CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“I don’t foking believe it.” Roen ran his hands over the top of his head and stared down at the sleeping creature—clearly male—lying on the bed in the modest bedroom. The doorway began filling up with curious faces—the maids who’d been transformed. Word always spread quickly on this island.
Dana, who stood behind Roen, peeked around him and looked at the thing on the bed. “I watched it happen. I was holding his hand, and he died. At least, I thought he did. And then it just happened.”
Roen looked at Dana. “This is Edward?” Yes, this was Edward’s bungalow, but…that was…well, it was a foking merman sleeping on that bed.
Dana nodded, grinning from ear to ear.
“Why are you so happy?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I thought he was dead. Now he’s not.”
Roen’s mind began sliding all of the pieces into place. The water on this island was what transformed them into human-looking creatures. If they ceased taking the water, they returned back to…mermen? However, if a maid drank the water, it healed her from whatever was in their saliva that transformed them.
It was very…interesting. Or confusing? He wasn’t sure.
He glanced at Liv, who glared at the thing on the bed. “Guess you can’t accuse us of being crazy for calling ourselves mermen, can you, Liv?” He elbowed her.
“He’s disgusting. Just like the maids.”
Roen looked at Edward’s charcoal black skin, his body bursting with powerful muscles that were the size of any merman’s arms and chest, if not larger. He had a black scaly tail and a black, well-endowed member dangling where his groin once was. His hair had also transformed into thick twisted ropes of seaweed-looking matter, similar to a maid. And, of course, there were the teeth.
“I dunno.” Dana shrugged. “I think he looks like a sexy badass—I mean, look at the size of his—”
“Yes. We see it, Dana,” Liv snapped acerbically at her sister. “But I also see that he’s got teeth. Sharp ones.” Liv grabbed Roen’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “Thank God the island is healing. We can give him water and turn him back to the way he was.” Her big brown eyes pierced him with a warning, as if to say that he dare not disagree with her.
“Of course, Liv. But this is an extremely important revelation. I think we should get the men together and discuss the news of this.”
“You’re not honestly thinking of letting all of the men turn back into these things, are you?”
Why was Liv being so…foking pushy?
He looked around the room. “Everyone out, please.” Edward might wake up soon, and he’d probably be hungry.
Everyone cleared the room, and Roen followed them out, closing the door behind him. “Please spread the word; we are to gather in the Great Hall. Immediately,” he said to one of the ladies. “And, Dana, you are to wait just outside. I need to speak with your sister for a moment and you should not be running around this island unaccompanied. By the way, where the foke is Lyle?”
“He’s sleeping. But I need to tell—”
“You will do as you are fucking told, Dana,” Liv barked.
Dana shrank back. Clearly, she was not accustomed to her older sister speaking that way to her. Frankly, he wasn’t accustomed to hearing Liv speak in such a way either.
“Uh-huh…okay.” Dana went outside, and he and Liv went into the small living room of Edward’s cabin.
“Liv, I feel like you’re not telling me something.”
She blinked her lovely brown eyes at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You left our bedroom after we made love. I found you in the Great Hall, and suddenly the water had returned.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“Why were you in the Great Hall? What did the island ask of you?” he asked.
“Nothing. She didn’t ask anything. I just heard her calling me, and I came. Then she told me to deliver that message since none of you are listening to her anymore.”
That sounded much too simple. “I thought you said she tried to drown you.”
Liv blinked at him. “Oh, well, she did. But it didn’t work. And then she said she was giving up.”
So easily? “Tell me exactly what she said, Liv.”
“Roen.” Liv rolled her eyes. “I just did. There’s nothing else. I think you’re just paranoid.”
“She’s foking dangerous, Liv. You and I both know that. And we know she’s been lying and manipulating our people for years.”
Candidly, however, he didn’t understand why. The island had been ensuring the men took the water—like a drug they’d become addicted to that made them bigger and stronger. Almost like a steroid. And when they stopped taking it, they turned into mermen. Of course, he would’ve expected a merman to look more like the creatures from their folklore—beautiful with tails of greens and blues. That thing was a monster, just like the maids.
Of course, what did he know? This island’s historical records and their legends were shrouded in so many myths and lies that it was difficult to sieve any true information from them.
“I simply do not understand,” he mumbled, partially to himself, “why the island would suddenly change her ways and agree to coexist peacefully.”
“Maybe there is no reason other than she really does need your protection. And you, hers. Haven’t you ever wondered what would’ve happened to your people if humans knew about you? You would’ve been hunted to extinction hundreds of years ago. This place is your safe haven. I mean, nature is full of examples of symbiotic relationships, right? Think about those clownfish that live inside of anemones.”
Perhaps Liv was right. “But in symbiotic relationships, each species gains something.”
“You’re the clownfish. You chase away the humans. In exchange, the island offers you shelter from the world.”
He was still missing something. The island and his people didn’t exactly live in harmony. Their laws had been designed to encourage killing. The island was quick to punish and harm the men if they disobeyed. No, this did not feel like a mutually beneficial relationship. It felt like enslavement. So what did the island really get from them? Was it truly protection from humans?
And what about their folklore? It said that they were once a powerful people who could command the air and water around them. But at some point they’d given all that up. Then they tried to leave and the island used their women as leverage to keep them here. And finally, there was the matter of her water. She claimed, as did their elders, that the world could not survive without it. That everything and everyone would perish. No new life without her spark.
But what if all that gibberish about being necessary to life on the planet was just another lie meant to prey upon their sense of duty and loyalty?
It would explain why, when he proposed to find another way to keep her safe and protect her, without requiring the mermen to stay here, she resisted.
“I think, Liv,” he finally said, “that nothing in this place is as it seems. And that the island’s real agenda has yet to be revealed.”
“So what does that mean?” she asked, sounding irritated.
“I’m not sure. But I will begin with discussing what we’ve learned with my people.”
“Goddammit, Roen! Do you hear yourself? Do you? Fuck them! Fuck this place! It’s our time now. You saved them all. They’re free. You and I are leaving here, and we’re going to start our life together.”
“But, Liv, you don’t understa—”
“Oh, but I fucking do, Roen. I understand that you almost died. I understand that that crazy bitch almost killed me and my sister. I understand that she tried to have everyone killed by bringing those men here. And I understand that I am through with this place. So either you love me or you don’t. You want me or you don’t. But I refuse to spend another moment in this hellhole.”
The anger in her eyes was palpable, and he understood why. “But if we leave now, what will become of these men and this place?”
“You do as you planned,” she snarled. “The island is legally mine now. Those mercenaries are coming to protect it. The men are free to stay or go. The maids can be cured.”
“Yes. But if any of us stop drinking the water, we will turn back to our natural state.”
“Then we fucking bring some water with us and have a supply shipped to wherever we go!” She grabbed both sides of his face and kissed him hard. Again he noticed how her mouth felt cooler than he remembered.
He pulled back. “Your skin is cold. Are you feeling all right?”
Liv slid one hand down his torso, underneath his suede, and began stroking him with her cool hand. “I feel great. But you feel hotter. Must be the water.” She began grinding herself against him as he grew hard and ready in her hand. He’d missed her so much he didn’t want her to stop. However…
“We have to get to the Great Hall, the men are—”
Liv pushed him back into the small sofa. “They can goddamned wait.” Raw lust gleamed in her brown eyes. “I need to feel you inside me again.”
She whipped off her top and pulled down her shorts, revealing that patch of dark hair between her legs that he knew would lead him to the sweetest spot. She moved over him and straddled his lap.
“Liv, you’re so fucking sexy.” He felt blinded by his need for her.
She took his cock in her hands and then positioned him just right before slamming her body down on him, sheathing his cock deep inside her. He held back a groan as she rode him hard, trying to coax the cum from his shaft.
His mind in an utter state of oblivion, he gripped her hips and rocked himself into her. She felt cool, but still so delicious. “I’m going to get you pregnant, Liv. You know that, don’t you?”
“I fucking hope so, Roen. Come for me, merman. Come inside me.” Her supple breasts bobbed in his face as she slid him in and out at a ravenous pace.
As his cum exploded into her, he felt a coldness in his heart.
“Roen, no!” Liv’s faint voice echoed somewhere inside his head.
“What the foke was that?” he said.
He looked at Liv, her head flung back, her chocolate brown hair cascading down her shoulders. “No! Don’t stop, Roen. Don’t stop.”
He blinked, feeling disoriented for a moment. He could’ve sworn he’d heard her speaking to him not through his ears, but through his heart.
Of course. She is your mate. “I foking love you, Liv,” he said.
She smiled and then pulled his lips to hers for a wet kiss. “I know, baby. I can feel it. Now fuck me again.”
“With pleasure.” A merman could go all night. “But just once more. Then we have to go to the Great Hall and tell everyone we’re leaving.”
Liv pressed her mouth to his in a punishing kiss.
~~~
Every time Liv heard those manipulating lies coming from her own mouth, twisting words so that Roen wouldn’t see the truth, Liv’s heart grew angrier.
But when Liv felt Roen inside her body, that fucking evil bitch at the helm, making her limbs and muscles move and stroke and kiss and suck, her heart ached with despair. It was torture watching him make love to this other woman. Yes, it was her body. It was her face and her voice.
But it wasn’t her.
Why can’t he tell the difference? she screamed to herself. That’s not me, Roen! And now Crazy Dirt wanted him to have babies with her?
They won’t be free, Roen. That evil bitch probably has some other plan. That vile, life-sucking demon probably had the next thousand years of her existence all figured out.
“I foking love you,” Roen said, and his words felt like a blanket of soothing warm honey being poured over her raw and aching soul. Those words were meant for her.
But then why was he fucking her again? Why wasn’t he seeing the truth?
“Roen! No!” she screamed.
“What the foke was that?” Roen said, stopping the rocking movement of his hips.
He heard me. He heard me! Ohmygod! Roen!
But then that evil bitch started screaming, urging him to continue.
Because she heard me, too. Crazy Dirt could hear everything Liv said, couldn’t she? The two of them were connected now in almost every way.
Except I’m not an evil demon. “And I won’t let you win, Crazy Dirt! I won’t let you have him!”
“Yes, Roen. That’s it! Just you and me. No one else matters,” Crazy Dirt screamed loudly to mask Liv’s cries.
“This isn’t over, Crazy Dirt. You can’t silence me forever.” Which got Liv thinking. If Roen left the island, would he still be able to hear her? The island still had some connection to those off the island, but it wasn’t the same. She knew that first hand. It was why Crazy Dirt always wanted the men to stay close to her.
So how would she draw energy or feed or whatever it was called from so far away?
She’s bringing lunch with her: Roen.
He’d drink the water from here, he’d stay healthy and strong, and she would draw from him.
Liv wanted to vomit. Crazy Dirt had needed two strong people in order to free herself from this place. Her and Roen. Their love, their bond, their strength. She’d chosen them specifically for this. Liv could see that now.
Who could ever have seen it coming?
I have to stop Roen before he leaves. She just wasn’t sure how.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Is this truly over? Am I really leaving this place? Roen could hardly believe that the moment had finally arrived. It had come at the great expense of those around him, of those who’d come before him, and of those he loved, but he’d done it.
Well, me and Liv. He glanced at her sweet face—those pink lips, the elegant lines of her nose, jaw, and cheekbones. His heart swelled for this woman who’d been brave enough to return for him. Who’d been fearless enough to confront the threats.
And now, she and he would leave here. Together. The island would be well guarded, his people could choose to stay or go, and there would be no more Collections or killing.
His only concern now was the island’s motives.
She had not spoken with him or attempted to; however, he’d shut her out of his heart, as had the other men. He had no doubt that eventually she would try to make her comeback, but what good would it do? They now knew they could live without her water, although many would not want to. Just as he did not. He wanted to live as man and woman with Liv—his human mate.
As for the young men and boys out in the world who had yet to discover what they were, he would just have to wait and see. Would these future mermen continue making their way to the island, being drawn by their blood to join their people? Would they instinctively seek out one of their kind on the mainland? No one knew. He only hoped that instinct would guide them somewhere safe before their bodies underwent any changes, which as far as Roen could tell, happened later in a male’s life. Something triggered the mermen gene.
One more mystery to be studied about their people. But this was work that now needed to be left to others. Roen had done his part.
The men, who’d now all been given water, and the women who’d been transformed gathered in the Great Hall.
With Liv at his side, Roen looked around at the smiling faces, and it was a moment he’d never forget.
“You know what?” he said. “This is the beginning of a new life. Let’s hold the meeting outside, under the blue sky.” This cavern held too many bad memories. “In fact, I’m going to ban anyone using it from here on out. We come, we collect our water, we leave.”
From the sounds and rumbles of the voices, everyone seemed to agree. They all made their way outside and to a small clearing just down the hill, where they gathered around him and Liv.
“First,” he said, “I want to say how grateful I am that we’ve been given this chance to live freely. And, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the island fooled us men into believing we were dying when in reality, we were merely returning to our natural state. But I want ev
eryone here to know that they have a choice; they do not need to depend on this island any longer. If they choose to be free and live as our ancestors once did, then they will be safe within the waters surrounding the island. Any further out, of course, comes with a risk of being discovered.”
Holden, who stood next to Dr. Fuller, raised his hands. “Dr. Fuller and I have been discussing the idea of trying to bring back all of the maids. We’d like to understand which ones are immune to the water and why. We’d also like to see if there are any who remember their lives before they were changed.”
Dr. Fuller spoke up. “We’ll also need help to change back all of the maids, so they can decide for themselves how they’d like to live.”
Roen hadn’t really thought about that. It would require many men. “It will take time; however, I suppose I can—”
“Roen, not to interrupt your speech,” Liv said politely, “but you’ve already given so much to this island. Can’t someone else be put in charge? Lyle, for example?”
Roen leaned in close, so only she could hear. “That is an excellent idea, Liv. I’m thrilled my mate is such a smart woman.”
He straightened his back. “We’ll get through this next phase. Lyle can handle things—”
“Where are you going?” Lyle asked with his deep, gravelly voice.
Roen lifted his chin, knowing his reply might displease some. “Liv and I are leaving, which is the other reason I wanted to gather everyone. Anyone else who wishes to go may come with us. If you are planning to live as a landlover, we will need to make arrangements for water to be sent to you. In any case, for those who remain here, we are going to need new laws and new leadership on the island. I propose that once we get through the next few weeks and have all of the maids returned to their human state, we will work on a new infrastructure. Everyone will have a say going forward. Everyone will have land and a home. Everyone is free to come and go as they please. Until we’ve worked out the new laws, however, all disputes are to be handled by Lyle. Killing is prohibited except for self-defense, of course. But I suspect we’ve all had our fill of fighting.”
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