won’t fight me, Alexandra, and they will follow me, because I have the one thing that makes the Oceanids so weak, so vulnerable and stops them from doing what they should have done a long time ago.”
I didn’t like the sorrow in the face of the Oceanids as they listened to Neith.
“You see, for fear of upsetting the humans who might harm their children, Oceanids have become ridiculously apathetic…now I will use that same reason to galvanise them into action.”
“You have their children?”
He grinned. “Smart isn’t it?”
“Sick.” I replied.
“Come, Alexandra, you must now see the prize of our army,” he said, as we moved on to another group of Oceanids.
They were gorgeous, each one delicately proportioned, with almost elfish features. They were dressed in richly provocative robes that flowed and moved and transformed in the fluorescent light as they sparkled.
I’d been examining them skeptically, trying to work out why Neith was so pleased with them, when two of them turned their exquisite faces and grinned wickedly at me.
Aerowen and Indra, the two Russalka who could control thoughts and erase memories. They had betrayed the pod and joined Neith, and now they preened at his praise.
Neith was watching me as I recognised them.“As a group they are known as the Påvirke or influencers. They have varying talents. Some like Aerowen and Indra can erase memory, as you already know. Should you continue with your stubbornness, you will experience firsthand just how pervasive their talent can be.”
I turned to gape at him while he continued.
“Once you have no memory of Merrick it will be relatively easy, with the help of some of the others, to influence you through your dreams.” He indicated a couple who clung to each other in the middle of the group. “And then we can also implant very specific thoughts.” He swept his hand lazily towards five of the Oceanids within the Påvirke pod.
An instant headache formed behind my eyes as a foreign and horrible idea wormed its way forcefully into my brain. How easy it could be to implant the idea that Merrick was the enemy, that he threatened my survival and the survival of everyone I loved. The idea that he should die. The idea that if I were free of the netting…I should kill him.
I had curled myself into the tiniest ball in the corner of my cell. Fear kept me from sleep although I was desperately tired. I mulled over the last few minutes of the gathering searching for anything I could have done to rescue Merrick, and trying to find a way out of this mess.
Neith had given me an ultimatum. I had until dark to join him. If I didn’t Merrick would be taken out into the middle of the volcano to face the monsters that rose from the deep with the night. Even as I’d been led away, Merrick had shouted “Fight! Fight this madness, Alex, it’s what you were born to do. Don’t let him use me against you, my life isn’t worth the millions he’ll take to ensure he wins. Fight, my love…”
Neith had backhanded him into unconsciousness and had me quickly led away.
I’d been in my cell for an hour and the light continued to bleed from the water as the sun set too quickly and my heart warred with my head. How could I watch them torture him again? How could I allow…no…condone Neith’s torture of the only man I’d ever loved, my friend, my future… And then an image of my mother or my friends, Josh and Luke, or even strangers walking the streets would pop into my head and I’d wonder how I could so easily throw millions of lives away and condemn humans to certain annihilation. No matter which course of action I took I was a monster. The reality was I couldn’t choose and that frightened me because Neith would force my hand, we both knew it.
The only way out of the decision was to escape from Ferengren. If I could somehow get away, I was pretty certain Neith would keep Merrick alive as bait, knowing I would come back for him at some point. The problem was, I was helpless in the net, which drastically reduced the chances of me escaping, but I also knew that I wasn’t going to be able to watch Merrick being tortured again without compromising my plan to peacefully save the Oceanids.
I knew they wouldn’t kill Merrick, not yet. Once tonight was over they would heal him and then they would erase the love I felt for him from my memory and in its place plant seeds of hatred and murder.
I toyed with the idea of agreeing to help Neith, throwing up a façade and then attacking him once we were free. I knew Merrick would see it as complete betrayal but if it enabled his freedom, surely his anger and disappointment in me would be worth it? But could I fool Neith?
I was still dithering about what to do when the door to my cell flew open. I pushed myself into an upright and protective position as a figure tumbled into the room and smashed into the opposite wall as the door slid shut behind him.
“Merrick!”
I hurled myself into his arms, relishing the strength of him as he curled around me and pressed my body along the length of his before pushing myself free to examine his face and chest and arms
“Are youOK?” I cried, tears bleeding from my eyes as I looked for any physical sign of the torture he’d just endured. There wasn’t a single mark on him, but the evidence of it was visible in the slight pallor of his normally ruddy skin and the exhaustion in his eyes.
He smiled gently at me, his eyebrow quirking upwards at my dramatic response.
“I am…physically,” he replied before. burying his hands in my hair, tilting my face up to his and kissing me through the netting that covered my head.
“I’m so sorry” I cried between kisses.
He shook his head and continued to cover my face in kisses. “This is not your fault, Alexa,” he murmured against my lips.
“I shouldn’t have come here alone, now Neith will hurt you until I give in.”
His eyes were anciently sad as he gazed into my face. He didn’t try to argue with me.
“You must stay strong, Alexa, millions of lives depend on you. They won’t kill me, my love…not yet.”
“Merrick, I can’t watch you being tortured again, I’m not strong enough.” Panic rose in my throat.
He shook his head. “Alex you have always been stronger than you think you are, you can do this.”
I was shaking my head even as he was speaking, tears melting into the salt water around me. “Could you do it if it was me?” I asked him.
His eyes were desperately sad and denied the words he spoke. “If it meant saving millions of other lives…I…” He sighed and shook his head, pulling me into his arms and burying his face in my hair as it swirled around us.
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