Submerging (Swans Landing) (18 page)

“It is an old power,” Callum said. “The song the finfolk on the beach sang is one version of it, a simpler one. The one that was used on me is much older and more complex. Like how the healing song can be used to heal wounds while changing forms, this song can be used to keep someone locked in one form.” He shook his head. “I can’t say precisely how it works, but it blocks the body’s ability to shift.”

“That’s impossible,” I said.

He smirked. “You saw the evidence for yourself. I swam for hours with you and Josh, yet I never changed. I’m stuck in my human form.”

“Can it be reversed? Could someone sing the song again and let you change?”

“Maybe,” Callum said. “It has never been done that I know of. The song is usually done only on finfolk who have committed a big enough sin to be stripped of their rights. Once they are banished from Hether Blether, they never come back.”

“Except you,” I said.

Callum grinned. “Aye, well, I had the foresight to steal the key before I left.” He winked.

I tried to laugh, but the thought of Callum being stuck in one form forever was overwhelming. I couldn’t imagine not swimming as a finfolk. “It’s not right,” I said. “Domnall shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“It is only done in certain circumstances. We don’t believe in killing our own kind, since each finfolk carries a part of our people’s essence. Killing each other would make all of us weaker. But we can take away the ability to change in place of death. It is a death of its own kind.”

I thought about my mother, trapped here on this island for sixteen years. Had Domnall done this to her, like he had to Callum? Had she ever tried to go back home?

“I’m sorry,” Callum said, seeing my frown. “I didn’t mean to upset you with this.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not that.” I swallowed, trying to figure out the best way to explain everything that had happened that day. I hadn’t told him yet about my mama. I hadn’t been able to talk much about her.

“I found my mother,” I finally said.

“Here in Hether Blether?” he asked.

“On the peninsula.”

“Your mother is there? You’re sure of that?”

I nodded. “I’ve visited her a few times. I went today. She’s not...healthy.”

“How long has she been here?”

“Sixteen years. She somehow found her way here.”

Callum’s eyes widened. “There have been rumors before, of people from outside our island finding their way here. But I always thought it was just that, rumors. How could she have been here that long and no one knew?”

“Domnall knew.” I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands. “I don’t know what to believe. He says she’s been like that since she got here, but I can’t help wondering if he did something to her. She doesn’t seem to know where she is or even when it is. She won’t respond to me, even when I tell her who I am. She wasn’t like that when she left our home. Grandma would have told me if my mama had been like that.”

Callum placed a hand over mine. His hands were so much larger than mine, though his skin was much paler and freckles dotted the back of his hand. “Perhaps,” he said. “Or perhaps your grandmother wanted to protect you from the truth.”

“She’s not crazy!” I shouted at him. “Something happened. Either something here or something back home. Something made her like this.”

“Then you have to try to find out what exactly it was,” Callum said. “Keep talking to her.”

“Domnall said my mother’s condition is caused by an infection from living in the human world. He says this taint or whatever it is is spreading to Hether Blether, and he needs to bring the lost finfolk back home in order to save the island.”

Callum sighed. “Domnall has a lot of ideas lately.”

“What do you think?” I asked.

He looked at me, his expression grave. “I think you should leave Hether Blether as soon as possible and never come back.”

I swallowed at the tone in his words. “Why?”

“Because this land is not healthy,” Callum said. “Domnall is not healthy. He doesn’t know you’re part human, but once he finds out he will do whatever he thinks is best to get rid of the tainted part of you and your people. The song can be used in other ways, Sailor. He can block the part of you that makes you human if he figures out how to change the song.”

“So Josh and I are in danger?” I asked.

“I think so, yes. Take your brother and go. Swim toward the mists for as long as you can. Eventually you’ll find your way through to the human world.”

“What about you?” I asked.

Callum shrugged. “I’m a deformed finfolk. Don’t concern yourself about me.”

I was aware of the guards outside the door, so I kept my voice low. “But you’re the reason we even made it here. I can’t leave you behind to rot away in this room.”

“You can’t save me,” Callum said. “I’m not important, nothing to worry about.”

Tears stung my eyes suddenly. “You’re important to me,” I said.

Time froze as my words hung in the air. The muscles along Callum’s neck twitched as he swallowed. His hand was still clasped over mine, his fingers squeezing tight.

A heartbeat passed, then another.

And then my lips met his. I didn’t know who had leaned forward, maybe both of us did, but my mouth pressed to his, crushing lips in a kiss that sent static tingling through my body. His hands moved into my hair, grasping my head and pressing me closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, feeling the width and strength and solidness of his body.

When we were eleven, Dylan and I had kissed once. I had wanted to have my first kiss and in my mind, it would always be Dylan and me. We were meant for each other from the moment we were born. Everything that had ever happened in my life had happened with Dylan at my side. So we had kissed, the only time Dylan had ever kissed me, despite my numerous attempts to make him see that I had always been the one meant for him.

But this...no one had ever kissed me like this.

I wrenched myself away from Callum, stumbling as I pushed myself up from the mattress. His lips were red and he seemed as breathless as I felt. He blinked, his eyes showing a dazed look.

“I—I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “I have to go.”

“Sailor—”

I pulled open the wooden door and then tore down the hall, past the stunned guards.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Leaving so soon?”

Domnall stepped out of the shadows at the end of the hallway, stopping my run toward the stairs. His blue eyes looked me over. “You are flushed,” he said. “Are you unwell?”

“I’m fine,” I said quickly. I tried to calm my panting breaths, but my heart still thudded against my chest and my pulse pounded in my ears.

“Perhaps you would like to sit down?” Without waiting for my response, Domnall gripped my elbow and led me down the stairs. He took me to the place where he had first offered to take me to my mother. The door in the floor was open and water rippled below. A door to my left showed a bedroom decorated in matching dark blue and gray. My gaze found the sightless statues watching me from the corners and I looked away quickly, not wanting to think about the humans that might have lost their lives when the ships carrying them sank.

My tongue scratched against the roof of my dry mouth. “I should go back to my room,” I said.

Domnall closed the door and then crossed the room to a table where a silver pitcher and cups sat. He poured a cup of water and then offered it to me.

“Drink,” he said. “You look disturbed. If Callum did anything to harm you—”

“He didn’t harm me!” I said.

Domnall blinked once, his expression neutral. He offered the cup again and this time I took it, clutching it tightly to keep my hands from shaking.

“You have been spending a lot of time with Callum lately.”

“He’s stuck in a room by himself. He needs company.”

“Aye,” Domnall said. He walked around me in a slow circle. “But I notice your brother only comes occasionally, while you are there often, sitting alone in that room with him. It makes one wonder...”

I glared at Domnall’s head as he continued around me. “Wonder what?”

“One wonders what exactly is the nature of your relationship with Callum?” Now Domnall stopped in front of me, gazing back at me intently.

“There is no relationship between us,” I said, clenching my teeth together. “I am keeping him company because you feel the need to keep him locked away.”

Domnall shrugged. “It is what we always do with prisoners who are awaiting judgment.”

“So judge him already!” My voice echoed off the sandy walls around us. “Are you keeping him locked up like that to torment him?”

Something flickered at the corners of Domnall’s mouth, a smile maybe, or a grimace. It was gone so quickly I couldn’t be sure. “Has Callum told you what he did to cause his banishment?”

“No,” I said, sighing. “And neither have you, for that matter.”

Domnall stopped next to a table, pulling open a drawer and staring down into it for a moment. From my position I couldn’t see what held his interest.

“I am only the judge, as necessitated by my role here,” Domnall said. “Callum must atone for his sins.”

“He said he didn’t do it. What evidence do you have to keep him?”

Domnall’s eyes were dark, his forehead creased into a deep scowl. “I have his own confession.”

My blood turned cold in my veins. But Callum had told me he hadn’t killed anyone. If he had confessed, why did he now deny it? Who was telling the truth around here?

My legs trembled and I leaned back to brace myself against the wall. Callum’s kiss still tingled on my lips. How could he kill someone, and yet sit on that bed looking so vulnerable and innocent? Had he played with my emotions to get me on his side?

“You know he is a criminal. You have seen it.” He reached into the open drawer and retrieved a twisted piece of metal. The key that had led us to Hether Blether. “He stole this when he was banished from our island. He took it because he always intended to break his punishment someday.”

Anger and confusion battled inside me. I didn’t know who I should trust.

“Yet,” Domnall went on, returning the key to the drawer, “that is a smaller crime. As to the other crimes, perhaps he was under emotional duress at the time of his confession. Sometimes the mind does not always portray things accurately, correct? For instance, looking at the emotions flitting across your face, one might think you had an interest in Callum. Some feelings toward him, perhaps. But one might be wrong, might they not?”

“I have no interest in Callum,” I said, the words almost choking me.

Domnall clasped his hands together behind his back. “Good. Because I am close to my judgment of him, and there are those who urge me to cut off his other leg so he might never be able to swim again.”

I gasped. “You can’t do that!”

Domnall blinked. “I thought you did not care for him.”

“Not caring for him doesn’t mean I think you should amputate his leg!”

“Then perhaps we can make a deal.” Domnall’s voice was solemn, his gaze burning into me.

“What kind of a deal?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“I could be convinced to release Callum,” Domnall said. “Into your care.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Callum has already atoned for his earlier crimes. Breaking banishment is much more innocent than murder and treason. I could be convinced to overlook this incident and let Callum remain under your supervision during your stay here.”

Domnall’s words swirled in my head for a moment. “During our stay?” I asked. “Does that mean you’re letting us leave the island? When we want?”

He held his hands out to me, palms up. “I am not a tyrant, Sailor. I am merely trying to protect and lead my people into a brighter future. I will not stop those who wish to leave our shores. I only ask for the chance to bring back those who are lost, those who wish to return home.”

His words sounded rational. There were others in Swans Landing who had mentioned wanting to go back to our ancestral home. Not everyone was happy among the humans. Shouldn’t they have the chance to come to Hether Blether if they wanted it?

“The finfolk who don’t want to come here, you’ll leave them alone?” I asked.

Domnall’s smile spread and he didn’t look away from me as he said, “You have my word that anyone who wishes to stay behind will have that opportunity.” He stepped forward and reached for my hand, squeezing it tight in his. “You have the chance to save both Callum and this island. We will forever be indebted to you. Think about it, Sailor. You could have anything you want in return. Money, power.” He stepped toward me, reaching up to brush his fingers over my cheek. “A family. Is that not what you came all this way to find?”

I swallowed, taking a deep breath as I thought over my options. I could leave Callum to spend the rest of his life without legs, or I could free him. I could keep Swans Landing hidden from Domnall and let Hether Blether die, or I could help the finfolk race secure their future. I could live happily in Hether Blether with Mama, far away from the humans who hated me and memories of a life I was robbed of living. Maybe I could even convince Grandma to come here too, once she heard Mama was here.