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“How much do you think they will give us for her at the science center? I doubt they’ve ever seen anything like this before.”
“I’m betting we are about to be paid enough to retire early.”
Nearing the boat, I could hear their muffled shouts of victory and jubilation. My scales stiffened. They were celebrating the fact they were going to sell a life, all because they didn’t see her as a life-form equal to themselves. Rage wrapped me in its warm embrace, and I no longer felt the icy bite of the sea. Good, it was one less thing to distract me from my mission.
Something slick and rough bumped against my tail, and I turned. My fangs descended, ready to fight my unseen attacker.
“Sheba.” A brief flutter of joy ran through me at the sight of my friend. It relieved me to find she was safe, and she had sought me out like she might have missed me too. “Are you ready to eat?”
In response, she turned and circled the boat, her tail flicking in a gesture that reminded me of an angry cat. Oh yes. She was ready to return to work.
“Shark! Shark!” the man called Todd screamed in terror.
“Shut up and help me with the harpoon!” The second man shouted back.
My anger turned icy cold. They were holding one of my subjects captive, and now they planned to murder Sheba? Not going to happen.
I moved toward the back of the boat, where I knew a ladder would be. This boat was much longer than the smaller fishing vessels that had held most of my recent victims. There was a large crane and pulley system on one side of the boat to help lift nets filled to the brim with fish. Several guns and what the humans called a harpoon hung on the inside walls of the vessel. These were professional fishermen, which is no doubt the only reason they had managed to capture an Atlantean mermaid.
I bit my lip, worry clouding my mind. I wasn’t yet sure how the Atlantean anatomy worked. How long could a Siren—or mermaid—be out of the water before her body deteriorated? I could spend a long time out of the water, but I wasn’t the same as the Atlantean mers.
Was she injured? Had the nets hurt her during her capture? Had they hurt her afterward? Just the thought of her lying in pain and at their mercy made me sick. If I could get her into the water, I could get her back home. Maybe Sheba would even be in the mood to assist me, and we could get her back to the safety of Atlantis quickly. First, I had to do what the call had brought me here to do.
Hooking my arms over the bottom rung of the ladder, I hummed an old lullaby I remembered a nursemaid singing to me as a child. It was haunting, beautiful, and irresistible. Todd came to investigate, his face appearing and looking down at me.
“Hey, what are you doing down there, beautiful?”
Careful not to flash any fang, I gave him a small smile. “Enjoying a swim. Is there anything as amazing as a naked swim under a starry night sky?”
My voice had a husky edge, as though I’d spent the night screaming my lover’s name until it was raw. If only my mates had let that be the case, then I wouldn’t have to fake it. I could see by Todd’s intake of breath and dilated pupils that the seductive tone had hit its mark. His body leaned toward mine, but not far enough for me to grab him. He just needed a little more motivation.
“You seem lonely. Care to join me?” I allowed a little purr to slip into my voice. If only I could release my venom like a perfume, then this whole luring-men-to-their-doom thing would be a lot easier.
The sensation I recognized as my magik moved through my body, a gentle brush along nerve endings. Just as quickly as it appeared, the feeling vanished. The man was saying something.
“I don’t know about that. There is a shark in the water, and it’s a big one. You’d best climb up here quickly.”
I breathed out deeply in frustration and pinched the bridge of my nose. I just wanted to finish this and get home before my mates started freaking out. Knowing Kye and Fynn, one of them would peek in on me in the next hour, and I needed to be tucked in when they did.
I sucked in a breath, preparing to hum again, but gagged when I sucked in an obnoxiously sweet scent. What was that? It smelled like the water surrounding me had been turned into a perfume made from a field of flowers. A single drop would have been lovely, an ocean filled with the fragrance—not so much.
“Miss, hurry—” The man stopped mid-sentence, drawing in a tentative breath and then inhaling lungfuls of the sickening sweet aroma. “What is that delicious smell?”
His eyes turned a bloodshot red, and his breathing became ragged. I watched as his gaze landed on my face, and his face lit up. “It’s you!” He sucked in another deep breath, licking his lips.
I shuddered. He was wrong. It couldn’t be me. Could it? I discreetly sniffed under my arm and recoiled in horror.
It was me.
I smelled like a banquet hall overflowing with floral arrangements. This made no sense! Less than two minutes before, I had smelled of salty sea spray. What changed—
Todd jumped over the side of the boat, landing in the water beside me with a tremendous splash. A grown man had just willingly leaped into the pitch-black ocean with a strange woman and a monster-sized shark. Realization slammed into me with the force of an iron pan.
My magik had turned my venom into an airborne toxin. This was confirmed when the man surfaced, pupils blown, stripping off clothing, and reaching out for me. “You wanted me to join you. Come here, babe.”
Ew and ew. Losing all my sexy Siren seductiveness, I doggy paddled backward in an awkward scramble to get away from Mr. Grabby Hands. If he touched me, I was going to ask Sheba to eat me.
He touched me. As his left hand brushed the edge of my breast, his right hand touched my waist, my instincts decided to kick back in. I threw my arms around his neck, twisting my body until I flipped over his shoulder. His neck gave an ominous crack, his body going slack. Sheba’s blade sliced through the water between us, her rough skin bumping against my body. Todd’s motionless body disappeared beneath the water. Good. I would just let her eat him instead of me.
