A Siren's Wish

by Renee Field

So she did what she always did when faced with a challenge. She squared her shoulders and followed Caskett.

  “Are you going to show me those shells now?”

  Instantly, Caskett stopped. The shells had been a sore topic of conversation ever since she’d found out about them. No one from the institute had seen them and almost everyone wanted an up close personal peek.

  “Don’t ask me again about those shells. They’re gone,” he said, almost grabbing her arms.

  A quick movement to the left enabled her to avoid his touch. “So what is it? Did you catch something?”

  “You bet. A bottlenose dolphin. She’s charming. She’s got some sort of tattoo or something on her dorsal fin, and she’s gone into shock, so I’m hoping you might take a look at her first. I’m also arranging for a marine specialist to come and look at her. There’s something very unusual about this dolphin, Jamie, and I want you as my witness to help verify my findings,” he said.

  The look of disbelief on her face said it all. “Look, I’m not really qualified…my research is on…”

  Caskett turned to look at her. She watched as his eyes narrowed. “I know all about your research, don’t forget I hired you. I also know that you’re the only one I have on staff that’s studied dolphins extensively, so you are going to help me. Am I clear?”

  Clear as mud, she wanted to say. Instead she meekly nodded.

  As he resumed his walk to his private door, he continued talking. It took all of Jamie’s concentration to follow his line of reasoning.

  “When the specialist gets here, I want you to ask him to take pictures to document that tattoo. I also want you to ask if he’s seen anything like it before. My bet is he hasn’t. Then in the morning we’ll start the dissection process…”

  That stopped her cold. “You mean to kill the dolphin…”

  “I mean to find the truth no matter what,” stated Caskett, as he punched in his security code to open his private chambers.

  There was an audible creak as the large steel door slowly opened. Inside the concrete room Jamie’s sensitive nose caught the rank odor of rotting seaweed and chlorine. She fought the urge to gag.

  “Oh my god!” she said, her eyes adjusting to the dim light in the room.

  Directly across from her in a large, but not nearly vast enough circular tank was a small bottlenose dolphin. The dolphin barely had room to complete a full turn. With a quick glance she knew it was sick, as if its life force was being sucked out of it.

  “I said she was a beauty. Now come here. Take a look at that,” said Caskett, willing her to march up the steel ladder with him.

  Towering over the dolphin, she looked at what he was pointing at. It looks like a tattoo, but that’s ridiculous.

  “Dolphins don’t have tattoos. It’s probably a birthmark or an old wound that didn’t heal properly,” muttered Jamie.

  “It’s a goddamn tattoo. I want to know why and how it got there! You got that? I want real answers. Can I count on you, Jamie?” asked Caskett, marching down the ladder.

  She knew she nodded, but for the life of her she couldn’t pry her eyes away from the sick-looking dolphin. Her gut clenched with an unfamiliar feeling. She didn’t realize Caskett had left until the door clicked shut, breaking into her thoughts. Still clutching the ladder’s handrail, she leaned over the aquarium. Her heart was beating irregularly and try as she might, she wasn’t one bit happy to see the wild, beautiful creature caged. It unnerved her.

  But isn’t this my dream? The chance to study a real, wild dolphin up close and personal. Gulping, she took another glance over the edge. That’s definitely a tattoo. Dangling precariously over the tank’s edge she realized what she felt for the dolphin—sorrow. The intensity of the emotion washed over her, causing her to tremble.

  Help me.

  The words flashed hard and intensely inside her head, causing her to almost let go of the railing. Sucking in a deep breath, she tried to gather her senses. She took a calming breath, and slowly backed down the ladder. The uneasy feeling in her stomach didn’t lessen even when her feet were firmly planted on the concrete floor.

  Taking another deep breath, she tried to get a hold of her emotions. Shaking her head, she realized how foolish she was being.

  Help me, please.

  Jamie almost wet her shorts. There was no way she could mistake that. A “help me” could be a figment of her imagination, but not a “please”.

  “Wha…wh…” She couldn’t make her tongue form the words, as she sputtered nonsense.

  Please, help me. I’m dying.

  She hadn’t even realized she had moved until her legs backed up hard against the steel door. Panic was seizing her heart, making it impossible for her to take a breath.

  “Jesus, Jamie. Get your cute behind in here now. I need you to analyze this!” came the screaming voice of Caskett from behind the closed door.

  Jamie was only too happy to oblige. Work. The best thing to get my mind off what most definitely did not happen in there. She yanked the door open and took one last look at the creature as it turned in the water.

  * * *

  Chapter Two

  Seth felt good. He hadn’t felt this good in years. He and his brother had ridden out the storm aboard the yacht. They had talked almost like old times. While Seth still hadn’t told him why he’d called, they had devised a plan to get the shells that were crucial to their world out of human hands.

  Tonight the two of them would steal the shells from the institute where they suspected Caskett was holding them. After that, Seth vowed to tell his brother the truth.

  Scooping up the driftwood that had been thrown onto his beach from last night’s storm, he also managed to gather up all of the newspapers and magazines littering his yard. He stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes scanned the science magazine that had a small headline about ancient shells found off the coast of Nova Scotia having been sent to the London Museum of Antiquity for classification.

  Groaning, he stomped inside. Gone was his good mood. He flexed the muscles in his arms involuntarily as he tried to control his raging emotions. Time was catching up with him.

  Trying to smooth out the magazine he wanted to tear to shreds, he scanned the brief article once more. A large picture of a beaming Caskett took up most of the page.

  The inscription under the photo caption made his stomach churn. It read, “I believe the etchings on these turtle shells are an ancient language belonging to an ancient race that lived in the sea”. With the photo caption attributed to Caskett, Seth said a silent prayer to the gods that people would simply view the scientist as out to lunch.

  Seth knew he needed a plan of action. He had to get those shells out of human hands before the truth was exposed.

  As much as he loved the rustic rural life, his spacious office was a beehive of electronic gadgets. He viewed it as command central. He pressed a red button and within minutes was connected with all of his family members who lived on land.

  “We have a problem. The ancient sea turtle shells have been found. While we speak, they are being investigated. We need to get them back immediately. I’m going to fly out to London tomorrow. Melina, meet me at the airport. I want everyone to rendezvous at Melina’s in two nights. We will do whatever it takes to get them back. Is that understood?” he asked, knowing full well there would be no objections. There never were.

  His family simply viewed his word as law. Deep down, he hated that. Disconnecting, he turned his attention to packing. Seth wasn’t surprised when the phone rang. He’d been expecting it.

  “Did you see the article?” Darius asked.

  “Yeah, I did. How did you?” asked Seth, knowing full well his brother was en route to the Grand Banks to rendezvous with a group of Florida businessmen interested in purchasing more whales. Darius told him last night that his job was to talk them out of it. The idea of more creatures from the sea being caged and put on display made him sick.

  “Ever hear of the Internet?” snapped h
is brother, “but before you continue your rant we have another bigger problem. Caskett just gave me a call asking if I was in the neighborhood and if I could pop on over and check out a dolphin he’d captured that had what he said looked like a tattoo on it.”

  There was audible silence on both ends of the line.

  “Tattoo?”

  “Yeah, that’s why he called,” said Darius.

  Sitting down in the one and only chair in his kitchen, Seth asked, “Does anyone else know about it?”

  “Not at the moment. I told him it was no big deal. Many sea mammals have a funny birthmark, and it probably wasn’t a tattoo at all. I told him I was at sea but that I had a good friend who just happened to be in town who specializes in marine life and that he’d take a look at the dolphin. Thank the gods he called me and not the local media,” Darius emphasized.

  “Do you think…?”

  “Oh yeah, no doubt. She’s captured. Poor thing. Scared as hell, I bet. Remember when…”

  Seth cut off his brother. He wasn’t interested in reminiscing about the chances the two of them had taken. He was more interested in the dolphin and the fact that both things he had to take care of involved Caskett. He didn’t like that one bit.

  “I’ll get her out,” he stated, thinking he’d have to make a few calls to delay the plans he had made minutes ago.

  “You’ll have to. I’ve been talking on the phone all morning with these clowns from Florida and they don’t get it. I’m afraid I might have to take some drastic measures to stop them from capturing more whales. Plus as much as I love my boat, there’s no way she’ll make it back in time for me to meet with him. As it is, it’ll take me a good four hours to reach the institute. But I want to help,” said Darius, in the velvety-smooth tone of voice Seth recognized.

  “Darius, you can’t. If they…” Seth stated.

  “They don’t need to know. It’ll be like old times—just the two of us, against the big bad ugly world. Come on. She might be hurt, and I’m the best vet around.”

  Seth knew his brother was right. If what he suspected was correct and if the creature was hurt, then Darius was needed. Plus he still needed to talk to him and explain a few urgent things. “Okay. When did you tell Caskett I’d drop by?”

  “I made it sound like you were busy, but I told him you’d come by at the end of the day.” There was a flicker of hope in Darius’ voice that made Seth a bit uneasy.

  Seth still wished it was like the old days between him and his twin. Back then, a phone call would have been unnecessary. Gifted telepathically as creatures of the sea, they rarely spoke out loud as youngsters. As twins, though, they had an extra special bond. They could sense each other’s emotions. Not so anymore.

  “Can you call one of your vet friends and ask them for a favor?” asked Seth, knowing full well he would need sedatives to calm the creature.

  A few minutes later, the plan had been worked out. Darius would call in a favor to a local vet, Seth would get the necessary equipment, head over to Caskett’s lab to check on the dolphin and also determine for sure if the ancient shells were really gone.

  “How long do you think?” Darius asked, his voice breaking into Seth’s mind that was trying hard to sort and analyze all the problems that had manifested themselves at once.

  There was a catch in Darius’ voice Seth easily recognized—fear. “I’m not sure. It depends on how long it’s already been. The sooner we get that dolphin out, the better. Call me once you’re close to the institute.”

  With that, Seth was left listening to the dial tone. He was anxious about the dolphin. There were too many “what ifs” jumping into his brain, but he knew it was useless to even go there. Not used to waiting he paced back and forth in his kitchen, his body coiled and ready for battle.

  He halfheartedly realized he’d rather face a squadron of Hades’ legionnaires than do what he had to do. He was a creature of action and being forced to not draw attention to himself as a human forced him to be cautious, when his every instinct was to simply charge ahead and take what was rightfully his.

  Besides getting the shells out of human hands, he now was faced with the task of securing the dolphin as discreetly as possible out of Caskett’s homemade aquarium and back into the water. Pronto.

  Realizing he hadn’t changed his travel plans, he punched in an email address he knew by heart and typed in new instructions. Pressing the send button, he realized his people could all be in jeopardy.

  A quick glance around the sparse furnishings in his house caused him to realize that he should feel grateful that he’d been able to stay on the periphery for so long, without getting noticed or into too much trouble. But he wasn’t.

  Worse over the years he’d come to actually like being among most humans. It was a thought he kept to himself.

  While it had been hard at first to live in a fishing community, he’d grown to grudgingly admire the arduous work that went with life in a small village that made its living by the grace of Mother Nature and Poseidon. It wasn’t an easy life. It wasn’t fast money.

  He’d come to realize humans who fished did it out of a love for the sea. Maybe some of those humans still had the ancient blood flowing through their veins and just didn’t know it. He almost laughed at his fanciful thoughts.

  Now Seth knew it would be a hard thing to give up. Family ties must be kept and he was duty bound to uphold his end of the bargain. A bargain he had yet to tell his brother about. Without a doubt, Seth was under no illusions. Darius would hate him forever once he learned the truth that he, Seth, was being called back to the sea with open arms.

  Only a week ago a water waif had appeared on his beach bearing his summons back to the sea. His time as sea guardian for his kingdom was up. He was now simply waiting for the second binding missive from his father, forcing him back into the sea.

  Deep down, Seth wanted to see if his father had the nerve. He knew his time on land was now counted in days, maybe weeks if he was lucky. Soon he’d be forced once again into the sea, forever.

  Packing his backpack, he put back his passport and grabbed his tranquilizer gun instead. If he had to stun the dolphin to save it, and his kind, he needed to be prepared.

  “What if I have to kill it?” he asked out loud, running his hands through his hair. Saying the words startled him. Deep down, he knew killing the creature would be better than Caskett making the find of the century, but it didn’t make his task any easier.

  Walking out the door of his two-story, salt-stained house, he ignored the calling of the seals that claimed his beach as their home. Instead, he marched purposefully toward his Jeep, threw the backpack on the seat next to him and turned on his cell phone, in case Darius called back.

  Putting the key in the ignition, he slammed the Jeep into first gear. Seth didn’t care what the locals thought, as the cool wind whipped into his face, and the sounds of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons left echoes in his wake. Only with the wind driving into him did he realize that in his crazed state of mind he had forgotten to put a shirt on. Looking down, he was thankful he had at least put on jeans.

  The formality of clothing was one of the hardest human habits he had to adjust to. Realizing it would soon be coming to an end made him grimace. He’d take blue jeans any day over the alternative. With his powers of projection he willed a shirt to form over his bare chest, while forcing his ragged scar that went across his face to disappear. No sense drawing more attention to myself.

  Slamming the Jeep into fourth and fifth gear, he sped like a man possessed down the long clam-shelled driveway until he hit the main roadway and soared through the forty-mile-an-hour road at close to sixty.

  Not a religious man by any means, Seth prayed to all the gods for time. More than anything, he wanted this day to be over.

  * * *

  This isn’t making sense. Nothing today makes sense. The blood sample is bogus, a sick joke Caskett is playing on me. She tried again to get a reading on the blood sample taken from the dolphin.
Nothing. It wasn’t dolphin blood, human blood or any type of goddamn blood she had ever seen. In fact, every time she looked at it the readings changed. Sputtering on a sip of the murky brew, she realized Trevor was probably behind it.

  He must have messed up my sample. Boy is he going to regret that!

  She had just about had it, when a loud knock drew her attention to the outer door. Realizing it must be the marine specialist Caskett had hired to look at the dolphin, she punched in her security code and opened the door.

  “Thought you’d never open that blasted thing,” came the rough, baritone voice as the door opened.

  Her first sarcastic thought was her day just got better—a specialist with a serious attitude problem. Her second thought as the man came fully into view was wow, as her eyes got a quick glance of a Greek god come to life.

  Long, jet-black hair fell past his shoulders. Faded jeans that fit to his form over muscular looking legs gave way to a long, lean torso. He had on a crisp white short sleeve dress shirt that emphasized bulging arm muscles. And, lo and behold, she had to look up at him. He stood more than a head taller than her. Her eyes noted strong Greek-looking features, a square chin, chiseled cheeks, dark hooded eyebrows and startling clear emerald eyes.

  “You going to let me in or are we going to stand here all day?” asked the man, his impatient bold stare causing her to blush.

  “Sorry about that. Please come in,” she stammered, turning to lead the way to Caskett’s own personal chamber, which housed the dolphin.

  The man boldly closed the door. “I’m looking for Caskett. Where is he?”

  Jamie realized he wasn’t following her, so she stopped walking. “He’s not here, but I’ll show you the dolphin. He wants me to help you.”

  She watched spellbound as he sauntered toward her. She had never been overly interested in men before, after all she had more important things to think of—like getting out of a nothing life and making something of herself. While not easily intimidated because of her height, this man oozed raw power or something else that made her stomach do nervous flip-flops as she watched him move forward.