When Fergus stopped the engines, the mood onboard became much more serious. He took Snappy, Coco Bear, and me inside. “I can’t stress enough how important it is to be silent. No talking, no banging of doors or cabinets, and no shoes. Umibozu attacks when he hears ships. Clue, I want you and your boy in life vests until I tell you it’s okay to remove them. You’re here to do an important job. You’ll have to stay out on deck at your station once the sails go up. Here.” He handed Snappy and me two pairs of thick socks each. “Put those on. If I bring you home sick, that daddy of yours might shove that blaster cannon of his up my ass. Now, go stow your shoes, pee, and get ready to be still and quiet.”
I showed Snappy where to put his shoes. He put the socks on by himself. Then, on the deck, we sat together at our station. It was freezing. After a few minutes with the sails up, Snappy tilted his head. Coco Bear’s ears perked up. Then, he too tilted his head as if listening to some sound I couldn’t hear. Snappy stood and began removing his clothing. Pony, Declan, and Will looked at him as though he had gone crazy, but desperate fear seized my heart.
I jumped to my feet and scanned the waves. Snappy shimmered and slid over the ship’s side to disappear into the water. Then, I heard it. A beautiful song captured me. Finding its source and getting close enough to better hear it was all that mattered. I moved toward the rail. Tadashi bit down on my hand shocking me out of the song’s thrall. I noticed Will, Pony, and Declan. They looked ready to jump into the freezing water. Coco Bear ran to each man to bite them hard on their hands and snap them out of it. When Fergus came out of the wheelhouse in a trance, Coco Bear snapped him out of it with a hard bite to the butt.
A white goddess rose up from the ocean seated on Snappy’s massive blue scaled head. Weakly, she held her hands out to me. Rushing forward, I said, “Help me get her to the deck.”
Worshipfully, Declan took her into his arms and lowered her to the deck. Her long white tail and fins dripped icy water. Snappy had disappeared only to return with her twin. The sirens held each other with white skin that glittered like ice in sunlight. Their hair and tails were as white as bleached bone. The pirates were captivated. Snappy returned once more. Fergus and Will lowered Palena to the deck. Although she was still agonizingly beautiful, she was far from her usual ethereal majesty.
“My sirens and I have spent moons lulling Umibozu from his rage with our song. We either move forward with our plan now, or wait until we have regained our strength to start all over again,” she said to Snappy.
The sirens were perking up from the worshipful attentions of the pirates. They turned all of their attention to the men. The sirens pushed their bare breasts toward the sailors with sinuous movements prompting them to touch. The men needed no further encouragement. The desire and arousal of the males strengthened the sirens’ spirit energy.
I turned to Palena. “This is why I haven’t seen you at the beach or out here,” I said as I gestured to the ocean. “You saved all of those sailors.”
Palena gave me a tired nod. “I feared the strain would cause us to vanish. Had you not freed Talvi for us, what we have planned would not be possible. I grow weak. We cannot survive much more of this.” Palena had made it seem as though vanishing was the same as death.
“No! I don’t want to lose you. Let me help you.”
Sadly, Palena touched my cheek. “This is for Talvi and me alone to do to protect the mortals we so adore. With the last of my strength, I will lure Umibozu away to the desolate seas from which you freed Talvi. There, Umibozu will not be terrified of the sounds of humanity. He will no longer attack what frightens him. Don’t cry, little one. I may vanish for a time, but one day, I will return.”
“When?” I asked with a sob. After losing Momma, I didn’t ever want to lose anyone else. It hurt too much. The hurt got forgotten for longer stretches giving me a break, but it hadn’t gone away yet.
“It might take many years.”
“Is that what happened with Gregory? You used all of your spirit energy to save a drowning boy. Then, you didn’t come back until you felt my presence?” Palena gave me a tired smile. “Gregory’s worship services to you on the beach gave you and your sirens the strength to save the sailors. Now, you’ve used it all.”
Impetuously, I grabbed Palena holding her tightly against myself. Then, I slipped. In the spirit realm, she was transparent. When the mononoke had attacked Winks and me, all they had needed to do to feed from our spirit energy was to touch us. Palena struggled against me. I filled my mind with thoughts of her beauty and compassion. Palena was a force of goodness. She had led me to discover my ability to slip by rolling the bit of sea glass to the hidden door. She had sent Gregory knowing he would help me. Without her guidance or maybe it was manipulation, I might never have found my Daddy. Now, she needed me so that she could save all of the people along the coasts along with their livelihoods.
Palena grew brilliant and strong. Stunning blue hair and shimmering skin and scales shone brighter with her inner power. Palena broke free of my grasp, and pulled me into her arms and across her tail.
“Release your hold, little mortal,” she commanded.
Drained and weak, I struggled. I kept attempting to give Palena spirit energy so that she could save my new home, herself, Tadashi, and the Black Bounty’s crew. If Palena lost control of the sea monster, it could destroy the ship.
“Enough!” Palena said with a fury that sent her blue hair flying around her like an angry storm. I released my hold on the spirit realm and slumped in her arms. My head pounded. It felt like the ancient samurai of whom Tadashi had told me stories were simultaneously stabbing through my skull with their katanas. “Foolish little human,” Palena said in a soft achy voice.
Coco Bear with glowing eyes padded closer to her and licked her face over and over. His eyes dimmed. He had given her spirit energy, too. Palena kissed my forehead and laid me down on the deck in front of a set of paws. Fergus kneeled beside us.
“Take your ship and return to Scorpius. Use the sails and make no noise. Go! Now!” Palena ordered adding a strong compulsion to her words.
Palena and her sirens were stronger now than ever before. They pushed themselves from the deck with their powerful tails and dove into the ocean. Coco Bear stretched his warm length out beside me. My head rolled from side to side on the deck. The crew of the Black Bounty sprang into action. Pain and the light forced my eyes closed.
I woke up because I had to pee. It was hard to believe, but now my head hurt even worse. Coco Bear was laying beside me in the small bottom bunk. “Bathroom,” I moaned. His claws clicked against the floor as he jumped down. Slowly, I sat up and put my feet to the floor. I stood, but even with Coco Bear’s help I decided that crawling the few feet to the bathroom would be more fun. I spent some time dry heaving into the waste unit before finally getting to pee. “I think this entire pathetic bathroom could fit inside of my bathtub.”
I splashed cold water on my face. By the time I made it back to the bunk, my nose was bleeding. Coco Bear jumped up onto the bunk, put a paw on my chest, and began licking my nose. “Why don’t you change?” Coco Bear whined at me and thumped his tail against my leg.
The cabin door opened. “Hey, are you alright?” Pony asked.
“No.”
Pony took a step inside of the cabin. “Shit. I’ll get you a pain patch.”
“It won’t help with this. Is there any ice?”
“Yeah, but we use it to keep our catches cold until we eat ‘em.”
“Can I have some in a rag?”
“Sure thing.” Pony left and then returned with some ice that didn’t smell badly enough to make me want to gag. “You disappeared with the blue mermaid. You know her. Three of them were on the boat. They’re real.” Pony’s voice was full of disbelief. “Who exactly are you? What are you?”
“I’m Clue, and I don’t know,” I answered in a barely audible voice.
When I woke again it was to a growling Coco Bear and rocking ship. The
n, the Black Bounty stopped. It moved slowly from side to side. Coco bear jumped up, shimmered, and disappeared. Weakly, but unable to slip, I followed. As I climbed the stairs up into the galley, the scream of a man in pain froze my blood and paused my steps. Then, fear clenched my guts, and I stumbled forward.
Sounds of a wolf engaged in a death match reverberated down the stairwell from the wheelhouse. Fortunately, I was dizzy and paused to balance myself before climbing up because a man fell from above and struck the floor at my feet. His upper back had hit first, and through bloodstained teeth Fergus ordered, “Get in my cabin. Get yourself behind that locked door, now!”
Terrified for Tadashi, I grabbed an empty bottle from the sink and darted up the stairs. Blood smeared the deck. Tadashi had his teeth embedded in a mobster’s throat. Liam swung and knocked Pony overboard. I ran for the life rafts and deployed one after him. A bastard with an evil sneer on his face aimed a blaster at my wolf. I ran up behind the man, broke the bottle against his head, and then used it to slice at his hands until he dropped the blaster. He was enraged. Declan rammed into the man’s gut with his head knocking him overboard. Drops of water from the splash he made hit the deck.
Tadashi put himself between me and another mobster. He darted in to strike with his powerful jaws and attacked the wrist of the man who had aimed a weapon at Declan. A black scaled tail lashed out. It hit Tadashi in the side with a sickening crack that bent the wolf almost in half. Tadashi and the man he fought were hurled overboard.
“No!” I screamed as I ran for another raft to inflate and deploy. The raft got caught on the rail as I was yanked back against a man’s chest. “No! Tadashi!” I screamed. I struggled, clawed, and kicked but couldn’t escape. Tadashi might be slowly freezing to death, unconscious, or fighting the man he’d gone over with and trying not to be drowned. “Tadashi!”
I felt something sharp against my neck. Declan and Fergus, who had made it back up to the deck, put their hands up in surrender. Will laid in a spreading pool of watery blood on the deck.
“You bastard! Let me fucking go!” I tried to slip but was too weak from giving my spirit energy to Palena. I screamed in frustrated agony. “Don’t let him drown. Please, I’ll do anything! Please!”
The black tail snapped out and sent the raft down to hit the water.
“Look. Whatever you want is yours. Just don’t hurt her. You don’t want to hurt her though, do you? You killed the guy at Two Moons because he touched her,” Fergus said calmly. “You win. Tell us what you want.”
“Tadashi,” I screamed. “Let me go!”
I felt the pressure of the broken glass leave my throat, but it was replaced by the long black tail of a snake as it coiled around me and trapped my arms tightly against my sides. Liam lifted me up from the deck, and I turned my head scanning the water. Pony gasped for breath in one of the rafts I had sent over. He was so cold and blue in the lips that the raft shook with him.
“Tadashi,” I cried weakly with what air hadn’t yet been squeezed from my lungs. “No,” I said brokenly.
I couldn’t see any sign of Tadashi or the raft I had sent after him. He, too, had given spirit energy to Palena. Kiyohime had waited to strike until we were weak and alone. Was Mr. Tavora helping her? Had he set us up? What could she want?
“We can’t stop Umibozu. There’s no point in killing us,” I managed to say.
“Clue, I don’t think that’s what this is about,” Declan said. One of Liam’s goons tied Declan and Fergus up. Then, he went into the wheelhouse where he started smashing things.
“That ought to keep ‘em out of the way, boss,” the goon said.
“Save Tadashi, Liam. If you really don’t want to hurt me, save Tadashi.”
Liam squeezed me tighter with a tail that seemed to further elongate. I could see that he had retained the head and torso of a human. With me his captive, he slid over the side of the Black Bounty and into the back of a large covered speedboat. Liam’s hands soon replaced his tail. I freed an arm and tried to fling myself overboard. However, I was no match for the strength and speed of a serpent demon.
“Tadashi!” I screamed with all of the combined force of my will and strength. Liam dragged me into the cabin and secured me to a seat with shrink wrap adhesive. “You bastard! Let me go!”
Liam’s forked tongue darted out to touch my forehead. His surviving goon hopped into the driver’s seat. Liam held onto the back of the seat in which he had trapped me. Agonizing pain choked me. If Tadashi was gone, I had nothing to lose. I would kill Liam, serpent demon or not. Dying would be better than trying to live each day without Tadashi. I knew from losing Momma how terrible it was, but somehow I knew to never hear Tadashi’s voice or look into his eyes again would hurt so much worse.
The boat sped away. I forced myself to stop feeling the pain and concentrate on how to kill a serpent demon. Liam stood inches from me. He was naked having shed his clothes along with his skin when he had transformed. My fear and pain excited him which was clearly displayed by his erection. I wondered if I could do as Winks had often threatened and rematerialize Liam and his appendage in different locations. I was still trying to figure out how it could be done when the goon finally began slowing and turning the boat. I was unsure of how much time had passed.
Liam slashed through the shrink wrap with a sharp finger nail. Then, he dragged me from the seat and out of the cabin. The goon had docked us in an enclosed boathouse. Liam picked me up trapping me yet again in an unbreakable hold. It effectively put an end to my attempt to get away. He carried me into a house via an enclosed walkway. An armed gangster opened the door for us. Liam put me down in front of a half bath off of the kitchen. He pointed for me to enter and then closed me inside. Getting the point, I peed. Then, I splashed cold water on my face. Searching the bathroom, all I found were towels and a bar of soap. I shoved the bar of soap into my sock. I didn’t even have on shoes.
When Liam flung open the door, he was dressed in a black suit and shiny shoes. He caught me drying my hands. He grasped me by my wrist and took me into the living room. He pointed for me to sit in an over-stuffed brown leather chair. Three men in black suits sat across the room in chairs the same as mine.
“Clue Taylor, you are probably wondering why you’re here.” I stared at the balding man. I could almost make out the outline of his skull. His blue eyes were like ice chips and felt as warm. “We represent a coalition of business owners in Dorado. Kiyohime is bad for business. She’s volatile and makes poor choices. Under our former boss, Dorado was thriving. You are going to help us return things to how they once were.”
All I could think was that these selfish fucking pieces of shit had let Tadashi die because they didn’t like their current mob boss. The one speaking was in his sixties, thin, cruel, and had white hair around the sides of his head and none on top. The one next to him had chubby cheeks, beady eyes, brown hair, and a gold pinky ring. The third one looked tall, had brown hair, and a horizontal wrinkle between his eyes above his big nose.
“You know Kiyohime’s story. Her lover betrayed her. He was just a man with the opportunity to make a fortune off of an unsuspecting dumb ass. Is it sad her feelings got hurt? Sure it is. Some people just aren’t smart enough to hold onto their money. They’ll trust anyone,” the man with the wrinkled nose said.
“We don’t need someone like that in charge. You are going to free our boss. He’ll put things back to rights and get rid of that dumb bitch,” the chubby one said.
“I’ll bet you didn’t know Liam here and the other poor bastard she bosses around were the boss’ buddies. Did you? Not the human part of our boss, but the ghostly part that does the thinking and them were friends. Ain’t that right? When Kiyohime called down the lightening and killed him, his two friends were on the boat with him. However, they got transformed and forced into serving her.” I felt Liam’s tongue dart out to touch my hair. “Once Kiyohime is removed from power, our boss will take control, her servants will be freed, and Liam’s r
eward will be you,” ice eyes said.
“She’s wondering why she should cooperate,” Chubby said with a smile.
A guard handed me pictures. One was of the painting of the moon that had been hanging in our basement. Another picture was grainy, but I could make out Winks and another man. The next picture was of the reward information concerning the stolen piece of art.
“Now, she gets it. We set your dear old dad up. He thinks he’s smarter than everyone else. That’s how we got him, through hubris. Cooperate, and you will get to keep your dad,” the nose said.
“You will remain here until Liam helps you to replenish your spirit energy. Then, he will take you to Dorado. While Kiyohime digests a meal, you will free our boss. Liam will whisk you to safety, your father will be safe, and Kiyohime will become a bad memory,” ice eyes said.
I lowered my head and stared at the pictures.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be safe here. After all, this is your new home. There are guards at each window, a wall around the property, and no neighbors,” the nose said with a smug smile.
“Good evening, madam,” ice eyes said with an incline of his head as he left.
The other two followed him. I didn’t watch to see if either of them pantomimed insincere social graces. A man in an apron approached Liam. “Sir, dinner will be ready soon.”
Liam tapped my arm and pointed to a lift. I shoved the pictures into the space between the cushions. With no other choice, I followed Liam. The lift required a palm scan to operate. We stepped inside. When the doors again opened, it was to a windowless basement apartment decorated in black. The walls were light-grey, and the furniture was made of a dark heavy wood. The carpet, along with all of the other textiles, was black. It was as though my feelings had been the decorator. Evidently, Liam meant for the basement to be my prison and not the rest of the house. There was a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a large bed that was covered in black satin.
Suddenly, Liam had a knife in his hand. He grabbed me and pushed me to the floor before I could scream. I closed my eyes and tried to slip as the knife descended, but I didn’t have the spirit energy. Rather than the pain I expected, I heard a ripping sound. Liam had me trapped beneath his weight. His eyes glowed, and he smiled as he used the knife to cut away my clothing. Needless to say, he found the bar of soap and seemed puzzled by it. I hadn’t formed a plan for its use anyway. Liam took my GPS bracelet. He sheathed the knife, gathered my shredded clothes, and stood. He pointed at the bathroom.
Clue and the Sea Dragon (The Clue Taylor Series Book 2) Page 14