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We had headed out this morning, exactly as we had every other morning the past week. There hadn’t been any deaths since the night the mermaid brought Kye back to our boat. We had been sent here to determine and then resolve any threats in this area. Now we knew what, or rather who, had caused the death.But she was nowhere to be seen.
However, thanks to extensive research and calls to Kye’s computer genius friends, we had a pretty good idea of the ‘why’ behind her kills. The sleepy little towns scattered around the bay had a habit ‘forgetting’ to record certain crimes that were perpetrated by individuals belonging to their oldest families. Those roots ran deep, and some of the officers were turning a blind eye to their crimes out of misplaced loyalty. They took the stance that what happened in a citizen’s home wasn’t any of their business, unless the wife came to them to file a report, or the hospital called them with a victim.
There were many wonderful hardworking people in these quaint towns, but some of the guys had started to rub off on each other. The bar fights were loud, and when they were kicked out to ‘sober up,’ most went home to vent their frustrations on those they swore to love. The men quickly realized that if they kept their women and kids quiet, they wouldn’t face any real trouble from the law.
I had wanted to break every piece of furniture in our room when the information had started trickling in. Kye had printed out files for each of the men that his contact sent information on. When the contact had realized the depth of the cover-ups in the area, he had expanded his digging, no longer focusing only on our victims. Reading through file after file, I had wanted to go pay a visit to each of the men and ensure they never lifted another drunk fist to their family members. Yet file after file, I was shocked to find that the mermaid had beat me to it.
By the time we finished sorting the files, we had discovered that some of the men were missing, some were laying on cold steel tables in the morgue, and only three remained alive. She was a highly efficient assassin, and I admired her for it. In a few weeks’ time, she had nearly wiped out a hotbed of cruelty, and changed the lives of two dozen women and children.
The single female victim had been more of a mystery, and it took an entire team of computer guys, as well as us doing our own investigations, to figure out what her backstory was. She had been kidnapped, and reading about the things she had endured made me burn in rage. I wanted to slaughter her tormentors, but somehow, she had managed to do it herself. She had gone in, armed with knives, and had exacted her revenge.
What disgusted me most was how the cover up had twisted the story. If she had been taken into custody, she would have faced charges and would have been incarcerated the rest of her life. She had just gotten her freedom and would have been sentenced to live in a cage again. What kind of justice was that? Instead, she had been given a merciful death, and from Fynn’s examination, it appeared that she went willingly. I didn’t like it, but I could see a weird logic to it.
We suspected that someone high up in law enforcement was behind much of the corruption, but we hadn’t been able to figure out who…yet. It was only a matter of time. Finding people was our specialty, and we never missed a target.
Which was probably why we found ourselves in the middle of an absolute crap-storm. First, our air tanks had malfunctioned, leaving us without air shortly after we had started our dive. Thankfully we weren’t down too deep, and after years spent in the water gaining longer breath holds, we were able to ascend without risking serious injury. But things only got worse from there.
Storm grabbed the ladder preparing to climb back onto the boat. The moment he put his weight on the bottom rung, the engine exploded. It was a small explosion, designed to cause maximum damage while not being large enough to draw the attention of other boats that could come to our aid.
Kye, Fynn and I were hit by small pieces of debris that sliced through our suits. Storm had taken the brunt of the explosion and was hurled back into the sea. While I had only minor cuts, he had several pieces of fiberglass embedded in his skin. His body hit the water like a limp ragdoll. Kye scrambled to him, keeping his head above water, while Fynn assessed his injuries and tried to staunch the blood flow.
I was the rock in our friendship, the tough guy that feared nothing. But in that moment, my heart seized. We had all suffered wounds to various degrees, and now our blood was turning the water around us red. It was astounding how even a small amount of blood could tint the water such a brilliant shade. If we could see it, any sharks within a quarter mile radius would be able to smell it.
The boat listed to the right, taking on water fast; it would be underwater within minutes. We had no weapons, and no way to get ourselves out of the water. I moved toward the boat, careful to not get trapped in the suction from its sinking. If I could find our duffel, I could use the satellite phone to call for help. I was five feet from the boat when I came across the shredded material of the bag. It had been destroyed, along with everything that had been inside it.
We were miles from shore, a distance we could have easily swam had we been uninjured. I searched the horizon but not a single ship was in sight. Considering the string of deaths recently and law enforcement’s warnings to avoid the waters, it wasn’t a surprise. Our team had been in tight situations before, but I wasn’t sure how we would get out of this.
A brown dorsal fin sliced through the water ten feet from us, quickly followed by a second fin, and then a third. What little bit of hope I was clinging to immediately vanished. These were bull sharks, one of the most dangerous shark species on earth. I didn’t fault them for their instincts. We were in their home, and we were injured. They were simply doing what they had been designed to do, and we were ringing the shark equivalent of a dinner bell with our blood. I would still prefer not to be eaten, but I just didn’t see a way to avoid it.
Then, a fourth fin broke the surface, joining the others as they circled the debris from the boat that surrounded us. One fin broke away from the others and headed straight at us. The frenzy was about to start. I pushed in front of my brothers.
My role in our group had always been that of protector, even when they didn’t know they needed one. I was quiet, preferring to listen than to speak. That had earned me many labels from those outside our team. Cold, cruel, arrogant, egotistical, slow—I had heard them all. I didn’t care what strangers thought of me, only that I did my job and did it well. This would be the last time I fought by my brothers’ sides, and I would go out doing what made me the happiest. Protecting my family.
The shark turned at the last second, its torpedo-shaped body slamming into me. A second shark moved in, and I barely managed to shove into its way, forcing it to turn. The first shark had circled back around and was moving in fast. The remaining two sharks had disappeared completely, likely circling beneath us. I felt sick knowing there was no way we could prepare for their attacks. At any moment, one of us could be yanked beneath the waves.
Both sharks were closing in on us, one veering toward Fynn who was frantically applying pressure to a wound on Storm’s neck, and the second shark moved toward Kye who was keeping Storm’s head above water. Panic made my limbs numb. I couldn’t stop both sharks by myself.
But it turned out we weren’t alone.
If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. To be honest, I wasn’t sure it had really happened.
The sharks were only seconds away from attacking when water exploded into the air in front of us and rained down on our stunned faces. A great white surged up out of the ocean like something off a television drama documentary. The beast had to be nearing twenty feet long, by far the largest living shark I had encountered in the ocean.
I believe I would’ve had a heart attack on the spot had it not been for the shock of seeing what, or rather who, was clinging to the dorsal fin of the great white. The elusive mermaid was pressed against the shark’s side, gripping the dorsal in one hand and a knife in the other. Confidence radiated from her as she held onto one of the world’s most terrifying predators as if it were her trusty steed and she was riding it into battle. Dark hair fanned around her face and her glowing eyes quickly assessed our dire situation. She was a breathtakingly stunning warrior. Fury spread across her face, and I wondered who I should fear more—the shark, or this lethal goddess.
I didn’t have to wait long to figure it out. She flung herself off the great white, twisting gracefully in the air and slamming into the shark headed for Kye. Burying the knife into the shark, she clung to it as it began to thrash. White fangs flashed and sank into the base of the bull shark’s dorsal fin. At the same time, the great white crashed back into the water, her mouth open and snagging the bull shark heading toward Fynn, dragging the much smaller shark beneath the waves.
Looking back at the guys, I saw they weren’t even breathing as they watched the scene unfold with wide unblinking eyes. A battle cry rang out, raising every hair on my body. This was a war cry you read about in books on ancient civilizations, not the type of battle cry that’s portrayed on modern television. It didn’t matter how eloquent the author was in their description, or how talented the actor, it would never compare to hearing a long dead call to arms with your own ears. I’ll never forget that eerie sound. It was a sound that made you want to run for your life, while also making you want to pick up a sword and follow her into battle.
Releasing the first shark, the mermaid disappeared in the churning water. The third shark had decided to join the frenzy and sliced through the water directly toward us. He didn’t even manage to get within ten feet of us. The beautiful warrior surged up out of the water, impacting against its muscled body with a slap that left my ears ringing. The knife was nowhere to be seen, but it turned out she didn’t need it. Her nails were pointed claws and she sank them into the shark, anchoring herself to him. The claws should have been grotesque, but instead the long-tapered nails on her elegant hands added to her otherworldly beauty. Faint lace-like webbing appeared between her spread fingers, something I had noticed the night she had saved, kidnapped, married, and finally returned Kye.
The shark veered sharply away from us, lurching from side-to-side in an attempt to throw the mermaid off. She clung to him like a world champion bull rider, or in this case, a bull shark rider. Even in my panic, I found myself wanting to laugh at my stupid joke, but I had forgotten how to breathe the moment she had burst out of the water.
This time when she sank her fangs into the shark’s dorsal fin, he jerked hard, and his fin slammed into her face with a sickening crack. She crumpled from his back and disappeared. The shark swam a few more feet before the effects of her venom set in and with a few halting movements, he too sank beneath the choppy surface of the water.
The abrupt silence that followed was unnerving. Were all the sharks gone? Or was the great white going to pop back up like a scene from Jaws? Was the mermaid still alive? My mind said I should be worried. We were still in the water with her, and she had proven herself to be lethal. Instead, my stone heart cracked with worry for her. I could continue trying to deny it, but I had known she was mine the instant her face popped up holding Kye’s limp body. There was nothing I wouldn’t have given to have swapped places with him that night.
Suddenly, her head surfaced in front of me. I stared into her eyes, studying the slitted pupils lost in the aquamarine depths. She studied me in return, her expression a curious mix of defiance and vulnerability. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I had the chance she screamed in pain and was yanked below the surface. I yelled and tried to grab her, but it was too late.
