Siren's Surrender (33 page)

Many people turned and watched with interest as the Mer swept across the granite floors. The museum often hosted performance-art pieces, and most simply assumed this display was one of them.

Jake himself followed closely at Queen Magaera’s heels, smiling and waving to onlookers.
Yes!
He loved to be the center of attention. He’d decided it was time for the Mer to make a showy entrance—announcing to the world they were here and ready to reclaim their place in the human world.

The Mythical Forces exhibit was one of the most popular, given the city’s proximity to the sea. Although most expected something in the tradition of classical sculpture when thinking of Poseidon—perched on a ledge with a sea-nymph simpering at his feet—what the artist presented was another thing entirely. The thing—and it was just that—looked like a heap of tin cans arranged into vaguely human shapes.

Jake frowned in disapproval when he saw it.
Oh. My. God
. It was a travesty to call the display art. The trident looked tacky perched against the bronze heap. No wonder the family had pawned it off on the public. The next-best place for this hot mess would be a garbage dump.

As he’d been told, the final piece belonging to the collection of Atargatis was indeed a three-pronged trident—an elaborate staff of pure gold set with a slew of precious jewels. He thought it ironic a relic dating back thousands of years should be mistaken for nothing more than faux rocks and plain worthless metal.

Magaera’s eyes widened with recognition. “By the goddess.” A smile curled the corners of her mouth. “I never thought I would see it in my lifetime. It is blasphemy to see it abused by such careless hands.”

Jake couldn’t help smirking. “It’s just like I promised you,” he reminded her. “I told you I’d recover it for you.”

Magaera glanced toward him. “You have indeed proven yourself, my consort. And for it, you shall be well rewarded.” She marched toward the stone god, intending to claim her prize.

A surprised attendant rushed over. “Excuse me, miss!” she called out. “You can’t touch that.”

Hand moving to the dagger strapped at her side, one of Magaera’s guards immediately cut the woman off. “You may not approach Her Majesty,” she growled. Her orders from her queen were clear. She was to take out any unexpected obstacles that came into their path.

Nobody would get near Magaera and survive.

The woman stepped back, confused. “Nobody told me we were supposed to have a show today,” she stammered.

By now more than a few curious people had begun to gather. A few clapped, encouraging the performance to continue.

One of the guards, as huge as a pro linebacker and looking just as menacing, came running up. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

Jake snorted a chuckle. “I’d suggest you all step back and let the lady have her treasure.”

The guard reached for the nearest Mer’s arm. “I think it’s best if you all leave the building right now.”

It was the biggest mistake he would ever make.

And his last.

The Mer soldier lunged, grabbing his left wrist. She twisted his body around and took him to his knees in one clean, easy motion. Dagger simultaneously unsheathed, she dragged the sharp edge of the blade cleanly across the man’s throat.

The guard’s limp body pitched facedown onto the cold stone floor. A faintly guttural sound escaped him, the last he’d make. A great pool of blood fanned out around his head and shoulders.

At first there was silence. Dead, awed silence.

And then it dawned on the onlookers. This was no act. It was absolutely real.

The crowd freaked, scattering in all directions, a mass of hysteria and panic.

Jake’s vision wavered, but he forced himself to hold steady amid the carnage.
I’m not the one doing the killing,
he reminded himself. In his mind, his hands were unsullied by the taint of cold-blooded murder.

Braving the stampeding crowd, another security guard ran into the fray. The poor man wasn’t armed with anything more than a walkie-talkie and pepper spray.

Armed with the deadly Ri’kah, another of Magaera’s soldiers raised her arm. A quick burst from her weapon heated the air. The laserlike blast struck the man dead-on. He dropped in his tracks, dead before he struck the floor. His chest was an empty hole, his heart and lungs instantly fried to a crisp.

Heart pounding like a jackhammer, Jake gagged as the smell of burning flesh permeated the air around them. He clenched his teeth against the rise of nausea.

Silent minutes ticked by. The horrified bystanders had disappeared, leaving them standing amid the chaos. The distant wail of sirens sounded in the far distance.

He surveyed the damage. Though unpleasant, a display of force was necessary to show the Mer were capable of defending themselves. As for those who died, they’d have to be written off as collateral damages. “I believe you’ve proven your point,” he commented drily.

Brows drawing together, Magaera’s icy blue gaze glittered. “They are humans,” she snapped through a glare. “Their lives have no meaning.”

Jake was aware of her eyes blazing. Aware of her rigid posture. Aware of the hostility emanating from her in waves of blistering heat.

He looked into Magaera’s eyes, which held no sign of remorse or regret. She was a true queen, proud and fierce in her determination to lead her people. Nothing would stand in the way of her merciless ambition to reclaim a place for the Mer in the human world.

“There’s no turning back now,” he warned. “This will mean war.”

Lips set in a hard line, Magaera gave the dead bodies a twitchy stare. As a queen, she had never been accountable to fear, suffering, regret, nor compassion. She embraced honor on her own terms. Wielded justice according the laws she had written.

“So be it. If more come, then more will die.” Stepping up to the statue, she triumphantly reclaimed the last surviving piece Atargatis had fashioned for the queen who ruled Ishaldi. She lifted it above her head in triumph.

Placing their hands across their chests, the Mer soldiers dropped to one knee in reverence. “At long last, we have our soul back.”

Magaera smiled, baring her perfect teeth. “And the human world shall bow to my will.” She brought the trident down, striking its tip against the stone beneath their feet. “Behold the power of the goddess!” She began a low crooning, a chant rising and falling with a strange rhythmic cadence.

Jake’s eyes widened as the trident instantly came to life, its bejeweled length lighting up like a Christmas tree at midnight. The entire length of it glowed, becoming nearly transparent in Magaera’s hand. Jagged flickers of sparking colors moved along it. A pulse of sheer power emanated from it, lighting the walls and floors with an effervescent intensity.

“Our people shall rise again from the waters that have consumed us.”

The electric tension surrounding them grew and throbbed. Lightning flared above their heads. The stone around them began to crack.

Jake clenched his teeth as thunder seemed to snap the air apart around them. It was akin to the force Tessa had summoned when she’d destroyed the undersea chamber surrounding the sea-gate. Except it was much more powerful and potent.

His gaze shifted to an eerie mist swirling with dizzying speed and growing wider and wider until it seemed to enclose the museum. The mist pulsed with life, changing from bluish-white to green, then gray before going to bluish-white again within mere seconds.

Jake’s heart slammed against his chest, and then seemed to rise and lodge in his throat. His blood turned to ice, while his skin felt afire. Vibrations emanating from the mist penetrated all the way to his bones, a force potent enough to rip him apart down to the last cell.

Queen Magaera swept around him and stepped into the vortex she’d created. The mist snaked around her as if to draw her in. But still she lingered, watching him, her chest rising and falling on heaving breaths. It was at that moment Jake understood her, completely and without question. Her cruelties were necessary to protect her people. She would do whatever it took.

He had no idea what would happen next, and wasn’t sure he was ready for it.

Not that he had any choice.

In the blink of an eye the mist swept in around him. Everything suddenly vanished under a dizzying sweep of pure white light.

And the security cameras rolled on . . .

T
he Monopoly game was in full swing. Kenneth was in mogul mode, having snatched up Boardwalk and Park Place in his attempt to own the priciest real estate on the board.

Blake had bought up several railroads and utilities. Addison hadn’t passed GO enough to accumulate any money and had gone broke. To keep things honest, Tessa was the banker. Blake had accused her of embezzling to help her husband build his fortune.

Gwen was playing modestly, having claimed Connecticut, Vermont, and Oriental avenues. She’d put hotels on every piece of property she owned, naturally.

“You are so going to owe me some money,” she crowed when a roll of the dice landed Kenneth on her most luxurious property.

Kenneth handed over the faux cash. “You’ll come around to Park Place soon enough.” He winked at Tessa and slipped a wad of colored money her way. “Sell me a couple of houses, baby. I want that sister of yours to pay through the nose on her next visit my way.”

Tessa laughed. “You two are going to break each other.” She handed over two small plastic game pieces.

Kenneth put his houses in place. “Now, that’s living the good life,” he teased.

Tessa sighed and reached for her glass of wine. “I just wish we could get back to our own lives.” She winced. “I don’t even want to think about what the house must look like.”

Kenneth patted her arm. “It’ll be okay, honey. We can rebuild. I never liked that kitchen anyway. Too small. And we can get back to enlarging the nursery, too. I’m thinking it might need to hold more than one crib.”

Tessa beamed. “I’m not even pregnant yet.”

Kenneth waggled his brows in a most lecherous way. “You will be.”

Stretched out on the nearby sofa stuffing her mouth with chips and dip, Addison paused long enough to roll her eyes. “If I hear any more from you two lovebirds, I’m going to puke. Really, we don’t need that much information.”

Hiding a smile behind her own hand, Gwen glanced at Blake. He seemed to be enjoying himself. So far he’d taken all the teasing from her family with relatively good humor. He didn’t even flinch when Addison nicknamed him “the family fed,” and ribbed him unmercifully about spying on innocent mermaids.

The teasing was good-natured and everyone seemed to enjoy the brief moment of normalcy in their otherwise upside-down lives.

He’d fit in
.

Everything would be perfect if only they could all go home. Almost two weeks had passed since their confinement began, and investigators seemed no closer to locating hide nor hair of the Mediterranean fugitives. After the attack on Little Mer Island, nothing more had been found of Jake Massey or Magaera.

There were no doubts about them being out there. Who else could have masterminded the attempt to get Tessa back but Jake and his cohort queen?

Gwen reached for her own glass, taking a sip of the rich red wine. She’d had more than a few glasses and was thoroughly relaxed.

She sneaked another little peek toward Blake. Though she probably shouldn’t, she’d been letting herself imagine what life might be like after they left the protective custody of the A51 compound. Blake lived in Boston, she in Port Rock, Maine. The distance wasn’t too terrible. Maybe there’d be a chance they could go on seeing each other once this entire nightmare came to an end.

At least she hoped they would.

Without knowing quite how or why, she’d handed the man her heart. He was her first lover, and the only man she believed she’d ever want. They’d only made love a single night, but she wanted more. A lot more.

A darker thought crept into her mind. She still had no idea how he might feel about her.

If he felt anything at all.

Since she’d nipped things in the bud, he’d kept his dealings with her respectful. And chaste. He hadn’t so much as tried to kiss her.

She sighed and sipped.
All I can do is enjoy it while it lasts.

It would be her last happy thought of the night.

Blake’s cell rang. Everyone froze at the sound that had become unfamiliar in their lives.

Cursing under his breath, Blake held off rolling the dice to answer. “Whittaker,” he snapped. Going silent, he listened. A moment later his face paled. His lips thinned.

Gwen immediately picked up on the change in his demeanor.

Heart lurching in her chest, she stiffened. She had a feeling something terrible had happened.

The one-sided conversation couldn’t come to an end fast enough. Whatever information was being exchanged, it clearly wasn’t good.

Blake finally flipped his phone shut. “I have some good news and some bad news,” he announced after a minute’s pause.

Tessa seemed to know right away who it concerned. “It’s Jake, isn’t it?”

Blake nodded. “Yeah, it is. Looks like he and Queen Magaera have finally come out of hiding.”

Addison bounded off the sofa. “That’s great your guys have caught up with them.”

Gwen smiled weakly. “Does that mean we can go home now?”

Blanking his face of all emotion, Blake shook his head. “I’m afraid not. It seems Massey and the Mer from Ishaldi invaded a museum in Mimosa Springs, Florida, to steal an item on display there. Two security guards were killed, cut down in cold blood.”

Gwen’s heart immediately dropped to her toes. She watched Blake’s face as he spoke. He showed remarkable poise under pressure. If the news had upset him, he wasn’t showing it. It occurred to her that he had to be tempered of steel to work in such a top-secret division.