Sam had heard Whitney cry. He knew the moment he felt her something had to be off. She had promised to stay out of the water. The others were looking for a chance to take and kill her. He didn’t explain much to her, but he was sure she knew that it was dangerous. He needed to head back, and he was luckily only a few hundred miles away. He would be back before dark, and there would be hell to pay when he found out where she was.
As he reached the shore, he called to her mentally but got no response. He could still feel her and knew she was in the water, but she wasn’t replying, which could only mean one thing. She was unconscious. He needed to find out where she was, and he had a good feeling about who he had to go ask.
Anger seeped from Sam as he stormed over to Amber’s place. The hunters assumed she was the mer involved, and they were close to being right. She was the one luring food away from their friends, but she wasn’t the one killing them. She didn’t have the strength to disobey him. But that didn’t mean another siren wasn’t working with her, and he had a good clue as to who it was. Tim had never liked him, and he was up for causing problems for Sam whenever given a chance. Why Amber was involved was beyond him. Did she really want to get back at him that badly?
Sam didn’t knock as he pushed open her house front door. Momentarily shocked that the state of the living room— normally immaculately kept— was in complete disarray, he still responded quick enough to drop to the ground as a knife was thrown his way.
In the messy room, he had noticed two very distinct things. First, Amber was tied to a chair and badly beaten. Second was that the one who had done so was none other than Rommy Kristian, hunter extraordinaire.
“If you’re here to save her, you can’t have her. She knows where my daughter is and I’ll be finding out as soon as she gets tired of the pain,” Rommy growled.
“The same place my girlfriend is,” Sam replied, slowly standing up with his hands in the air. “I’m sure as heck not going to stop you if you’re getting that information from her.”
Rommy’s face flashed surprise as she turned back to Amber and was done with him. Amber’s eyes shot open wide. Her lips moved, and a muffled sound came out through the gag in her mouth as Rommy ran the blade down her arm, causing pain but not enough to make her lose too much blood.
“I’m willing to stay here as long as I want to get this little fishy,” Rommy said to Amber. “I know it isn’t ideal to wait, but I’m a patient person. You, on the other hand, don’t have long before you’ll need water.”
Amber stared at the hunter.
“I can tell by your blood. It isn’t draining as quickly because you, my dear, seem a bit dehydrated. Poor little fish. I wonder how you’ll feel by tomorrow or the next day if you don’t tell me where my daughter is.” Rommy tapped the blade on her knee as she sat in front of Amber. “So let me give you one more chance to tell me.”
Rommy pulled the gag from Amber’s mouth. “Where is my daughter?”
Amber closed her mouth and stared at the hunter. Sam had to give it to her for not screaming or asking for help. Amber wasn’t a strong siren and even less cut out for actual physical fighting. He was surprised she had lasted through what must have been hours at the hands of the hunter.
“I can get the location quicker than using torture,” Sam told the hunter without moving any closer.
Rommy nodded. “I suppose you can, Prince Sam.”
Sam didn’t let his surprise show on his face. If Rommy knew who he was, why hadn’t she gone after him?
“You look just like your old man,” Rommy added for clarification, even though it wasn’t necessary. Just that she knew was strange, but if she had a history with his father, it made sense.
“Amber, where are the girls?” Sam said, using only a little force.
“I didn’t take them,” Amber replied, not answering the question and finally looking at him. She had a swollen eye, and her nose was positively broken.
Rommy raised an eyebrow at Sam.
“Tell me where Whitney and Jade are,” Sam demanded, using more force in the song of his words.
Amber bit down on her lip and glared at Sam. She was trying her hardest not to talk, and Rommy seemed amused by it as she smiled, flipping her knife in the air like she was ready to use it again.
“And here your father always talked highly of your mother. I bet you’re a bit of a disappointment to the old man.”
Sam didn’t look at the hunter egging him on. His eyes were still locked on Amber. She was refusing his order and doing a pretty good job of it. The only way she could do that was if she were as strong as him, and that wasn’t close to the case. But there was one more way, and that was if she were bonded to someone who was just as strong as him. That would give her enough to refuse him temporarily if she tapped into her mate’s strength.
Sam knew who she had to be bonded to, and immediately forced more will upon her. She didn’t have the strength to resist his full power. Why in the world he had ever thought there was still good left in her was beyond him now. He might just have had a better understanding of his father and why he had absolutely no faith in any siren. Amber had been his friend growing up. They had spent countless hours and had a thousand memories together. It meant nothing to her, and now had to mean nothing to him also.
“They are at the base island,” Amber spat out without any control of herself. She continued to glare.
“You’re going to remain in this chair until someone comes back to see to your punishment,” Sam ordered her, not being nice now.
Amber’s face turned from anger to sadness and fear. “If you leave me here, that’s as good as signing my death warrant.” She was as close as she would get to begging for her life.
That was possibly true, but he wasn’t about to deal with her now. He didn’t have the time. It was possible there were more hunters in the area, and they would be stopping by. He was leaving her defenseless. While he took an oath to protect the siren, that didn’t include traitors. In Sam’s book, Amber and Tim were traitors. They sided with the other mer and were trying to kill his whole family off. Her fate would be either taken care of by hunters or by him later. He would be sure of it.
Realization set in behind Amber’s eyes. She returned to her hateful glare.
“Go ahead, Prince Sam, and try to save your princess. It won’t matter. There won’t be enough time for anyone to help. We already have the Mavkas, Lara, and Undine with us. They are ready to attack the island. Once you’re dead, it won’t matter what you ordered. And I hope it’s a painful death, but not before you see your stupid mate die. You deserve that for picking her over me. I’ll be free in no time.”
Sam shrugged. “Believe away, but for that to happen, I have to die first. I’d think by now you’d realize, I’m not that easy to boss around.”
He turned to leave and caught Rommy’s indecision. She looked like she wanted to kill Amber, but at the same time wasn’t sure if Sam was going to leave without her, which he was if she didn’t follow.
Rommy ran behind him as Sam hopped back into his car. Without asking, she slid into the passenger side.
“Do you have any backup here?” Sam asked, not caring that she was a hunter at the moment. The saying “the enemy of your enemy is your friend” was more than true for the temporary peace they both seemed to understand.
If she was surprised, she didn’t show it.
“No. It’s just me and my kids,” Rommy replied.
“Then we should pick up Jax before we go out,” Sam replied. Rommy was surprised that Sam would suggest that, but she didn’t argue. He didn’t have time to explain that they were walking into a possible ambush, but he doubted that would matter to Rommy. She was used to facing bad odds and still seemed to be around. She was a good ally to have, and probably the best he could ask for at the time being. Now he had to hope that together they would be enough to stop the war from coming.
Whitney woke to her body bobbing back and forth. She attempted to rub her eyes and realized her hands were tied behind her back. Quickly, everything came back to her as she opened her eyes. Her head movement was also limited, but she saw all she needed to know. Jade was right in front of her, and they were both sitting in water up to their necks. Jade’s eyes were still closed, so Whitney figured it would be safe to try to turn into her siren form to escape, but as soon as she tried, nothing happened. Rubbing her wrists together, she had one idea what it might be holding her in place.
“MMaa,” Whitney tried to talk, finally realizing it wasn’t just her hands tied together and her feet tied to something in the water, but her mouth was covered also. That wasn’t good. She didn’t want Jade to know what she was, but if they were going to get out of wherever they were safe, then she needed to be able to use her voice. It didn’t matter what sort of sea creature or mer took them, Whitney would be able to command them.
“Hey, Princess, up so soon?” Tim asked as he sat down beside her in the water.
Whitney glared at him. She was certain that Tim wasn’t the one who took them, but she wasn’t surprised to see him. Tim was everything Sam wasn’t. If there was a way around hurting her by using someone else, Tim was sure to do it.
“Don’t worry. Your prince should be here soon. By now he’s freaked out enough to go to Amber, and she’ll crack. I told her not to tell Sam where we were, but there’s no way she can stand up to him. That’s what pawns are for. She’ll get him all flustered, and he’ll show up here all alone and be easy to finally take down. You want to know what the best part is?”
Tim sure liked to talk, and Whitney didn’t want to know. But it wasn’t like he was really asking. She was sure now that he liked the sound of his own voice.
“I got a two for one deal. I asked them to take just you to lure my stupid little brother out here, and they got the hunter, too. Now my father will have to name me the heir. I was able to catch the hunter’s daughter while Sam couldn’t. I can’t wait to drain her dry after we’re all done. I heard the blood of a hunter actually tastes better than normal day humans, like there’s some sort of magic in their blood that makes them more delicious.”
Whitney tried her best to hide her horror at the idea of Tim draining her friend. There was no conscience in Tim, but it was still hard to hear him talking about. She understood what the hunter’s job was and why they were created. There needed to be a balance to the night humans like Tim.
“Mmm hmm?” Whitney asked.
“Oh, sorry about that. My friends were scared you’d control them and thought that was necessary.” Reaching down, Tim ripped what turned out to be a piece of sticky seaweed off of her mouth.
“Why?”
“Why kill Sam?” Tim asked, wondering what she wanted explained.
“Yeah, for starters. Why kill your brother? If you have the hunter to prove you’re stronger, then why kill him?”
“Prove I am stronger? See, that’s the problem. I shouldn’t have to prove. I’m the older brother. I should be my father’s heir.”
And what about your other brothers? Whitney thought to herself.
“And I’ve wanted Sam dead for a long time. This is just the best opportunity. I can say the hunter killed him and I have a silver hunter blade to prove it.” Tim held up a shiny knife that Whitney recognized from only days ago, when Jax threw it into the water to save her. It was now going to be used to frame the hunters instead.
“Sam has always been the perfect son. He was stronger, gained control of his voice younger, became the youngest head of the guard in record time … everything his does is golden. He would already be the heir if he wanted it.”
“Obviously he doesn’t want it. So where’s the competition?” Whitney needed to keep Tim talking, which wasn’t hard. She kept feeling for Sam’s presence. As soon as he got in the water, she would know.
“You can’t just choose not to be king. My father has to choose an heir. The man is getting old. He has not left the island in almost two decades. The mer world needs a new king, and I found friends who agree.”
“I still don’t see the problem.” Whitney was really confused. So far he pointed out that he wanted to be king and Sam didn’t. That really didn’t lead to needing to kill Sam.
“Sam can’t refuse if my father orders him to be the heir. It has never been about what we want. And asking me to kill the hunter is the last straw. My father knows who this hunter is and has a history with her mother. He knows that as soon as word gets out that I killed Rommy’s daughter, she will come for me. Heck, maybe he was hoping the fledgling hunter girl would kill me. This is a complete set-up to get me out of the picture so that my followers won’t be upset when he names Sam the heir.”
Followers? What the heck was Tim talking about? Now Whitney had one more thing to learn about in the mer world. She really needed a vacation from everything, and being abducted a second time by the same crazy brother was icing on the cake.
Tim stood back up as the water began to rise a little bit. Whitney found her neck had something around it to make her head float, and it caused her to have to kneel. Looking at her unconscious friend, she worried until she saw her floating, too.
“Don’t worry, I’m willing to share her with you once you become my new mate,” Tim added, crouching down behind Whitney and helping her to kneel better.
“Excuse me?”
There was no way possible she was ever going to be his mate.
“Once my brother is gone, the only way for you to live is to transfer your bond to someone as strong as him. I’m stronger, so I’m more than willing to be your mate.”
Now Whitney was confused. Sam had shown her how to see bonds, and she was pretty sure Tim was already bonded to someone. The feeling of his hands on her waist was making her want to puke a bit.
“Um, what about your current mate?”
“No problems there. She’ll be dead soon. I’ve sent someone over to kill her once I take care of Sam, so that I can be free to bond to you.”
Tim abruptly stood back up and slapped the sticky seaweed back on her face. She would have told him a few choice words if he hadn’t. Tim was delusional. She was never going to bond with him, and she was shocked that anyone would have done so in the first place. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality in him, and that was saying a lot since Whitney was the type of person who liked to see the good in everyone.
Whitney stared at him as he moved back onto the shore and waited for whoever approached. A young man, probably about Tim’s age, with bright green hair stood up as his orange fin melted away.
“He went to Amber’s place, but he didn’t go to the beach like we expected,” he told Tim.
Tim pressed his fingers together in front of his face and moved them back and forth. “What could my silly brother be planning?” He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Is everyone ready around the island? When I kill Sam, my father will come running, and I’m sure he won’t have set the blocks around the island. You’ll be free to go in and kill whoever you need to.”
Now Whitney was horrified. Tim wasn’t just planning to kill his own brother, but he was offering to let this unknown guy go in and kill siren at will. What did Tim plan to rule if all the siren were dead? Whitney never could understand illogical people, but Tim was past that. He was nuts.
The green-haired guy nodded.
“Just stay in your position. Sam should be here soon, and once he touches water, I’ll use his mate to get him here faster,” Tim explained.
“This the one you want?” the guy asked, coming near now to Whitney. He reached forward and pulled her chin up so that he could see her face. “Hmm, not bad as siren go. Not sure I’d keep her around, but I know you well enough to know once you made up your mind, you’ll get what you want.”
Tim grinned, and his friend laughed. The green-haired guy waved and dove back into the water, his orange fin flicking as he went under.
“Well, my beautiful future mate, I need to run one last little errand. Be a good girl and just hang around until I get back.”
Whitney rolled her eyes at him. There was no choice on the hanging around. She was stuck in the water and was pretty sure that unless someone else showed up, she wasn’t going anywhere.
Walking into the water, Tim stopped before her. The water was rising enough that she was soon not going to be comfortable kneeling. He reached down and tilted her head back roughly.
“Don’t think of running away or you’ll have the same fate as my brother,” he threatened her. “This is your only opportunity to join me. I don’t do second chances.”
Turning, Tim dove into the water and out of sight.
Dark was coming, and Whitney was thankful the water was a bit warm. Jade wouldn’t die of hypothermia yet. She figured it had something to do with being close to the mer island, but whatever the cause, she was thankful. Hours had to have passed by already. Whitney didn’t do well with trying to tell time by the sun.
No one had come back to check on them. Tim was gone, which was good riddance in Whitney’s eyes. She could only hold her tongue so long, and aside from making her mad, Tim creeped her out, too … especially when she was his prisoner.
So far she had no plan. She was really hoping Sam would stay out of the water so Tim wouldn’t use her, but then again, she wanted to be able to tell him what was going on. Why did it have to be so complicated?
Whitney’s eyes adjusted to the dimming light as Jade finally came to. Alarm rang in her eyes as she realized she couldn’t move. Whitney met Jade’s gaze as she looked across at her friend.
“Mer kidnapping?” Jade asked. They hadn’t kept her mouth shut.
Whitney nodded.
“Are we alone?” Jade whispered. She was loud enough that if there were any night humans around, they would have heard them.
Whitney nodded again.
“And you can’t get out?”
This time she shook her head for her friend.
“You know, this isn’t one of the lessons taught in hunter school,” Jade joked.
Whitney wasn’t up for jokes. She really saw no way out. The siren rope kept her from using any siren strength, and the gag kept her from using her voice even if there was anyone around. Whitney was up for fighting, but she felt way over her head, just as she had every day since she had joined the siren. What she really needed to do was join Sam and train with the guard. Then at least maybe she could protect herself.
“I keep a knife in my back pocket, but I’d guess they took that from me,” Jade told her. She ducked her head down into the water and then came back up. “So our feet are tied to a rock with a rope. I have no idea what’s around our necks, but I’m glad they decided to not just let us drown. I won’t be able to get my hands free like this.”
Jade was already running down her list of ways out of the situation. Whitney had done that twice already. She just wasn’t sure what they were going to do.
“Was it that Amber chick? If I can get out of here, I know I can take her,” Jade told Whitney.
Whitney chuckled as she shook her head.
“Ahh, so it was the tall, dark, and scary older guy who kept showing up at school.”
Jade was right on that one. Whitney tugged a bit more on her wrists. She wasn’t getting out.
“Man, I wish you could talk and tell me what’s going on. I’m guessing they didn’t expect me to wake up, or they’d gag me, too. If you can dip your head down enough to my hands, I’d take that off for you,” she offered.
Now that wasn’t a bad idea. Whitney would have to blow her cover and use her siren voice, but it would keep them both alive. Well, at least she hoped. She hadn’t used her siren song on regular humans yet, and there was a chance she’d hurt Jade. But if she didn’t at least try, there was a greater chance Jade would end up dead. Hurting her was way more preferable than watching her die.
Before Whitney could respond, she saw a quick flash from the island. She was pretty sure from Tim’s description of the siren island being close that they were probably on the same island Whitney and Sam pretended to camp on. And if that was the case, it was a deserted. The flash of light she saw probably meant something. Jade must have seen it, too, as she instantly quieted.
Suddenly, Whitney felt Sam. He was in the water, and she jerked her head back to the ocean. Jade followed her gaze even though neither of them could see a single thing.
‘Get out of the water,’ Whitney told Sam.
He didn’t reply. Whitney tried to pry into his mind as he easily pried into hers, but she needed more practice. Heck, she needed more practice at everything these days, and it was driving her nuts.
More than twenty feet away, the water began to churn. Fins of various colors popped out of the water as she felt the waves rock her and Jade closer to the shore.
“What the heck is going on?” Jade asked, her eyes widening.
Whitney had a good feeling they didn’t want to know. Suddenly several men rushed out of the water onto the sandy shore in time to meet up with men rushing from the opposite direction. Whitney had no clue who anyone was as they ran toward each other, some wielding weapons and others with just sharp claws. Nowhere in the mix did she see Sam or Tim. Those were the two she was really looking for.
“I think that’s our cue to get the heck out of here,” Jade said as she watched. Whitney had a feeling she had never seen a full-out war between night humans. It wasn’t her first time, but it was her first time as a siren and worse as one tied up.
Whitney was ready to help Jade find a solution when she finally noticed two more men join in the fighting. Tim walked into the middle of the blond-haired and green-haired people who were fighting and didn’t move to hurt any of them. They were the bad guys if Tim was with them. The dark-haired group of guys that were mainly using sharp claws to fight had a new person join them.
Sam. Whitney’s heart began to beat fast at the sight of him.
“Brother,” Sam yelled over the crowd. “This is between you and me.”
Tim grinned from his position as he stabbed the hunter knife into one of the guys in front of him. Sam ducked and quickly made it into the mass of fighting people and out of Whitney’s view.
“Brother?” Jade asked.
Whitney gave her a shrug.
More people rushed the shore, some coming close to Jade and Whitney, but none of them gave the two floating girls a second look. The light in the woods flashed again, and this time Whitney was sure Jade was watching it, too.
“Mmm hhmm mmm?” Whitney needed her mouth free.
“I think my mom is in the woods. That’s her signal,” Jade said quietly.
That was either good news or bad news, but right now Whitney couldn’t decide. The legendary hunter didn’t stand a chance against the at least fifty fighting men on the shore, but the question was how did she get to the island and know where to find them. Sam came back into Whitney’s view, and she saw him lunge at his brother. Another mer moved to get in a shot on Sam as he concentrated on Tim, but suddenly the mer fell down and didn’t move. Jade saw the same thing happen.
“I have no clue what’s going on, but I think my brother is shooting at anything that tries to attack Sam.”
Man, Jade’s eyes were good in the dark for a day human. That was exactly what it looked like as long as the flashes of light were Jax and Rommy.
Whitney felt the gash across her back and let out a moan. Sam had to have been cut pretty deeply. Then she remembered that Tim was using a hunter’s silver-coated blade, which would take longer to heal from. Dread pooled in the pit of her stomach. Even if Sam was the better at fighting, Tim had the better weapon.
Without any fanfare, a new mer joined the fight, and Whitney sucked in her breath at the same time as Jade. Sam’s father, the King of the Siren, stood on the shore with a weapon that looked like a trident.
“Where are you, Charlea?” his voice boomed loudly. “I demand you come out and fight like your minions.” There was enough force behind his voice that everyone turned to the king.
Two beautiful mer stepped out of the sea not even ten feet from the king. There was one with bright red hair that looked more beautiful than any model Whitney had ever seen. The second was blond and male. They each held weapons that hummed like the trident in the king’s hand.
“Two against one, that would be your style,” the king said to the two mer.
“We demand a fair fight,” the redhead stated in her melodious voice. The sound was too pure and clean for a creature who radiated evil.
“So this is what the mer consider fair these days?” Rommy stepped out of the woods and onto the beach near Sam’s father.
She didn’t wait for the fight to resume and threw the first swing with a sword that was almost as long as her arm. The yellow-haired man stepped back, but Rommy had accounted for that and still caught a piece of him. With that, all chaos broke out. All the blond-haired fighters now had more energy, and began to push their way through to protect the man that had been cut. Rommy was the target of almost a third of the people on the beach. Jade’s eyes went wide as she stared in horror at her mother facing a herd of night humans.
Whitney didn’t think and pushed her way over to her friend. Getting in her line of sight, she mumbled to her, “Mmm mmm mm mmm.”
Jade stared at her. Whitney couldn’t wait for her to understand because they didn’t have time, and instead pushed her face into the water. She needed the seaweed off her face, and she needed it off now. Rommy was facing certain death, and the gash in Sam wasn’t healing. He wouldn’t last much longer either. It all needed to stop. Whitney pushed harder against the plant around her neck keeping her buoyant and used all her effort to get to Jade’s hands. Jade didn’t hesitate to rip the seaweed off her mouth, and Whitney sputtered as she rose back up to the surface.
“Everyone stop fighting,” Whitney yelled at the same time as the king.
“Stop!” His voice roared louder with a push behind it, but it was her voice that was stronger. Whitney hoped he didn’t notice as the night humans who were fighting all dropped their weapons.
Quickly enough they gathered their senses, and the ones fighting the king and Sam turned away and dove back into the water. Tim moved to leave with the rest of them, but the king was fast for being as old a man as Tim had called him only hours ago.
“Not you. You’re coming back with me, and I’ll decide what to do with you,” he said with not much force. He didn’t need force. Where Sam only had a slash across his back, Tim was sliced more than a dozen times and losing blood quickly. Without medical help, Tim wasn’t going to make it to any hiding place.
With most of the mer gone, Sam made his way into the water to release Whitney, and Jax ran from the trees to do the same for Jade. Rommy stood glaring at the king, and he glared back. Whitney ignored the pain in her back as Sam jostled her to get the ropes off her wrists, instead of watching the hunter and the king.
There was no love between Sam’s father and Rommy—Whitney could tell that easily—but she was curious as to why. Rommy didn’t seem to hesitate to stand beside Sam’s father to fight the new mer, but now there was nothing but hate. That was going to be the first question for Sam when they finally got some alone time.
The king walked back to the water, gripping Tim’s arm but not turning around to show his back to Rommy. Probably a good decision, as the hunter looked like she was prepared to throw her sword into his back.
Sam blocked Whitney’s view of anything more as he finally got the ropes off her wrists and ankles, before pulling her into his arms.
“I was worried about you,” he said into her hair as he nuzzled into her neck.
“You were worried? I was worried about you. Tim said he had a plan to kill you and take over your father’s throne.”
“I know,” Sam answered, pulling back from his hug just enough to kiss her.
Whitney pushed him back.
“You know?” That wasn’t the answer she expected.
“Yes, I know, and that’s why I went to get the Merrow and the Selkie,” Sam replied, as if that made sense, yet it cleared absolutely nothing up for Whitney.
Jax had helped Jade back to the shore, and she had immediately ran over to her mother to inspect the cuts on her from fighting off the mer.
“I’ll be right back,” Sam told Whitney as he left her on the sand next to Jax. He walked over to Rommy and kept a sword’s distance away from her.
“What the heck is going on?” Whitney asked Jax as they stood awkwardly, watching his mother speak with Sam.
“Temporary truce… that’s about to end,” Jax replied.
That explained things. Her friends knew what Sam was, and now what she was. They were enemies now. She nodded her head in understanding, even if it made her heart heavy. Jade and Jax were good people. She didn’t want to be their enemy, but that was what she was now that they knew. Life stunk.
“Make us forget,” Jax told her quietly.
“What?” she asked, turning and looking at him. In the moonlight, his dark hair almost looked completely black. It caught her eye, and she didn’t notice he had placed his hand on her hurt back.
‘I saw what you did. It wasn’t the king that stopped everyone. It was you. Even my mother obeyed, and she can refuse anyone. Make us forget and send us away. That’s the only way you stay safe here,’ Jax explained through a blood-to-blood connection.
Night humans could communicate if their blood touched, but she didn’t know day humans could communicate with night humans that way also. Obviously, Jax knew.
‘How did you—’
‘Just make us forget the last day and give us one of these bodies here as the night human we were hunting. Send us away.’
‘Why would you let us go?’ Whitney knew that it was a hunter’s job to eliminate all night humans that were not supposed to be alive—like siren.
‘I don’t just feel night humans; I feel the good and the bad. I know you aren’t bad. Neither are most of them at school. I can’t condemn an entire race for something they had no part of. And from tonight on, I think you’ll help our cause in getting rid of the bad ones. So it’s a win for both of us. But my mother will never see it that way. Now that she has confirmed that Sam is Prince Sam, she won’t rest until she kills his father. She’s been waiting for years to confront him. It’s kinder to both of us if you just remove all this from our memories.’
‘But I’m not sure I can do it without hurting you.’
‘Then hurt us. Really. It’s the best thing to do. But do it quick. I can see she’s contemplating taking out Sam as they speak.’
Whitney sucked in her breath as she looked across the ten feet to Sam where he spoke to Rommy. He wasn’t poised to fight, but he was keeping his distance wisely.
“Rommy, Jade, and Jax, you will forget the past day, and when you wake, you will know you caught the mer responsible for all the killings. You will be done and able to leave Florida for your next mission.” Whitney tried to make sure she used the same force in her voice she had used to make everyone stop fighting.
Sam turned and stared at her as Rommy, Jade, and Jax all dropped into the sand.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“Jax said she was getting ready to kill you and I figured letting them live was our thank you for helping you out.” Whitney shrugged as she tried her best to put a positive spin on it.
Grinning, Sam stepped back to pull her into his arms. “Have I ever told you I love everything about you?” he asked, ignoring the unconscious bodies of the hunters on the beach.
“Nope,” she replied and tiptoed up to kiss him.
Life was too complicated, but on the now-quiet island, it was actually quite peaceful. Things weren’t going to last like that, but it was nice to dream.