Blue Moon (Crimson Romance)

by Anne Bourne

  “So, just how do mermaids have babies?” he asked in trepidation, not sure he wanted to know.

  “You are afraid to know?” Ephyra asked hesitantly.

  “Uh, not so much afraid as I don’t think I can deal with any more fish stuff.” He grinned.

  She smiled back and lifted scales on her tail to show him her pouch full of eggs. Gabriel blanched slightly but tried to smile.

  “That’s pretty,” he said lamely.

  “They’re just eggs, Gabriel,” Ephyra said with a laugh. “I know it is very different from humans but it is the way it’s done.” She seemed embarrassed now. Gabriel reached out a hand to pull her close again.

  “That’s a biological lesson I wasn’t prepared for.”

  Gabriel could tell she was embarrassed to have shared so much so he spent the next minutes reassuring her she hadn’t.

  “We don’t procreate like humans,” Ephyra told him after a long kiss. Gabriel could feel how odd it was for her to be kissing at all under water. Merfolk were more fish than human in some instances. Gabriel understood her sexual frustration. She’d gone from enjoying a human body to one that was fused together.

  “What if I touch you here?” he asked and put a gentle finger inside her pouch. The eggs shifted aside and he found her slick inside, warm and tight. Ephyra gasped in sudden arousal.

  “No one’s ever done that, merfolk are taught it’s sacred and no one but the mermaid releases the eggs,” she said huskily. “We only need men to spread their seed over the eggs.” She giggled and Gabriel thought he would explode from the small circles she was making with her fingernails on the bulge under the scales on his tail.

  “It’s really not as impressive as a merman,” Gabriel rasped jokingly as she pulled it gently out. Ephyra laughed and guided him toward her pouch.

  “Maybe merfolk have been doing this wrong,” she said as he slid into her and Gabriel felt his blood ignite with heat. He could feel she was afraid but he fit inside her just as he had when she was human.

  After they found shuddering release they curled up together and finally slept. The moonlight streamed on them like spotlights and the schools of fish watched over them.

  Chapter Forty

  Five o’clock in the morning. Marcus looked at his watch and couldn’t sleep anymore. Thoughts of Gabriel, mermaids and loaded guns swirled in his mind. Jane curled next to him, sleeping restlessly. They were holed up in a stolen car in a deserted beach parking lot. Marcus had tried to get Jane to leave but she’d resolutely stuck with him.

  Marcus sighed silently as he thought of Gabriel. He had waited for any information from his brother, but Sanchez was trailing them. He peeled the cardboard shades off one of the car windows. The skies were still gray and billowing clouds threatened storms. At least it wasn’t raining. Marcus woke Jane and she sat up as if he’d shot a gun next to her ear.

  “Hey, just me,” he said and opened the door with a creak.

  “Sorry. It’s a habit now.” Jane smiled apologetically and stretched.

  “It might be suicide to go out now but we have to get out of here. Sanchez will have men at the state line so let’s get to my boat.”

  Jane nodded solemnly.

  “I trust you.”

  • • •

  Ephyra woke slowly as if in a dream and found herself enfolded in strong arms. She felt her head resting on a broad, muscled chest and the deep breathing of the man beneath her. She shifted gently and saw Gabriel’s sleeping face. His eyes were closed peacefully and his hair was dark under water, swaying in the soft current. He was beautiful but when she saw his merman’s tail something felt wrong. She realized she preferred him as a human and not one of her kind. Sadly, she reached up to wake him with a kiss. Gabriel’s eyes flew open as he kissed her back.

  “Hi,” he yawned. He looked up at the light.

  Ephyra detached herself from him. It was the last time she could embrace him as a lover.

  They left the cave silently and somberly. Gabriel saw the host of guards waiting with Jake outfitted in armor at the front. The waters were in a lull of calm and he could see the spires of the arena in the distance. It was finished.

  In just hours, he’d be in the middle of those stones, fighting for his life, for an entire underwater realm. Gabriel let the guards dress him in armor and outfit him with weapons.

  Ephyra checked over his form. He wore the bracer with the moonstone securely inside it as well as a hardened torso shield. A waistband held his sword and in his left hand he gripped a shield with the royal sigils as well as those of the champion. She adjusted his bone helmet; his jaw jutted out defiantly. She gazed at him for a moment with her beautiful golden eyes.

  Gabriel held her gaze and swept a lock of hair behind her ear affectionately. He pulled the helmet off and bent to kiss her forehead. Ephyra felt shivers run up and down her spine, wanting more. She impulsively pushed up to catch his lips, not caring who saw. Gabriel hugged her tightly, letting the intimate love pass between them. For a moment, her hair ensconced them like a cocoon.

  “If … will you get word to Marcus for me?” Gabriel asked quietly.

  Ephyra nodded into his shoulder and a sob caught in her throat.

  “You’ll see him soon.”

  Gabriel broke the embrace and headed toward the arena. Ephyra didn’t follow, but would take her place above the arena to watch.

  Jake trailed behind Gabriel and ushered him into the small alcove in the first entrance to the arena. There were only two entrances, one for each competitor. Gabriel heard the raucous cheering and murmurs of the merfolk gathered. He didn’t know how many but it sounded like thousands.

  “Good luck. I don’t wish you to die today,” Jake said formally above the din of the crowd.

  “Thanks. I appreciate your instruction, Jake. If I’m not successful, you’ll take care of her?” he asked, although it pained him to do so.

  Jake nodded somberly. “I always have.”

  Gabriel put his helmet on and saw that Jake was extending his hand. He took it firmly.

  “When the horn sounds don’t hesitate,” Jake said in parting and Gabriel nodded.

  He took a deep breath and mentally shook himself. Weapons hung on his waist comfortably and he swished his tail. The fins were strong, supple and ready for the slightest muscle twitch. Gabriel had confidence in his speed. He heard merfolk arguing and cheering on all sides of the arena.

  Then the face that he hated appeared on the platform of rock with Ephyra. It made his skin crawl to see Erebos floating next to her. The warlord had a sallow complexion with long graying hair and a smirk on his pale face.

  “Merfolk!” he boomed and the din quieted. Thousands of faces turned to him, some with disdain, some with adoration. “The ancient laws provide entertainment for you this day. Acknowledge the champions that will fight in deadly combat.”

  A roar went up from the crowd as the two warriors stood in separate shadowed sides. Ephyra stood silent and hard next to him. Her lips were thinned into a line and her eyes fixed on the spot where Gabriel floated.

  “Why should the lowest not rule what they have a right to? Do not the lower know real suffering?” Erebos shouted and was met with a roar of approval. “Before the main event, I have a gift for the princess.”

  Erebos turned to the mermaid with a snide smile. He motioned to his mermen and they emerged from the shadows with a figure hung between them.

  Even from their distance, Gabriel could hear Ephyra’s gasp as the mermen emerged with an old woman whose face was half covered by her long twisting dark hair, no doubt covering more bruises like the ones exposed. The purple and blue marks extended down to her torso and her tail was tattered. He’d bet money this was Scyllane.

  “You have no right,” Ephyra shouted angrily.

  “A gift to the h
eathen gods as you would call them. Scyllane consults with the ancient runes, so she will be sent back to them,” Erebos answered contemptuously. “I assume command now. If you get it back, you can disband this new addition to the game.” He motioned for the executioner. A large merman with a thick piece of hardened coral came forth to stand in front of Scyllane.

  Gabriel saw Ephyra try to bolt from her spot but Erebos’ strong arm caught her and tugged her back. He’d kill that son of a bitch for ever touching her.

  “I would advise staying in your place, princess.”

  “Scyllane!” Ephyra yelled to the sea witch and she looked up tiredly. Her eyes smiled sadly at the mermaid in acknowledgement.

  Gabriel saw the witch was ready for death, but he wasn’t. He threw the spear in his hand and the executioner gasped as it hit him square in the stomach. He flew back and lay still. Gabriel swam and caught the witch as she fell.

  “You are her champion.”

  “I am,” Gabriel answered with a quick glance at Ephyra to see the relieved expression on her face.

  Scyllane reached up to touch his face and Gabriel felt a tremor go through his body. The fire dissolved into energy that simmered beneath the surface of his skin, ready to explode.

  “You must win,” she whispered in his ear. Gabriel gazed for a moment into her wizened eyes.

  “Incompetence!” Erebos motioned his executioner to intervene.

  Gabriel felt the swish of current before the executioner’s spear whizzed by, slicing an inch from his shoulder. He flipped in a whirl of fins, parried the spear from the executioner’s hands and plunged his knife into his throat. The merman choked as blood blossomed around him. He saw Jake carrying the sea witch out of the arena. Gabriel saw Jake’s men fighting the other guards.

  He addressed the platform where Erebos stood watching with a frown.

  “I don’t have all damn day!” he shouted to the Dark merman.

  Erebos smiled despite his annoyance.

  “Bythos!” he called forth his fighter.

  Gabriel saw the huge merman emerge from the shadows, twice his size with fins thicker than most redwood trees. The merman had pale blond hair, a beefy face and neck and outfitted with more weapons that Gabriel recognized. His armor was black and had Erebos’ sigils on them with stripes of red.

  Gabriel saw the first blade of coral spear come at him with the speed of an arrow.

  Chapter Forty-One

  “We’re being followed,” Jane said as she glanced behind them at the other boat.

  Marcus swore under his breath. Sanchez had too many eyes out.

  “Just hang on. I can try to track them with the fish finder,” he said. It was a long shot but Marcus hoped the detector would show him where large shoals of fish were, which might lead him to find Jake. The merman had mentioned something about a war and Marcus figured in a war there had to be a lot of bodies under the water. And when he found Jake, he could find his brother and hope that Ephyra was back where she belonged. He glanced behind; the white boat stayed an inconspicuous distance from them.

  Marcus throttled down slightly as the clouds split for a moment and a weak sun shone through, turning the spray of the sea into shattered rainbows. He shielded his eyes through the mist and saw a sliver of black against the sun. Marcus instantly dropped his eyes. Was there supposed to be an eclipse today? The cloud cover hid the sun. The boat bounced on a large wave and the clouds closed back up. He shrugged; it made no difference.

  “This is what we knew we were in for,” he called to Jane and she nodded, eyeing the dark sky to the west. The waves were steadily growing larger and tossing the speedboat like a toy.

  “Just find them and let’s lose Sanchez!” Jane came to stand next to him at the wheel. She peered at the fish finder. So far the dots were scarce and only showed badly outlined banks. They weren’t out too far, so Marcus throttled back up, taking the waves head on.

  “Keep an eye on that boat,” Marcus instructed her. He only had his .9mm Sig and he hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.

  • • •

  The arena was filled with screaming merfolk as Gabriel dodged blow after blow. Bythos was a monster of a merman and for an instant Gabriel wondered how he grew that large. The merman was faster than he appeared though. Twice Gabriel felt blazing nicks on his arms from not moving quickly enough. He was hardly aware of the section of merfolk screaming his name, waving various colors of sea kelp that rippled in the water.

  Bythos came at him with a spear that he threw and just as Gabriel dodged it, thrust with his sword. Gabriel felt the blade an inch from his side and gritted his teeth. He countered with a thrust of his tail to propel him quickly and sliced down with the coral sword. True to Jake’s word, the coral didn’t break or bend. He felt it make fleshy contact and Bythos let out an irritated growl.

  Gabriel swam in circles around him, jabbing and parrying as fast as he could. Spurts of blood shot up randomly as they both nicked each other. He felt his sword arm strong and sure as it drove the sword toward Bythos’ helmet. The point caught the edge and he swung up, tearing the enemy’s armor off his head. Bythos’ face was caught in a peevish scowl, scars running the length of the left side of his face. The merman’s long hair flew around his head like ropey snakes.

  Gabriel swam back for a moment to catch his breath and Bythos charged at him. The big merman used his weight and slammed into Gabriel. The breath left his lungs as he was flung against the stone wall. Gabriel drew his small knife and thrust up into Bytho’s ribs but the merman blocked his hand. Gabriel felt the weight crushing him against the stone and tried to push him off. His tail seemed to thrash uselessly as Bythos brought down his fist onto Gabriel’s shoulder. Pain flared at the base of his neck and his shoulder went numb. Bythos grabbed him around the neck with one large hand, and with the other, he plunged into Gabriel’s abdomen. Grunting, Gabriel doubled over but was pushed upright by the force around his neck.

  Bythos whipped out a large black sheet of material and before Gabriel could even guess what he would do with it, he flung it over Gabriel’s head. Gabriel gasped as suddenly his breath left him. The material closed the gills on the back of his head and the darkness made him dizzy. He felt a fist slam down on the back of his head and pain shot through his entire body. The gill covers protected them but not from a blow of this magnitude.

  Gabriel felt himself sliding down into unconsciousness. He gave one last flick of his tail up to hit the back of Bythos’ head. He used the other’s tactic by wrapping his fins around Bythos’ head and slapping his gills.

  Bythos roared in pain and let go. Gabriel clawed at the black material over his head and tore it off. The crowd cheered wildly, the din louder than any football game he’d been to. Gabriel drew oxygen into his lungs again and his vision cleared fast enough for him to dodge Bythos’ slashing sword. He flipped his tail and shot above the merman. Bythos tracked him with beady eyes and followed.

  They once again danced in a circle around the arena, dodging and parrying each other. Gabriel flicked his tail and slapped Bythos’ gills as hard as he could when he circled. The merman was growing frustrated as he snatched at empty water. Bythos finally grunted and looked to a guard at the side of the arena. The guard nodded and threw him a ball of dark brown netting. Gabriel looked toward Jake at his side in exasperation.

  “We can have aid?” he shouted at Jake.

  Jake threw his hands up and wildly motioned he didn’t know. He looked around quickly and threw a spear toward Gabriel. Gabriel glowered at him. A spear was hardly creative. He caught it just as a net covered him.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  “They’re going to start firing!” Jane’s words were hardly out of her mouth when the backside of the boat exploded in shards of wood and water.

  They hit the deck hard and Marcus scrambled to get the scuba gear on him and Jane. H
e gave his Glock to Jane, knowing it would fire even when wet.

  Marcus jerked and tugged at the wet suit, scrambling to get it on. He looked back and saw Sanchez’s boat flashing fire as bullets careened into the hull. Then, he felt the boat rock with a shudder as depth charges were let loose into the water. A barrage of green flares lit the storming sky and flew into the waves to light a deathly path into the depths.

  • • •

  Gabriel saw the flares raining down and it illuminated the net around him. The ropes were made of sharp crushed shell and cut into his skin. He could feel it burning and tried to concentrate on the knife in his right hand. It sliced and hacked at the ropes but for every one he cut it seemed another took its place.

  Use your power, Ephyra’s voice seemed to come to him and Gabriel remembered his other weapon. He focused on the tingling feeling just beneath his skin and to his surprise light shot from all directions, melting the net away and resounding like a clap of thunder. Bythos was thrown back and slammed into the invisible barrier that kept the fighters in the arena.

  The crowd of merfolk’s attention was turned back to the arena and they cheered as the huge beast roared in pain. Gabriel was aware the power wasn’t calm and concentrated like before; it was sweeping through him like a wildfire. He called it forward even if he didn’t understand the consequences. Power propelled from his fingers as he stretched them out toward Bythos. White light hit the big merman in the chest and he split open in a cloud of blood and intestines.

  The merfolk screamed their delight and rage as pieces of Bythos splattered against the barrier, making it visible in a spray of blood. Gabriel, stunned, lay on the sandy bottom and turned his head to see Erebos fuming at the high platform, the green flare light making his face stand out in stark relief.

  “The princess has cheated!” he bellowed. “She has brought humans to fight her battles!”

  So that was where the flares had come from, Gabriel thought. He lifted himself up in a sweep of his tail and shot toward Erebos. He nearly face planted into the barrier, his eyes level with Erebos’. The Dark lord looked at him with a grim smile.