Three Rings (The Fairytail Saga) (33 page)

But she couldn’t offer that kind of solace anymore, and since she’d crossed the line with Tristan, Ardhi had begun to recoil from her touch, like he did then, yanking himself out of her grip, picking up the journal and striding towards the door. His thoughts turned over and over like waves during a cyclone, none offered a glimpse of sunshine to lead him to the surface for breath.

So he took the door. When he first stepped outside, he felt the shift in the air as the rain clouds gathered above.

‘Ardhi?’ Lux was on his heels, her hand on the back of his shirt. ‘Ardhi you can’t run from this, or me. I know things have been strange between us but I love you, and I’ve never loved anyone else more. I want to be here for you Ardhi, but I can’t do that when you keep me on the other side of your lies as well. I’m onto that Sherri bitch, you know. The accent, the dyed hair that reeks of cheap shampoo...I went into the bar yesterday to formally apologize to Link, then Ivyanne, and I heard her on the phone,  demanding to know if Lincoln would fall for the ‘wounded puppy’ act. And when she ended the call-she said:
‘Thanks Adele. I have to go-he’s coming.’
Adele. Bit of a coincidence, huh? That the new bar manager was speaking to someone with the same name as the girl she’d replaced-a girl who for all accounts, left hating you all?’

Ardhi felt like doors-emergency exits in fact-were slamming shut all around him.

‘You sent her here for Link, didn’t you?’ Lux went on. ‘Did you find her by accident? Or was this part of your plan?’

Ardhi leapt over the porch railing, breaking her grip once more and when he landed, bent his head to the wind and began to race across the silvery sand, which was illuminated by moonlight alone. Out there, removed from the human race and their soul-sucking electricity, the sky above glittered like diamond dust in a pitch black sky-or it had until Ivyanne had returned and smashed his heart to pieces, summoning the clouds forth. Now only patches of it were visible, yet their beauty was breathtaking all the same.

‘Ardhi?’ Lux’s breathing was already more labored than his. In the water, she could stay under longer than anyone, but on the land, when her breath had to battle her weight against unforgiving ground, she was slower, less swift in her movements. Still she followed. ‘Ardhi stop this!’

But Ardhi didn’t hesitate. He surged forward towards the steep incline at the edge of the beach, seeking out the little, uneven path that weaved up the rock formations to the forest-lined cliff face above. Her sweet voice compelled to the child inside him, but that child was buried under hate now. Only his tears made it through to the surface.

‘I need to think!’ He said, only loud enough so that she’d hear him. ‘Just give me space to think Lux, you don’t know what I’ve been through.’

‘Give you space to think of more lies, you mean?’ She demanded. Rocks skittered under her clumsy footfalls. ‘You don’t need to do that! I stood up for you tonight, and I’ve kept your secrets to myself since I got here. I’ve earned your trust, or at least, I should have. But-’ she paused, and he heard her gasp for breath as his own legs burned from the sudden ascension. ‘But I need to know where you’re at-are you out for redemption or….’

‘Or?’ Ardhi prompted her, wiping a rain drop off his cheek but leaving the tears in place.

‘Or vengeance.’

The temperature dropped as he reached the top of the incline. He stood in the relative pitch blackness gazing north towards his home. Not the Cape, but The Whitsunday's. The place where Ivyanne had been his alone. His heart ached for those days. They seemed to have happened a lifetime ago, not six months.

And at that moment, his childhood was as present as Lux was. He thought of the times he’d done something she’d disapproved of-sometimes she would have laughed it off, writing him off as ‘cheeky’ or ‘mischievous’ like herself. But sometimes she’d banished him to a corner for an hour to think over his actions.

‘And if I am out for vengeance?’ He asked bitterly. The drops of rain were becoming fatter and more frequent. ‘Will you help me get it, or will you send me on a time-out?’

‘It depends,’ Lux’s voice was heavy with breath, her hand cool on his shoulder. ‘Ardhi you’re the closest thing I’ll ever have to a son. And I will love you unconditionally, and forever. But part of loving someone, is making sure they get the help they need. And if you need saving from yourself before you’re lost forever….I’ll do what it takes to keep what I can of you.’

Ardhi blinked away the tears, and they fell over the edge of the precipice onto the black, jagged rocks ten meters below, before being swept away by the crashing waves.

‘I’m already lost forever.’ He answered woodenly. He wiped at his eyes with the heel of his hand, feeling himself come apart as though the tears had been the only thing holding him together until now. ‘I can’t undo what I’ve done. And….and I don’t want to.’ He turned to face her, letting her see his anguish. ‘The only thing that will redeem me, is being with Ivyanne. Every ounce of goodness I have inside me, I owe to you, and her. Without either of you….seeing you both flock to Tristan instead, abandoning me…’ his voice cracked and he shook his head. ‘I couldn’t abide that. I couldn’t let it happen again.’

Lux’s face was framed by moonlight. She stepped into him once more, clasping his jaw in her hands. Tears ran down her cheeks. ‘Ardhi….what did you
do
?’

Ardhi’s jaw worked in her grip. This woman was his guiding light, and never had she looked more angelic or motherly than in that moment. ‘I can’t tell you unless...unless you forgive me. Lux I…’ he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a tight embrace, wanting to squeeze every last drop of affection she had left for him out.

Her tears leaked into the collar of his shirt. ‘Oh...Ardhi….no...please.’ A sob shook her. ‘You brought down the plane, didn’t you? I don’t know how it’s even possible but...I just know it.’

Ardhi sank his teeth into his lower lip, feeling his heart break. ‘Forgive me!’

‘Ardhi I-’

He pulled back, taking her by her shoulders. ‘Just say you do. And that you’ll help me and everything will work out! You can have Link, mum and dad told me today, that you made a play for him! Pintang saw it with her own eyes! You want him so badly that you staked your reputation, and your relationship with the royal family on it! Just like I have!’

‘A
fake
play, Ardhi-a
farce
! Lincoln’s a wonderful guy, but he’s too vanilla for
me
. Lord, you’ve met a lot of the men I’ve dated.
Tristan
was too soft by nature, let alone
Link
! If that boy has a tattoo, it’ll be of a damn Care Bear!’

‘Then why…?’

‘To break them up! To get the target off his back-terrified that every second he spent with Ivyanne was putting the future royal couple in serious peril! At the hands of someone
I’d
thought
I’d
known-until I pieced certain things together!’ She gripped his forearms, her eyes boring into him-with love and terror. ‘I didn’t want to believe that you’d done that, to that poor plane-load of people, to exact vengeance on a wonderful guy-who’s only fault that I can see-was to change for love in a way
you couldn’t
.’

Ardhi shrank into himself, but didn’t loosen his grip. ‘You’ve been plotting against me? The only woman I thought I could trust-’

‘No. Trying to save you Ardhi, by preventing your crimes. I’ve kept it to myself, wanting to know for sure if you were redeemable before I wrote you off.’

Ardhi felt violently ill. hearing that Lux had been taking his side without knowing it had infused him with hope that he’d have another, stronger ally. But now those hopes died.

‘So you won’t help me?’ He asked piteous even to his own ears.

‘No.’ Lux shook her head. ‘Ardhi
no!
I don’t have that kind of hate in me. Yes I love sex and partying and the power that comes with being what we are but the most powerful thing about our kind is our kindness, especially within the fold! You can’t kill another mer, and if Ivyanne loves Lincoln you can’t kill
him
either! I won’t let it happen! I love you too much to let it happen!’ Her eyes were wild. ‘Tristan had his faults but he was a good man Ardhi! Look at how hard he worked to combat global warming! If you had some sort of mission like that, I know that Ivyanne would start to fade from your heart. You just have to try to deflect your passion towards good instead of-’

Ardhi’s rage flexed like a muscle around his heart and his fingers mirrored this, catching her plump elbows, sinking deeply into her flesh. ‘I don’t want to save the fucking world, Lux. I want
her
to save
me
.’

‘Ow!’ Lux’s face contorted in pain. She released his shoulders but his grip on her was so strong that when he spun her, her legs became tangled and her weight sagged, pulling her down. ‘Ardhi! What are you-’

Ardhi flung her, and the feet that had been seeking placement on earth now pedaled uselessly in the air. Her eyes bugged in horror as realization dawned in them but before her mouth could open in a scream, Ardhi released his grip and she dropped from sight so fast that he didn’t get a chance to apologize for killing the only woman who had ever returned his devotion.

There was no scream, and he didn’t hear her body hit the rocks as rain now fell steadily around him. He crouched on the cliff face and took a moment to collect himself, burying his eyes into the still-dry sleeve of his shirt to soak up the tears while he decided what to do with the corpse of his godmother.

‘I’m sorry Lux.’ He whispered to the twisted form on the black rocks below. ‘But if you won’t help me, then you can’t.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, dialing Sherri’s number.

‘Hello?’ She answered groggily.

‘Steal him, or bury him.’ Was all he said, before hanging up.

⁓

Lincoln was only four feet from the shore when he encountered the lifeless body washed up on the frothy sand. His heart lurched in his chest when he instantly recognized the silvery blonde hair cropped short, shining in the pale moonlight, and her shimmering pink sneaker earrings winking in the darkness.

‘Sherri?’ he gasped, army crawling to her side, shaking her with his hand. His blissful mood turned black when she didn’t respond. Her back was to him and her naked skin was terrifyingly cold to his touch. ‘Sherri?!’

Lincoln got to his side and rolled her over, gasping when he saw that her skin was more waxen than he’d ever seen any person look. His fingers went to her wrist but if there was a pulse, he couldn’t feel it. The only thing he knew for sure was that she wasn’t breathing.

Oh god no! Damned ocean!
Lincoln cursed silently, wishing that Ivyanne was there with him-she’d know what to do.

‘Sherri you have to wake up!’ he cried, dropping her wrist. How long had she been lying like that? What was wrong with her? Why was she naked on the beach in the early hours of the morning at all? His mind jumped to the worst conclusions, things he didn’t want to consider, but his hands went into auto-pilot, pumping against her chest, the way he’d been taught to act as a lifesaver, but had never been required to actually
do.
After a few beats, he leaned down, pinched her nose between his fingers, and breathed deeply into her, before resuming the whole sequence again. Her lips weren’t as cold as her skin, and he took that as a positive sign. But there was no denying the scent of rum in her slack mouth.

Lincoln stayed at her side, pumping on her chest as carefully as he could, not wanting to break a rib and puncture anything, praying steadily the whole time. Was it his fault that she was there? Had he hurt her more than he’d realized? Pump, breathe. Pump, breathe.

On and on he labored, refusing to give up as an imaginary clock chimed ‘Too late!’ ‘Too late!’ In his ear. The guilt consumed him, and it didn’t let up until her chest suddenly contracted, and she coughed.

‘Oh! yes!’ Lincoln cried exuberantly, rolling her onto her side and smacking her bare back. A small wave broke over them as the tide came in, but it didn’t reach beyond her chest. ‘Sherri! Can you hear me?’

Her only response was another rattling cough. Her limbs curled into themselves, making her look tiny. He assumed that she was spewing out water, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. He rubbed her back and whispered soothing things into her ear, wishing he had something warm to wrap around her.

After a minute, her coughing ceased. ‘Link?’ she croaked. ‘Is that you?’

‘Yes!’ Lincoln leaned over her, noticing that her watery eyes were opened. ‘What happened?’

‘I went out for a swim, a skinny dip, like you always do…’ she said in a gravelly voice. ‘It’s been a rough week, and you always seem so happy afterwards…’ A shiver racked her body. ‘It was so cold-I got a cramp-I tried to swim back in but….’ she coughed again, rotating so that she was lying face down. ‘Did you save me?’

Lincoln continued to pat her cool back as another wave licked at his ankles. ‘I guess. You were washed up...for a second there, I thought I was too late.’

‘Well, thank god you weren’t,’ she rubbed her mouth. ‘Having a few drinks beforehand didn’t help, I guess.’ She got up, putting a hand to her chest and spitting out salt water which must have lingered in her throat when prone. ‘I feel like such an idiot. I mean really, I should know better.’ She fixed him with those large eyes, looking scared. ‘Please don’t tell anybody, okay? It’s embarrassing.’