A Mermaid's Ransom

by Joey W. Hill

  Though she shrieked from the pain of it, she kept holding on to him. She'd made a fist and locked her other hand on that wrist, even knowing if the energy grew strong enough, there would be nothing she could do. As a mercreature who knew she could be knocked off course by a few cubits of water, she knew the force of the elements far exceeded mortal abilities, or her feeble grasp.

  She could only try, though. Digging deep, she dredged up the life energy she knew she had left, and poured it into her grip, even as her reserve ebbed like an hourglass. If it went on too long, it wouldn't matter. She'd be a dead merangel, spinning through a vortex between worlds. Like the oblivious bodies of the crabs washed up on the beach, but at least that would be better than a soul adrift in the Dark One world.

  Oh, hell, it wasn't going to work. She was slipping, and if she let go, one or both of them would be lost.

  One of his arms wrapped around her back, then another. As strong as he was, she hadn't realized he had the power to fight through that tornadolike compression. Thank the Goddess. His heat was under her cheek, the thundering of his heart. His curses rumbled in her mind, threatening her with all sorts of bodily harm for going against his wishes, though she knew she hadn't. He wanted this more than anything, and it was what was right.

  Fire, wind, stars spiraling, and then, as abruptly as they'd been seized, the tornado let them go. Her battered body hit something solid as a concrete wall. Pain overwhelmed her, but it didn't matter. She could smell salt-laden air. The ocean. Oh, Goddess.

  Something was wrong. The energy was still there, pulling at what was in her arms. It would tear her into pieces if she didn't let go, if he didn't let her go, but they were both too frozen to do anything, still caught in the grip of the portal magic.

  "Let go, Alexis. Let go." She'd never thought her godmother's acerbic voice would be so welcome, or that the feel of humid air against her flesh, in her nostrils, would be Heaven. But she couldn't loosen her arms. The pain and energy storm made it impossible to think, but she knew that was the most important thing. The vortex wanted to take him back, take him to the Dark One world again. And she wouldn't allow it.

  Instead, she summoned up a tiny wisp of energy to speak in a torn voice she barely recognized. Her reality was disembodied, the witch's face an illusion.

  "Help him, Mina. Help . . . him . . . through. Please."

  Through her cracked lids, her eyes streaming so everything was wavering, Lex glimpsed the witch, her long black hair flying with the force of the wind being generated, her bicolored eyes brilliant with the power she was channeling. It was all over the chamber, wherever they were, as suffocating as what she'd first felt in Dante's tower. The being she held and the one trying to bring her home were both Dark Spawn, half Dark One. Mina had to understand. Had to.

  Please . . .

  Her fingers slipped, and Lex cried out in protest, falling to stone. She scrambled over stiffly, like a fish that had lain too long on shore. Ripped muscles and strained joints protested, holding her down. "No," she screamed. "Don't let him go!"

  "He's here. Easy. You both made it. Holy Goddess, Lex." David, Mina's mate. She choked on her sob and sought Dante. Barely cognizant of her surroundings, she pushed her abilities to the limit and found him. A moan of relief escaped her, but then her brain marshaled where they were. More importantly, who else was here.

  Breaking free of David's reassuring grip, she surprised him enough to get free and use her wings, broken though one was, to fling herself toward the energy she knew was Dante. She hit him in a half crouch, as if he was trying to get to his feet, and managed to roll them both in a painful tangle of bodies across the stone floor.

  A startled curse preceded the explosion. The callback of the energy burst seared her wings enough that she smelled burning feathers. She was rolled over, more swiftly than she could process, making her need to retch again, though her heaving stomach was empty. She scrabbled for Dante, then realized the hard hands that had grabbed her and thrust her over to douse the flames were his. He was on his feet, standing between her and that charge of lethal fire.

  "No. Don't hurt him," she gasped, trying to push herself upright.

  Stay where you are, Alexis. Do not make me angrier at you. Dante's voice sliced through her mind, quite determined and furious.

  "I think the question to be asked is whether he's foolish enough to try to hurt us?"

  Mina's dry sarcasm brought the volatile energy ricocheting around the room down a notch. Alexis managed to get her back against a stone wall and slowly focused on her surroundings through the vee of Dante's legs.

  They were in the underwater caves where Mina used to live, before she and David had moved to the magical Schism line in the Nevada desert. The airbell in here allowed those present to stand on wide ledges of stone, though the retracted water lapped at the edges. She couldn't help but gaze hungrily at the water, her scales aching for the touch of that soothing lubrication. But it would have to wait. She braced herself, hoping she wouldn't pass out from agony or weakness until she was sure she would wake up and find Dante still here.

  The electrical burst intended to kill Dante had come from Jonah, of course, which explained the abrupt callback and curse, because he would have had to absorb it. It had hurt him, obvious from Jonah's tight-lipped expression, but it didn't affect his murderous focus on Dante one bit.

  The commander was a mere handful of feet away, feet braced, sword drawn. The darkness of his eyes was ebony fire, his face in a hardened battle mask she'd never seen before. While she knew he was intimidating, she had only received resonances and secondhand accounts of it. Her empathy had always reassured her he would hack off his own wings before ever harming her, even when he'd threatened her with all sorts of dire punishments for her adventurous childhood transgressions. She'd never feared him. Always respected and tried to obey him. Her heart twisted as she realized that might be about to change.

  There were three other angels in here, as well as Mina and David. While she didn't see Anna, she sensed her mother near, likely in another of Mina's extensive series of caverns. Since her father could speak in her mother's mind, she hoped he'd sent her the message that she was here and safe.

  Of course, glancing down at herself, she wasn't so sure of that. She was dehydrated, her wing was broken, as were possibly some other bones in her body, and she was covered in blood. Though it wasn't her own, they didn't know that.

  Dante, don't provoke them, please. Just stay still. What if the head-talking only worked in his world?

  A harrowing pause, and then his voice flooded her mind, relieving her. They are going to kill me anyway. What does it matter?

  No, they won't. "The blood's not mine," she managed in an undignified shrill squeak. While she barely had enough energy to move, she wished she could shift to her human form to stand before them, show them she was all right.

  Dante had moved his gaze to David. Mina's mate actually stood closest to them, toward the left flank. His one white and one black wing, unique in the Legion, were at a half fold, prepared to propel him into combat as needed. No matter that he was a formidable fighter, David had an inner calm that Lex rarely felt anything disrupt. Even now, those tranquil waters reached out to Lex, cocooning her like a blanket.

  However, just like with her father, he bore an expression Alexis hadn't seen before. The daggers he usually kept sheathed were sharp and glittering in each hand. His calm was a frightening calm, waiting for Jonah's order. Marcellus was here, as was Bartolemy, another lieutenant. All angels she knew. She'd grown up under the shadow of their wings, their protection. But the cold rage emanating from them now told her exactly how she appeared, what they were seeing.

  "He didn't hurt me," she coughed. Technically. "Pyel, please listen to me. Please don't hurt him. He won't harm me."

  "If that is so, David will come and remove you from behind him." Jonah's gaze never left Dante's face. The vampire Dark Spawn mirrored his combative stance, every muscle tense, energy emanating f
rom him that pushed against Mina's lingering casting, making the atmosphere a combustible stew.

  "She's mine, not yours," Dante retorted. "And she'll move when I say."

  The flash of fire was instantaneous. Alexis cried out in protest, but Jonah's sword erupted into blue flame at the same blink that David knocked into Dante, his dagger slashing down. Dante's defensive movement put David behind him, and in the next second, David was over Alexis, crouching to protect her with his body and wingspan as Jonah moved in. Dante spun with the motion of David's daggers, however, and now a concussion of energy struck David in the shoulder, flipping him around so Jonah's sweep of steel and fire slashed through the feathers of his lieutenant's left wing in the close quarters. With a snarl, David completed the turn, tangling himself with Dante so they both went down. Dante sprang free in an instant, but Jonah was already on top of him as well, sword swinging in a deadly arc.

  "No!" Alexis screamed.

  The explosion, a force of Dante's energy, shuddered through the cavern, cracking the walls and dislodging rock. A stalactite speared the water with a resounding plunge, showering them all. The welcome touch of salt water splashed her needy scales. Alexis gasped as the ledge rocked, dislodged by the blast. At least that was what she thought, but whipping her head around, she saw Mina, already in motion toward the angels, tip her hand. The ledge mimicked the movement to slide Alexis smoothly into the cool grip of the sea, out of range of the combatants. Because of her weakness, she dropped below the surface, and couldn't marshal the strength to surface. As her body sank, she saw flashes of light above her, and struggling bodies. No. Please, Pyel. Mina . . .

  She was powerless to stop it now. All she could do was hope Mina would. Her tail struck bottom in the cavern below and she wavered there, holding on to consciousness by a thread. There was a flow of water here, warm and cold mixed, as if the destruction had opened another tunnel.

  Dante? Are you all right?

  There was no answer, but she could feel him. He was still here, still alive. Really, really pissed off. His anger matched her father's rage, making her wonder if the two of them would turn the caverns into a rock pile before they were done and she'd be crushed down here. She should investigate that tunnel.

  But when she tried again to pump her tail, get herself off the seafloor, she was hit by another wave of dizziness, a head-pounding pain that made her moan. Goddess, she felt terrible.

  As a hand closed on her arm, she yelped. Anna was there, her arms closing around Lex's hips and then shoulders, holding her up. Just holding her. Her mother's hair waved around her, brushing her arms and hips, her soft, singsong sounds of relief and distress resonating in Lex's ear. Alexis clung back, the struggle above momentarily forgotten as the full force of her fears came back to her, the absolute certainty she'd never see her mother again, never feel her like this. Gripping her hair, she pushed her face into Anna's throat, her emotions unchecked as they floated in the water together and battle waged above them.

  "I need help, Myel," Alexis spoke in their shared language at last. "I'm weak, and Pyel can't kill him. He mustn't."

  Anna stared at her, her maternal eyes logging every bruise, the injured wing, the exhaustion and lingering horror of her ordeal in her daughter's eyes. It made Alexis glad she was in the water, for that meant she was no longer a bloodsoaked specter. If she'd seen her on the ledge, Anna might not have listened at all.

  "Please, Myel. Trust me."

  Anna at last nodded. Gripping Alexis's waist, they cautiously ascended. Alexis helped with propulsion as much as she could, but she was all too aware her mother was doing most of it, her one good wing and tail no longer responsive.

  Anna paused long enough to determine that there were no more energy exchanges going on, at least not the projectile kind, then they surfaced.

  The angels were at one end of the cavern, on a broken piece of ledge. Jonah's face was bleeding and there was a nasty burn across his broad chest. Perched on an outcropping from the wall, Dante was on the other side of the chamber. His fists were clenched, body in a predatory crouch. He had a bloody lip and he was holding his arm stiffly. While his wing was going to need repair, David appeared to be all right. Marcellus and Bartolemy likewise appeared uninjured, though from the plethora of feathers floating in the water and the residual fizzing of magical fire, it was obvious the brief fight had been fierce.

  Alexis noted the shimmer of a barrier cutting the center of the ledge. Mina stood in the fulcrum of it. Her eyes were blazing, hands on her hips, her teeth pulled back in a sharp-toothed snarl. Overlying Dante's dark magic and the angel's fire was a vibration Alexis had never felt so overtly, though she sensed it every time she was near her fearsome godmother. David had edged closer to her, his eyes watchful, as if gauging that temper and where she was going to go with it.

  In a heartbeat Lex understood better why Jonah often feared for his young lieutenant. The concentrated power of Mina's temper alone took away what feeble strength she was lending her mother to keep them surfaced. Anna's arm tightened around her waist. Despite Alexis's resistance, she moved them to the angel side of that barrier, onto one of the remaining narrow ledges.

  Seeing Jonah's glance toward them the second they'd surfaced, Lex understood why she'd done it, to give the commander one less concern. But Lex didn't like the visible suggestion she was taking a side, and that side was away from Dante. But when she looked toward him, his gaze was locked on his opponents.

  "You will not stand in my way, witch," Jonah snapped. "He does not leave this chamber alive."

  "Then you will kill your own daughter," Mina shot back.

  That brought everyone up short, including Dante, who spared the witch a narrow glance. Mina turned her attention to him. "I assume that's why you third-marked her. A clever strategy, though it underscores why Jonah should dispatch you in the most painful way possible."

  Dante's face went to an impassive mask.

  "Explain," Jonah said coldly.

  "He's a vampire," Mina retorted. "He third-marked her. In this world, vampires do that to create a human servant, only this one did it to another type of being. If it works the same way, her mortality is linked to his. You kill him, she dies. A servant follows the vampire, even into the afterlife."

  None of them could see how Dante felt about that, but Alexis felt his reaction, even buried under that fearfully still expression and ready violence. It startled him, almost as much as it did Jonah.

  "He didn't know about that, Mina," she said hastily. "He didn't do it on purpose."

  Her vampire gave her a narrow, nasty look, but she ignored him for the moment in favor of her father, who looked dubious. "I know, Pyel. I can feel his emotions. He gave me blood to keep up my strength."

  "Damn it, Mina," Jonah snarled. She gave him a venomous look.

  "If you had calmed down, and followed my lead, I wouldn't have had to tell you in front of him and given him that knowledge, now would I have? Hotheads, all of you."

  "You gave my daughter blood for strength. But a third mark requires that you drink from her three times. Why did you take my daughter's blood?" Jonah's voice was soft, deadly.

  "Well . . ." It was ridiculous to be self-conscious, but Alexis flushed as she struggled with the answer.

  "I did not ask you the question. Be silent."

  He'd been stern with her growing up. But he'd never snarled at her the way he might those in his command, with a thunderous undercurrent that reverberated through the cavern, bringing his angels to attention and making Alexis jump. The only sound for the next few seconds was Dante's hiss as he bared his fangs at the angel, a warning that had Mina's brows winging up.

  "Do you have an answer, vampire?" Jonah said again, unaffected, unless one counted the increased tension in his broad shoulders, the hard clasp on his sword.

  "I marked her the first and second time through the dream portal spell, to bind her enough to transport her to the Dark One world and to have access to her mind. My reasons for givin
g her the third mark are my own, but I drank from her that time for nourishment. Such blood is rare there." Curling back his fangs, Dante showed a trace of blue blood that Lex realized must have come from one of the angels he'd wounded. "Unlike a pure angel's blood, hers doesn't burn me." His crimson eyes glittered. "And hers is far sweeter."

  "Does it hurt her if something hurts him?" Jonah asked Mina.

  Mina shook her head. "It's only a mortality link. It--"

  "So I can beat him half to death, and as long as I don't kill him, she's all right."

  Dante's gaze intensified, energy gathering around him. "You can try, angel."

  "I swear to the Goddess, males are the same in every dimension. The lot of you should be neutered." Mina pivoted on her toe toward the vampire and won a flick of the fiery eyes. "Listen to what I have said. If you die, Alexis dies. You don't have to fight him. He won't risk his daughter."

  She turned toward Jonah despite his muttered oath. "I can bind him, send him back to his world with additional protections. It will not make life there any easier, but he will not be killed. Any Dark One who tries to fatally wound him will have it rebound on itself. So he will be away from here, but Alexis will be reasonably safe. He might get desperate enough to threaten to kill himself to win his freedom again, but I doubt it. He's a pure opportunist."

  "No," Alexis said.

  Her mother's steadying hand was at her waist, another on her daughter's hair, stroking, but Lex felt her watchfulness, as well as the strong link between her and Jonah. She wondered if that was why her father didn't blast her again for speaking out. But his words were clipped like razor blades.

  "I told you," he began.

  "I can't be silent, Pyel. You can't send him back there."

  Jonah glanced at Mina, his lip curling in distaste. "Does this bond create forced feelings of . . . protectiveness?"

  She'd been wrong. Her physical energy had been stolen, but the stress of her captivity and the tension in this chamber, the many things not being said that should be and too many things being said that shouldn't, gave her a different kind of strength. A sudden burst of unexpected anger.