Blood of a Mermaid (13 page)

Her eyes took on that shimmery quality again as she stared up at him, her eyebrows scrunching together in a look of concern. “Be careful,” she whispered. Zan felt his breath catch in his throat as she fluttered upward and kissed him gently on the cheek.

Yeah. Definitely worth fighting for.

The hot air swirled with dust as they stood on the tarmac of the Athens airport, waiting for the flight attendant to usher them down the path to Olympic Air Flight 716 to Thira. Shea turned his head to watch as the Aegean Air plane they’d arrived on taxied away from its parking spot, heading back toward the runways for its return flight. A small private jet was just landing, its tires touching down on the runway furthest from the gates, bouncing once before gliding to a halt.

He thought it strange that the boarding gates were all outdoors, and that the “gate” itself was no more than lines painted on the pavement. Hailey elbowed Shea in the side, interrupting his thoughts. “I dare you to step outside the painted area.”

Shea looked over at the armed security guards lining the perimeter. They wore full military uniforms, dark sunglasses and berets, and carried large caliber rifles by their sides. There was something sinister about the way they stood, unmoving despite the heat. “You must be out of your mind, Hailey. I know it’s been a long day of flying, but let’s not get crazy.”

“Look at you, chicken of the sea! Those guys wouldn’t dare hurt us, we’re tourists.” She made a move as if to walk toward one of the soldiers and Shea grabbed her hand to pull her back.

“Don’t. Okay? Just don’t.” He squeezed her hand and she looked him in the eyes. “I would hate to lose another friend.” On the six-hour flight from Boston to London, Shea had traded places so he could sit with Hailey. He’d shared his concerns about Kae’s sudden disappearance, and Hailey agreed it seemed likely that Demyan was the cause.

She lowered her voice and leaned closer to his ear. “I don’t think these guys are Adluo guards, so they’re not working for the evil prince. They’re plain old Greek soldiers, doing their jobs.”

He glanced at the one standing closest to them and shrugged. “I don’t want to find out the hard way that things aren’t what they seem.” He squeezed her hand again. “Besides, we only have an hour or so left to hang out together on the flight before Gramma and I have to…leave. Who knows when I’ll get to see you again?”

Hailey laughed. “It’s not my fault you’re swimming off on another adventure.”

He shook his head. “No, you dope. I’ll be headed back to Windmill Point in a few days, after the hearing. You’re the one with the open-ended ticket, and the indefinite plans to stay on Santorini while your mom’s working.”

“Aww, look at the lovebirds holding hands.” Chip was suddenly there right next to them, his withering tone dripping with sarcasm. “My wittle sister has her first wittle boyfriend. She goes half-way around the world to hold hands with the boy next door.”

“Shut it, Chip.” Hailey let go of Shea and punched her brother in the stomach.

He barely flinched. “Is that the best you can do? I totally thought you were stronger than that.”

As the argument continued, Shea noticed that a few of the guards had started paying attention. The closest one seemed to be staring right at them, although it was hard to tell given the dark sunglasses all the guards wore. An uneasy feeling blossomed in the pit of Shea’s stomach and a familiar tingling sensation zipped down his spine.

There was magick being used, somewhere close.

“Please,” he said in a low voice, stepping between the warring siblings. “Let’s not do this here.” Hailey caught on to the seriousness in his tone and took a step backward.

“What are you afraid of, MacNamara?” Chip asked with a sneer, oblivious to any potential danger. “Or maybe you’re scared I’ll tell your girlfriend you were holding hands with my sister. Not a bad idea at that,” he added with an evil grin. “Maybe then your hot blonde would give me a chance.”

“Leave her out of this,” Shea said through clenched teeth. “And please just shut up before…”

“Excuse me.” The guard he’d noticed staring now stood directly before him, his eyes hidden by his dark shades. “Your name is MacNamara?”

Shea hesitated, glancing over toward where his grandmother stood chatting with Hailey’s mom. Both women seemed oblivious to the soldier’s sudden appearance. In fact, none of the other passengers in line seemed to think anything was out of the ordinary, their eyes sweeping right past the well-armed soldier standing directly in their midst. He tried to catch Hailey’s eye, but she was staring passed the soldier as if transfixed by the horizon. Frozen in place for the moment, and so was Chip.
Magick
, Shea thought, a wave of panic flooding through him.

The soldier cleared his throat.

“Yes,” Shea finally answered.

“This is for you.” The soldier thrust his hand forward and dropped a small package at Shea’s feet before turning and walking away. Shea bent to pick up the parcel, the brown paper already coming loose around the edges. When he stood, the soldier was nowhere to be seen. He looked back at the bundle in his hands, wondering what it held, wondering whether it would be safe to open.

Hailey shook her head, coming out of her daze. “What just happened?”

“I’m not quite sure,” Shea said, turning the package over in his hands. There was no tag, no writing, nothing to say whom it was for or where it had come from. Whatever was inside the paper wasn’t very heavy, though, and wasn’t sending any shivers of magick down his back.

“What do you have there, MacNamara?” Chip tried to snatch it from his hands, but Shea blocked his grab.

“Nothing that concerns you, Thompson,” Shea told him. “Why don’t you go bug somebody else?”

Chip snorted in disgust and stalked off to join his mother further down the line.

Hailey rolled her eyes. “Sorry he’s such a pain in the butt.”

“You and me both.” Shea decided he’d better wait until he was somewhere he could open the parcel in private. Just in case.

Hailey was still staring at the brown bundle. “You know, they say never to accept packages at airports. Especially from strangers. It could be some sort of bomb or something.”

What if it is a bomb, set to explode while the plane is in the air?
Which argued for Shea opening it up immediately to find out. “Stand closer to my side there, so no one can watch,” he told her. Hailey shifted and Shea stripped the brown paper from one end. A wad of seaweed and a piece of yellowed parchment paper fell out into his hand.

“What does the note say?” Hailey asked, craning her head trying to read the paper as Shea unfolded it. The edges of the paper were torn, and the calligraphy was shaky and old-fashioned looking, as if had been ripped from an antique notebook of some sort.

“
Next time I’ll send you her hand.”
He glanced up at Hailey and saw that she’d turned as white as a sheet. He felt a little pale himself as he continued reading out loud.
“Meet at Piraeus by sunset if you want to keep the girl alive
.”

“Piraeus is the port of Athens,” Hailey said, her voice a little breathless as she rattled on full-tilt. “Someone wants you to meet them at the docks, by the ocean? So it’s gotta be one of your merman buddies. But what girl are they talking about? Is it me? Am I in danger?”

Shea had already unwrapped the bundle of seaweed and stared as the silver bracelet shimmered in the bright sunlight. “It’s not about you, Hailey. Demyan has Kae.”

“We already guessed that,” Hailey said, frowning. “What does that have to do with…”

He held up the bracelet, with the five waves of silver still glistening with droplets of seawater. “I gave this to Kae the morning before she disappeared. Remember? I bought it that day in Hyannis when we went with my friend John. Whoever kidnapped her sent this as a message.”

At that moment, the line began moving forward toward the airplane. “The flight is starting to board,” Hailey said, a note of panic in her voice. “What are we going to do?”

Shea glanced around the tarmac, unable to pick out the soldier who had handed him the ominous warning. “If there’s a chance to save Kae, I have to go. I’d better tell Gramma I can’t get on this plane.” He looked up and saw that his grandmother was already climbing the moveable staircase that had been wheeled up next to the Olympic Air plane.

Hailey followed his eyes. “Too late. She and Mom are sitting in first class for this flight, remember?”

He hesitated. “I can’t just leave without telling her. That would set off even more problems.”

“The flight only takes an hour,” Hailey pointed out. “You could get on board to tell your grandmother, turn around and come back with the plane, and still be at Piraeus before sunset.”

Shea drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, turning over the alternatives in his mind. “I guess that makes the most sense,” he agreed, stumbling forward with the rest of the passengers in the line. The brown paper and seaweed slid from his hands, fluttering to the ground where the dry wind took it all flying across the pavement in the opposite direction. He gripped the letter and bracelet, not sure what to do with either item.

“Maybe you should put that letter away,” Hailey suggested. “It’s kind of threatening, and you don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. Here, let me hold the bracelet while you fold it up.” Shea handed her the silver bangle and folded the piece of parchment into halves until it was small enough to shove into the pocket of his jeans.

When he looked over, Hailey was slipping the bracelet onto her wrist. “What’re you doing?”

Her cheeks instantly turned a deep red. “Sorry. It’s just so pretty, I wanted to try it on. Besides, it’s less conspicuous for me to wear it than you.”

Shea frowned. He knew she had a point. It didn’t seem right to let her wear the gift he’d given Kae, but he also didn’t want to attract any more attention. “Fine, you can wear it. For now. When we get on the plane, I want it back.”

Hailey squinted and smiled sweetly at him, twisting her wrist back and forth so the bangle caught the light. “I’m telling you, it looks better on me. Shiny, shiny!” He couldn’t help but laugh, glad to relieve a little of the tension that had been building inside him. At least he knew Kae was safe for the moment, and he’d be seeing her soon.

They were both laughing as they climbed the staircase to board the flight.

* * *

Zan watched from the shadows of the Olympic Air hanger, waiting impatiently for the operative to return. Even in the shade, the Athenian air was so hot and arid that Zan could feel the moisture wicking away from his skin, his lips already cracking in the heat. How he longed to plunge back into the soothing Mediterranean waters and be done with this dry, dusty place.

He just needed to make sure that Shea got the message.

It hadn’t taken him long to find out that Shea was traveling to Atlantis now instead of Kae. Demyan had spies everywhere. What did surprise him was that King Koios had sent Shea by air instead of by sea. That was a move they hadn’t anticipated. Luckily, Zan’s magick compensated for Demyan’s lack of foresight. He’d made it to Athens just in time to confront the drylander whelp.

He pulled the brim of his baseball cap lower, shading his eyes from the bright sun shining through the open hanger doors. A few stray ends of his long hair still stuck out in the back, but in the shadows it looked brownish rather than its true shade of green. Still, there were plenty of humans who dyed their hair any number of colors, meaning the green in itself wasn’t a huge problem…but there was no way to pass for an airport guard. So he’d used one of Demyan’s recruits from the Mediterranean’s Daeira clan to deliver his message.

It bothered Zan to think Demyan could capture the loyalty of so many mermen, turning them into traitors to their own clans. Most of them were disgruntled soldiers, unhappy with their own little place in their undersea world. Looking for something more out of life. These mermen soaked up Demyan’s inflammatory rhetoric as if it were krill to a blue whale, swallowing it whole and without thinking. Like Demyan, most believed the drylanders were killing the Earth and needed to be stopped.

Uniting the oceans was the first step in Demyan’s master plan. Once the merfolk were united under his rule, he had his sights set on complete world domination.

Zan had already lived through one palace coup in the Southern Ocean, but barely escaped the second with his life. Because of
Shea
. Kae was now in danger because of Shea, too. His fists clenched by his side.

“I gave him the package as requested.” Startled, Zan whirled around, relieved to recognized the guard in front of him. He’d been so focused inwardly he hadn’t heard Demyan’s follower, Takis, approaching. The Daeira traitor was dressed as an airport security guard.

“You’re sure it was the correct drylander?”

The false guard nodded. “Blond, tall, teenager. One of the other drylanders called him ‘MacNamara.’ He was the only one unaffected by the spell you cast on me. I’m sure it was him.”

So far, so good
. “Thank you, Takis. I’ll be sure to let Demyan know of your loyalty in helping to arrange this meeting.”

“Uh, sir?” The guard shuffled his feet. “Is the meeting on Santorini? Because, as I’m sure you’re aware, that’s right smack in Atlantean territory. There’s no safe route in or out of that area to go unseen by the Lord Magistrate’s guards.”

Zan chuckled. “So kind of you to be concerned for my well being, but the boy is to meet me at Piraeus, well within Daeira-controlled waters.” He turned to leave the hanger, more than ready to feel the water caress his dry skin.

“But he boarded the flight.”

“What?” Zan whirled to face Takis, unable to hide his surprise. “Did you not deliver the message in time for him to actually
read
it?”

The guard shuffled his feet again, nodding. “He read the letter and gave the silver bracelet to the drylander girl who accompanies him. They were laughing together as they climbed the staircase onto the airplane.”