Secrets of the Siren [Sirens and Sailors 5] (Siren Publishing Classic) (7 page)

The girls gasped at the realization. This was more dangerous than anything they’d ever encountered before.

“Do you fancy checking out the ship? I know I heard something when we were down in that storage facility.” Ademia frowned as she spoke to Ligia.

“I certainly do. I know they’re up to something. What about you, Kally?”

Kalliope’s eyes lit up.

“Shouldn’t we try getting hold of our men first? It might be dangerous,” Melantho suggested nervously.

“She’s right. But we can’t wait for them to get here. Something’s going on and we need to find out now.” Ademia grimaced.

“OK. I’ll go see if we’ve still got the computer. If the assholes didn’t find it I’ll try to get word to the guys. It won’t take long. You two go ahead if you want, I won’t be far behind you.” Ligia strode to the door.

“We’ll see you on the ship.” Kalliope wasn’t going to wait around.

Ligia sighed as she entered her little hut. It felt violated. Through the dark she could see shadows of her furniture and belongings strewn around the room. She paused in the doorway to the little bedroom, hearing her heart thud. This was their little haven and it had been contaminated by that bastard. She could still smell his sweat in the air. It almost felt like he was still here, in the atmosphere. She shuddered.
Aitan will kill him if he ever finds out!
An image of her fiancé filled her head as a tear stung her eye.
Aitan would never let the fucker ruin what we have, and neither will I.
Taking a deep, determined breath she strode into the room and over to the bed. She tore back the Elmwood leaf which served as a coverlet and grabbed the laptop which still lay there, undisturbed.
The thick motherfuckers didn’t even have the sense to look there!
She quickly fired up the machine but it was no good. There was no signal. She had hoped that they would be on the ship on their way back by now. If it
was
bad weather which was affecting the signal, then surely they would be far enough away from the mainland now that it wouldn’t affect them. The weather on Refrainia was fine, as usual, not even raining tonight.
Where are they?

Through the dark, she reached over to the small tree trunk which served as a night stand. Her fingers slid onto a familiar shape and she smiled. It was one of her treasures. A small stone which Aitan had given her when they first met. It was shaped almost like a fish, which was what had appealed to the fisherman, and her. Her hand went back for the other prized possession which she kept there, her hair clip. It was gone. She sighed. Evidently the glittering jewels had caught the fucker’s eye and he’d stolen it along with her ring. She slipped the small pebble down the front of her bikini bra and picked up the laptop before making her way out of the hut and toward the harbor. By the time she reached the big house an idea had occurred to her.

She quietly slipped in through the front door, which had been left open as usual, and saw no one in the large room. Placing the computer on the table in case Ademia needed it, she turned to go. Then she heard a murmur and peeped into the surgery. Marinos was still asleep on the bed, but Blandon was holding Melantho in his arms. She looked very coy and was brushing his hands away from her body. He chuckled and held her in his embrace, whispering something into her ear.
Bad timing!
Ligia crept back toward the front door, but was thwarted in her escape by a squeaky floorboard.

“Everything OK?” Blandon was coming out of the surgery with a big smile on his face. Melantho followed, blushing.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to…” She took a deep breath. “I still can’t get a signal on the laptop. I wondered if you could see if the ship had a radio you could contact
The Refrainian
on? It seems to be well equipped.”

“Great idea. Why didn’t I think of that?” Blandon enthused.

Probably because your mind was elsewhere!

He turned and gave Melantho a kiss which made her flush again, and followed Ligia to the door.

“Hang on. Mel, can you pass me one of the knives from the safe, please?” Ligia asked, turning back.

“Do you think you’ll need one? The others have gone on ahead.” Melantho frowned, but headed back to the surgery anyway.

“I just thought it might come in handy, that’s all.” Ligia tried to sound matter-of-fact.

She took a knife which was in its own sheath and tried to fasten it around her slim waist. It fell right off. Melantho offered her another and this time it just stayed in place around her hips.

“We should have brought a torch or something,” Blandon grumbled as they headed down the path. “Should I go back for one?”

“Best not to,” Ligia said with a grin. “If you don’t use a light your eyes get used to the dark sooner and you can see more. If you use a torch you only see what it’s shining on at the time, but once your eyes become accustomed to the dark you can see much more.” Blandon took her word for it. After all, she had lived on the island all her life.

They easily climbed aboard the massive ship and Blandon immediately headed for the wheel house. “It’ll be in here.” He pointed. “There should be a distress button on a vessel like this.” He started looking around at all the knobs and buttons in front of him. “Holy hell! Talk about state of the art!”

“Is that good?” It meant nothing to Ligia.

“Hell yeah! Look at all this Digital Selective Calling equipment. ATIS has really improved since the old days. It’s much quicker now. We’ll get messages to
The Refrainian
as well as the coast guard in no time.”

“ATIS?”
She frowned.

“Sorry, love. It stands for Automatic Transmitter Identification System. It sends this vessel’s identity after each voice transmission. Good thing, too, as I’ve no idea what the name of this thing is.”

He chattered excitedly as he pushed a big button on the controls. “This is the distress button. It automatically sends a digital distress signal identifying this ship and the nature of our emergency. We’ll have help here in no time.”

“Great. I’ll leave you to it. I’m off to find the girls.” Ligia hadn’t understood half of what he had been telling her, but got the gist that help would soon be on its way. It was nice to see Blandon so enthusiastic, and such a godsend that he knew his way around the communications systems of a ship.

She made her way below deck and reached the bottom of the steps. She recognized the corridor. The cool storage facility was at one end. That was where the beer was stored. She was more interested in the opposite end, though, where they had heard banging earlier. In her bare feet, she made no sound as she ventured down the corridor and put her hand on the handle of the door in front of her. She froze. The handle felt stiff. Someone was holding it from the other side. Her heart thumped as she slowly removed her hand and slipped into a recess behind the door. If it had been Kally or Ademia, they would certainly have been chatting, but there was no sound.

The door in front of her burst open, nearly hitting her, and two men staggered out.

“That’ll keep them quiet for a while. Time for some fun,” the slightly older man said. The other man chortled. She couldn’t see them properly in the dark, but they were both shirtless and seemed quite young and muscular.

“I thought you fancied that dark-haired one,” the younger man teased.

“Nah, I’ll tell you what I
do
fancy, though!” The older man put an arm around the other one’s back and they went toward the storage room, giggling. Both seemed a little unsteady on their feet.

As soon as she heard them close the door at the far end of the corridor, Ligia crept out and put an ear to the door next to her. There seemed to be a little shuffling sound but nothing more. With her heart in her mouth, and one hand on her knife, she slowly opened the door. It was even darker in here, and she quietly closed the door behind her and stared into the blackness while her eyes adjusted. One wall seemed to be lined with safes like the ones she had seen on the internet. They were used for storing expensive treasures and money, she recalled.
I’d love to know what their cargo is!
A murmur to her left made her look over and she gasped. Screwing up her eyes she could make out a large cage with what appeared to be bundles inside. She took a step closer and noticed one of the bundles move. Her mouth was agape when she noticed that these “bundles” were actually people. They were tied up and gagged. Two of them were moving their heads frantically, trying to attract her attention. The door to the cage had been closed but not locked, so she carefully opened it, one hand still clutching her knife.

Her fears that she was walking into a trap were allayed as soon as she recognized Ademia’s figure in the shadows. Her friend’s big, blue eyes were pleading her to notice, so she whispered into her ear, assuring her as she set about cutting the ropes which bound her.

“They’re pirates. They’ve got a gun. They’re going to kill us.” Ademia had tears in her beautiful eyes as she whispered back to Ligia.

Ligia, who had been horrified that these people had been treated so cruelly, was now feeling angry and adamant. “No they fucking won’t,” she murmured to her friend. They set about removing gags and untying and cutting the ropes of the people around them.

“These are hostages,” Kalliope whispered to her. “They saw them rob some money so they were going to abandon them on the island until they realized we lived here. Now they’ve said they’ll have to kill them—
and us!
”

“We were trying to untie them but we weren’t quick enough. They caught us and tied us up, too,” Ademia whispered.

Ligia’s heart lurched as she freed a young boy, who was curled up crying silently in one corner of the cage. She put her arms around him and whispered to him that it was going to be OK. He could only have been about twelve years old, and quaked with fear.

A sudden noise made them all jump, and they quickly grabbed the ropes and resumed their positions. Ligia hid behind Ademia, squeezing herself tightly against the bars at the back of the cage. Her sheath was swung around so that the knife was at the front in an attempt to hide it.

The younger of the two men walked in, looked around, and then shrugged. He gave a satisfied grunt and retreated.

Ligia could hear the blood pumping through her ears and her heartbeat must have been audible from a mile away. She stealthily stood and made her way to the door. Opening it a crack, she strained her eyes to see the man walking down the corridor. A glimmer of light at the other end of the hall assured her that he had gone into the store room and closed the door. She turned back to see that everyone had climbed out of the cage and was now standing silently behind her. There were five men as well as the young boy. Neither could have been older than twenty-one by Ligia’s reckoning.

“Halfway down the corridor on the right-hand side is the entrance to the steps. Take them up quietly. Blandon’s up there in the wheel house. He’ll help you take everyone back to the big house. He’s already radioed for help.” Her instructions were clear, but Kalliope wasn’t happy.

“What about you?” She frowned at Ligia.

“I’m going to try and get that gun from the fuckers.”

“
We’re
going to get the gun,” Kalliope corrected her. “Ademia, you take the hostages back.” She was adamant.

Ademia nodded and made her way out of the door, followed by the young men. Ligia and Kalliope watched them creep down the corridor and disappear into the shadows. Once they were out of sight, the two girls grabbed some of the discarded rope which they tied around their waists, and snuck down to the store room. There was giggling from inside and their hearts pounded as they heard footsteps coming toward the door. Welding their bodies to the shadowed walls at each side of the door, the two slim girls stood stock still and waited.

“Getting a hot flush, are ya?” The younger man laughed as he opened the door but didn’t look out. He went straight back into the room.

“Yeah, it’s you getting me all hot and bothered,” the older man replied salaciously.

“Well now, we’ll have to do something about that then won’t we? Captain’s not expecting us for a while, and the hostages have gone to sleep, so we’ve time for a little fun.”

Ligia and Kalliope positioned themselves on their haunches, peering round the door.

“Have they got a woman in there?” Ligia whispered.

“I didn’t see one. Only the two men,” Kalliope whispered straight into her ear.

Ligia frowned, then felt herself go hot and her eyes open wide. She had never seen men kiss each other before!

“Toby, my love, aren’t you a little overdressed for this?” the older of the two men muttered as he pulled free from Toby’s mouth and nibbled at his neck.

Toby giggled and fumbled with his zip.

“You’re shaking. Let me help.” The older man’s voice was deep and sultry as he swiftly unfastened his lover’s trousers. Toby quickly kicked off his boots and removed his trousers, kicking them toward the door. He wore no underwear and, even in the dark, the girls could see his long, thin cock spring free of its restraints.

“Jasper, I want you,” Toby’s voice was rasping as he pulled his friend toward him and ran his hands over his muscular torso as he took his lips in a passionate kiss.