Olympic Cove 2-Breaker Zone

by Nicola Cameron

  “No, but—”

  “Then let me do this my own way.” Stopping a foot away, Nick started a head-to-toe scan of the creature. The differences from a healthy mermaid were marked. Not only was every organ system altered in some way, but there were a few new ones. Dark, lobed glands—venom glands, he assumed—had grown alongside the salivary glands, and were full of black, sticky ichor.

  Does this look familiar to you at all? he asked Pythia.

  The snake studied the material. It has the strangest consistency, as if it’s some sort of thick oil.

  Such as crude oil. This all got started when Thetis was caught in an oil spill. Maybe she’s incorporated the oil somehow into the mutation?

  I suppose it’s possible.

  Any way you could do a molecular analysis?

  A what?

  Never mind.

  “I need a sample of its venom,” Nick said out loud.

  “You’re not getting that unless you take off its muzzle and let it bite something,” Aidan muttered.

  “I was thinking along the lines of a needle biopsy. I can insert a syringe needle into the venom gland and draw some of it off for analysis.”

  The creature’s eyes rolled and stared at him. The malevolence in that glare was startling. So much for “it can’t understand us”.

  “Never mind, I can do that later,” Nick said quickly, returning to his examination.

  It wasn’t made any easier by Aidan hovering over him, twitching any time he got within a foot of the creature. “Aid, I really need you to back off a little,” Nick finally said.

  The mer folded his arms across his chest. “Just keeping an eye on you.”

  “I know, but it’s hard to concentrate with you hovering over me.”

  Reluctantly, Aidan drifted back. Within five minutes, however, he was over Nick’s shoulder again.

  It was time for a diversion. “I’m getting hungry, and I could probably use some fresh water as well,” Nick said. “Could you get some lunch for us?”

  The mer glanced at the ilkothella, then at him. “I’ll send a triton.”

  Nick tamped down his irritation. “I appreciate that you’re trying to protect me, I really do. But I can’t work like this if you’re constantly in my way.”

  “I’m not in your way.”

  “Yes, you are. I almost elbowed you three times. Plus I genuinely am getting hungry.” He took Aidan’s hand, noting that in mer form the webbing between the fingers was very pronounced. “You can send a triton in here and have him keep an eye on me. How’s that?”

  Aidan didn’t look convinced, but finally nodded. “Just don’t do anything stupid, okay? If anything happened to you I’d never forgive myself. ”

  Nick leaned in and kissed him. “Nothing’s going to happen to me. Go get the mer equivalent of coffee and donuts, okay?”

  That earned him an eye roll. “We should be so lucky. I’ll be back in a half hour.”

  He left. Relieved, Nick turned back to the ilkothella, kicking a bit to get into the right position. “I’m guessing you can understand me,” he said conversationally. “Which means that no matter what’s been done to you, you’re still a sentient being. I really don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to, but there are a lot of people here who would be very happy to see you dead, so working with me would be in your best interest. Blink your eyes twice if you understand me.”

  Black eyes studied him for a long moment, then blinked twice.

  “Okay, good.” He checked the muzzle surrounding the creature’s jaw. It looked like an oversized version of Hannibal Lecter’s facemask, and was held on with three woven straps. The one that went over the creature’s skull kept its jaw shut. If he loosened that one, the muzzle would still be held in place by the other straps, but the ilkothella would be able to talk.

  Or scream. “I’m not going to take this off, but I can adjust it so that we can talk. I’ll do that if you give me your word you won’t scream like you did yesterday. If you do, the tritons will come back in here and subdue you, and I won’t be able to help you after that. Blink twice if you agree not to scream.”

  The blinks came faster this time.

  Warily, Nick worked the buckle holding the over-the-head strap, loosening it a notch. He backed away as the ilkothella worked its jaw inside the muzzle.

  It huffed out a stream of water. “Do not expect me to thank you, vermin,” it said, its voice muffled.

  “I wasn’t expecting you to thank me. Just to talk to me.”

  “About what?”

  “Who you are, for one thing. What happened to you, for another.”

  The ilkothella tried to turn its head, but was caught by the muzzle’s restraining cable. “The Goddess calls me Halkyone. I am her handmaiden. She gave me the boon of her blood through her bite. After I awoke, I was transformed.”

  “Do you know how?”

  “I do not question the Goddess. I obey.”

  A bite reinforced his theory of the mutating vector being venom-laced saliva. “Do you know why she chose you?”

  “Because I was clever. She wanted a handmaiden who could think. The others are too bestial for her needs.”

  That wasn’t reassuring. Ilkothelloi were bad enough from what Ian had said, but intelligent, sentient ilkothelloi could be a plague unlike anything the planet had ever seen. “How are they bestial?”

  Halkyone twitched a shoulder, the closest it—she—could come to a shrug. “They hunt, they feed, and that is all. They can be trained to obey, but they have no true thoughts of their own beyond their instincts.”

  “And you’re different.”

  She preened. “I am my Goddess’s handmaiden. I have offered my throat to her. I shall swim at her side when she makes this world anew.”

  I bet Thetis says that to all the girls. “Do you know what her plans are?”

  “To kill the vermin of the land, throw down the gods, and rule all dwellers in the sea. This world shall witness a cleansing and be remade in Her image. It will be a glorious battle.”

  He felt like he was talking to a scaly extra from 300. “Do you know how she plans to do this?”

  The ilkothella made an odd, choking noise. After a minute, he realized she was laughing at him. “As if I would tell you, vermin. You shall be among the first to die when the Goddess rises. I hope she gives you to me.” Behind the slits of the muzzle he could see a thick grey tongue slopping over lips. “I can’t wait to find out how you taste, with your red human flesh. I want to hear how loud you scream as I began to feed.”

  Nick swallowed. “Okay, that’s enough of that,” he said, reaching for the head strap.

  An immensely loud, rolling rumble sounded, and the room shuddered. The vibration buffeted him in the water, and he grabbed blindly for support.

  His hands encountered ragged scales. He had enough time to see the ilkothella’s tail, somehow freed from its shackle, before it whipped around and slammed into his temple.

  Pain exploded through his head, followed by blackness.

  ****

  Aidan left the power station towing a net sack of sweet purfruit and sturdy translucent globes of desalinated water, courtesy of his father’s former second-in-command. Step one in the care and feeding of your human—make sure he gets food he likes, or he gets cranky.

  Not that he really objected to feeding Nick, or even fetching fresh water. Although being chased out of the exam room nagged at him. He was a ranger, godsdammit. Protection was his job, and it made his skin crawl to think of Nick anywhere near one of those venomous monsters—

  A booming rumble reverberated through the water, buffeting Aidan against a wall. He managed to grab hold of a windowsill, hanging on until the turbulence eased.

  In the distance, a cloud of dark silt began to rise. He let go of the sill just as his window opened and a female poked her head out, fry clustered around her. “What was that?” she asked, her voice high with worry. “Is it an earthquake?”

  Underwater earthquak
es were dangerous for mer grottos, but they usually didn’t involve explosions. “Stay inside,” Aidan ordered, dropping the bag and swimming as fast as he could for the triton outpost.

  To his horror, the tritons were pouring out, heading for the silt cloud. He grabbed one. “What’s going on?”

  “There was an overload at a power transfer station near the council chambers. Whole thing got blown to Tartarus,” the triton said. “Lady Eine ordered us to stand guard at the chambers.”

  And Liam was at the council. “Are they all right?” he demanded. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “I don’t know,” the triton snapped, yanking his arm out of Aidan’s grip. “Get to your station, ranger. All grotto guards are now on duty.”

  The triton turned and swam after the others. Cursing under his breath, Aidan ducked into the base, swimming down corridors to the exam room. The hell with duty—he would grab Nick, drop him off at the ranger station and tell him to stay there until they figured out what was going on, then head straight to the council chambers. His captain wouldn’t like it, but—

  He turned a corner, and his gut went cold. The exam room door was open, hanging on one hinge. Hefting his trident, he flattened himself against the wall, peering into the room. It was empty.

  As was the ilkothella rig. And he could taste the iron of blood in the water.

  Nick’s blood. Snarling, he turned and followed the trail.

  ****

  Nick’s head pounded as he drifted back to consciousness. If that wasn’t enough, it felt like someone had run over the left side of his face with a Mack truck.

  Or slapped it with a big-ass tail. He groaned, trying to reach up and touch his throbbing cheek. His hands wouldn’t move.

  He looked down and immediately regretted it as his stomach churned violently. You’re concussed. For fuck’s sake, don’t puke, his brain screamed at him. It’ll just float there and you’ll aspirate it.

  With an immense effort, he got his stomach back under control, just as he heard a soft chuckle. “I was wondering when you were going to wake up.”

  Very slowly, he looked up. And wished he hadn’t.

  He was in some sort of rusted, algae-choked ship cabin. Dim green light filtered through what had been portholes and were now rusted-out gaps in the metal walls. Tiny fish swam in and out of them, completely oblivious to their surroundings.

  Whatever furniture had been in the cabin was long gone, except for two chairs. He was lashed to one of them, a heavy, sturdy piece by the feel of it. The other one was occupied by a nightmare, one he’d seen in Poseidon’s vision.

  Thetis smiled at him, idly tapping the Rod against one raddled cheek. “Welcome to my demesnes, Bearer.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Nick opened his mouth, and a bolt of agony surged through his cheekbone. “I’m guessing you’re Thetis,” he said thickly.

  The poisoned Nereid smiled at him, black lips pulling back in a horrible parody of a charming smile. “Clever little beast, aren’t you?”

  “Nice. Role model or simply a fan?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Never mind.” He tried to force his mind to think through the pain. Sending Aidan to get food, talking to Halkyone, and then being bludgeoned— “Oh, shit. Halkyone was a lure, wasn’t she?”

  “And a most excellent one at that,” Thetis said with satisfaction. “It was a risk, of course, letting her get caught by the mers. They’re so tediously determined about killing my pets, after all. But I knew Bythos would be interested in what made her tick, especially now that he had the Bearer of Asclepius’s Rod at his beck and call.” She leaned forward, an open wound in her chest gaping and exposing her breastbone. “And so he sent you to do his dirty work, as I’d hoped.”

  Nick wondered if he should mention that Bythos hadn’t even known about the ilkothella. “How did she get out of her cuffs?”

  She flashed him another one of those horrible parody smiles. “Suffice it to say that an ilkothella’s fluke spines are both very flexible and useful for a number of things, including lock picking. They should have bagged her tail as well.”

  Note for next time. Assuming there’s a next time. “Want to tell me how she got me out of the triton station?”

  The Nereid shrugged. “Not particularly. I’m much more interested in this.” She held up the Rod, examining it. “Once you show me how it works, I have quite the To Do list for you.”

  She rose out of her chair and drifted over to him. The water carried the taste of something long-dead and foul, and he tried to breathe shallowly. “I don’t think you understand how the Rod works,” he said.

  “My lady.”

  His jaw clenched. “My lady. It’s a diagnostic tool, not a magic wand.”

  Her milky eyes glittered even in the green gloom. “Oh, you can’t expect me to believe that, especially as it seems quite a bit smaller than it was the last time I saw it.” She leaned closer, and he couldn’t help recoiling from the stench hanging around her. “I’m sure you can do some amazing things with this device, can’t you, doctor.”

  “I’m still learning what it can do,” he gagged out, trying not to vomit. “I’ve only had it for a week, dammit.”

  She pulled back and the water cleared. “Hm. Well, then, let’s test its limits together, shall we?”

  ****

  Aidan arrowed through the dark blue water, trident held tight to his body as he followed the scent trail of Nick’s blood. Entwined with it was the scent of the ilkothella.

  He’d followed it through the station corridor and into a maintenance tunnel, of all things. Somehow the damned thing had known the perfect way to escape its jail cell. It just needed a diversion to get all eyes off it.

  It was a fucking trap. And I left him alone in the middle of it.

  The only reassuring thing was that Nick’s body hadn’t been floating in a corner, and his scent trail smelled fresh. If the ilkothella had gone to all that trouble to grab him, it probably wasn’t going to kill him, at least not immediately. Gods, I hope.

  After more than an hour of hard swimming, he finally tracked the scent down to a small coral reef that had grown around a wrecked human warship. He paused at the edge of the reef, scanning the area. He could already smell a number of other ilkothelloi. There was only one reason why the monsters would congregate outside the Gulf.

  Thetis. The Nereid was the mastermind behind Nick’s kidnapping.

  One part of him wanted to go straight back to Bright Water, round up the tritons’ tactical squad and bring them back. Yeah, except that they’re all protecting the council members under Lady Eine’s orders. No way in hell she’s going to give them permission to leave right now.

  Ranger backup was out as well. It was far more likely that he’d be dragged off to patrol the grotto while the higher ups investigated the explosion. He mentally gauged how far he’d swum from the grotto, then added the distance between the grotto and the cove. It would be hours before he could bring Ian and the sea lords here, assuming that they were even home.

  So that leaves me. Great. Grim, Aidan moved off to scout the area. One way or the other, he was getting his mate back.

  ****

  “You can’t do this, mamere!” Liam thundered at Eine. “I need to find Aidan and Nick!”

  “I have tritons and rangers searching for them now,” the First Elder said implacably, folding her hands on the back of her council couch. At her request the rest of the Elders had filed out, leaving Liam alone with her. “Your place is here at my side, working to calm our people and get to the bottom of this attack.”

  Investigators were already poring over the power transfer station, trying to determine what had caused the explosion that had thrown the grotto into panic. Tritons were stationed around the council chambers to protect the Elders, and all grotto rangers had been recalled and were now on patrol looking for potential attackers.

  Except for one. When Liam learned to his horror that the captured ilkothella had escaped an
d Nick and Aidan were missing, he realized the whole thing had been a ruse, most likely with Nick as the target. Either Aidan was dead or injured and his body stashed somewhere (Liam’s mind recoiled from the thought), or the ilkothella had Nick and Aidan was tracking them down.

  He had already left the council chambers to go after them when his mother had two tritons seize him and bring him back. Now he swam back and forth, raging at her in impotent fury. “You don’t need me here! I’m still a junior counselor. There’s nothing useful I can do for you!”

  She sniffed. “You can monitor incoming reports for the council.”

  He stopped, staring at her. “Monitor incoming reports? Are you insane?”

  “Lower your voice,” she ordered. “You may be my son, but allow me to remind you that I am First Elder of this grotto, and as such it is my duty to think of all my people, not just the ones closest to me. If you wish to join the council of Elders you’ll do well to remember that.”

  “You’re assuming I want to join the damned council in the first place.”

  She straightened, hands clenching on the soft surface of the couch back. “Members of our clan have served as Elders for Bright Water grotto since its inception over two hundred years ago,” she said. “It is bred into our blood and bone to lead. It is what we do for our people. Your unfortunate association with that ranger has made you forget that, it seems.”

  “No. My mating with Aidan has showed me that there are other ways to live,” Liam said, swimming up to her. “Ways that don’t require manipulation and game playing. You’re the one who loves power, Mother, not me.”

  Eine’s expression smoothed into a mask. “Strange. It was my belief that you quite enjoyed holding power over others,” she said coolly.

  That struck home. “If you’re referring to my sex life, it goes to show that you have absolutely no idea what goes into power play.”

  “Perhaps I don’t. Perhaps I prefer my power to be used publicly rather than privately. But I can assure you that many other mers don’t have even a fraction of the understanding I have. If word were to get out about your preferences, I have to wonder how it would be received. Granted, it might not close many doors in this grotto to you, but it would certainly close them to your Aidan. I believe he was up for promotion this year, wasn’t he? I doubt that would happen if his superiors knew how submissive he could be.”