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  She nods again. “You and Blake can’t touch your trust funds until you finish college or get married, but I want to buy your part of the island with mine and I want to give it to Blake.”

  I’m in shock and so is Owen.

  “Why?” he asks.

  She sighs. “I want Blake to have a place to take Arianna and if it has your name on it, we both know your dad will find a way to get your half and do whatever he wants with it. Your grandfather never wanted him to get his hands on the island.

  Owen doesn’t ask any more questions. He doesn’t even ask how much she is paying for it. He just signs the papers and hands it over to her. She smiles at him, but it’s a heavy smile, full of concern.

  She puts the papers back in the folder and asks if Owen can watch Molly while she goes to see Blake.

  Chapter Thirty

  BLAKE

  The phone rings and I decide to answer it thinking that it’s best if our first conversation after what happened is done over the phone instead of face-to-face.

  “Did you get fucking stupid after the accident?”

  I take a deep breath. “No, sir.”

  “Well, I’m glad to hear it. I’m moving you to the house for your physical therapy.”

  “No. I want to be at my apartment.”

  “What? Do you think I’m stupid?”

  “No, sir. Brooke has access to my apartment. I wouldn’t be that stupid.”

  I wonder if my plan will work or if he will even check with Brooke, but I’m glad that for now, things seem to be going my way.

  He hesitates then says. “Well, let’s hope you aren’t.”

  Then he hangs up without even asking how I’m doing.

  My mom comes in sometime after that. When I wake up from a nap, she is there, watching me.

  “How long have you been here?” I ask.

  “Not too long.”

  She takes a deep breath, stands up and walks toward me. She hands me a folder full of papers. “What is this?” I ask.

  “The island,” she says. “It’s yours.”

  My eyes widen and I look up at her.

  “Your grandpa left it for you and Owen. Owen sold me his half and I’m giving it to you. Your grandpa also left you a trust fund but you can’t touch it until you finish school.”

  “Do you mean law school specifically? Because I already finished one degree.”

  She smiles. “Your grandpa just wanted you to have an education in whatever you wanted to. I’ll talk to the lawyer, but I think you’ll be okay.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Just live your life, son. Be happy.”

  “I’m assuming that Dad doesn’t know?”

  She shakes her head. “And I’m not sure what he will do once he finds out, but I’ll deal with him.”

  “Mom!”

  “Blake, I’ve always felt guilty for not being able to protect you and Owen from him. I need to do this.”

  I nod. “Please let me know if things get out of hand.”

  “I will.”

  I hate this feeling, but I know she is lying.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  ARIANNA

  Even after eating, I still don’t feel well. I leave Owen with Molly and go to his room, where I manage to fall asleep. When I wake up in the morning, I open my eyes to find Blake sleeping next to me.

  My heart skips a beat or two. I stay there watching him. As if he can feel my gaze on him, he opens his eyes. I love the intensity in the way he looks at me. He’s also smiling like never before.

  He moves a lock of my hair behind my ear.

  “What are you doing here?” I whisper.

  “When I called to check on you, Owen said you still weren’t feeling well. With a lot of persuasion, I managed to be discharged from the hospital.”

  “But your father—”

  “He doesn’t matter, Arianna. I lost every single ounce of respect for him once he yelled at you that night, and once I saw him hit you, I just…” he sits up on the bed, with his back turned to me, and runs his fingers through his hair. “I’ve never been able to stand up for myself while growing up,” he turns to look at me, “but I will stand up for you against anyone who ever threatens to hurt you in any way.”

  “Blake, it’s okay. And you should be able to forgive him one day. He’s still your father.”

  “No, it’s far from okay. And I know it’s not fair for me to get you into this mess of a family when you already had to escape yours to begin with. I told you, I can’t give you the fairy tale and I’m not sure I ever will be able to.”

  “I thought you were here to make me feel better, not worse,” I say with a playful tone.

  He smiles. “You’re right, and I have a surprise for you.”

  He’s radiating happiness in a way that I can’t help but to smile. “What is it?”

  He kisses my forehead. “You’ll know soon.”

  He starts to get up. “I have to run a few errands, but do you feel well enough to go back to the island later?”

  I nod.

  “Good. Owen is being weird and insists that we can’t take the boat so he’ll be flying you in later.”

  “What about you?” I ask.

  “I’ll be there waiting for you.”

  “You are not taking the boat are you?” I ask concerned.

  “What is it with you and Owen?” he laughs. “No, Owen is flying me in before he takes you there.”

  I smile, wondering what he is up to and I’m happy just to see him this happy.

  He kisses me and says that he needs to go but that he will see me later.

  BLAKE

  I hate leaving her side, even if it’s only for a matter of hours.

  My dad hasn’t found out about the island yet. He had to go out of town again and he still thinks that I’m at the hospital. Honestly, it’ll be best this way. By the time he finds out about everything, it’ll be too late. I just wish I could do things right by Brooke, but I can’t do that without the risk of everything falling apart in the mean time.

  I can’t drive, and we can’t trust our driver so I go out with Mom and Molly. Once we are at the shopping center, I go one way and Mom and Molly go in the opposite direction. This time, I make every single decision and everything feels the way it should be. I grin as I hold the box in my hand and I just hope Arianna doesn’t feel pressured by the way I planned everything to the last detail.

  I meet Mom and Molly a little while later and we make a stop to pick up one of Mom’s friends before we head to the island.

  As soon as Owen drops us off, he goes back for Arianna.

  The more time passes, the more nervous I am. I help Mom prepare everything to make time go by faster and then I change into khaki pants and a white shirt and go outside to wait for her. I sit on the sand, close to the house and I can’t help but to relive the first night I saw her. I don’t know what brought her to this island, but it doesn’t matter. I’m just happy that she got here.

  When the helicopter approaches, I stand up and wait.

  As soon as they land, I rush to get her out of there. Owen sees how nervous I am and he makes a few jokes thanking her for flying and saying that it’s common courtesy for the pretty passengers to sleep with the pilot.

  Arianna looks uncomfortable and I know he’s just being, well… he’s just being Owen, but I give him a look that clearly says he’s crossing the line and he walks away.

  Owen goes back inside the house and I take Arianna to the tree house, taking the long way there.

  “What’s going on?” she asks.

  I grin. “You’ll see.”

  When we get to the tree house, she seems uneasy and I almost regret my choice, but then I think of what this place represents to me.

  “Before you go up,” I say, “I understand that this place brings up bad memories for you, but this is also the place that means the most to me.”

  “Because of your grandfather,” she says.

  I nod. “Th
at and this was my safe place as a kid. I’m hoping to erase that bad memory that you got with a good one.”

  I grin and motion toward the ladder. “After you.”

  She climbs up and I get in after her. Like the first time, there are rose petals all over the tree house.

  She turns around and although the tree house is not that big, I manage to be on my knee as she does so.

  She gasps when she sees the ring, but her gaze doesn’t stay there for long. She looks at me and her gaze is locked on mine and I get even more nervous when I can’t read her expression.

  “Marry me,” I say.

  “Blake, I—”

  “I want you to marry me today. Right now.”

  “But Bram—”

  “We both know that’s not a legal marriage that your dad forced you into.

  She nods and her gaze moves to the floor.

  “But what about my last name, or paperwork?”

  “Owen took care of everything. Arianna, I don’t even have to look at those papers. Say yes, and from now on, you are Arianna Crawford. No looking back. We have someone at the house to make everything official, just—do you want to marry me?” I ask starting to think I might have scared her off.

  I’m surprised when she leans down, crying, and throws her arms around me. “Yes!”

  I’m still not all that strong, and I end up on my back with her lying on my side.

  I grab her hand and put the ring on her finger. It’s a simple white gold band but it reminds me of her in every way… simple and beautiful.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  ARIANNA

  We lay at the tree house, side my side, with our fingers entwined. I should be happy… I’m happy… but something is missing.

  He brings my hand to his lips and kisses my finger where I now have the ring on.

  “Something is bothering you,” he says.

  I looked away.

  “Talk to me.”

  “Blake, I want to marry you and to be with you more than anything. I just feel like—”

  “I’m rushing you…” he finishes my sentence.

  I take a deep breath. “No, that’s not it. I just… there are things about me that I want to be able to tell you before we get married and I’m not ready to tell you these things yet.” Truth is, I see the way he looks at Molly and it wouldn’t be fair to marry him without letting him know that I will never be able to have kids. “I’m sorry… I probably sound stupid worrying about all these things.”

  “No, don’t say that. If you want to wait, we will wait.”

  I’m taken by surprise on how understanding he is. I was honestly afraid of being the reason for his smile to disappear once again.

  When we go back to the house, we walk by the back porch and it’s all decorated with lanterns and flowers.

  I gasp. “You planned all of this?”

  He nods.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  Owen comes out through the back door.

  “So, do we have a wedding or what?”

  I freeze in place, feeling horrible.

  Blake slips his hand into mine and squeezes it.

  “There will be, but not today.”

  He smiles at me letting me know that everything will be okay.

  “I guess I will let everyone know,” says Owen.

  I turn to look at Blake. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why? You still said yes. That’s more than I could have asked for.”

  Later that day, everyone leaves to go back to the city but Blake and I stay. I hear his phone ring and once he ignores it, I know it’s either his dad or Brooke.

  “When are you going to tell them?” I ask him.

  “As soon as we get back to the city this week. I’d rather do it face-to-face.”

  I nod and smile at him.

  His phone rings again and this time it’s the hospital. He was waiting on a call back to schedule his follow up appointment. As he answers it, I step outside and sit on the sand, looking at the sea.

  The sea is calm and peaceful. There are absolutely no signs of an entire world beneath, controlling its every movement.

  I take a deep breath, close my eyes and just listen to the water.

  When I open my eyes, Blake is sitting in front of me. He leans in, putting his hand on my back and kissing me as we both lay down on the sand.

  He kisses my neck stopping only to take my tank top off. He then slowly plays with the button on my shorts, stopping as soon as he opens the button. His hand moves down to my inner thigh as he continues to kiss my stomach, my chest, and back to my neck. He stops right where I can feel his warm breath against my ear and whispers, “I love you, Arianna.”

  “I love you too.”

  He moves his hands to pull my shorts down and once he takes his shirt off, he stands up and extends his hand, taking my hand in his.

  “Let’s go in the water,” he says.

  I freeze. “No, not there.” I look over and see that the water is still calm and I know they have finally let me go. Still, I can’t go in the water like this.

  He gives me a puzzled look.

  I meet his gaze and say, “I want you right here.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  We have three days until we have to go back for Blake’s follow up appointment, physical therapy, and to talk to his dad and Brooke. We spend every single moment together, mostly in his—our bedroom.

  I start to become eager to tell him things about me. He has the right to know everything, but a small part of me is afraid that he will not deal well with it, so I decide to wait until we get back after his appointment.

  I know that whatever happens when he talks to his dad will be enough of an emotional stress and I don’t need to add even more to it, at least not right now.

  I’m no longer concerned about taking the boat back. I’m convinced that we are safe, and so, we arrange for Owen to meet us in the city to drive us to Blake’s doctor.

  We get in the boat and when I realize how blind I was by our happiness and hope that I would finally get my happily ever after, it’s too late. The waves come strong, hitting the boat. We get hit by wave after wave and I know the reason behind it. I know that I’m the reason why we are both going to die. Blake is yelling at me to hold on to something, but I don’t hear the words. All I think about is how my short-lived dream is about to end.

  The worst of it all is that the reason why my dream has turned into a nightmare is not because of Brooke or Blake’s father. It’s not even because of Owen and his black magic, but it’s because of my father and Bram.

  When the boat turns, we both go under, and by under, I mean that we are being dragged down underwater by Bram and Amias.

  I say the words for my tail to appear and in a way I’m shocked that it works to begin with.

  I look at Blake, but his eyes are closed.

  I panic knowing that he won’t survive being underwater. I might not be able to save myself from my world, but I need to save his life.

  I see my father behind Bram and I’m not sure how to read his expression. He’s not mad, but he’s not happy either.

  “Please let him go,” I beg him. “Let him go and I will stay without you having to force me to.”

  “Let him go!” he orders. Bram is not happy but he lets him go and Blake’s body starts to float toward the top.

  “Lyra!” My father calls.

  She swims toward us.

  “Make sure the human makes it back to the island.”

  She nods and gives me an apologetic look.

  She swims toward Blake and takes him away, and at that moment, I lose all willingness to live.

  Father turns around and swims away, and so does Amias, leaving me alone with Bram, and this Bram is nothing like the one from before. He’s angry and uncaring. I yell because of the pain that I can now feel spreading from my tail to my stomach, but he acts as if nothing is happening. My stomach hurts so much that I bend down and sink to the bottom of the sea. Bram doe
sn’t even really look at me. He grabs me by my arm and swims toward his house… my prison.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  OWEN

  My deadline is over and I have nothing to offer in return for the favors that I used. At first my plan was ideal. I was going to take Blake’s place by my father’s side, destroy Brooke and trade her soul for everything that was meant to be mine.

  Now I stand here in his office with nothing. I don’t regret it. I messed up so many things with Arianna’s life that I feel as if I owed it to her.

  I still want the power and I have no problem giving him anything and everything he asks of me, just as long as the souls that I’m taking are from humans who don’t deserve a soul to begin with.

  They both walk in and neither of them look happy.

  I stand near the desk, and Darius, the one who I made the deal with, gets dismissed.

  As soon as Darius is gone, he slams his hand on the desk.

  “All along you, you little shit, were the one fucking things up for me?”

  “Dad, I can explain.”

  “Shut up when I’m talking. I told you from the beginning that you couldn’t handle any of this. I knew Blake would never be up for it, so I thought… why not… the kid wants to play with dark magic, let him… what is the worst that can happen?”

  I swallow the lump in my throat.

  “You are going to fix this!” he says. “I already owe far too much and I’m not paying for your favors in addition to mine. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He takes a deep breath and sits down.

  You’d think it’s over, but it’s not. This is the part where I get my warning for what will happen if I don’t make things right or find a way to re-pay what I owe.

  Darius comes back in, and this time, one of his men walks in with him. I think his name is Derek, but my fascination with trying to remember his name is just my way of keeping my mind away from what is about to happen, and so, the punching session begins. I get hit over and over and there’s no point in fighting back. The less I fight, the sooner this will be over. I can feel the blood dripping down my face, but I still stand there, taking the punches because that’s how Blake and I were taught to do. And throughout the whole time I stare at my father’s eyes, and the grin on his face as he takes a sip of his drink and watches me get beaten for no reason other than his revenge and pleasure.