by Devyn Quinn
Jake followed the line of her vision. He pressed his fingers beneath his right collarbone. “Yeah, the fucker shot me.” He rubbed the area, which showed no trauma whatsoever—not even a scar. “You know Mer can heal, as well as harm.”
She nodded slowly. Although she’d never dabbled in that side of her Mercraft, she knew Gwen had begun working with the healing side of their extraordinary gift.
“Where’s Kenneth?” she repeated. She attempted to keep the fear out of her voice, but that was almost impossible to do. There was no doubt in her mind that Jake had somehow gotten even with her husband.
Jake’s hand dropped as he shrugged. “Most likely he’s in the hospital, if not already dead. Magaera blasted him pretty good.” He eyed her. “You took a bit of that yourself. If you’d been much closer, it probably would have charred your skin.”
A flood of tears immediately rose behind her eyes. She remembered throwing up a shield in front of her husband, but was it enough? The twins she carried had sapped so much of her energy, and she wasn’t at her strongest. “He’d better not be dead, you son of a bitch.”
Jake shrugged again. “Dunno,” he said with a flippant wave of his hand. By the way he spoke, they might have been discussing the weather. He seemed totally unconcerned that he’d just taken part in an attack that might have killed or wounded innocent people. “Don’t care. The only thing that matters is that we got what we wanted.”
“Me,” she finished for him. She didn’t need to look down to know that her soul-stone, which hung from a thick gold chain, was nestled firmly between her breasts.
They can’t kill me, she thought. They needed her alive in order to use her stone. If she died, the stone was useless. She had no doubt they were still intent on opening the sea-gate.
Jake suddenly closed the distance between them, taking a seat beside her on the low pallet. He leaned close to her, his gaze focusing on her mouth as if he contemplated kissing her. “I know you don’t believe me,” he murmured, “but I did all of this for you, Tessa.”
She could hardly believe her ears. It took her a moment to work her way through what he’d said. “For me?”
He nodded emphatically. “I found the Mer for you. To prove how much I loved you.”
Tessa immediately pulled back, far enough to see the sincerity in his gaze. Jake actually believed what he was saying. No fucking way. “No, I don’t believe that. You just took advantage.”
Hands catching her shoulders, his strong fingers dug deeply into her skin. “I did, too,” he insisted. “You were always so unhappy, wondering about your people, what had happened to your kind. I wanted to give you the answers so that you’d want to be with me again. Of course, that was before you tried to kill me. I’ve had a lot of time to think about how I wanted to get even.” His smile turned savage. “I’ll enjoy taking Randall’s place in your bed.”
Cold-blooded rage suddenly surged through her. Without her even thinking, her hand shot out, latching on to his neck. “Lay one hand on me, and I’ll drain you dry. There won’t be anything left of you but an empty shell by the time I’m through.” She didn’t like using the D’ema, or death magic. Normally it was forbidden, to be invoked only rarely and with the greatest of caution. But in this case she’d make an exception. Just as Mer could pull energy out of a crystal, they could also suck it out of humans. Right now the only thing she wanted to do was make Jake shrivel up like a paper cup tossed into a bonfire.
Jake froze as her nails dug into his vulnerable jugular. His pulse lurched beneath her palm. “Take it easy!” he gasped, his hands scrabbling helplessly toward his neck. “I was just kidding.”
Tessa tightened her grip. She wasn’t messing around, either. “I don’t think so.”
Jake gagged. “S-stop, Tessa. Please…”
Queen Magaera glided into the chamber. Two of her soldiers marched at her heel. The queen halted a few yards away. A cruel glint lit her arctic gaze. “Let him go,” she said calmly, low in her throat.
Tessa’s grip tightened. Given another moment, she’d crush Jake’s larynx. The energy she consumed from him surged through her veins, revitalizing her exhausted body. She’d been aching for a rematch, and here it was. Time to deal with the bitch. “Make me.”
Magaera merely smirked and snapped her fingers. “Gladly.”
The two soldiers following behind her sped toward Tessa. They lunged from different sides, each catching an arm in an attempt to pry her off Jake.
Freed, he stumbled back, gasping for breath. Unable to control his shaky limbs, he collapsed in a heap on the floor.
Caught between the two women, Tessa fought and scratched like a wildcat. Teeth snapping, she kicked one woman in the gut. She barely avoided the second soldier’s jab at her face.
A fireball out of nowhere struck her dead on. Something that felt like vibrating tentacles wrapped around her, lacing her up from head to foot. Suspended in midair, she hung like a fly wrapped neatly in a spider web.
Magaera sauntered up, casually waving her soldiers away. “Don’t even think about trying something like that again.”
Tessa writhed inside her invisible bonds. “Fuck you.”
The Mer queen released a leisurely yawn. “If you want to live to see your children, you won’t fight me,” she continued in a tone laced with acid. “Otherwise, I will have you tied down and let my soldiers beat you until you haven’t a hope of bringing children into this world—ever.”
How did she know? Tessa thought in panic.
Jake finally managed to crawl to his feet. His face was pale and his neck bruised and scratched, but he seemed no worse for wear. “What do you mean?” he spluttered. “Is she pregnant?” The look on his face was one of disgust.
Queen Magaera nodded. “Obviously.” She casually closed the distance between them, reaching up to finger the crystal hanging around Tessa’s neck. It glowed softly against her skin. “A Mer’s soul-stone changes color when she is with child. Yours is no longer clear, but it has a dark pink hue to it. By the tint, I judge at least two children.” She paused a moment and closed her eyes. “Or is that a third heartbeat I’m sensing?”
Tessa’s brows rose. Oh, shit. Three? Surely that couldn’t be right…
But what if it was? That was definitely something she didn’t want to think about.
Magaera cocked her head. “If you want your children to live, I suggest you cooperate. I wish to proceed to the sea-gate, immediately. It is time for my people to come out of the shadows of an unwarranted exile.”
Tessa felt the oxygen seep from her lungs. If she’d been on her own, she’d be willing to fight like hell to take Magaera down. But it wasn’t her safety that was at stake. The presence of the precious babies she carried effectively crippled her ability to resist. She couldn’t keep pushing herself physically, not while her pregnancy was still so uncertain.
Tessa took a deep breath. “I won’t fight you,” she said quietly. “I’ll help you open the gate. Just don’t hurt my babies, please.”
Magaera’s eyes glittered with satisfaction. She’d acquired exactly what she wanted, with minimal fuss. “Good. You are less stupid this time.”
To her surprise, Tessa suddenly felt Magaera’s psychic presence in her mind. She flinched against the invasion, which hit her smack between the eyes as a blinding mental blow. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but noticed Magaera concentrating intensely on the waves of energy emanating from her soul-stone. The black stone around Magaera’s own neck began to lighten.
She was matching soul-stone resonances with Tessa. By the goddess, she’s going to mimic my psychic resonance to open the sea-gate.
Had she not already been otherwise restrained, she would have dropped to her knees. The Mer queen was mentally devouring her.
“Don’t fight me,” Magaera warned. “I will burn you down to a crisp.”
Tessa let herself go limp. The crystal around Magaera’s own neck glowed like a live coal now, bright and powerful. “Just don’t h
urt my babies,” she managed to mumble through ragged gasps. The clarity of her own thoughts began to drizzle away. All her senses were screaming in revolt, and there was nothing she could do…
And then it was over, just like that. She had nothing left inside—not a single drop.
Giving a hard jerk, Magaera snapped the gold chain holding the pendant bequeathed to Tessa by her mother on the day of her birth. “That wasn’t even hard,” she said through a cruel smirk.
The invisible tentacles holding her abruptly vanished. She dropped to the cold stone floor in a heap. All her senses felt muted, as if some connection between her brain and body had been snipped in half. She moaned in pain and confusion. Every nerve in her body was torn to shreds. She felt like a useless, dead thing.
Jake dropped to one knee. Catching her chin in one hand, he wrenched her head back, forcing her to look at his face. He was smug with pleasure and easy success. “You lose,” he whispered.
But Tessa was far past listening. Exhausted by defeat, she slipped into a deathlike void of unconsciousness.
Chapter 8
US Naval Support Activity
Souda Bay, Crete, Greece
Addison was wasted. She hadn’t had a moment’s sleep since leaving Port Rock, now going on twenty-four hours and counting. Since agreeing to join the USET team, she hadn’t had a moment to herself. She’d been photographed, fingerprinted, and provided with an ID that would give her access to most of the areas aboard the ship she’d be working on, which was currently docked off the coast of Crete.
USET’s ship, which carried the moniker of Sea Horse, was a blue-water research vessel recently launched into service just a few months before.
At two hundred eighty feet in length, the Sea Horse was the largest vessel in the USET fleet. The hull of the ship was hardened against ice to allow for Arctic and Antarctic research. The vessel had a total of sixty bunk spaces and could seat thirty at a time in her mess room. The ship also included a six-bed hospital facility and had a full medical staff ready to handle any emergency. She also carried a full crew.
The deck equipment featured three winches, two fixed cranes, a portable crane, a hydrographic boom, and an A-frame. This equipment gave the Sea Horse a lifting capacity of up to forty-one thousand pounds as well as up to ten thousand meters of cable that could pull up to eight thousand pounds. One of the winches was specifically for use with specialty cables such as optical fiber cables or coaxial EM Cable.
As it was an undersea research vessel, a substantial amount of the ship was dedicated to laboratories. Included in the forty-one hundred square feet of lab space were an electronics lab, a biochemical lab, and a wet lab.
“What do you think?” Mason McKenzie asked.
Addison smiled. Although she’d much rather have been touring the sights and sounds of Crete, the ship itself offered a pretty good substitute. “It is, in a word, awesome.”
He smiled. “Glad you like it.”
Addison swiped a nervous hand over her new jacket. “I just hope the crew likes me.” So far everyone she’d met was polite and respectful. The only thing she’d noticed was that no one would look her in the eyes. Everyone was looking through her, doing his best not to stare directly. They were all curious, and more than a little bit afraid. Word of the Mer had begun to seep out through media sources, and people were clamoring for more information. Nobody really understood the complications. In their eyes she wasn’t just a new member of the team. She was a member of a species that hadn’t exactly made itself welcome.
To them I’m the enemy, she reminded herself.
Though she was serving only in an advisory capacity, it was decided she would wear a civilian’s version of what enlisted personnel wore: khaki trousers paired with a blue cotton T-shirt, a black web belt with a closed buckle, and black smooth leather boots. Aside from a few personal belongings, everything she needed would be supplied while she was aboard ship. She’d asked Gwen to handle her finances while she was away.
It really was a grand adventure—and it scared the hell out of her. Aside from their brief incarceration at the A51 facility in Virginia, she’d never been out of Port Rock. Her whole life was tied up in that small fishing community. It was easy to be a Mer there. Those people were her friends or coworkers, and she trusted them. Those who didn’t know certainly wanted to believe that mermaids swam in Penobscot Bay. The lore definitely helped encourage tourism. More than one person swore he spotted a mermaid or two in his day, even though it wasn’t true ninety percent of the time.
Mason gave a small nod. “I think they’ll like you once they get to know you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to be able to give them a demonstration of a mermaid in the water soon.”
She tucked away her uncertainty. “I think I can handle that.”
A lanky young man approached, pausing to snap a smart salute. “We have clearance to ship out at any time, Captain,” he reported.
Mason nodded. “Make it so, Commander.”
The officer glanced toward Addison. “Quarters have been prepared for Ms. Lonike,” he continued.
“Thank you, Hawkins,” Mason said before dismissing his second-in-command. He turned to Addison. “I know you haven’t had much time to rest since all this began. Why don’t we get you settled in?”
Addison was grateful for his suggestion. It would give her a chance to stow her things and take a much-needed breather to herself. “Thanks. I could use a break.”
Mason escorted her belowdecks, leading her down a narrow set of steps that would take them to the living quarters. Due to space limitations, many of the crew were doubled up, two people per cabin. Because she had requested no special treatment, Addison expected that she, too, would have a bunkmate. In a way, she was looking forward to having a buddy. She was surprised when the captain opened the door to a cabin clearly marked for himself.
“This is yours—,” she started to protest.
Mason ushered her inside. “I thought you would like a little more space and privacy away from the rest of the crew.” He nodded across the narrow hall. “I’ll be bunking with Commander Hawkins.”
Addison’s grip tightened on her travel bag. This was exactly the kind of thing that riled her. “Really, that’s not necessary. I can share a room.”
Mason’s lips thinned. “I’m going to try and be tactful,” he said slowly.
It didn’t take a psychic to figure out what he was about to say. She cut him off. “Don’t tell me. Nobody volunteered to share.”
“I’m sorry, but after their recent go-round with Queen Magaera’s soldiers, my crew members are more than a little wary about the Mer. Yes, they understand you’re not the same as those who recently emerged through the sea-gate, but—”
“But I’m a Mer and they don’t trust me,” she finished for him.
“Exactly.”
Addison shrugged. It wasn’t the first time someone hadn’t liked her because of what she looked like or what she was. There was no reason to let it bother her. She’d just have to prove to the crew members that she was on their side.
Hefting her travel bag, she headed toward Mason’s bunk. The captain’s cabin was well-appointed; it was not necessarily more luxurious than the rest, but it certainly offered the advantage of complete privacy.
She was just about to toss her single piece of luggage on his bunk when the sight of something odd stopped her dead in her tracks. She stared in disbelief. “What the hell is that?”
Mason hurried over to take a look. His hand immediately slammed into his forehead. “Oh God, no,” he moaned. “I can’t believe they did that.”
Addison couldn’t help but admire the ingenuity of the perpetrator. Some genius had taken the top half of a male Barbie doll and combined it with the bright fish tail of a stuffed animal. A can of sardines lay beside the transformed toy. A neatly typed note was propped beside both.
She picked it up. “‘Dinner and a date for our newest crew member,’” she read aloud. ‘“Welcome aboard.’
”
His skin taking on a distinct flush, Mason struggled to keep a straight face. “I’m sorry,” he said briskly. “That is totally inappropriate.”
She picked up the mutant doll. In a way it was kind of cute. “So, does this mean I’m being hazed?” It was all she could do not to crack a grin. She liked watching Captain McKenzie squirm with embarrassment. Apparently things weren’t all business under his command.
He cleared his throat. “We, uh, have a little tradition when a new crew member comes aboard. You know, give him a little razzing to see how he handles the situation. Long tours of sea duty can get a little stressful, and it’s a way to find out if a person fits in.”
Addison looked at the doll. “Well,” she deadpanned, “this just won’t work for me. For one, he’s not my type.” She tossed the doll back on the bunk. “Send me one of those big strong sailors, please. Preferably naked.” She waved the can of sardines. “And I hate fish with a passion. I’d prefer a bottle of red wine.”
Much to her relief Captain McKenzie allowed a small grin. His eyes glinted as he drawled back, “I can probably arrange the naked sailor, but there’s no alcohol aboard this ship.”
Addison couldn’t resist. She waggled her eyebrows in an obscene manner. “Then send me two naked sailors and we’ll call it even.”
He shook his head. “As much as I would like to grant that request, I’m afraid it won’t be possible. I don’t allow any canoodling—”
The captain didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence. The ship suddenly lurched, knocking them off their feet. Addison stumbled back onto the bunk, landing in an inelegant sprawl. McKenzie tumbled right on top of her. His arm shot out, catching his weight before he sank completely between her thighs. His mouth wasn’t more than a foot away from hers.
