eh?”

Ula and I nodded silently in agreement.

“You girls look a little parched. Let me get
you a cream soda, and we can discuss happier news.” He stood and
went to the refrigerator to pull out two cans.

“Um…” A quick glance out the window told me
it was late afternoon. In an hour, maybe two at the most, Kieran
would show up at my door. I figured there would be plenty of time
to get ready. That was before Ula’s visit, Dad’s message, and now
Uncle Angus. If I didn’t leave soon, I’d run out of time. Uncle
Angus was a talker.

“I insist.” Taking frosty mugs from the
freezer, he filled and handed them to us. One taste and I was a
goner. The sweet, creamy, and cold drink was exactly what I needed
at the moment.

“It’s good, right?” He winked at me and
settled back into his chair. “Your conversation with David got me
thinking. The ocean may be the solution to our magic issue.”

“How do you mean?” Ula asked.

“I know Arren’s an exceptional student.”
Pride rang through my uncle’s voice. “Still, more than one Selkie
should’ve conjured magic today. It’s in our blood. What was lacking
before was the knowledge, the technique.” He turned to me with a
twinkle in his eye. “Which you showed them.”

“You could be right,” I said slowly. “Both
Ula and I felt instantly better when we put our feet in the water
today. It’s not all or nothing, but we’ve been treating it that
way.” I stood and crossed to the window. “Arren and his friends
were near the water today, occasionally a wave reached them.
They’ve been exposed to the ocean, but the others have not.”

Uncle Angus beamed. “Exactly!”

“Tomorrow we’ll start on the shore,” I said.
“Get everyone wading in the shallows first, and then head to higher
land to try conjuring again.”

“Would you like me to let everyone know?” Ula
asked.

“That would be great.” I was relieved that
she volunteered since I didn’t have time. It didn’t stop the pang
of guilt. Ula didn’t know about my date with Kieran. I wasn’t
hiding the information because it would bother her—she seemed to be
resolving her issues with him and getting used to us together. On
the other hand, I didn’t want to rub our date in her face. Anyway,
it was technically a first date. There was plenty of time to tell
her.

I finished the last of my tasty drink,
licking the sweet foam off my lip. “Thank you, Uncle. That was
exactly what I needed.” I hugged him, and then Ula. “I need to get
going, but I will see you both at practice tomorrow, okay?”

“See you in the morning,” Uncle Angus
replied.

At the same time, Ula asked. “Where are you
going? I thought we could hang out tonight.”

With another pang of guilt, I reluctantly
admitted, “I have a date.”

“Oh,” she said, surprise in her voice. Then,
“Ohhhhh,” as it registered. She sounded disappointed.

“I’d love to hang out with you,” I said. “How
about tomorrow night?”

She brightened immediately. “Only if you
bring strawberry ice cream and promise to tell me about your
date.”

“Deal.”

I left them and hurried down to my room.
Showering quickly, I used magic to finish getting ready. I
preferred to do things the human way. There was nothing like the
relaxing feeling of brushing my hair or even the simple joy of
sorting through my accessories and deciding what to wear. Tonight,
there just wasn’t time. I wore my hair down because I knew Kieran
preferred it that way. Visualizing a long, swirling skirt in bright
colors and a peasant blouse in turquoise, all that was left were
the accessories. The sand-dollar necklace I always wore looked
nice, but I refused to wear the matching earrings. Evan gave those
to me, and I didn’t need a reminder of him tonight. Tomorrow I
could worry about him, but tonight, I wanted to relax. It was time
I gave Kieran a real chance without the ghost of Evan standing in
the way.

I had a pair of pearl earrings that used to
belong to my mom. I put them in, running a finger over their smooth
surface.
I miss you, Mom
, I thought.
So much
.

A sharp rap at the door made my pulse jump.
Why was I nervous? This was Kieran. I trained with him all summer
and spent most of my days with him since my dad and aunt left.
There was no need to be nervous. Except, there was. Only recently
did we start admitting our feelings for each other. This was the
first time we were going out on a real date. I hugged my middle—the
butterflies were in full force. Swallowing my nerves, I went to
answer the door.

Deanna led
Evan down a dark corridor. At the end was a secured door. She
quickly punched in a code and it swung open. She gestured for Evan
to go first, and then secured the door behind them.

The stairs only went one way. Down.

“I thought the lowest floor was off limits?”
Evan asked.

“It is.” He saw Deanna shrug in the dim
lighting. “To most people. I’m not most people.” She tilted her
head and studied him. “Do you remember the night I met you at the
club?”

“Not really.” Evan didn’t feel bad admitting
it. He still didn’t understand what happened. “I remember you
started singing. I have a few hazy memories in between, but nothing
clear. The next thing I knew, Ken was pulling into the driveway,
and we were home.”

“Ah, that explains a lot.” She started down
the stairs. Evan thought she would say more, but she didn’t.

“What does that explain?” he finally
asked.

She reached the bottom step and turned to him
with her finger to her mouth. He shut up and waited. Cracking open
the heavy door, she stuck her head out and looked both directions
before slipping through and motioning for him to follow. The
corridor had a bare-bones military feel to it. With utilitarian
hanging bulbs, grey walls, and steel doors, it wasn’t designed for
aesthetics. Deanna kept close to the wall until she reached the
third door on the right. She took out a key and opened it, standing
back so he could enter.

The interior was the complete opposite of the
hallway. It was a fully furnished apartment with elegant decor in a
neutral beige and cream color scheme. Tasteful artwork graced the
walls, and a plush cream carpet covered the floor.

“This is nice,” Evan said hesitantly,
wondering why she brought him to this apartment and who it belonged
to.

Deanna looked guilty. “We can talk safely
here. This belonged to my mother. Now it’s mine.”

“Belonged?”

Deanna sighed. “Have a seat, Evan. Much of
what I’m about to tell you we’ve already discussed. I thought you
remembered our conversation when you remembered me, but obviously,
you didn’t.”

“O-kay.” Evan crossed to a plush recliner.
Although it looked comfortable, he sat on the edge of it and leaned
forward, ready to hear Deanna’s explanation.

Instead of sitting too, she crossed the room
to a kitchenette. “Can I get you something to drink? Juice, mineral
water, or something stronger?” She held up the bottles with an
apologetic smile.

“I’ll take a mineral water. Thanks.”

She pulled two bottles out of a small
refrigerator and brought them over. After handing him one, she
opened hers and took a sip. Then, she perched on the arm of the
chair across from his. Her eyes searched his face. “My mother ruled
this city, until Ken imprisoned her and took over.”