His dark eyes, full of pain, flew open at the sound of my voice.
“I’m right here, Earl. Ambulance is on the way. Kendra, bring me a blanket!”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me down to him so I could hear him whisper something.
“What is it, Earl? You need to stay calm. Help is on the way.”
He didn’t loosen his grip. In a pained voice, he said one word:
Minerva!
Chapter Four—Nik
Attack Mode
Heliope’s “radar” was going off, Springer wouldn’t stop barking and I was doing everything I could not to freak out. The ground had stopped shaking now; Heliope and I had thought it was an earthquake at first, because what else could it have been? At least Cruise was okay. From the first reports on the local radio station, the tidal wave was completely unexpected. There was some talk about an offshore earthquake, but those didn’t normally occur down here in south Alabama.
“Nope, it’s supernatural. Definitely.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully and “listened” for clues. After a moment she shook her head in exasperation. “It’s just not clear.” She followed me to the bedroom as I hurriedly dressed.
“What does the Order say?” I asked her as I slid on my worn jeans, a long-sleeved blue t-shirt and a pair of pink rubber boots.
Looking skyward she asked, “Any clues, guys? Anyone watching the gate? Can you see us down here?” I didn’t know if she was serious or not, so I looked around the room with her. No scroll appeared. Springer continued to bark, but I refused to unlock the doggie door for him. The last thing I needed was for him to get washed away or lost. I had just gotten him back after several decades. I couldn’t lose him again.
“Sorry, boy. You stay home and watch the house. You have my permission to bite any intruders.” I absently hoped Ramara would show up at my house unannounced. He used to do that all the time, but I hadn’t seen him in weeks. And I couldn’t make myself drive over there. He could read my mind, and I didn’t want him to know I’d read the scroll. It seemed so wrong now. But how was I to know it had been for him? It’s not like the Order addressed the scrolls. I scratched Springer’s ears, but he bit the tail of my shirt and wouldn’t let go. “No, I have to go. I promised Cruise. You stay with Heliope.”
“I’m not staying here. I’m going too.” In the blink of an eye she’d changed her clothing. She’d swapped out her gauzy taupe sundress with a trapeze hem for a pair of camouflage pants, a khaki green tank with a matching jacket and shiny black combat boots. To top off the ensemble, she wore a pair of sparkly dangling earrings and some serious eye makeup typically reserved for a model’s photo shoot. I didn’t know whether to laugh or start rubbing her eyes with my sleeve.
“No way. And why are you dressed like you’re about to enlist in the military? Or hit the catwalk.”
“This is the trend for emergency situations. Don’t you ever watch television? Just wait. You’re going to stick out like a sore thumb with those horrible boots on. Pink doesn’t go with a blue t-shirt. Let me whip up something for you!” Heliope raised her hand, ready to cast her unique brand of magic. “We can match!”
“No! Please, don’t! I’m good, and you look great. I take it all back. Thanks, but are you sure you want to go? I don’t know when I’ll be back, and I would hate for you to miss your shows.” That was a weak attempt at distraction, but it was all I had at the moment.
“Nope, I’m ready and reporting for duty!”
“Oh goodness. Well, okay. Springer, stay out of trouble. I’ll be back soon.” I had grave misgivings about having her “help” me, but I couldn’t make her stay here.
I drove the rental car to the school; it was only a quarter mile, but we needed every second. Emergency services were establishing an early presence, and many islanders were already gathering for first aid assistance. I parked the car out of the way, and Heliope and I helped get things going. Lots of supes had showed up to help, and many of them had that familiar What the heck is going on? expression. I didn’t have any answers and didn’t offer any guesses. My goal was to keep a low profile and help the island’s residents. I helped move the stacks of stored water to the gym, gave candy to the kids and set up the registration tables. An hour later and as predicted, Heliope was ready to abandon her post at the table. Children were naturally curious about the fancy lady, but the feeling definitely wasn’t mutual. She didn’t appreciate their attention or their curiosity. But I did notice that one resident lingered around her quite a bit. His name was Jolly Jeff Treadmire, and he owned the island’s first gym, Double Time. Once upon a time, he had probably been a striking man. But time had gotten the best of him, as it always did in the human world. He had a bald head—not by choice—a trim beard and excessive muscles. Some would have considered him handsome, but Heliope treated him with disdain.
And he appeared to like it.
“Why are those small humans staring at me?” she wanted to know as I passed by with a box of crayons and coloring books.
“Because you’re the prettiest woman here. Now smile and act like a human.”
She made a pfft sound and whispered back, “That’s not helpful. I thought I was acting like a human.”
“Act like a kind human.”
“I want extra for character work,” she growled as another youngster came by to borrow one of her pens. Treadmire intervened and led the kid to another table.
Fortunately for us, fewer than a hundred people needed our assistance with water and shelter. Everything was under control now, and I was ready to check on Springer. There were reports of serious damage to the businesses and the few homes on that end of the island, but it looked like it could have been much worse. That was something to be thankful for.
“Let me go tell Jolly we’re stepping out for a minute. Then I’ll take you home.”
“I’m so exhausted,” she said dramatically. “You won’t be long, will you? Hey, bring that pen back, you little…”
“Heliope!”
“I mean, please bring that back soon, dear.” She waved to a curious parent and crossed her eyes at me in protest from behind her rickety fold-up table.
“Oh no. What’s he doing here?”
I looked in the direction she was pointing. It was Ramara, soaking wet and looking like he’d been dragged out of the ocean. And never sexier.
Oh no! Shields up! Shields up! I reminded myself. Please don’t read my mind, I said to myself, half hoping that he’d hear me.
To my surprise, he nodded once and gave me a glum look. “Are you busy? I need your help on the boat.”
Heliope about jumped over the table to join us. “I’m in. What are we looking for?”
“Missing college kid. She’s my neighbor’s daughter. Everyone else is accounted for. She was near the beach when the wave hit. She’s a pretty good swimmer, so it’s possible she’s hanging on somewhere.”
“Sure, I’ll be glad to help. Let me tell Jolly we’re leaving.” Five minutes later Heliope and I were in the convertible wheeling our way to The Outcast. Ramara beat us there, of course, and he was ready to go. I climbed on board, but Heliope hesitated.
“I can’t go.”
“What is it?” I asked, pausing on the pier. Surely she wasn’t going to waste valuable rescue time being dramatic. I’d choke her if she acted a fool.
“I can’t go, and I can’t explain. You two go. Be safe.” She had a weird expression on her face, as if she might go into a trance or something. Ramara’s anxiety was like a living thing, and I didn’t have time to argue.
“Okay? Got your house key?”
“Yes, right here.” She patted her bra as she looked at something I couldn’t see. I didn’t ask any more questions.
“All right, see you at home. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yep, never better. Be careful.” With that she turned and walked back to the marina, and I watched her disappear as the boat eased out.
I hoped it wasn’t the last time I saw her. I could
n’t handle too many more last times.
Chapter Five—Heliope
War Drums
I waited for the boat to leave the marina before I took to the water. In a flash I changed my garments to something more majestic. I looked up and down the beach, but there was no one around. The supes would be on the other side of the island now, rescuing the stranded and securing the homes and boats. It was all very human, but this was our home too.
I heard it again.
Thump. One loud bang and two short ones. Thump-thump.
Technically, I was of the Oceanid order, minus the diving skills of a siren or mermaid. I stood on the ocean floor, the water murky and dark with silt around me. Of course it would be after a tidal wave. A moving of the waters at such force was bound to stir up the silt and maybe a few other things. Luckily for the islanders here, on a scale from one to ten, today’s wave was maybe a two or three. The people of Dauphin Island hadn’t seen destruction like I’d seen in centuries past—but others had.
One wave in the Pacific Islands had such strength it washed the entire main island away. Another time the entire coastline of Greece rocked and reeled like a drunkard before resettling with much loss of life and property. Both of those times, tidal waves had meant only one thing—a war under the waters.
I kept my eyes open and waited for the sound to come closer.
Thump. Thump-thump.
It would be better to speak first. I whispered into the void of water, “I am Heliope. Why are you here?”
I didn’t bother putting up a defense, and showing fear so soon in a potential skirmish would be foolish. Besides, I’d come here for a purpose. I wanted to get to the bottom of this sound, and I wasn’t going to run away like a coward. The thumping irritated me to the core and stirred up something else I wasn’t accustomed to—fear.
Thump. Thump-thump.
The source of the sound approached me. It—no, she—knew I was here, and there was no turning back. She swam about me in a wide perimeter just out of my line of sight. When she was ready to reveal herself to me, she let out a crushing wail of anger and pain and came at me like a bullet.
Oh yes, this was personal.
The water glowed green and grew colder ahead of her, and it whooshed around me like a living force. I detected there was more than one being approaching me, but there was only one leader. And she was a queen.
Minerva!
I inwardly groaned but kept my face like one of the white stone statues that were chiseled in my honor in ancient times. I wished it were so now, for my statuesque appearance was all a pretense. Even my innards were quivering. Power to power, there was no competition here. This creature was far older and much stronger than I. She had power I could only dream of. Though I’d never laid eyes on her before, I knew this was Minerva, Queen of the Mermaids. Queen of a dying race and mother of Meri. That had to be why she was here.
She wanted her daughter, and I was the last to be seen with her.
Behind Minerva’s green glow hovered a retinue of warrior maidens, each with a menacing look of hatred directed at me. Minerva swam in increasingly smaller circles around me until she and I were face to face. Like many of the old supernaturates, she was lovely in an empty, gloomy way. Her long black hair didn’t wave about her like her dreamy-eyed daughter Meri’s blond locks did. She wore a string of glistening emeralds as a headband that kept her tresses under control like twisted ropes. She was no Gorgon with snakes swimming about her head, but she was equally intimidating. I met her eyes without fear. Minerva’s nose was straight, and her full lips were closed and dark. Her skin shimmered slightly, but she kept most of her body clothed in the darkness of the sea. Her most startling feature was her eyes, green with triangular black pupils—two pinpoints completely void of light that bored into my soul without fear of reprisal.
And why should she fear me? The shimmer of mermaids crept closer too, feeling emboldened by their queen. My heart didn’t seem to remember that it was immortal. A fraction of humanity remained hidden inside me. I was afraid.
She smiled…and then the smile disappeared. She raised her royal head and looked down at me. The mermaids behind her moved even closer to me. One carried a bit of stretched skin and the others carried weapons, crude bone spears and other things I didn’t recognize, but they all looked altogether deadly. She peered down, reminding me who I was and who she was. I took the hint and bowed my head in deference to the stronger being. She pedaled back a foot, then whizzed around me and slapped me once with her glistening green tail. Her strike knocked the wind out of me, and again my humanity—and the fear—kicked in. I tried to swim to the surface; it wasn’t far above me, maybe twenty feet, but it might as well have been twenty miles.
Minerva snatched my flowing gown and pulled me back down to the sandy bottom.
Daughter! Mine!
She didn’t use words but showed me what she was after—her child, a wayward child who had sinned against her shimmer but was not forgotten.
Without much effort, Meri’s face came to mind momentarily, and then Minerva’s face appeared in front of me. She waited to hear something. She knew I knew what happened to Meri.
The memory rushed back to me…the battle at the Sirens Gate. The struggle for the necklace and Meri’s hiding of Alexander’s bones. The brave Meri’s protection of Thessalonike and finally my desperate journey through the gate with the mermaid’s lifeless body.
I felt again my utter surprise at where the gate had taken us. When the gate opened on the other side, we were standing at the foot of the Stoa of Attalos. This was proof to me that the Order watched and directed me, for here all things were possible. Once this had been a place of healing where the divine met the earth. I walked up the steps with Meri in my arms. My feet slapped against the cold marble, and as I walked closer to the row of statues that waited at the other side I sensed that time was shifting. It was an experience I’d had only twice before, and it shook me to the core. As I drew closer to my destination, an ancient woman stepped out from behind a column, a sacred fan in her hand. And with it she’d waved to the space before the center statue. My eyes cast to the ground; I did not meet Faydra’s watchful gaze. I laid the broken mermaid on the marble and stepped back. The woman’s dark eyes shifted to a place beyond me, and I left with regret.
A sob escaped me as Minerva pulled the memory from me. Then another memory came unbidden to my mind. My only daughter’s face.
Thessalonike! No! She is not responsible—this was Nemesis’ doing!
Now the entire shimmer, at least six mermaids, surrounded me. Their glistening tails slapped me as Minerva gave an angry screech. Who would know what happened to me? Was it possible that I could die? I, the great Heliope, drowned in the ocean by ferocious mer-warriors? From somewhere deep inside me, pride burst forth, and with it my strength.
I flung my hands in front of me, moving the green waters back and repelling the furious mermaids. Minerva slipped back but not too far. It would not take long for her to realize this was only glamor-magic, not a true demonstration of power. Her presence had diminished me somehow. That was another first that I would have to examine later—if I survived. The shimmer moved back behind their warrior-queen. Slowly now she hung before me, her head tilted, those black pupils piercing. She said only four words to my mind. Although she had an odd accent, her voice sounded strong and clear.
My daughter. Your daughter.
And with that she spun away, taking her drums and her warriors with her.
With all my might I swam for shore.
Chapter Six—Nik
Rescue Me
Ramara yelled at someone on the radio. “You get over there now! I’m working the current toward you. She’s got to be here, and we’ve got to find her before she goes out to sea. Over.”
Crackling noise, and then an apologetic voice came over the radio. “We’ve been at this for hours, Ray. I think you might have to face the fact that she’s already out to sea. Over.”
�
��Don’t want to hear it. Just do it. Over.”
“Fine, working the Frenchman’s current—again. Over.”
He hung up the radio and ignored the other captain’s additional words. He didn’t chitchat with me either, and I spent my time looking out on the water with my binoculars. I quietly wondered why he didn’t do a flyover and find her himself. Unless for some reason he couldn’t fly anymore. I swallowed at that thought. I hoped that wasn’t the reason. No, that couldn’t be right. It had to be because there were too many human eyes out here on the water right now. I could see the other boat on the other side of the current. Finally when he wouldn’t talk at all I said, “How long have you been looking for this girl? Is she someone you know?”
“Not really. I mean, kind of. Her parents live on their boat, just like I do. Their boat is docked next to mine—she was visiting them for the weekend. They were out in the boat when the wave hit. My neighbors are fine, but Emily disappeared. I promised her father I would find her. No matter what.”
I raised the binoculars again and scanned the surface. There wasn’t much to see. Patches of garbage left over from the washout after the wave and some boats. “You know, searching like this isn’t the best method.” I hoped he’d get my hint about him flying, but he didn’t say a word.
I sighed and told him, “I need to get in the water, Ramara. I bet I could find her in no time.” I didn’t wait for his answer. I put the binoculars down and began stripping off clothing. I pulled off my rubber boots and slid out of my worn, dirty blue jeans. Thank goodness I hadn’t reached for my leopard-print underwear this morning. No need to make this more awkward than it had to be. I pulled off the long-sleeved t-shirt and left on my undershirt, then put my hair in a ponytail and twisted it into a bun. Ramara did not wear his usual smirk; his serious expression was respectful and thoughtful. I found myself wondering what he was thinking. If only I could read his mind. He helped me down the ladder. I could have just dived in, but I liked feeling my hand in his.
Escape to Sirens Gate: Sirens Gate Books 1-3 Page 23