Read Online Promises (Book One of The Syrenka Series) by Amber Garr - Free Book Online Page B

just looks bad.” He ran his hands
through his hair, effectively messing up the carefully styled look
he was going for. I walked over to him and begin to put the hairs
back in place.
    “ He’ll be alright. He’s
lived with this for a long time and he knows how to handle
himself.” I finished fixing his hair but before I could pull away,
Kain wrapped his arms around my lower back and pulled me into his
body. His head was against my stomach and I thought that I felt him
sobbing. Instinctively, I rubbed his back and tried to soothe him
even though I didn’t know what I could possibly say that would ever
make this situation any more bearable. His dad was dying and from
the looks of Harlan, it was going to be sooner rather than
later.
    After a couple of minutes, Kain
abruptly pulled away and wiped at his eyes. He stood and walked
towards the bathroom. “We have to go soon,” he said and then added,
“You should put some clothes on.” He smile was teasing so I stuck
out my tongue and told him to hide in the bathroom while I
changed.
    The dinner was fabulous. Lobster,
fresh fish, shrimp and conch made up the main dishes with rice,
beans, baby potatoes and a steamed vegetable medley rounding out
the sides. Dessert was key lime pie, and although I’d never tried
it before, it quickly became one of my favorites. They had served
all of us wine with dinner. I didn’t usually drink much of
anything, but it was good and I had to stop myself at one glass.
After all, it wouldn’t be a good idea to stumble all over the place
when they were announcing us.
    The syrenkas were seated at one side
of the room, almost like we had our very own kid table. But as soon
as dinner was over and Pegotty announced that it was time for our
introductions, the room cleared and we became the center of
attention. She ushered us to an adjoining room to await our turn.
Each first and second year syrenka would be announced and we had a
formal greeting to say once we arrived. There was a long open
staircase that joined the first two floors and we would have to
walk down it into the middle of the room and speak out loud. I was
terrified.
    “ You look really beautiful
tonight,” Kain whispered into my ear. I had been frantically
bobbing my foot and looking around the waiting area making myself
crazy with nerves.
    “ Thank you.” I smiled up at
him and his blue eyes. “You aren’t so bad yourself.” He grabbed my
hand that was wrapped around his arm and held it there for the rest
of the wait. I could barely hear Pegotty’s voice until someone
propped open the door. She gave a five minute introduction of which
I listened to about three seconds of it. Carissa and Lily were in
front of us and Daniel was a few spots behind. I swallowed hard
when Pegotty announced the first name:
    “ Liliana Marie Shannon.
Unpromised by the Shannon clan.” Lily gave a small wave to all of
us and then stepped through the door to make her
entrance.
    “ They actually say promised or unpromised ?” I asked
Kain.
    “ Yep,” was his only reply.
I thought that it sounded rather rude to be introduced as unpromised . It made it
seem kind of sad.
    Pegotty’s voice boomed again. “Carissa
Ishi Nakamo. Umpromised by the Nakamo clan.”
    We were up next. I squeezed Kain’s
hand again and sighed. Why was I so nervous? We were waiting to
hear Pegotty again, but a quiet, deep male voice made the
announcement instead. It was Harlan Matthew.
    “ Eviana Anne Dumahl
promised to Kain Harlan Matthew by both the Dumahl and Matthew
clans.” We walked around the door and began our descent. Harlan was
standing at the bottom of the staircase with one hand on his cane
and the other on the banister holding him up. He still looked ill,
but his smile helped to lighten his face. The room was full of
adult merfolk dressed in formal attire. The ceiling fans and air
conditioning couldn’t keep up with the number of bodies and many of
the guests were using their pamphlet about the syrenkas to