The smile froze on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Thayde and I believe Herra has been in contact with the Farasi Family. I think their plans involve changing us completely.”
Should I tell him everything? Part of me knew my plan rested entirely upon whether Flynn was trustworthy or not. If he betrayed me in any way, I would fail. To trust a stranger, to place everything in their hands is an act of faith. I wanted Flynn to trust me as much as he wanted me to trust him. Despite my misgivings, I relented. I would tell Flynn of my suspicions and tell him what I needed to have done.
Holding my hands up, I nodded to him and he leaned forward, his head resting against my palms. Ten seconds later, it was done and he pulled away from my grasp.
“I don’t know if I can do that.” His voice shook. “It’s perfect, but I don’t know if,” he stood and began to pace. “There are some that can read minds. They will know your plan before I can begin.”
“I can give you the power to repel their thoughts.”
Flynn frowned. “I don’t want any more powers. I just want to die when this is all over. Can you do that?”
“I can’t kill you. It’s not my place to end your life.”
The sun melted over the horizon and I stretched in its glow. “Do you feel the warmth of the sun?” I asked.
“Of course,”
“Then there’s hope for you after all,” I replied and dropped through the earth as Flynn did, leaving him to make his decision.
Instead of returning immediately to Vero, I stopped at the island where I had discovered Thayde when he had been battling The Shadow. It was just as I had remembered; devoid of human life and filled with fat, indignant seagulls.
Sitting in the shallows of the waters, with the waves lapping at my stomach, I phased and admired my beautiful burgundy tail. Pulling my knees to my chin, I wrapped my arms around the soft scales and rested my head. I was going to have to try and invade the Master’s mind. What were his plans? Why was Flynn so important to him?
Melding into a vampires mind from halfway across the world was something I had never attempted and it took me several minutes to even locate him. He immediately knew someone was attempting to infiltrate his thoughts.
“Who dares penetrate my mind?” His Italian accent was strong. “Herra?”
The mere mention of her name put me on alert. So she had been in contact with him. I forced a stronger shield around me, forcing his questions away as I dug deeper. And there it was: his plans for the vampire race. It did involve merpeople. He wanted to rule it all – both the land and the oceans. Thayde had been right. Power was everything to the Master. But Flynn, what was Flynn to him? It was difficult to decipher. His thoughts became sporadic. He was protecting himself. I would have to meet him face to face, but not now. Now I needed to get back home to Thayde.
“You just left him there?”
My handsome husband watched me wriggle out of my pants and toss them onto the side chair. As soon as I crawled under the sheets, he wrapped his arm under my knees and circled me around him, twisting with ease. It was a good thing my bed was queen sized or we would have fallen onto the floor.
“I’ve placed a lot of trust in him. I hope he’ll do what I asked.” I cuddled up to Thayde’s warm bare chest. “I hope that when this comes to an end, he’ll have a new sense of being. You were right – the Master wants to create a new race. He just needs to start with one and I cannot let that happen. Herra thinks she will rule, but she is just a pawn. Once he has a mer-vamp, it’ll be the end of many merpeople.”
“I never thought you’d have to worry about vampires,” he sighed, tracing my shoulder.
“I never thought I’d have to worry about mermaids. Now look at me!” I tried to laugh it off, but was silenced as Thayde pulled me into a deep kiss. He was passionate, urgent and after a moment, I had to pull back for lack of air.
“What’s wrong?”
The muscles in his jaw tightened as he fought for the words. “Tomorrow, everything changes.”
“How do you mean?”
He ran a hand through my hair. “War,”
“War?”
“It changes everything.”
His fingers fiddled with my golden strands. “I don’t want you to go through it. It’s going to change who you are. You’re going to see things you shouldn’t. You’re going to get hurt.”
With a heavy sigh, he cocked his head and let his gaze fall hungrily to the small of my neck. When he leaned forward to kiss it, goose bumps burst down the side of my body. I started to answer his objection in my mind, but he spoke out loud.