Olympic Cove 2-Breaker Zone (39 page)

It was good to work for Barnard
Whitfield. He understood men like them.

“How much
longer?”
Milan called.

Piotr glanced at the instruments. “Three
hours, maybe a little longer. I—”

Over the growl of the motor and the rush
of the waves he heard an odd sound. He glanced over his shoulder again and saw
Milan clutching at his neck. A length of something black and shiny had grown
out of his throat, blood gushing from around it.

Cursing viciously, Pitor slammed the
engines to STOP and drew his Glock from the holster in the small of his back. A
bright, exquisitely sharp pain exploded in his chest. Iron and salt filled his
mouth as he coughed wetly, feeling the liquid splatter over his chin. He looked
down in shock and saw the hilt of a knife sticking out of his chest.

But how…
was his final
thought as he tumbled forward.

****

“That’s for shocking me, you cowardly
shit,” Kasos growled, climbing forward and yanking the knife out of the taller
human’s chest. As an afterthought, he turned to the other human and slid the
knife out of his throat, then slit it. The human gurgled once, clutching weakly
at the ruin of his throat, then went still.

Stepping to the back of the
superstructure, the triton glanced down at the deck where Col was waiting. He
held up a bloody fist.
Stay there.

Col nodded. Kasos wiped his knives off
on the human’s
clothing,
them heaved each of the
bodies over the side.
At least the sharks
will feed well tonight.

There was nothing to be done about the
smears of blood on the deck, or on his body. Kasos hoped Col had a strong
stomach as he climbed back down to the deck, landing with a thump. “I took care
of the bodyguards.”

The mer stared at the blood spattered on
his chest, then swallowed hard and nodded. “What now?”

“Now we go find Liam and get the hell
off this thing.”

“Yes, about that,” a light voice said.

They spun. Standing in the entrance to
the cabins was the shorter human, holding a gun in his hand.
“Piotr!
Milan!” he called, keeping a cold gaze on Col and Kasos.

“You’re a little late,” Kasos said. “I’m
afraid they went for a swim.”

The human bared his teeth. “Judging from
what I see on your chest, I assume they didn’t go willingly.
Pity.
They were wonderfully ruthless. Now I have to hire new bodyguards.” He held up
the gun, aiming at Kasos. “Drop your weapons.”

The triton studied the gun. The deck
surged a bit with the waves, which would throw off the human’s aim. There was a
better than average chance he could dodge the bullets and dive over the side,
out of danger.

But that left Col as a sitting target,
not to mention Liam somewhere deeper in the ship. Grimly, he let his blades
fall to the deck.

“Good.” The gun shifted to point at Col.
“Now you.”

Col lifted his hands. “I don’t have
any.”

“Oh, rubbish. You wouldn’t mount this
sort of ridiculous rescue attempt unarmed.”

The mer blinked. “Actually, I would. I
don’t have any weapons training. I’m just a scribe.”

The human’s pale eyebrows went up.
“A scribe.
What are you, an escapee from a Renaissance faire?”

Col frowned in confusion. “What’s that?”

The human snorted.
“Never
mind.
Keep your hands where I can see them. You,” he jerked his chin at
Kasos, “hands up, and get over there and join your friend.”

Kasos obeyed, scanning the deck for
possible weapons. No hooks, spears, or axes.
A pair of deck
chairs and a small metal table that might make a half-decent bludgeon, but that
was it.
“Where is Councilor Liam?”

The human gave a loud, derisive snort.
“You are aware that I’m the one with the rather large gun, yes? You’re really
not in a place to be asking any questions right now.”

Kasos caught a flicker of something.
“Fine.
Can I tell you something, then?”

The human grinned unpleasantly. “Go
ahead.”

The triton
smiled back, equally humorless.
“Did you know it’s possible to be
disarmed?”

****

Liam steeled himself, reaching deep
inside for his true form. Changing back on dry land would hurt a great deal in
any case, but doing it while he was bound with metal and leather cuffs would be
excruciating. Considering the wounds on his cock and Whitfield’s threat to his
balls, however, he had no other choice but to grit his teeth and bear it.

His mer body rose like a bubble in water,
spreading through his human form and
reverting
it back
to what nature had gifted him with at birth. His legs tensed against their
bonds, trying to draw together despite the cuffs.

The change could not be stopped now. He
screamed into the gag as bolts of pain soared up both legs, knees grinding in
their joints as his flesh began to merge and grow scales. Leg bones creaked and
cracked before becoming blessedly gelid. He screamed again, biting hard on the
fabric in his mouth and feeling tears run down into his hairline.
This won’t kill me. This won’t kill me.

The merging of flesh continued, reaching
the leather cuffs on his ankles. The flesh there bloated, bulging around the
top of the cuffs brutally and pushing them down.

Thrashing his head from side to side,
Liam tried to gulp in air through his nose.
This
won’t kill me, this won’t kill me. Oh GODS—

His changing flesh surged under the
cuffs, swelling beyond the leather’s ability to resist. The cuffs tore open
with a harsh ripping noise. Liam shrieked in both pain and relief as the change
finished, and his fluke rolled out on either side, flapping against the
bulkhead and off the bunk.

He didn’t have time to recover. Biting
deeper into the gag, he pulled on the cuffs holding his arms to the bunk. The
more flexible mer bones in his wrists and hands compressed painfully, but it
was enough to let him yank his hands through the cuffs, leaving skin behind.

Panting hard, he spat out the gag and
then sat up. His stomach churned and he leaned over, vomiting bile onto the
carpeted deck. Wiping his mouth and chin with the ball of his hand, he sucked
in a ragged, acid-tinged breath,
then
focused on his
tail.

Split, split, return to legs.
Grant me human form.

Slowly, his tail began to recede, fluke
rolling up and paling as it split into two rough foot shapes. He panted through
the rest of the change, painfully swinging his legs out over the edge of the
bunk until his feet hit the deck.

Shards of pain lanced up through his
regenerated leg bones, but he forced himself to stand. Stumbling across the
cabin, he grabbed the scalpel Whitfield had so generously left on the other
table and staggered for the cabin door.

He paused in the shadowed area before
the steps leading up, listening to Whitfield order someone to drop their knives.

He then heard a familiar voice say that
he didn’t have any.
Col. Please gods, let
that mean Kasos is with him.

He crept up the stairs as quietly as
possible, getting a good grip on the knife. When Whitfield threatened to blow
Kasos’s guts over the deck, he cleared the last step, looming up behind the
shorter human.

“It’s possible to be disarmed.”

Grimacing, Liam slipped his right hand
around Whitfield’s neck, digging the blade into the human’s flesh before
pulling it back and slicing open his throat. Whitfield made a wet, gobbling
noise, one hand coming up to clap around the gushing wound.

But the other still held the gun.

This is for
Nick.
Spinning the blade in his fist, Liam punched it deep into Whitfield’s spinal
column, feeling the sick crunch vibrate up his arm as the steel bit through
nerves and cartilage. The human shuddered and slowly dropped to the deck, gun
tumbling from his hand. He twisted as he landed and Liam saw the madness in his
eyes drain away, changing to confusion.
And then nothing.

Gut still rolling, he leaned against the
bulkhead. “He’s dead.”

Kasos had yanked Col to the deck,
crouching over him protectively.
“You sure?”

“Slit his throat and punctured his
spine. I’m sure.”

The triton stood, hauling Col to his
feet before padding over to Whitfield’s body. “Not bad,” he said approvingly.
“You sure you want to be an
Elder
, councilor? You
might be better suited in the rangers.”

The nausea returned in full force. Liam
lurched to the rail, vomiting over it.

“And then again,
maybe not.”

He turned, wiping his mouth. “I’m not
cut out for the rangers. Pun intended,” he managed.

Kasos smirked at that,
then
toed Whitfield’s body. “Do we need this for anything?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“Good. I’ll get rid of the trash.” The
triton bent, hoisting the body over a shoulder and bringing it to the rail.
With a grunt, he heaved the corpse over the side. It splashed into the water
and sank. “What now?”

Liam tried to think. “We need to get
back to the grotto. They may have more news about Nick and Aidan.”

Kasos’s mouth twisted. “And then her
ladyship tosses you into the smallest cell she can find in the name of
‘protective custody’. Not acceptable.”

“If you can think of a way to get news
about my mates without returning to the grotto, I would be happy to hear it.”

The triton’s grin was sharkish. “It’s
quite simple. We reconnoiter from a distance. Let me contact my second and see
if there’s any news.” He touched a large black stone on his neckband.
“Lysandros, this is Kasos. Can you hear me?”

A soft voice emanated from the stone.
“Gods, commander, it’s good to hear from you. Where are you?”

“I’ll explain later. Any news on
Counselor Liam’s missing mates?”

“They’ve been tracked to a wrecked human
ship. Captain Fergus of the Bright Water rangers requested two squads for an
extraction.”

Kasos’s dark eyes flashed.
“Coordinates?”

The soft voice rattled off a string of
numbers. “Will you be joining us, commander?”

“Wouldn’t miss
it for all the fish in the sea.
Kasos out.”
He
let go of the stone. “Well, then. It looks as though we have a fight on our
hands.”

Liam reluctantly sank into one of the
deck chairs. “I don’t know if I can swim very far tonight,” he confessed.

“You don’t have to.” Kasos spread his
hands, gesturing at the yacht. “Not after your troublesome human was so kind as
to provide us with his lovely little boat. You two stay down here and get some
rest. I’ll let you know when we’re close.”

He headed for the ladder that led to the
pilot house, but Col caught his wrist. “Commander, thank you,” the brown-eyed
mer said.
“For everything.”

The triton gazed down at Liam’s friend,
suddenly inscrutable. “It’s my duty as a triton, mer,” he said, sounding
clipped. “But you’re welcome.”

With another nod to Liam, he climbed the
short ladder to the pilot’s house. After a few minutes, the engines rumbled to
life and the yacht began to move again.

Col dropped into the chair next to Liam.
“I don’t mean to be harsh, my friend, but you look like shit,” he said. “Do you
want to go down below and rest? I’m guessing this tub has a bed or
two somewhere
.”

Liam shuddered at the thought of
returning to the main cabin and the scene of his torture. “I’d rather stay up
here.”

He could sense the questions going
through the other mer’s mind, but mercifully Col dropped the subject. “Try not
to
worry,
Li. Aidan is a damn good ranger. He’s not
going to let anything happen to Nick. You’ll be with your mates before you know
it.”

The ship suddenly listed to the side,
scribing a wide half-circle in the moonlight water. Kasos had obviously figured
out how to pilot it.

Settling back in the deck chair, Liam
stared at the starry sky overhead and sent up a prayer to any gods listening.

Chapter Fourteen

Nick felt the skin on the nape of his
neck prickle. He twisted in the water and saw Thetis floating in the doorway of
the hold, Halkyone at her side.

“What have you learned from your patient
so far, doctor?” the Nereid said sweetly.

He wished the Rod actually was a weapon.
If he had the chance to blast Thetis into molecules, he’d take it in a heartbeat.
“Your venom is infiltrating her cells and rewriting the DNA there, causing her
to mutate.”

Thetis surged forward eagerly.
“DNA.
What is that?”