Painful Memories

Chapter 2

I tossed and turned when I finally managed to fall asleep that night, tumbling head over tail into a nightmare. Swimming into a clearing, tripping over a motionless body on the seafloor; unable to move as a cloaked figure swims out in front of me, clutching the sleeve of a terrified mermaid. Queen Katrina's shaking, tears spilling down her pale cheeks. Even when they're staring straight at me, all I can see is the darkness of their cloak.

It's pitch-black outside, but the moon, shining brightly above the surface, provides enough light to see by. "Who are you?" I cry, subtly reaching for the dagger at my waist. "What do you want?"

"Really, Isadora? After all this time, you don't remember me? I'm hurt." The voice, familiar and cruel, sends a shiver down my spine.

Ronan reaches up and pulls the cloak off his head, revealing platinum eyes that are edged with insanity. I gasp, horror sluicing through me.

He smiles, the sight chilling me to the bone. "Oh, Izzy. This is all your fault. Your family did this to me. I don't sleep; I barely eat. Whenever I close my eyes, I see Sophia. Laughing, smiling."

Lost in his grief, he releases his hold on Queen Katrina. She rushes towards me, face deathly pale. I quickly scan her body for any injuries, but find none. "Go," I quietly urge her. "Swim as fast as you can back to Beltmare and warn Kai. I'll take care of Ronan." My voice is steady, but my trembling hands reveal my nerves.

I can see the indecision in her eyes. She wants to stay and protect me, but won't leave her son vulnerable. "Be careful, Izzy."

I watch her retreating figure as she swims away, getting smaller and smaller in the distance until I can't see her anymore. "Okay. It's just you and me now," I say.

His eyes gleam with sick joy. "I'm going to enjoy this." Before I can even open my mouth, he's moving. He's behind me in a heartbeat, clutching my hair in a fist. I cry out, but refuse to let the tears fall.

I realize his plan before he even voices it. Even though he didn't have a direct hand in me destroying the Loyalty Pendant, he'd expected (like everyone else, I imagine) for me to die. He didn't anticipate Mom saving my life.

Now he's going to do whatever he can to kill me. In his twisted mind, he thinks that me dying will make up for his sister. The grief that Mom and Dad will feel will utterly destroy them. That's what he wants.

"I can feel your fear. It's wonderful." He inhales, as if relishing it. "Feel your heart racing, Izzy? Faster and faster, until it feels like it's going to explode. This is what you feel every morning when you go to breakfast, right? The paralyzing panic and fear, choking you until you can't breathe. All you can see, all you can hear is that dagger speeding through the water, heading straight for you."

His voice is malicious, sadistic humor oozing from his tone. I shake my head, squeezing my eyes shut. I count to three, reassuring myself that when I open my eyes again, I'll be in our bedroom.

But when I cautiously open my eyes, Ronan's face stares back at me. I see movement over his shoulder and flinch. My eyes widen, a scream breaking from my lips as the aforementioned dagger speeds through the water, aimed straight at my heart.

I jerked awake, flinching again. Adrenaline rushed through me like a shark on a scent. The first logical thing to do would be to warn Mom and Dad, then Kai and Queen Katrina. Tremors shuddered through my body as tears flowed down my cheeks.

I couldn't move, could hardly breathe as Ronan's words floated through my head. "'Feel your heart racing, Izzy? Faster and faster, until it feels like it's going to explode. This is what you feel every morning when you go to breakfast, right? The paralyzing panic and fear, choking you until you can't breathe. All you can see, all you can hear is that dagger speeding through the water, heading straight for you.'"

I saw his face in my mind: that sadistic grin, eyes shining with malice. The words played on a loop until I wanted to scream. The worst part was that he was right. That was my trigger. All the exposure therapy in the world wouldn't be able to fix that.

I ran shaky hands through my curls. A hand on my arm had me turning my head, meeting worried eyes. "Talk to me," Kai said, propping his chin up on his free hand.

Whenever I looked at him, the similarities between him and both his parents blew me away. He had the same square jaw as his father, the same sharp cheekbones as his mother. What no one could replicate, however, was the love that shone in his eyes and on his face when he looked at me.

I took several deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. "I swam into a clearing, tripping over a motionless body. I looked up and froze as a hooded figure swam in front of me, clutching the sleeve of a terrified mermaid. Your mother. It was pitch-black outside, but the light of the moon provided me enough light to see by."

I could feel my heart begin to race, my palms begin to sweat. Kai gripped my hands, squeezing them gently. "'Who are you?' I'd asked. 'What do you want?'"

My hands were shaking now. "The voice was filled with both familiarity and cruelty. 'Really, Isadora? After all this time, you don't remember me? I'm hurt.' His hand reached up and removed his cloak, revealing platinum eyes edged with insanity. Ronan smiled, the sight chilling me to the bone. 'Oh, Izzy. This is all your fault. Your family did this to me. I don't sleep; I barely eat. Whenever I close my eyes, I see Sophia. Laughing, smiling.'"

It was all I could do to keep talking, keep forming words, when the memory threatened to consume me. Kai hadn't moved a muscle, his eyes locked on my face. "Lost in his grief, he released his hold on Queen Katrina. She rushed towards me as I scanned her body for injuries. I quietly urged her to swim as fast as she could back here and warn you, that I would take care of him. I could tell she wanted to stay and protect me, but wouldn't leave you vulnerable."

A shaky sigh escaped me, followed by a sharp intake of breath. "'Be careful, Izzy,' she'd said. I watched her retreating figure as she swam away, then turned back to Ronan. 'Okay,' I said. 'It's just you and me now.'"

Kai's eyes blazed with anger, his jaw and fists clenched. But he stayed silent, waiting for me to continue. "His eyes gleamed with sick joy. 'I'm going to enjoy this.' Before I could even open my mouth, he was moving. He was behind me in a heartbeat, clutching my hair in a fist. I cried out, but refused to let the tears fall."

I realized belatedly that my own fists were clenched, my body tense. "I realized his plan before he even voiced it. Even though he didn't have a direct hand in me destroying the Loyalty Pendant, he'd expected, like everyone else I imagined, for me to die. He hadn't counted on Mom saving me. In his twisted mind, he thought that me dying would make up for his sister. The grief that Mom and Dad would feel would utterly destroy them."

I blew out a breath, suddenly exhausted. "'I can feel your fear. It's wonderful.' He inhaled, as if relishing it. 'Feel your heart racing, Izzy? Faster and faster, until it feels like it's going to explode. This is what you feel every morning when you go to breakfast, right? The paralyzing panic and fear choking you until you can't breathe. All you can see, all you can hear is that dagger speeding through the water, heading straight for you.

"His voice was malicious, sadistic humor oozing from his tone. I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut. I counted to three, reassuring myself that when I opened my eyes again, I'd be back in our bedroom. But when I cautiously opened my eyes, his face stared back at me. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and flinched. My eyes widened, a scream breaking from my lips as the aforementioned dagger sped through the water, aimed at my heart."

A sob broke from my throat as the word left my mouth. "That's when I woke up." Kai pulled me into his arms, stroking my hair. Exhausted, I closed my eyes, savoring his touch.

A sharp, insistent knocking broke the hug, both of us turning towards the door. I rubbed my eyes, hastily swimming into the bathing room and washing my face. I heard Kai's hushed voice, whispered conversation with whoever was on the other side.

When I swam out of the bathing room, a glimmer of purple-and-gray caught my eye. Jesper floated in front of Kai, his face grave. "You need to come with me."

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