Olympic Cove 2-Breaker Zone

by Nicola Cameron

  “I won’t, captain,” Aidan promised.

  Liam threw an arm around Nick as soon as there was room, pulling his mate close and kissing him as the blond storm god kicked inelegantly over to them. “Bet you weren’t expecting this to happen on your vacation,” Ian said with a smirk.

  “Hell no.” Nick squeezed Liam and grinned when Aidan claimed his other side. “This is way better.”

  ****

  “So Thetis is infected with nanotech?” Ian returned to the kitchen table, sweating bottles of beer carefully clamped between his hands. He distributed them to Nick, the mers and the redheaded demigods before sitting down again. “Are you sure?”

  “It’s definitely not organic,” Nick said, taking a deep swig of his Sam Adams. After getting back to the cove with a delighted Moira in tow and sleeping like the dead for a good twelve hours, he and the mers had finally rejoined the land of the living. Checking his voicemail, Nick had found one message from Heather informing him that her friend was still looking for a replacement doctor to cover the one about to go on maternity leave and to call her in the morning and arrange for an interview.

  The second message was from Ian saying to come over to the cottage whenever they got up for dinner and a “how to stop Thetis” meeting. The three of them headed over to the West cottage for a blowout Italian meal, trading stories and information with Ian and his mates about the previous day.

  When Liam haltingly explained what had happened with Barnard, however, Nick asked the three gods at the table if any of them could reanimate people.

  Bythos and Aphros shook their heads. “I don’t think that’s in my skill set,” Ian admitted. “Why?”

  Nick bared his teeth. “Because I want a turn at slicing that bastard up.”

  “And afterwards it’s my turn,” Aidan said darkly.

  Liam gave them both a wistful smile. “The important thing is, Whitfield’s dead, so Nick is safe. Although I don’t know what the land officials will do about it.”

  “I’ll have a talk with Jimmy. If anyone federal comes sniffing around, you and I spent the evening here drinking beer and arguing about baseball,” Ian said. “The only thing witnesses would have seen was Barnard and his thugs dragging Liam to the ship. And you, my friend,” he nodded at Liam, “don’t legally exist on land, so you’re good.”

  But Nick still held Liam’s hand as the topic turned to Nick’s confrontation with Thetis and his discovery of what was contained in her venom. “They’re the size of big molecules, have carbon shells, and can unzip DNA and mutate it,” Nick said. “It’s got to be nanotech of some sort.”

  Ian took a thoughtful swig of his beer. “Before I knew Thea was Thetis, we went over to the Gulf side to do some research into the oil spill,” he said. “While I was there, I found out about a reclamation company that was running experiments on the water. According to the bartender I spoke with, they were called TerraFirma. I’m wondering if they might be involved with this.”

  “Sounds like something we need to check,” Bythos agreed. “We need to know how these miniscule machines were able to infect a goddess.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Nick said with a shrug. “So where were you three yesterday, anyway?”

  “Distracted,” Ian said with a scowl. “Thetis was deliberately planting hot spots all along the equator so that Poseidon would have me defusing them as practice. By was inspecting the new coral transplants, and Aph was off training with the tritons. She got us all out of the way just long enough to get her hands on you.”

  Bythos toyed with his beer bottle. “I’m sorry to bring this up, Nick, but did you tell her about the nanites?”

  A pang of guilt went through him. “I almost did,” he admitted. “She’d solidified the water, and everyone was choking. I just wanted her to let them go. Luckily, Claire attacked her before I could say anything. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Bythos said, shaking his head. “Thetis is not a fool, and I suspect she will find out the truth about what is in her blood sooner or later. The important thing is, we also know what is infecting her, and how she is creating her minions. Now we have to find a way to turn that to our advantage.”

  “Assuming we can,” Ian said glumly.

  ****

  The next morning Nick called Dr. Lina Reyes at Olympic Regional Medical Center. After a brief chat, they scheduled an interview in the following week, and she gave him an email address where he could send his CV and references. She reminded him that Florida was a quick-transfer state for out-of-state doctors being allowed to practice, and suggested that he file the paperwork as soon as possible.

  Chiron showed up soon afterwards, appearing in the kitchen while Nick was making coffee. “Heard you and the tadpoles had quite the adventure,” the centaur said briskly. “You okay?”

  “About as okay as I could be, considering that I had to sit there and watch a goddess die. And my fucker of an ex caught Liam and—” He cut himself off, not wanting to talk about it.

  The centaur nodded, blowing a breath through his lips in a sound that could only be called a whinny. “Look, I’ve got a suggestion,” he said. “You’re free to tell me to fuck off, but I’m hoping you take me up on this, especially since we can’t afford to lose any of you to PTSD right now.”

  Nick folded his arms across his chest. The thin scab there had already started to crumble off, but he’d always be left with the scar. “I’m listening.”

  “I know a good counselor who can talk to all three of you, individually and in a group. Both you and Stretch were assaulted by the same asshole. Then he killed your psycho ex, you killed an ilkothella, and I’m guessing the Boy Ranger is going to be dealing with massive guilt issues for not protecting either of you. You all need to get this worked out, and talking to someone about it will help.”

  Nick remembered Liam tossing and turning in bed the night before. He’d assumed it was partially due to their messed-up circadians, but now he wondered if the mer had been having the same kind of nightmares he’d had. “That might not be a bad idea,” he admitted. “But where are you going to find a psychologist who can handle the whole ‘oh, by the way, merfolk are real’ angle?”

  Chiron smirked. “Trust me.”

  Later that day after Liam and Aidan returned, there was a knock on the front door. When Nick checked the peephole, he saw a tall, familiar-looking brunette in a simple white sundress waiting on the porch.

  He opened the door. “Can I help you?”

  She smiled. “Hello, Dr. Gardiner. My name is Amphitrite. May I come in?”

  He blinked as the name rang one huge bell. She looked familiar because she was Heather and Thetis’s sister, as well as the consort of Poseidon and Ian’s mother-in-law. “Um, yes, of course, sorry, come in,” he stammered, stepping back.

  She walked in, giving him a warm smile. “Let me guess. Chiron didn’t tell you I was coming today?”

  “Uh, no. Wait.” He shook his head. “Chiron said he was going to send over a counselor. That’s you?”

  Her smile brightened. “My son Bythos isn’t the only one who’s taken human university courses. I know it may sound odd, but I’ve undertaken a number of careers in human culture over the millennia, usually somewhere in the social sciences. Among other things, I’m a licensed psychologist, and Chiron feels I can help you and your mates.”

  He was still trying to process the idea of a sea goddess getting a psychology degree. “Um, okay.”

  To his relief, both Liam and Aidan agreed that they needed to talk about what had happened (Nick suspected that Amphitrite’s elevated status had something to do with their willingness). Her calm presence and thoughtful attitude smoothed the bumps in their initial session, and she set up a schedule of twice-weekly meetings for the next month.

  The next week Nick headed into Olympic Beach for his job interview. Dr. Reyes turned out to be an intelligent, witty woman in her forties with an impressive grasp of emergency medicine. She quizzed Nick on his background, training
, and previous cases for a good hour before taking him on a tour of Olympic Regional’s emergency room. Unlike Memorial, the Florida hospital primarily handled a combination of snowbirds, migrant workers, and teens and 20-somethings drawn to the party attractions of the beach.

  “Our peak times are the winter months, especially around the holidays, and spring break for the obvious reasons,” Dr. Reyes said as they walked through the halls decorated in tropical colors. The bulk of the triage bays were empty except for one containing an old man wired up to various machines and flirting outrageously with a nurse. “Now, do you have any questions for me?”

  Nick hauled out his list, tossing in questions about the department’s ability to handle ocean-based injuries. Reyes seemed impressed by his regional awareness and answered his questions quickly.

  “I have to admit, Dr. Gardiner, you sound like you would make a good fit with our team,” she said, guiding him back to her office. “Once your Florida license is processed, I’d like you to start and shadow Marina before she takes off on maternity leave.”

  They shook hands, and after leaving copies of his driver’s license and other completed paperwork Nick drove back to the cove with a bubbling sense of relief. He had a job, at least for a couple of months. Next on the to-do list, book a flight back to Chicago, pack the stuff I want, toss everything else in the apartment into a storage facility, and drive home. What with the cottage being fully furnished, the only things he really wanted were his books, computer, and clothes.

  He grinned as he turned onto the road leading to the cove. I called the cottage home. Well, it’s definitely where my heart is.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nick finished signing off on the stack of patient charts, eyeing the very pregnant doctor leaning against the counter at the nurse’s station. “You know, if you want to go take a break I’ll cover your intakes,” he offered. “You look like you’re about to pop.”

  “I should be so lucky,” Dr. Marina Bryson muttered, rubbing her small of her back. “I still have three weeks of lugging a cannon ball around.”

  As Nick watched, the surface of her taut belly fluttered through her blouse. Groaning, she started rubbing it instead. “Come on, dude, give Mommy a break,” she said to her stomach and its active inhabitant. “Can we save the soccer practice for later?”

  “Rina, go lie down,” Nick insisted gently. “The place is pretty much dead, anyway. I got this.”

  After a grunting sigh, she finally nodded. “You want him after he’s out? Seriously, I don’t mind donating him.”

  He pointed towards the on-call room where ER doctors could grab naps in between patients. “Go.”

  “Yes, dear.” She waddled off, giving him a weary salute. Grinning, Nick turned back to his charts.

  As promised, Memorial had written him a glowing recommendation, and Florida’s expedited medical licensing process had come through, giving him permission to practice medicine in the state. Now all he had to do was fly back to Chicago, pack up his apartment, put his furniture in storage, and bring everything else back down in a U-Haul. Marcia Kuttner had been more than happy to let him have the cottage for the rest of the summer; he’d worry about where he’d live in the fall then.

  Aidan and Liam hadn’t been happy when he told them about the trip, especially once they learned they couldn’t travel with him. But Bythos had put his foot down, insisting that they stay behind in Florida. “We are not going to re-enact Splash, thank you very much,” he’d rumbled at the glowering mers.

  Aidan frowned. “Splash?”

  “It’s a movie about a mermaid in New York—I’ll Netflix it,” Nick had said.

  His men only calmed down after Ian offered to go back with him. “I need to put my stuff in storage, too, plus I want to check in with my sister before she decides to pull a surprise inspection,” the storm god had said. “Also, I would kill or die for some decent pizza.”

  Mentally drooling over a potential menu of Chicago specialties, Nick finished with the charts and was re-racking them just as the next shift’s attending came in. He handed off his patient roster with updates, then grabbed his jacket and headed out to the ER waiting room’s exit.

  A familiar voice caught his attention as he walked through the room, and he slowed. “I don’t care what you’re doing, get your ass on a plane and get down here,” the voice barked.

  Nick spotted the tall, elegant man standing in a corner and holding onto his cell phone with a white-knuckled grip. “Then charter one if you have to,” the man snarled. “Just get down here!” He stabbed at the smartphone’s face with a rigid thumb, glancing up at Nick as if ready to snap.

  Then his eyes widened. “Nick? Oh, my God, is that you?”

  “Aaron?” Nick walked over to his former Dom, surprised when Aaron grabbed him in a desperate bear hug. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  He heard more than felt the other man’s throat working. Slowly, Aaron pulled back, and Nick realized there were tears in his strict, hard-ass ex-Dom’s eyes. “It’s Delphine,” he said simply.

  Aaron’s wife was the light of his life, an intelligent, sophisticated native of Paris who was blessedly sympathetic to her husband’s kinky needs and desire to exercise them on willing men. Nick had run into the two of them once at a show, and had been stunned by the naughty twinkle in Delphine’s eye when she declared she was charmed to meet Aaron’s “exercise partner”. “Of course I told her about you—I always tell her about my subs,” Aaron had said when Nick questioned him later. “The French have a much more practical view of extramarital activities. She knows that you’re important to me, but she also knows that she is, as well.”

  Now the tall man looked exhausted and beaten. “What happened?” Nick asked, switching over to ER mode. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s sick, Nicky,” Aaron said, raw pain in his voice. “She’s been sick for a while. We met in Jupiter, you see, and she wanted to come back one last time. I should have said no, but I couldn’t bear to turn her down.”

  The Dom’s words painted the picture of a dying woman. “What’s wrong with her?”

  Aaron’s mouth did something Nick never imaged he would ever see—it trembled. “Lung cancer. She got the diagnosis a year ago.”

  Nick felt like he’d been punched. “Oh, my God,” he whispered. “That’s why you released me.”

  Aaron’s throat worked painfully. “Yes. I am so sorry about that, Nicky, but you deserved someone who could give their full attention to you, make you the center of their world.” He shook his head. “And I couldn’t do that. I had to take care of Delphine.”

  Nick was hit with a sudden tangle of emotions—anger, hurt, regret, and a still tangible love. She’s his wife. You always knew she came first. And if he hadn’t let you go, you never would have met Aidan and Liam.

  The emotions struggled to overwhelm him. One by one, he faced them, then released them. The most stubborn one was the love. He held onto that for one last moment, treasuring it, before letting it go.

  He nodded. “It’s all right, Aaron. You did the right thing.”

  The older man sagged, relief clearly written across his face. “Thank you, Nicky. You have no idea how much that means to me. I’m ... I’m very glad I ran into you today. I may need...”

  He trailed off, unable to complete the sentence. If Delphine died, so far away from home, Nick knew the powerful man would crumble.

  He had to help. “Is she in one of the exam rooms?” he asked gently.

  “Yes. She sent me out. Didn’t want me to see what they were doing.” Aaron laughed once. “Women have their pride, you know. I called our doctor and he’s on his way, but … Nicky. Would you see her? Please?”

  He half-expected the request, but hearing it still filled him with dread. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do, Aaron.”

  “I know. Just … see her. Please.”

  There was no way he could refuse.

  Aaron spoke with the nurses, and one took them both back to the exam
room. When she drew back the privacy curtain, Nick was shocked at the emaciated body on the exam bed. Delphine Carstairs had always been slender, but her disease had turned her into a walking skeleton. Her long blonde hair was obviously gone, and a pretty scarf had been wrapped around her delicate skull as an impromptu turban.

  She opened exhausted brown eyes, trying to focus. “Aaron? Is that you?”

  “Mais oui, ma belle.” Aaron stepped to her bedside, folding her frail hand into his with the gentlest of motions. “And look who I found out in the waiting room.”

  Nick moved to the opposite side of the bed, professionally blocking off his dismay with a smile. He picked up her free hand and held it, surreptitiously taking her pulse. It was frighteningly slow. “Hi, Delphine. How are you, gorgeous?”

  “Nicky.” The word was a whisper, but he could hear a thread of genuine happiness in her tone. She managed a soft squeeze of his hand. “It’s so good to see you, cher. Are you on holiday?”

  “No, I’m moving down here. In fact, this is my new job.” Something tickled at the back of his consciousness. “How are you feeling?”

  Even in her exhausted state, she managed a Gallic shrug. “I’ve had better days, cher. But I’m glad we came. I wanted to see the ocean one last time with mon amour.”

  Nick heard Aaron choke softly at that. “Anything you want, ma belle.”

  She rolled her head on the pillow, giving her husband the ghost of a smile. “I want to rest. I want to be able to breathe again. I want this pain to go away.” She winced then, coughing. “Soon enough, though.”

  The tickling feeling came back, stronger. “Did you go through chemo?” Nick asked.

  “Oui, and radiation. They didn’t help much.” Her eyelids fluttered. “The tumors came back.”

  The nurse poked her head into the cubicle. “Mr. Carstairs, could we see you at the nursing station for a moment?” she asked. “We need you to sign some forms.”