Heart of Siren (Merworld Book 1) Page 7

  In no time, the remaining four vampires had melted into puddles on the floor. The women inside the house started crying.

  Before more of them came for him, Tadgh darted outside, took Lavinia’s hand, and ran toward the dome entrance.

  Lavinia rushed toward an old man close to the entrance. She said something to him and then took her hairpin out of her hair and gave it to him. He examined it, nodded, and pointed toward a shell parked outside the dome.

  She signaled Tadgh, and they rushed toward the shell.

  Once inside, she stared at the dashboard.

  “You’ve never driven one of these before, have you?”

  She shook her head.

  “It can’t be any more difficult than driving a car.” Tadgh approached the dashboard and pressed a large green button. The engine roared, and the shell shrugged to life. He grabbed the steering handle and drove it out of the parking lot.

  With some help from his wrist unit for navigation, Tadgh soon neared a dome on the left. “Is that one of the royal domes?” he asked.

  “Yes, but I’m going with you to find Jo.” Lavinia smiled.

  He parked outside the dome. “I know you paid for this vehicle, but I’m going to have to borrow it to go look for my wife. This is a royal dome, so it’s a safe place to let you out.”

  “I said I’m going with you.”

  He turned and looked her in the eyes. “You used me, Lavinia. I dislike that. But because you saved my life and I owed you one, I killed those vampires for you. So now we’re even. I don’t trust you enough to have any further dealings with you.”

  “Tadgh!”

  “We didn’t go there for your family. These vampires were your enemies.”

  “If you didn’t come with me, they would have killed me.”

  “There’s more to you than meets the eye, Lavinia. I believe you know I can listen in, and you knew I wouldn’t let them kill you. You saw my ability as something you could use to kill the vampires who are after you. But as I said, we’re even. And I have to go now if you’ll excuse me.”

  “You’re making a mistake Tadgh.”

  “If so, then it will be my fault. I take complete responsibility for my mistakes. But I really have to go look for my wife.”

  “You can’t get into the rebel dome without my help.”

  “I’ll manage.”

  “No, you won’t. You don’t know who’s who, and as you might have figured out by now, Nepolymbus is complicated. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m the least dangerous enemy you have here, considering you don’t have any friends.”

  “I’ve been to the most dangerous universes. I’ve won and lost many battles. You don’t know what I can do—”

  “You’ve never dealt with Nepolymbus. You don’t have any experience here. And let me also say that I want to use you in the rebel dome for another task I need to take care of. If the people who attacked us before were the rebels, they’ll be holding Jo there. So you will have your wife back, and I’ll have what I need. What do you think?”

  “What do you want at the rebel dome? What could you want badly enough that you would go to get it alone rather than going back to the royals for an army?”

  “If I bring an army to the rebel dome, it will be considered an act of war. Plus I don’t have any control over the military. What I want at the rebel dome is personal.”

  “My question remains unanswered, Lavinia.”

  She looked out the door of the shell into the royal dome. Then she turned toward him. A tear of blood rolled down her face.

  “I don’t trust those tears anymore, Lavinia.”

  “I know.” She sighed and then said, “I need to go to the rebel dome to get my daughter, Tamari. I know they have her. She’s just a kid.”

  “Your daughter? The Gaxanxi’s daughter? So why isn’t this a government problem?”

  She looked at him. Then more tears came. “Tamari isn’t my husband’s daughter.”

  Tadgh raised his hands. “All right, I really don’t care about your personal scandals, your politics, and your civil war. This is your war, and I want no part of it. Could you please get out of the vehicle?”

  “She’s only nine years old. You won’t help me save an innocent child? Tamari didn’t have a choice as to her family—or her mother. She doesn’t want any part of this war either. They locked her up and might do tests on her—”

  “That’s enough.”

  “You’re going there for Jo, but you’d save my daughter only if it was convenient for you, Tadgh. Even if you did help to get Tamari out, who would take her back to the royal dome if I’m not there?” She paused, but Tadgh said nothing. “Please!”

  Tadgh shook his head then punched a button to close the door of the shell and started the engine. “As soon as I find Jo, I will be leaving—with or without your daughter.”

  “Agreed, and thank you.”

  Chapter 18

  A humming sound. A murmuring sound. The sound of a man laughing.

  Something cool touched her face. Her throat was dry. She coughed. Then water ran down her throat, soothing it.

  Jo opened her eyes slowly as her senses started to come back. She was still tied up in the same cell. She felt unbearably tired. She had never faked death before. She’d heard others had tried it, but no one had reported any side effects afterward.

  She wouldn’t do this again.

  “Welcome back, little angel from Eudaiz.” Saiyan’s face hovered above her. “My apologies for the guard. I thought he’d killed you. I don’t tolerate that kind of mistake—so I executed him. After all, you are my guest.”

  “This is an unusual form of hospitality. Do you tie up all your guests?”

  Saiyan laughed but didn’t provide an answer.

  “I know you were scared of me before, but look, I’m very tired and still dazed from the hit. Do you seriously think I can do you any harm?”

  “I don’t believe you’re tired. You seem to have your wits about you.”

  “You know I’m from Eudaiz. You don’t want to do anything to hurt me.”

  “That’s only true if there is any benefit to be gained from a relationship with that overrated universe.”

  “If you don’t value what Eudaiz’s got to give, why hold me prisoner?”

  “I didn’t. You came in with Clines and tried to utilize my facility to connect to your people, remember?”

  “What do you want?”

  “Well, I wanted to collaborate with Eudaiz, but you weren’t a well-behaved guest. So if you represent Eudaiz, I have no confidence anything could work out.”

  “All I ever did to you is to use your equipment without your permission—”

  “Oh, no, no …” Saiyan clucked his tongue. “You’ve done more damage than that. You caused the chaos that distracted us and allowed Faye to escape.” He chuckled. “You didn’t think I’d find out?”

  “Who’s Faye?”

  He slapped Jo across her face. “Enough! I practice mind reading, you cynical little snit. I haven’t been very successful in the past, but today was my lucky day. I thought you were dead, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see if I could tap into the mind of a dead Eudaizian. And guess what? You were defenseless, and your mind was wide open to me!”

  A chill ran up her spine, and fear spread through her. What did he see? What did he read? And how much did he know?

  “It’s a pity you woke up. But I’ve seen enough to know that I can get more out of you. Much more. I don’t think you’ll fake being dead on me again, so I’ll have to get the information out of you some other way. And in the end, if I get nothing more, I have your body.”

  He slid his hands under her clothes, moving up her torso, trailing his fingers over her body.

  “You’re even more beautiful when you cry.” He licked a tear from her face. “I know you’re not the kind to beg … but what the hell …” He shoved a rag in her mouth. “And I won’t allow you to kill yourself for real, because I’ll get nothing ou
t of that.”

  He stood up and unbuckled his belt then turned around to look at the guards. “Do I need to whip you to get you out of here?”

  Without a word, the guards scrambled out of the cell and slammed the door behind them.

  “You see, Jo, I have a bunch of useless creatures working for me, and that’s not doing me any good. So if I can get a hand from Eudaiz, it would be very much appreciated.”

  She tried to nod, without success.

  “The thing is, I know Eudaiz wouldn’t consider working with Nepolymbus. Let alone a rebel like me.” He unbuttoned his pants. “You helped Faye escape, so that’s a lot of damage you’ve caused. You have no idea what that bitch is capable of. Before she comes back to bite me, I’m going to enjoy you. And then I’ll let you kill yourself for real …” He removed the band that held her head. “Okay, now you can nod or shake your head to answer my questions. This is your last chance. I’m a realist—I’m not asking you to betray Eudaiz. But you did find the Key of Pisces, and you hid it. Are you willing to get that key for me?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. But I’m not stupid enough to take your word for it. I’m going to have to keep something you care about here so that you’ll return to me. I hope you understand.”

  She nodded.

  “My information suggests that you came here with someone else from Eudaiz. I’ll keep that person here with me.”

  No response.

  “No answer? That must mean you care about this person. If you had nodded too quickly, then I wouldn’t believe you. I’m going to send out signals about you being held captive here. Your friend will come to rescue you, and then, well, you know the rest of my plan.” He traced his fingers along her jawline. “Don’t worry—I’m not going to hurt your friend.”

  The side of his jacket touched her right hand. She grabbed it and liquified it.

  He was startled and jumped away. The liquid from his melted jacket ran down onto her hand and wrist—not much, but enough for her to utilize. She bore the pain and turned her right wrist so that her palm faced down. She liquified the bench she was lying on. It melted, releasing her of the constraints that held her body to it.

  But her other arm and her two legs were unfortunately still chained to the three corners of the room. Her body dangled from those three chains. Before she could use her right hand to free herself, Saiyan darted over and grabbed her wrist.

  “That’s enough, bitch! I’ll teach you a hard lesson. No creature has ever survived me. You don’t think I can break you, huh?”

  He held her right hand in the air.

  Chapter 19

  Faye pushed the manual control handle of her shell and enjoyed its super speed through the water. This enhanced piece of technology was not available to many common mer-citizens in Nepolymbus. But she was no commoner.

  She needed to be at the royal dome right now. She knew Kai was heading into a trap. He was her best hunter, and he was smart. But his biggest problem was her. Whenever she was in the picture, especially when he thought her safety was in jeopardy, his judgment was clouded. A fraction of doubt or hesitation was all the royal spies would need to capture him.

  As she turned around a dome, she saw a shell zooming past, and if she wasn’t mistaken, Lavinia was inside that shell with a man Faye didn’t recognize. It didn’t take much deduction to figure out that the man was Jo’s husband, Tadgh, and, as Jo had said, he was with Lavinia.

  Tadgh was at the control panel, and the shell was heading in a different direction from where Jo had been captured, and in the opposite direction of where Faye was heading.

  Turning around to chase them would slow Faye down significantly. She needed to get to Kai. Not only did she know he was in danger, but she also knew his weakness. If he was broken, her plans and her years of work would be ruined.

  But she had made a promise to Jo.

  She shook her head. Since when had she become indecisive? Was it just her work that made her care about saving Kai? No—she cared about him, and caring had made it hard enough for her to survive Nepolymbus’ chaotic optical environment.

  She didn’t know for sure what Kai’s situation was. However, she knew Jo would be in immediate danger once Saiyan found out she had created the chaos that allowed Faye to escape. Faye pulled the handle and turned the steering wheel to follow Tadgh’s vehicle.

  She could send a communication signal to Tadgh’s shell, but that would be like pinning her destination on Saiyan’s tracking map. She accelerated and zoomed ahead, in front of Tadgh’s vehicle. When he saw her, she pointed to a nearby dome.

  It was a market dome, so it was full of traders. All kinds of creatures bartered their goods. No one in particular governed this dome because it was a free marketplace. She was sure more than a few shady deals had been made here.

  Tadgh stepped out of his shell and glanced around quickly, surveying the landscape, before approaching her. He had the gait of an agile warrior and was lean, but well-built and strong. His face was that of a dark angel, in contrast to his warm and passionate eyes.

  Faye understood why Jo loved her husband so much that the only thing she had asked of Faye was that she inform him. Her eyes said it all. They loved each other.

  “You have information about Jo?”

  She didn’t have a chance to swoon over his voice and his strange accent because she was astonished by his statement.

  “How do you know that?” she asked.

  “It’s hard to explain, but I just know. Please, is she okay?”

  Lavinia approached. “Tell him the truth, and I’ll give you what you want, within my power.”

  Faye glanced at Lavinia, the gaxanxi’s wife. It was a rare encounter, seeing her up close like this. Beautiful. Mysterious. Faye was sure there was more to her than met the eye. “I made a promise to Jo, and I’m fulfilling it. There’s no need for a reward, Lavinia.”

  Lavinia smiled. “And you are?”

  “A concerned citizen with good intentions.” She turned toward Tadgh. “You’re heading in the wrong direction. Jo is being held at the science park in the laboratory dome of the rebels.”

  “That’s not possible!” Lavinia said.

  “I’m just the messenger.” Faye smiled. “You can take my word and turn around now, or keep heading toward the rebel central dome only to find she isn’t there and then have to turn around.”

  Tadgh nodded. “Thank you. How can I find you in the future?” he asked. “You likely don’t want to be contacted, but I do hope I see you again in the future. I know you took a big risk to bring me the message. Please accept my gratitude.”

  Faye smiled. “You owe me one, and when I need you, I’ll find you.” She nodded a goodbye and walked away. From behind her, she could hear Lavinia trying to convince Tadgh to go to the rebel central.

  Faye believed Tadgh was strong-minded. There was something alluring about Lavinia , but Faye didn’t doubt for a second that Tadgh would turn the shell around and head toward the lab, with or without Lavinia.

  When Tadgh’s vehicle was out of sight of her rearview mirror, she accelerated. There was a loud bang beneath her shell, as if she had perhaps run over a rock. Something like that would shred the engine. She stopped and stepped out into the water to check.

  Under her shell, a pale seahorse was tangled in the metal net of the engine. It appeared to be dead.

  Poor creature, she thought, but there shouldn’t be any creatures down here. The lane she was driving in was designed to avoid this very situation.

  She saw a small pouch attached to the chest of the seahorse. So this was a robotic messenger in seahorse form. Very clever! she thought.

  She slid her fingers into a pouch and pulled out a small card. It was encrypted. “Of course,” she muttered and rolled her eyes. She opened a lid on the messenger and pulled out its central brain chip. This was child’s play for her. She scanned the card with the chip, and some text appeared.

  “I’ll bring the two guests of Eudaiz back
to you. I can’t guarantee they will be alive. I’ll find out whether Saiyan has been telling us the truth about the Subject. I expect forty percent of the payment deposited into the trust before I deliver any results.”

  This message was from an independent contractor. But obviously, both the rebels and the royals had spies in their systems at high levels. She didn’t care about them though. She smiled to herself. Let them destroy each other—then she’d benefit from their destruction without having to do much work.

  Faye looked back and saw that Tadgh’s shell had vanished into the dark water. She couldn’t come back for Jo and Tadgh—and she shouldn’t care about people from the multiverse anyway. Her priority now was to get to Kai.

  Faye shoved the card in her pocket and got back into her shell.

  She had saved his life once, and she’d do it again at any cost.

  Chapter 20

  Jo yanked at the chains that held her legs and left arm. They didn’t budge.

  An ugly smile spread across Saiyan’s face. “Calm down. I’ll be gentle.” He held her right wrist so tightly his sharp nails tore through her delicate skin.

  Nothing was working for her at the moment. She couldn’t hold back the tear that rolled down her face. He wiped it off with his right hand.

  “Don’t cry—it’ll be over soon.” He moved his hand down her torso and started to unbutton her pants.

  Then, the sharp tip of a spear pierced through the front of his chest. Saiyan roared as blood spurted from his wound and onto Jo’s abdomen. He crumbled to the ground. Behind his body stood Clines, holding the spear he had just withdrawn from Saiyan’s body.

  Jo used her right hand to liquify the chains and free herself. Her body tumbled onto the bloody pool Saiyan’s body had just made on the floor.

  She scrambled to her feet. “Thanks.”

  Clines said nothing. He appeared to be in a daze. She understood why. He had just killed someone—not only a member of his rebel group, but also someone who was likely more senior than he was.