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The first bullet tore through the skin of my bicep. His finger squeezed the trigger again. I threw up my arms, and a gust of air blasted from my hands. Not only did the wind stop the two bullets headed for me, but it flung them back at my attacker with a force strong enough to embed them into his chest.
Eyes wide in horror, he dropped the gun and clutched at his chest. The blood was bubbling from the wounds at a rate that guaranteed he would have died even if help had been only minutes away. Although once the call had drawn me to him, he was destined to die this evening, the only question had been how.
He staggered to the side, propping himself against the wall for a moment before sliding down to the floor. A brilliant crimson stain smeared the wall, marking the path of his falling body. Blood pooled around him as the life faded from his eyes and his heartbeat slowed, giving one final thud.
I tried to smile in satisfaction at yet one more completed mission, but it came out more of a grimace. My own blood was pooling around me at an alarming rate, leaving me with a serious problem. Namely, how was I going to swim home in shark-infested waters while clanging the shark version of a dinner bell?
The second issue was the ship. It needed to sink. Preferably, further away from this cove. The last thing we needed was divers exploring the area looking for bodies. I turned to study the girl, who watched me with wariness in her eyes. As long as she feared me, we would not be best friends like the golden females on Kye’s small television, but that was fine with me. I just needed her to trust me enough so that I could get her home safely.
“Wha-what’s your name?” It surprised me she worked up the courage to question me.
“Zosime.” I paused. The manners of this time dictated I asked her questions as well. I sighed. “What is your name? Are you hurt?” The truth was, I didn’t need her name or her health status. When I tossed her into the water and told her to swim for home, she needed to be prepared because she had little choice in the matter.
“Kostantina.” She hesitated, then added, “You can call me Kosta.”
I tilted my head in acknowledgment before shifting my focus to cataloging the boat and the surrounding items. “Can you swim?”
“Yes, I think so. I injured my fluke when I got caught in their net. I can’t believe I was so stupid. Fishermen never come out to this area. We’ve worked hard to create the myth of sea monsters in this area, and very few people venture here anymore. We stay out of sight while they visit unless they get too close to Atlantis. If they stumble on Atlantis, they disappear. It is almost like what happens in the Bermuda Triangle.”
I did not know how the shape of a place called ‘Bermuda’ mattered, so I just nodded. She continued, “I was angry over a fight with my brother, and I wasn’t paying attention. I got caught in the school of fish, and when I realized I was being scooped out of the sea, it was too late.”
She ran her hand along her fluke, wincing slightly.
“Can you swim?” I had my doubts. Black dots had danced in my vision. It was time to finish the mission before I passed out.
“I don’t know.” Her face crumpled. “Thank you. I thought I was going to die, and then you showed up.” Throwing her arms around my neck, she sobbed.
I stiffened. It had been an abnormally long time since I last comforted anyone, especially a sobbing woman. I murmured some soft noises of reassurance that sounded more like a pitiful whale calling while awkwardly patting her arm.
“There is an outcropping of rocks a few feet from the boat. If I help you into the water, can you wait there for me? I need to get rid of this.” I waved a hand toward the man’s body.
“Yes. I can do that!” Her tears dried, and a look washed over her face. It was one I knew all too well. She had a focus, a mission, and she felt useful. I didn’t have time to reassure her that this one mistake was not her defining moment. It was only a blip in her life journey, and fate clearly smiled upon her.
“Okay. Give me a minute.” I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, focusing on my throbbing wound sucking the life from me.
There was no guarantee this would work, but I was going to bleed out long before I got help if I didn’t try something. I focused on what I wanted—my wounds to seal themselves shut.
To date, my body has continued to adapt to my needs as I grew into the power that Lokene told me I possessed. Hopefully, this time was no different. I needed the wounds to heal to continue on. Power rippled over my body, and my palms hit the planks. I opened my eyes.
Hades.
The good news was that my chest armor was back, and my bleeding had slowed. The bad news was that I had a tail again and was going to need to scoot around like a seal… which would make everything that needed to be accomplished more challenging.
“Come on.” I motioned for the girl to follow me. We slipped and scooted our way around the dead man and to the back of the vessel. “Slide into the water and move to the rocks as quickly as you can. I have a friend in the water, and I would like to introduce you to her with me in the water.”
“Where’s your—oooh!” She tried to speak, but it ended on a yelp as I shoved her through the ladder opening. She landed with a hard smack.
I waited to make sure she surfaced and started doggy paddling toward the rock formation that stuck up out of the water a few feet. With a sigh, I began the seal scoot back toward the bow again. It took almost ten minutes, but I managed to half roll, half squish the man down the narrow walkway until I could shove him off the boat as well. Sheba’s dorsal fin broke the surface, and she jerked his body beneath the ocean.
Sighing, I leaned a shoulder against the side of the boat. “Come on, Zosime. You can do this.” I was growing weaker, but my work wasn’t finished.
I made my way to the boat’s cabin. Once there, I found the controls. Boats were not something I was used to, but thankfully the vessel was still idling, and with some trial and error, I lifted the anchor and cranked up the speed.
As the ship raced along the dark ocean, I grabbed the lighter that had been left in the cabin. I had to gather everything flammable that I could find, and it took several tries, but at long last, I managed to start a fire in the cabin. Once started, it grew alarmingly fast.
I needed to get off. Like yesterday.
Making my way to the back of the boat took longer than I care to admit. I was no longer leaving a trail of wet, sticky blood everywhere I went, but my arms trembled, and my tail was a numb, useless stump from the massive blood loss—and possible internal damage. It wasn’t looking too good for me unless I fed soon.
