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Arise
Book Three of The Syrenka Series
By Amber Garr
With power comes the
responsibility to accept its consequences.
After the betrayal of those closest to her, Eviana Dumahl struggles to cope with her new reality. Kidnapped, broken, and confused, she is forced to engage in a war that will alter merfolk politics forever. With her estranged father leading the charge, Eviana has no choice but to stand by his side. Her continued existence hinges on the acceptance of the power growing inside her, even when that means embracing the family’s dark lineage.
Kain Matthew will sacrifice the world for Eviana. And he is not alone. As time runs out, her friends fight to save her life and theirs. An unlikely alliance gives them the edge they need to take a stand, although it keeps Eviana’s heart trapped in the past. A new discovery explains some of her previous mistakes, but it may not be enough to stop her father’s plans. Merfolk, selkies, and water sprites work together to save their kind, only in this final battle, not everyone will survive.
In the striking series conclusion, Eviana will learn the true meaning of power, sacrifice, and love.
Excerpt 1
Eviana
When Graham and I surfaced back inside our coral-walled prison, we
noticed that someone had brought us two plates of food. Without speaking to him, I pulled myself out
of the water and willed my legs to come back to me. Considering our history, I might have had
some concern over Graham seeing me naked, but once again, I couldn’t muster up
the energy to care.
“I see they’ve improved the food,” he commented.
“Doesn’t matter, I’m not eating,” I said without even looking at the
plates. Now that we had the light from
underwater, it made it easier to move about the room and identify what Lucian’s
cronies were feeding us.
“No?”
“Nope,” I said as I finished pulling my shirt over my head. When I turned around, I saw Graham chewing on
a piece of pineapple and sifting through the rest of the items. Much to my dismay, my stomach growled. It was so loud that Graham chuckled.
“Perhaps your body wants some nourishment.”
“I don’t care.”
“Suit yourself, tart.”
I rolled my eyes and walked over to him. The smell of the food was overwhelming and I
couldn’t help but look down at it.
“Don’t call me that,” I said but spoke more to the plate. There was some type of fish wrapped in a
banana leaf and it smelled delicious.
“You’re drooling,” he teased.
“It’s probably poisoned.”
He bit into another piece of fruit.
“Well, I haven’t eaten anything solid in days, so I’ll take my
chances.” Grabbing his plate, he sat
down cross-legged on the floor and proceeded to stuff his face.
Tempted, I fought the urge to give in.
I didn’t really know what the purpose of my hunger strike was and how it
would help get me out of here. I guess I
just wanted to be difficult.
Excerpt 2
Kain
I finished packing up the duffle bag full of knifes, hand grenades,
and a couple of Japanese short swords.
It was Julian’s weapon of choice, but I preferred to stick with my
natural abilities. I’d been practicing
my compulsion and my water control seemed to improve every day. It was like a switch had been turned on and I
suddenly knew exactly how to manipulate the element with very little
effort. The compulsion I would save for
a few choice selkies if needed.
As if listening to my internal thoughts, Brendan appeared on the
beachside deck and knocked on the door frame.
Neither of us acknowledged his presence, so he walked inside and sat
down next to Daniel.
“I need to talk to Marisol,” Daniel said and quickly jumped out of his
chair then disappeared around the corner.
I would thank him for that later.
“Do you need any help?” Brendan asked.
“Nope.”
After a full minute of silence, he spoke again. “Abhainn will find her, right?”
I stopped filling the snack bag I was working on and took a deep
breath. Do I respond or do I stay
silent? I decided to listen to my
heart. “Do you really care?”
As though I stabbed a sword through him too, Brendan recoiled in
shock. “Of course I care! I love her more than anything in this world!”
“If you truly did love her, you would have left a long time ago.” My voice wavered with anger and a thousand
other emotions. Apparently we were going
to have this discussion and I wasn’t fully prepared to filter my words.
Brendan jumped to his feet and leaned across the table toward me. “You would have loved that, wouldn’t
you? Having her to yourself. Going through with a marriage she never
wanted. It would have been perfect for
you if I would have stayed in Washington, right?”
“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth.
“She would have had a chance to choose me.”
“She always had that chance. I
never stopped her.” He moved around the
edge of the table so that we were looking at each other eye to eye. I could see the lines around his face and the
grey tone of his skin. He looked like
hell and I smiled. “What’s so funny?” he
snapped.
Ignoring his question, I stared into his eyes. “She doesn’t want you now.”
He sucked in air then turned away from me. “But I need to help her.”
“No, you don’t. We have this
under control.”
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Excerpt 1
I
wanted to punch him in the face.
For at least the hundredth time today, I swung my fist towards his
infuriating smirk. He easily dodged it,
of course, and proceeded to look down at me like a child. “You’re getting closer,” he teased.
Throwing my arms down in frustration, I shook my head. “How am I supposed to learn if you won’t even
let me get a hit in?”
He laughed and resumed a fighter’s stance. “How are you supposed to learn if I just
stand still and let you pummel me?
That’s not ever going to happen in the real world. Now, try with your legs.”
I rolled my eyes and shifted my feet so that my stronger right leg was
in front. Ideally, I’d be having this
battle underwater where my legs were not an issue.
“Protect your face,” he yelled at me and I lifted my fists up to nose
level. I could do this. He’d taught me how to incapacitate my
enemies. Just go for the knee.
I faked a few smaller kicks, pretending to hesitate. Then, like a ninja, I struck. The underside of my right foot was directly
on target and I expected it to land a perfect hit to the side of his left
knee. Only it didn’t happen.
Out of nowhere, he grabbed my ankle and I was suddenly airborne. The world spun around me once before I landed
with a thud on my back, effectively knocking the air from my lungs. I even saw some stars floating by. My training sessions were getting harder
every day, and after this debacle, I decided that it was time to quit.
A shadow moved above me and I used my hand to block out the rest of
the sun. Looking up at his ominous
figure I said, “I’m done.”
I heard another laugh rumble through my trainer’s chest as he reached
down and grabbed my arm. In one swift
motion, he pulled me up off the ground.
“You would have broken my knee with that kick, Eviana. I had to stop you.” I glared at him. “What?” he continued. “I’m not going to let you hurt me. But you did
well. I knew that you’d learn
eventually.”
I jumped towards him as fast as I could, intending to get him in a
choke hold. My arms slipped around his
neck, but my body kept rolling over him as he bent forward and used my momentum
to toss me towards the ground. In less
than two seconds, I was on my back again with a forearm pressing against my
throat and my pride seeping away into the dirt.
“Ahh!” I screamed in frustration.
The annoying grin on his face told me that I would never beat him in a
fair fight. Palmer was my cousin, my
trainer, and also one of the numerous protectors now living at my house. We’d been practicing for the past two weeks
and although I couldn’t hurt him yet, Palmer reassured me that I was improving.
Excerpt 2
“Try that one next,” Daniel mumbled through a mouth full of bagel.
“Stop pointing!” I warned him.
The three of us were sitting on one of the benches in Bennett’s Park
that surrounded the largest playground area.
We probably looked young enough that this wasn’t creepy, otherwise the
adults would wonder why we stared and laughed at their kids all morning. I felt kind of bad but it was the only way I
could practice. “What should I do?”
Daniel tilted his head in thought, and I could see the moment he got
some demented idea. “Make him do the
chicken dance!” Kain snorted and I
agreed with his sentiment.
“Daniel…,” I groaned. “Really?”
“Yes, it’s genius because no one would be suspicious if an adult is
dancing for a kid. Plus, you can try to
give the command to just one person,” he pointed out.
“Okay, let’s see.” I did my
best to block out all background noises and focused in on one of the few
fathers who braved the playground scene today.
It wasn’t like I could find his mind per se, but that’s what I was
trying to do. The more I practiced, the
easier it was for me to visualize every individual’s consciousness. I directed my power towards the jumble of
thoughts that I figured belonged to the man and pushed the music into his head
along with the command to dance. A wave
of confusion swept over his face and he stopped fiddling with his daughter’s
coat. He stood up and began to sway from
side to side.
“It’s working!” Daniel squealed.
The man smiled down at his daughter and brought his hands up to his
ribs. Flapping his elbows up and down
like a bird, he began the chicken dance.
I was so excited, I continued to push the command out towards him
without realizing that I touched a few other minds as well. Nearly twenty parents and their children
began dancing the choreographed steps and I totally lost my concentration.
“Oh crap,” I moaned. Kain and
Daniel laughed beside me and I elbowed them both. “Humans are too easy.” I was learning that the power of suggestion
on a human’s mind was way more potent than I could handle at this point. Pushing out one command to one person with a
little too much force indirectly affected all of those around him. Now half of the playground was wiggling and
twisting to an inaudible tune, and Daniel was in hysterics.
“Keep going. This is too good,”
he sputtered out in between giggles. I
ignored him and yelled Stop! in my
head to erase their urge to continue dancing.
Within a few seconds, everyone stopped and looked around in
confusion. My friends were laughing
loudly and several parents glanced in our direction. But they soon went back to their normal
business as though they hadn’t just been part of a flash mob. Mermaid compulsion: got to love it.
“Oh, you’re no fun,” Daniel chided.
I rolled my eyes at him and
slumped back against the bench. Sipping
the latte we grabbed on the way to the park, I looked around the rest of the
scenery and tried to think about nothing.
Not an easy task.
“You try it,” Daniel said. At
first I thought he was talking to me, but was surprised to see him looking at
Kain.
“I don’t think so,” Kain said with an edge.
“No, he’s right. You need to
practice too,” I added. Kain had the
ability as well, although for some reason mine had jumped from zero to extreme
in one evening. His power repertoire was
building slowly but he still had the skills necessary to manipulate minds.
“You’re the one they want to see demonstrate,” Kain reminded me.
“So? You’re a leader, too and
the more control you have, the more people will respect you.”
Buy Links
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Promises
Book One of The Syrenka Series
By Amber Garr
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Excerpt 1
I barely heard her
parting words as the screen door slammed shut.
My head spun in desperation as the anger coursed through my bones. “Get back in here Eviana!” she continued to
scream at me. “We are not finished with
this conversation!”
I was already racing
down the deck stairs toward the sandy beach, kicking off my shoes and
unbuttoning my blouse. We are for now, I thought as my blood
boiled with rage and resentment. I was
going to be trapped! How dare they? This was not the eighteenth century anymore! I had rights!
I stumbled onto the
sand, taking just a brief moment to savor the warmth and the feeling of the
grains massaging my toes. My shirt came
off and I started to unzip my jeans. No
one was around. But I wouldn’t care
anyway. The water was calling me and it
was the only voice that I could hear now.
With one pant leg off, I hopped along in my forward progression until
the other one was free. My oasis was so
close now that I could taste the salt in the air. The sun broke free of a cloud, stopping me
for a moment. It was late afternoon with
sunset still a few hours away, but the sky had already turning multiple shades
of pink and orange. The coloration
reminded me of the inside of a brilliant conch shell.
I closed my eyes
and took a deep breath. I knew there
would be hell to pay when I returned to the house. Marguerite, my mother, had tolerated my
rebellious behavior when I was younger, giving me more freedom and second
chances than anyone in our clan. But
apparently now, at seventeen, I was an adult.
Adult enough to bear children.
Adult enough to participate in clan gatherings. Adult enough to navigate our youth through
their transition period. But not adult enough to choose who to
love.
A slight breeze
wafted off the ocean, bringing with it scents that filled my gut with
longing. The freedom of the ocean. Why couldn’t I just stay there forever? A gull called overhead, beckoning me to join
him. The splashing waves calmed my inner
rage as they ebbed and flowed in a hypnotic pattern. A distant moan of a shipping vessel reminded
me of our history. I opened my eyes to
see that I was standing alone along miles of sandy beach interlaced with large
rocks and cliffs emblematic of the northern California coast. So beautiful.
I stripped off the rest of my clothes and ran into the ocean.
As soon as I was
under the water, I could feel the transition begin. My lower body ached as the bones adjusted
from a life on land to one at sea. Both
legs began to fuse together and work as one.
My foot bones elongated while I prepared for the agony. I was accustomed to the changes now, but it
was still a struggle of mind over matter.
Breaking through the surface of the water, I grabbed one last breath
before the final jolt of pain ravaged through my body. I bit my bottom lip and squeezed my eyes shut,
willing the moment to be over. At last I
felt an electric tingle move from my hips to my toes as the hardened
iridescent, scales appeared on my tail.
I opened my eyes to find that the internal transformation was complete
as well. My vision cleared. My lungs expanded. I could hear for miles. I was free.
So I swam. I swam away from the shore and the house that
I lived in. I swam away from my fears
and obligations as though they could disappear with the distance. I would temporarily forget my
responsibilities, my duties, and the argument with my mother. In here, I wasn’t trapped. The sea was my true home. I was a mermaid and this was my world.
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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Review of the First Book:
Overall, it was pretty entertaining, essentially it was a solid read, even if there were intervals in the story of melodramatic romance that I thought was a little too excessive at times. Other than that, the prose was very lucid, and there really weren't too many dull moments in the story. Basically, I would recommend it for being something that keeps your attention, and you might very well end up loving it. In conclusion, I thought it was a fairly engrossing read, and would love to read the sequels to see how the author builds upon the story-line introduced in the first novel.
Overall, it was pretty entertaining, essentially it was a solid read, even if there were intervals in the story of melodramatic romance that I thought was a little too excessive at times. Other than that, the prose was very lucid, and there really weren't too many dull moments in the story. Basically, I would recommend it for being something that keeps your attention, and you might very well end up loving it. In conclusion, I thought it was a fairly engrossing read, and would love to read the sequels to see how the author builds upon the story-line introduced in the first novel.
About the Author
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Social Contact
Website: http://www.ambergarr.com
Email: amber@ambergarr.com
