Heidi did, firing her weapon at the man whose shoulder had just emerged. She missed, but he did duck, though not before firing a couple rounds into the side of the cabin just beneath her. Sounds from the other side of the deck indicated that Brad had followed Heidi’s lead and was covering Darius.
“Here goes,” Myrrine said. She chanted something softly—a prayer?—then threw the object in her hands toward the cigarette boat.
While the throw didn’t look that good, Heidi watched as the black lump landed squarely in the center of the cigarette boat.
Then it exploded.
A matching explosion sounded from Brad’s side of the boat.
“What the hell was that?” she shouted over the ringing in her ears.
“A mine,” Myrrine replied. “Marcos showed me how to use them.”
Heidi peeked back over into the water. The cigarette boat was shattered completely. A few men clung to bits of debris, and one had reached the side of the Folly and was beginning to climb aboard. Gritting her teeth, she fired twice. The pirate jerked twice then fell back into the ocean.
Brad’s gun barked on the other side of the deck. “Stay in the water if you want to live,” he yelled. “The navy will fish you out in a few minutes.”
Heidi repeated that on her side while Myrrine and Darius translated into Spanish.
A volley of epithets came back to them, but no one else tried to climb onto their boat.
“That’s some rather interesting profanity,” Myrrine told Heidi.
Darius turned the running lights back on, which illuminated the debris well enough for them to see the pirates without the aid of the night-vision goggles. Heidi and Brad kept their weapons trained on them. In the distance, they began to see the lights of the navy vessel.
“Could you run up to the bridge and grab one of the headsets?” she asked Myrrine. “I want to know what’s happening on the island.”
“Of course.” Myrrine vanished up the stairs, returning just moments later with Heidi’s headset, and Brad’s.
Heidi slipped it on. She hadn’t mentioned anything to Myrrine yet about Jake. There was still no trace of him on their mental link. She prayed that he was just unconscious, but her insides were twisted in knots as she listened in, trying to catch up.
“The priests’ quarters are empty,” Steve’s voice said. “It looks as if that was the last of them.”
“Can anyone on the Folly read me?” That was Wen. “Come in, Heidi or Brad.”
“I’m here,” Heidi said. “The pirates are being held off. Darius and Myrrine blew up their boats with old limpet mines.”
“Excellent,” Miguel said. “The navy vessel is on its way. They know you’re a private contact of mine who was assisting in this operation. But if possible, we need Darius here ASAP. We’ve got some seriously wounded.”
Brad conferred with Darius who immediately stripped out of his clothes and ran toward the bow. There was a flash of skin in the running lights, then a splash as a dolphin sped away from the ship toward the shore.
“We also have two casualties, so far,” Wen warned. “Marcos and Pablo.”
“Not…” Heidi’s voice stuck in her throat. Hope for Jake welled, mixed with horror at the loss of two men she’d become friends with.
“He’s in bad shape, kiddo,” Steve replied. “But if Darius gets here in time, he should make it. I wish to hell I could teleport the weight of another person.”
“Darius is on his way,” she assured him. “And the navy ship is getting close. What about the village? Is someone keeping a watch on that?”
“Si. The two fast boats took off, loaded with men,” Niko confirmed. “And I think most of the mermen fled as dolphins, but they headed south, not toward you. Probably toward the other yacht, which is still out there somewhere.”
“I’ll go up and see if I can find it,” Wen added. “Then you can tell the navy where to find them. That should wrap things up nicely.”
“Okay,” Heidi said. She managed to hold her tears in while the navy vessel pulled up close by and lowered two small speedboats into the water. They threw ropes to the pirates and hauled them onboard, immediately cuffing them while Heidi and the others watched. Finally, one boat nudged up against the Folly, and an officer requested permission to come on board.
“Thank you for your assistance,” he told them after introducing himself. He pointedly didn’t ask their names or nationalities. “We’ve been authorized to handle the arrests of the pirates. We can escort you in to the island now, so we can collect the remaining prisoners.
“Thank you. We’ll follow you in,” Myrrine acted as translator and spokeswoman. “And perhaps you can take us ashore with you?”
The officer agreed. Heidi and Brad went back to the bridge, with Myrrine close behind them.
“So tell me,” Myrrine demanded as they followed the navy ship toward the island. “Is my son all right?”
Heidi bit her lip. “We don’t know yet. He’s injured, but Darius is with him now.” She’d turned off her microphone but was still listening in to her headset.
Myrrine nodded. “And the others?”
Brad answered, taking the queen’s hand. “Two men were lost. Pablo and Marcos.”
“Marcos!” Myrrine’s shattered cry filled the small space of the bridge. She looked up at Heidi brokenly. “Whatever shall I do without him?”
Leaving Brad to steer the boat, Heidi wrapped her arms around the older woman. “I don’t know,” she admitted. Her own tears fell as Myrrine cried against her shoulder.
They were just setting anchor in the cove near the temple when Heidi felt a tug on her mental link with Jake. It wasn’t strong at first, but it gradually grew into a sigh, and then her name.
“Jake!” She turned to Myrrine. “Jake is conscious now.”
Myrrine dried her eyes. “Thank the gods. I couldn’t have stood to lose them both.”
“I know.” Heidi hugged the older woman, wishing she could do something to ease her pain.
They finished setting the anchors and went ashore with the officer and his men, beaching the small boat on a wide, sandy stretch where Miguel and his remaining two men waited. A blanket-covered mound at their feet explained the harsh, contained expressions on all of their faces.
On the slope just above the beach, a set of wide stone terraces led up to a waist-high wall. Beyond that, the shape of the temple roof loomed in the moonlight, with smaller buildings off to the side. The prisoners who were uninjured knelt on the lowest terrace under the watchful eye of two armed mermen, who also monitored wounded pirates, who lay beside their comrades on the ground in a row, sporting a collection of makeshift bandages. Beyond them was another row of forms, these unmoving.
“So many lost,” Myrrine whispered sadly as they moved up along the edge of the terrace. Wen and Chiron waited at the top step, motioning them forward.
Heidi just nodded. All her attention was focused on Jake. She could feel him growing in strength, though he was also in a lot of pain. Agony speared through her chest, making it hard for her to walk. Only Brad’s steadying arm around her waist kept her upright. They moved up the terraces, ignoring the activity of the naval personnel as they loaded the prisoners and the dead into their boats.
“They’re in the temple,” Chiron said, taking Myrrine’s arm. “It seemed—appropriate.”
Yes, it did. Heidi and Brad fell into step behind the queen and her escort. At the top of the terraces was a low stone wall, with an ornate but rusted gate. Two more of the mermen warriors guarded the gate. Each of them sported bandages, though both were steady on their feet. They bowed their heads to their ruler as she approached.
“Thank you,” she told them gravely, a quaver to her normally strong voice. “Your sacrifices here tonight mean everything to your people.” Then they moved past them to enter a large courtyard, paved with stone except for where tall palm trees reached toward the sky in each of the four corners.
“Probably the whole population of
the island could congregate here,” Brad speculated.
“Likely,” Chiron agreed.
A large central fountain still bubbled cool, sweet-smelling water. They skirted that and continued toward a set of wide gates that stood open in the back wall. Beyond the gates, a wide flagstone walkway led up to the temple itself.
The temple was breathtaking, even in the moonlight. Though matching the architectural style of every Greek temple Heidi had seen pictures of, it had a very tropical flair, with pineapples at the tops of the columns and conch shells in the frieze around their base. Somehow, the amalgam worked, creating a structure both imposing and inviting.
Steve sat on the wide stone steps holding a gun on three handcuffed men, while two more lay at his feet. One of them at least, was still moving. Heidi couldn’t be sure about the other. At the top, Niko waited, leaning on a wide column, bloody, with a bandage around his left thigh, his weapon also trained on the captive mermen.
“Inside,” Wen said. He didn’t follow them through the second gate, instead turning back toward the beach.
It was only two steps up to the colonnade of the temple, and once they passed between the tall pillars, Heidi could see that there were actual walls inside, though no doors, so it wasn’t completely protected from the elements.
The first room was three-sided, with the pair of columns forming the fourth. On the far side, a door opened into another, larger room lit by flaming torches set into the walls, but Heidi didn’t have time to check it out. Here in the outer chamber, with the light of more torches and a couple big flashlights, Jake sat in the corner, leaning against the wall with Darius kneeling over him.
Heidi immediately dropped to her knees on his other side and took his hand. His black T-shirt gleamed wetly and sported a huge tear, frighteningly close to his heart. The Kevlar vest he’d been wearing lay on the ground beside him, also with an obvious hole. Armor-piercing bullets, Niko had told her as they walked. Heidi fought hard not to cry.
“Hey, beautiful,” he rasped. “Heard you had trouble with the pirates.”
Managing a wavering smile, she shrugged. “Your mother took care of those easily enough.”
“I had help.” Myrrine stood at Jake’s feet and stared at Darius. “Will he recover?” Her words sounded cold, but Heidi could see the fear in her taut expression, even in the meager light.
“Yes,” the healer assured her. Someone had given Darius a pair of black cargo pants. “They all will, except for…”
“Marcos,” the queen finished. “Thank you, Darius.”
“He’s in here, ma’am.” Once again, Chiron took Myrrine’s arm and led her into the main room of the temple. A few seconds later, her broken sobs emerged through the portal.
Jake clutched Heidi’s hand as Darius stood and moved over to another merman seated against the opposite wall. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again,” he murmured. “The wedding’s still on, right?”
“Damn straight,” she whispered around the lump in her throat. “You’re not getting out of it this easily.”
A few minutes later, Darius came back and took Jake’s hand again. Heidi watched as the healer’s own breathing grew ragged while Jake’s eased somewhat. Long moments later, Darius opened his eyes.
“You should be able to walk now, but take it easy,” Darius said. “I need to take a break. Give me another hour or so, and I’ll be able to do more.”
“Thank you,” Jake told him. “I feel much, much better.” He turned to Heidi. “Shall we go in and pay our respects?”
She nodded and scrambled to her feet. He leaned on her heavily as he stood, but he made it. Keeping one arm around her shoulder, he allowed her to take a little of his weight as they walked.
The main room was a large chamber, with sconces for torches every few feet along the perimeter. At the far end stood a large, surprisingly lifelike statue of Dionysus, flanked by a pair of naked nymphs. In front of the statue, Marcos was laid out on a low stone altar. Myrrine knelt beside him, weeping, with Chiron standing behind her in the shadows.
Jake and Heidi came up and parted to stand one on either side of his mother, each with a hand on her shoulder. Looking down at the body, Heidi shuddered when she saw the jagged black hole that pierced his right temple.
“Why did I fight so hard against loving him?” Myrrine whispered brokenly. “After Antonio died, it just seemed wrong to fall in love with a merman—as if it was a rejection of him, and our children together.”
“I think Father would have approved,” Jake told her. “Marcos was his friend, and Father would have wanted you to be happy.”
“Of course he would have,” Heidi added. “That’s what love is about—wanting the best for the person you care for.”
“And now it’s too late.” Myrrine covered her eyes with her hands and sobbed.
“I’m so sorry, Mother.” Jake rubbed his hand across her shaking shoulder.
Myrrine reached up and clutched his hand with hers. “At least I still have you, thank the gods.”
“Ah, well, you’re welcome.”
They all looked up, shocked, as the statue of Dionysus spoke. Where a dark gray sculpture had stood moments before, now there was a living, breathing god, still flanked by the stone nymphs. He took one step forward, away from their entangling arms, and looked at Chiron.
“The human sailors have left the island. Gather your people here, in the temple. Prisoners as well.”
Chiron bowed deeply, then hurried off to do the god’s bidding. Moments later, the merfolk began to gather in the chamber, even the captives, who were prodded at gunpoint by the others. When they saw Dionysus, each of them bowed. Last to arrive were Wen and Steve, who stood in the doorway at the rear of the room.
“You have succeeded in the task I set before you,” Dionysus began. “Though not without cost. Some of that, I can repay.” A cup of wine appeared in his hands hand he handed it across the altar to Jake. “Drink.”
Jake bowed his head and sipped from the cup. Immediately, he stood taller, straighter, and over their psychic link, Heidi could tell he’d been totally healed. Jake passed the cup to Niko, and from him it was passed around the room until everyone was restored and the cup was passed back to Heidi, who returned it to the god.
“For those of you who assisted the humans, who preyed on other humans, you have the chance now to know how they feel. Henceforward, you shall be human.” He waved his hand again, and the captive merfolk screamed.
Dionysus looked back at Wen. “You may turn them over to the authorities now. They are entirely mortal. Any you capture from here forward, bring to this room. The same will happen to them.”
“Finally,” he said, looking down at Marcos. “It is not your time, faithful one. Awake.” He held the cup out to Myrrine. “Place a few drops on his lips.”
“Of course, my lord.” Myrrine dipped her finger into the cup, then traced it across Marcos’ lower lip.
They all watched breathlessly as the bullet hole closed then vanished. Slowly, color returned to his chalky features and his chest suddenly heaved as he resumed breathing. Moments later, his eyes fluttered open, and he gazed longingly up at Myrrine.
“Welcome back,” she whispered, tears running down her cheeks. Then in front of everyone, she leaned down and kissed his lips.
The merfolk applauded.
When the noise had died down, Brad turned to the god. “What about Pablo? Can you bring him back too?”
Dionysus shook his head. “I’m afraid not. His soul wasn’t mine to return. I’m sorry.”
Marcos slid off the altar to stand by Myrrine, and Jake shifted around his mother to slip an arm around Heidi’s waist.
“Now,” the god continued. “I have a promise to keep. Gather the rest of your people here on the island, and I will effect the conversion. I realize that will take some time, but I have some tasks for you in the meanwhile, and another boon to go with them.”
He motioned for all those in the room to gather at the alt
ar, then continued once they had.
“My island should not be left abandoned again. If your race is to take your place among humankind, you will need a place to take. So I propose this. I will remove the forgetting field that I once used to protect my followers. This island will soon become recognized, and will no doubt be claimed by the Mexican government. Once, long ago, a few followers of mine held a deed to this place. I intend to create a lineage so that the current legal holder of the title is your queen.”
A gasp went up. This was—perfect. Nearly too good to be true.
“There is more, however,” Dionysus warned. “This place was and shall be a place dedicated to me. It must become a place where frequent revels of wine, song and feasting can occur. I recommend that you create an adult-only resort on this property, holding regular parties here in the temple grounds. You can house your families in the village, away from the debauchery. There are even farms and business that can be rebuilt, to provide livelihoods for those not inclined to work at such a facility.”
He held out his hand to the queen. “Do we have an agreement?”
She fell to her knees and accepted his hand in hers. “We do, my lord. And the merfolk will happily provide you with all the merriment due to your goodness.”
“Very well,” the god said approvingly. A scroll appeared in his hand and he passed it to Myrrine. “When your people have gathered, I will return.” He stepped back and moments later was just a statue once again.
“Well, Mother,” Jake said, squeezing Heidi’s hand. “Looks as if we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Chapter Nineteen
Three weeks later, they’d scrubbed every remaining building in the village and the temple compound and knocked down those that were no longer structurally sound. Jake, Heidi and Brad had made several runs into Cabo San Lucas for food and supplies, and merfolk families had been arriving almost daily, joining in the labor and staking claims on the various housing alternatives. They’d even discovered that there were still pineapples and sugarcane growing wild on the former farms, enough to get them started with some sort of crops. Heidi and Brad had suggested wind turbines to provide electricity for the new village and resort, and they were looking into that option. To everyone’s surprise, there was a healthy trust fund that went with the property. Along with their shipwreck treasure, the money would see them through until the new resort, currently in the hands of an architect recommended by Steve, could be opened, probably the following year.
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