Excerpt 2
My swim home was too quick. Lost
in the elation of Brendan’s promise, I thought about what I could take with me
when I left my home. Maybe one suitcase
and my iPod; we could always replace what we couldn’t carry. Would we fly or drive? Where would we go? Brendan had promised to make all of the
necessary arrangements soon, but I didn’t know if I could wait to hear his
plan.
Night was nearly here and the silhouette of my house looked bleak
and menacing. When I reached our
backyard stretch of beach, someone was waiting for me. I sighed and picked up my scattered clothing
without acknowledging my guest.
“You are in so much trouble this time,” a whiney, nasally voice
taunted.
“Shut up, Marisol and mind your own business.” I walked briskly back to the stairs, trying
to ignore my sister, but she followed closely at my heels.
“I don’t understand what’s wrong with you. This is what we were born to do and Kain is
super rich and totally gorgeous.” She
tripped on one of the steps and stumbled into me. I turned with a glare so evil that she
stepped away. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
The words were sharp but I knew that they rang true. Kain didn’t deserve someone who couldn’t love
him. He was too good and too nice. My sister was right, but that didn’t mean I
had to let her know it.
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about Mars,” I snapped at her, using the childhood nickname she
loathed. “Just mind your own business
for once and leave me alone!”
Stomping up the stairs was probably a mistake. Although I managed to lose one nagging voice,
two more were waiting for me at the top.
I looked into my parents eyes and could see their growing
disappointment. The dark wood deck
wrapped entirely around the raised first floor of our house and was large
enough to hold a hundred people. But
there were only two of them standing there now.
They leaned against the railing on the far side with my father holding
my mother in front of him in a show of support and unity. I rolled my eyes.
“Told you,” chirped Marisol as she dodged out of the way of my
swinging hand.
“Eviana Anne Dumahl. Do not
strike your sister.” My father’s harsh
command sent chills through my body. I
really hated it when he was this mad at me.
“And put some clothes on.”
I was standing before them completely naked and soaking wet. Succumbing to the grueling glares, I
reluctantly pulled on my blouse using my arms to secure it to my body rather
than button it up.
“Where did you go?” my father asked in a lighter tone.
Before I could answer, my mother cut in, “You were with him weren’t you?” She pulled away from my father’s arms and
walked toward me with determination. Her
long dark hair flowed around her perfectly smooth face. The grace and confidence with which she moved
still astounded me.
Without looking into her eyes, I threw back my shoulders and stood
my ground. Anything to defy her.
She literally sniffed me. Her
nose moved around my neck, my hair, and even my hands. There was no way that I could deny who I’d
spent the last few hours with, and I wouldn’t try to anyway.
“I want to be with him. Not Kain.”
My mother tsked at me in disgust and grabbed my face with her
hands. She was slightly shorter than me,
but her domineering personality was still intimidating. Plus she was squeezing my cheeks pretty
hard.
“You will not see that boy again, do you understand? The Matthews have finally agreed to conduct
this marriage and you will respect your duties and your family. This is very important to our survival. Can you even begin to comprehend what type of
message your behavior is sending?”
I could see the frustration building in her eyes, and before I
realized what was happening, my tears spilled over. I pushed her hands away and turned to my
father.
“Please, dad. Please! Don’t make me do this!” I waved my arm back toward the house. “Marisol would kill to have the chance to
marry Kain and provide him children. Why
can’t she just do it?”
“Oh Eviana, please don’t upset yourself like this.” He glided over and wrapped me in an
embrace. His warm body and soothing
voice kept offering false hope.
“Stop babying her, Charles,” my mother snapped. “She is almost eighteen now. It’s about time she started acting like
it.”
Marguerite, my mother and the Dumahl Clan leader, didn’t stop
there. “You and I had to endure our marriage
when we were much younger than this.”
Turning toward me, she continued, “I became a leader when I was your
age. I survived. Charles and I survived. And so will you. Stop acting like a spoiled brat and accept
your responsibility!”
My mother walked away toward the deck’s edge to regain her composure
and my father sighed. I knew what was
coming next.
“Eviana, you must do as you are told. Kain is a nice young man with a good
family. And from what I can see, he is
already quite smitten with you.”
I sobbed out of control. I really
did hate to disappoint my father and even my mother sometimes. But this is not the life I wanted. I suddenly realized that I wasn’t crying
because I’d have to marry Kain, I was crying because I knew that I had to run
away. There was no other choice at this
point.
Feigning total defeat, I pulled away and looked up at him. His middle-aged face could pass for someone
ten years younger, but the wrinkles around his eyes did little to hide his
distress. I’d probably been the cause of
most of those lines.
“When is it?” I asked.
Both of my parents looked at me in shock. They shared a glance between them, no doubt
trying to figure out if this was a trick.
My mother replied hesitantly, “The first of the month.”
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