by Anne Bourne
“It won’t work on me again. I can’t change because I’ve revealed myself to you.” Muriel’s face crumbled as she glanced past Ephyra. Tears flowed down her petite face, making her eyes look like fallen stars.
Muriel placed the stone back in Ephyra’s hand.
“We have to get you out of here.” Out of the corner of his eye, Marcus saw Sanchez and his men were running down to them. He shoved Muriel back into the waves and fell with her. Her tail flashed in the moonlight and the surf covered them both.
“Muriel!” Marcus’s scream tore the air.
He saw men grab for her but instead they got Ephyra instead. Marcus plunged toward them but felt men grabbing his arms and twisting them. Someone pulled his camera from his pocket and he hoped it was wet enough to be ruined now.
“Hey!” Gabriel’s shout rent the air like a shot. Marcus saw his brother running at the tangle of confusion.
He watched Gabriel desperately throwing punches and landing kicks. The other men were better and Marcus punched the nearest one that dunked Gabe’s head under the water. The guy let him up but Marcus felt his nose explode in pain.
Then, almost as quickly as they’d come they left. Sanchez whistled and they all piled into their black cars. Ephyra disappeared with them and Muriel was long gone under the water.
Gabriel lowered his hands and faced his brother, a furious glare on his face. Marcus shielded his face for a moment, certain a punch was coming his way. When none did, he dared to lower them and saw the pain on Gabriel’s face.
“This was the plan?” Gabriel’s voice was low and deadly calm.
“I’m sorry.” It was all he could say and he knew it wasn’t adequate. “I never meant to … ” Marcus sighed. The truth was he had meant for Sanchez to go home with a mermaid — just not Ephyra.
“What the fuck are we supposed to do now?” Gabriel roared, his anger finally overwhelming his sense of control. Marcus wisely backed away a few steps but wouldn’t have defended himself if Gabriel started raining more punches at his head. Marcus felt blood drying on his face.
“Perhaps I can be of service, since you two morons have done a great job so far,” a new voice piped up.
Gabriel and Marcus turned as a unit to see a broad shouldered man, with dark hair and eyes that seemed to have a predatory amber glow. At least he was clothed.
“Let me guess, you’re a mermaid, too. Jake?” Gabriel sighed and gave him a tight smile.
“Merman, actually.” The human man said with a swaggering frown.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ephyra was taken into a corridor lined with doors in a dark, Spartan building. She felt the ties around her hands loosen and she pulled her sore arms in front of her.
“Don’t try anything,” the man next to her warned.
She didn’t intend to until she’d observed possible routes of escape. Ephyra was led into a large room with an illuminated tank of water that encompassed the entire wall. She had an ominous feeling as they made her sit next to it. The tank hummed with some sort of machinery and she saw bubbles rising in the pristine water.
“What now?” The man asked into his phone.
He nodded and motioned to the other men. They each took one of Ephyra’s arms and the man in the middle started to unbutton her shorts.
“Hey!” she protested but the men held her tight.
Within minutes, her clothes had been tugged or cut off her. Ephyra saw her shorts tossed away, the necklace still safe in the pocket. She stood naked and unashamed. Ephyra knew human women preferred to never be seen unclothed by strangers. She didn’t care. Her body may not have been perfect but by their hungry stares, the men were aroused.
“What was that for?” she asked bitterly. Perhaps it had been the short time with Gabriel but she found she didn’t want anyone else seeing her like this but him.
They didn’t answer but just waited, staring at her. Their eyes traced every curve and lingered over her breasts and the V between her legs. Ephyra shook her head in disgust. As long as they didn’t touch her she could keep her wits. She used the time to get her bearings, noting the room had a single door, mirrors on the wall and a mini bar to the right. The man named Sanchez strolled in through that only entry.
He smiled at her and even his eyes lingered on her nude form inappropriately. Ephyra could feel her skin crawling with repugnance.
“Our own little mermaid,” he said with an amused smile. “I’d very much like to see you in your true form.”
Ephyra frowned at him. For one thing, he didn’t know the consequences he asked for and she was sure he wouldn’t care if he did.
“I’m not a mermaid,” she lied and for now it was true. She couldn’t change back into her form at will.
“Liar. We saw you change, or is this a trick?” Sanchez narrowed his beady eyes. “Does Mr. Rayner think he can fool me?”
Ephyra realized he was talking of Marcus and not Gabriel. It almost gave her comfort to know Gabriel would come after her, yet at the same time she didn’t want to put him in more danger.
“What will motivate you to change, my dear?” Sanchez said and motioned to his men.
They grabbed her and just as she feared, opened the top of the tank. Ephyra struggled but she found her human body lacking. It was strong but not against three men who were all a head taller and outweighed her by at least seventy pounds. She plunged into the tank and the water made her gasp as it streamed into her mouth and nose.
“I’m not a mermaid!” she shouted, hoping they could hear her through the glass.
The men latched the lid and stood back. Ephyra had inches to breath and she tilted her head up to suck in oxygen. She was furious but no amount of pounding would break the glass. The water was all wrong anyway as she tasted it. The salinity content was off; no fish could even live in it.
Ephyra watched as Sanchez opened a small hole at the top and poured more water in. Her eyes widened in fear as the water level rose. Soon she was completely submerged and for once Ephyra felt the terrifying grip of not being able to breathe under water. She felt a tingling in her chest that soon was giving rise to panic. There was no air!
She struggled to remain conscious but lack of oxygen was making her vision fuzzy. Her lungs burned for release but none came. Ephyra sank to the bottom of the tank, passing into unconsciousness.
Sanchez waited a moment before he cursed angrily.
“Lower the water, get her up, now,” he commanded. The men used a long pool stick to lift her up to the surface and began to lift her out.
“Does she need CPR?” Sanchez asked, wanting her alive. Perhaps the mermaid needed something different to change.
“She’s coming around, she was only under a minute.”
Ephyra coughed and sputtered, her lungs heaving in air. She opened her eyes but before she could regain control of her limbs, she felt herself pushed back into the water. Ephyra desperately grabbed for the side of the edge but they pried her fingers off. The lid shut as she gained consciousness and she could stand on tiptoe to breathe at the surface. Ephyra gasped for a few minutes and her heart rate began to slow from its race with death.
She looked out to see Sanchez conferring with his men. He turned to her with a sadistic stare.
“What do you need to change, mermaid? You’d best tell me or it will be a long life for you in a tank,” he sneered.
“I’m … not a mermaid.” She stuck to her lie weakly.
She almost wished she could change to never experience drowning again. The utter lonely darkness and choking was more terrifying than she’d imagined. All the old stories of mermaids pulling sailors to their deaths made her appreciate the fact that merfolk were forbidden to do this now. She couldn’t imagine what their last moments were as oxygen ran out and the lungs felt as if they’d burst.
“P
erhaps some more incentive.” Sanchez whirled on his heel and strode purposefully out the door.
Ephyra let her head rest against the glass. She had always thought humans keeping fish in a glass tank was their way of appreciating the ocean’s life. Now, she wanted to smash every glass box. The room went dark except for the lights around the bar and in her tank. Both gave off an electric blue glow.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gabriel stared almost resentfully at this merman parading as a human. Jake gave him a level stare back. He had curling brown hair that seemed to change shades in different light, the same went for his eyes. They weren’t a plain brown but golden with flecks of green. Gabriel slapped himself mentally. What was he doing, gazing like a chick into Jake’s eyes? He shook his head angrily.
“So, you’re the one Ephyra is looking for,” Marcus said in the growing silence.
Gabriel didn’t bother to glance at him. He knew Marcus wanted to make amends desperately. There was no use making him grovel.
“I asked to be sent wherever she was to help her,” Jake said with a maddeningly polite smile at him.
Gabriel ground his teeth.
“So, when I get her back you’re just going to take her away again?” Gabriel asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He knew Jake didn’t miss his use of “I.”
“She’ll come whether she wants to or not. There’s a war going on under the ocean, boys. Something I gather she hasn’t told you,” Jake said pointedly.
Gabriel was forced to concede round one to him. Ephyra hadn’t elaborated on the warlord she’d mentioned. He thought back and remembered how agitated she’d been to get away from him. He’d held her up, distracting her. Trying to romance a woman who wasn’t really a woman, no, a princess who wasn’t human.
“You seem oddly well adjusted.”
“I have human contacts that the merfolk don’t know about. It’s a gift.”
“What’s your plan, then, playboy?” Gabriel spat. “Do you mermen have laser vision, super powers, or some other more conceivable way to find Ephyra?”
His sarcasm apparently was not lost on Jake.
“You have a very bad temper,” Jake scolded. “As it so happens, I did not come unprepared. I have stored weapons on a boat I procured, from above mentioned contacts.”
“Weapons?” Marcus said hopefully.
“You mean pieces of coral and sea shells?”
Gabriel saw the merman finally give way to anger. For a moment Gabriel thought he was going to throw a punch. He wondered if the merman was even happy being in human form.
“You two fools are on your own then if you don’t want my help,” Jake said finally.
Gabriel weighed the options carefully. The merman probably needed their help as much as they needed his. Gabriel saw the same concern and love for Ephyra mirrored in Jake’s eyes. He suddenly understood something clearer.
“Wait.”
Jake sighed but turned to look at Gabriel.
“How long have you known Ephyra?” He saw Jake sag slightly. It was the weight of a man haunted.
“I grew up with her,” he confessed proudly.
Gabriel heard the desire in his voice, the swiftness with which he would lay down his life for her. He knew the feeling only recently, but it was consuming him like a beautiful virus. They were in love with the same woman.
“Then we have the same goal,” he said evenly. “I think we need to work together.”
Jake nodded slowly. “I can afford to be cooperative right now or I wouldn’t have come to you.”
“Marcus, you can’t come with us — they know you too well. Jake, we need to get to your boat and see these weapons,” Gabriel instructed.
“They’ve seen you, too, Gabe,” Marcus pointed out.
“I don’t care. Better get your boat, or Jake’s, ready. We need to relocate.” Gabriel thought about where they could go.
“Tortola,” Marcus suggested. “The British Virgin Islands are close and I have a friend there.”
“A friend?” Gabriel raised a brow skeptically.
“She’s said to be a witch doctor so no one bothers her. I met her through unscrupulous means, sure, but I helped her,” Marcus said evasively.
“Okay, Tortola,” Gabriel agreed. “Do you have any idea where Ephyra would be?” Gabriel asked his brother. Marcus shook his head.
“I do,” Jake said unexpectedly and strode out the door assuming they’d follow. He paused. “Actually, pack up and check out of this hotel. You won’t be coming back.”
In twenty minutes, Gabriel loaded his suitcases in the rental car and had checked out of the Marquesa. He looked over at Jake who sat in the front seat, marveling at the seat belt.
“Hey, McGyver, what’s next?” Gabriel said and ripped the shiny buckle from Jake’s hands.
“Who?” Jake asked and picked up the buckle again. “We could really use these contraptions on dolphins and swordfish.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes.
“Never mind.”
“So, follow the trail of slime,” Jake said and muttered some foreign words.
Gabriel saw a glowing green trail of slime appear as they pulled into the area near the bay. His heart contracted as he left the beach where Ephyra had been a mere hour ago.
“It’s a hyacinth snail. I put them on all the cars, yours too, because I wasn’t sure who I should be tailing,” Jake explained.
“Oh.” Gabriel shrugged. It was good thinking. “How long will this trail last? We don’t have any weapons or a plan here.”
“It’ll last for as long as I’m alive or until I erase it. But if we wait too long they could move her. I can’t put snails on living beings.”The moonlight was enough they could see Revenge on the backside of the boat Jake had purchased as they pulled into the parking lot next to the dock. Gabriel instantly liked the sixty-foot sailboat. She didn’t look particularly posh but she was big enough to sail them and their equipment to Tortola.
“Here they are,” Jake said as they climbed aboard and ducked into the pit.
Gabriel’s eyes widened in surprise at the arsenal. Guns, knives, and some weapons he didn’t even recognize draped the table and couches.
“Are those AK47s?” Gabriel asked in awe. He wasn’t sure on the surface if he could shoot a person, but then he hadn’t been in love with the target.
“I don’t know, are they?” Jake shrugged. “I’m not quite sure about all your weapons.”
“That would be an M16, too.”
“You have a military grade gun here?” Marcus asked nervously. “Who did you get these from?”
“A contact,” Jake said with a wink.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Marcus answered.
“If I fail Ephyra and she fails, then the world is doomed anyway,” Jake responded cryptically.
“Excuse me?” Gabriel paused in loading practicing a shotgun. “World doom?”
“Ephyra didn’t tell you much, huh?” Jake guessed. “There is a leader of the underworld, Erebos, who controls a dark race of merfolk that have been gathering for years. They finally have enough in numbers and now even your realm is in danger.”
“How can land be danger if he’s bound under water?” Gabriel asked, his head spinning with the mythical twist his life had taken.
“He will drown all land until the oceans cover it,” Jake said flatly. “Last I checked, humans can’t breathe under water.”
Marcus started to load the AK.
The situation was almost comical enough to make Gabriel chuckle. He had done nothing more exciting than suspending one of his students and now there was talk of warlords, mermaids, and the end of the world.
“What’s the hilarity?” Jake asked, confused at the smile Gabriel couldn’t suppress.
&nb
sp; “Nothing. Let’s just get out of here and come up with a plan,” Gabriel said, still grinning.
Gabriel picked up a Kevlar vest to wear under his shirt, feeling like he was dressing up for Halloween, and loaded extra clips into the pockets. He tossed more ammunition and the M16s in a black bag. Jake watched him with a puzzled but curious expression.
“You don’t know how to use these, do you?” It wasn’t accusatory, just a statement.
Jake shook his head.
“I am afraid I didn’t study your weapons as well as I should have. I have my own set here but I’m not sure how well they will work on humans,” he motioned to a set of gold knives and a ram’s horn device.
“This will take longer than I thought.” Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. It was growing out and the distant thought crossed his mind he’d need it cut soon.
He picked up the 9mm and slanted it sideways to show it to Jake.
“This has 9 millimeter bullets, fairly small but they’ll do significant damage to any human. Any fish really,” he snorted. “Trigger, safety, sights.”
Gabriel demonstrated how to sight the pistol, load the clip, and put it in the gun. It was a good review for him since it’d been a while since his hunting days with his father. Marcus interjected a few tips of his own, having owned a variety of guns his entire life.
“Are mermen immortal?” Marcus asked as the gun lesson ended.
Jake smiled wryly.
“If we were, would I have brought weapons of both my kind and yours?” He tilted his head at them as if they were stupid.
Gabriel laughed. They deserved it.
“Now, tell me if you want to use my weapons?” Jake asked and picked up the ram’s horn. He pushed a hidden trigger on the side in one of the circles and the horn started to glow a light red color.
“Whoa,” Marcus eyed the horn with interest.
“What does it do?” Gabriel asked. He glimpsed a barrel-like structure at the end of the horn.
“I can’t use it now, but it shoots poisonous urchin spikes.” Jake pressed the trigger again and the horn stopped glowing.
