Making Waves (Mythological Lovers) (18 page)

A dozen, maybe fifteen men, rushed across the deck. From the size of the ship, I estimated the crew to be at least a dozen. Adon and Dante had killed three since my arrival.

As I watched, a harpoon whistled past the gold stallion, missing by a narrow margin. He seized the attacker with his teeth and hurled the man overboard. Two other poachers bobbed in the water.

Hyrum took us beneath the surface, rushing toward the netting where his herdmates were captured. Dante was there, trying to help Lycus bite through the thick ropes. I pushed off Hyrum’s back to judge my mate’s progress with the durable netting. He’d never bite through it.

Why didn’t I think to bring a knife? There has to be a better way.

I saw the desperation in Dante’s eyes and knew I had to do more. Kicking to the surface, I circled the vessel until I found an attached ladder. The fight had ended before I heaved myself over the rail. It was a bitter stalemate without a clear winner; a damaged and hurting crew against a bleeding hippocampus backed against the rail. He couldn’t survive much more, and he knew it.

Under normal circumstances, I would have blushed to find so many eyes on me. The poachers stared at my bikini clad body.

“Ah. Alessa. I should have known you’d be tangled up in all of this.” Castlebury stepped out from an open hatchway and roved his eyes up and down my body.

One of the poachers asked him something in Spanish that sounded suspiciously like, “What should we do with the whore?”

“I’ll handle Miss Kokinos.”

“Victor, you have to let them go. You’re destroying the herd.”

“The herd that doesn’t exist?” he asked. His eyes lit up with amusement. “That bloody git had me laughed out of the conference when I arrived to show my photos. He made a fool of me, but you knew all along the photographs weren’t of a mechanical creation.”

“I was protecting them. You had no right to take those from my camera, but those pictures aren’t what’s important right now.” I pointed to Adon, fighting to free his herd. “Look at him, Victor. He’s hurt. Tell them to lower their harpoons.”

“This is my discovery and I’ll be damned if you try and sweet talk me out of it.”

“This isn’t about sweet talking you. They won’t survive! This is genocide. Those are women and children down there in your net. Babies! I assure you that if they’re taken from these waters, none of them will survive and any of the stallions you left behind are sure to die, too.”

“A small price to pay in the big picture.”

“Do you really think the scientific community will commend you for this when they find out you’ve killed every single one of them? Look at this bloodshed. Look at the human lives lost here, too.”

Castlebury scoffed at me. “Nonsense. Stop the dramatics, Alessa. This is why you’re a failure of a scientist. You get too attached. Too emotional. If there’s one herd here, there’s bound to be more in another ocean.”

“They’re magical. They’re not just some freaky new scientific discovery. This herd is their lifeline, and when separated, they become weak! They can die! They’ll never survive in captivity.”

“Magic. What a load of hogwash.”

“Damnit, Victor, they’re intelligent creatures and you can’t do this!” I glanced at the net where Dante and Hyrum failed to make progress. Terrified calls of young hippocampi and their scared mothers tore at my heart.

This cold, unfeeling bastard doesn’t care about anything but himself.

“They do appear to have some intelligence to them, but perhaps this animal merely submits to greater strength while wounded.” He gestured to the single harpoon lance protruding from Adon’s side. My father-in-law’s blue eyes were filled with pain, and blood stained his dark golden fur. Droplets of red pattered to the deck beneath him.

“Please,” I begged, but the man carried on as if I’d not spoken a word.

“I speared one of these beasts years ago, but I lost it. This time the scientific community will have to believe me. A shame I didn’t capture the young one then.”

Oh God, he means Dante,
I realized. I wasn’t the only one to come to the same conclusion.

Adon knew English as well as his son. I watched as the hippocampus alpha’s nostrils flared and rage washed away all traces of pain.

“Victor—” I tried to blurt out a warning, but it came too late. The next events occurred in slow motion for me.

Adon’s muscles tensed like a spring coil before launching him into action. He seized the doctor by his good arm, and I heard a visceral, grisly tearing sound as the mighty stallion snapped his neck to the left and right. Victor was hurled to the boat deck during the chaos, then a spear punctured Adon’s chest.

“No!”

Adon didn’t stop. A paddle-shaped hoof landed on Victor’s shoulder.

Another harpoon bolt released, striking the hippocampus between his scaled hindquarters and furry forebody. He continued to fight as the deck dissolved once again into all-out war. I retreated from the chaos and hurried up the narrow steps leading to the bridge.

Desperate, I grabbed the fire extinguisher mounted by the hatchway and charged into the room. By the time the man inside realized my intentions, it was too late. I swung the red cylinder at his head and experienced a satisfied rush when he slumped to the deck.

“What do I do, what do I do?”

An array of buttons, levers, and blinking lights filled the control board. I searched until I found the emergency release lever for the nets then activated it without wasting any time. Through the viewport, I watched as the rising net released from the boom and splashed back into the ocean.

It was up to Dante, Hyrum, and Lycus now.

I came down again in time to hear an inhuman noise, a feral scream more terrifying than any sound a horse-like creature should be capable of making. I shivered.

My eyes drew toward the source in time to watch Adon rear up, his mighty ribs smeared with blood. He came down on one of his assailants and took another harpoon bolt. The proud hippocampus slumped to the cold deck.

“Stop! Can’t you see you’re killing him!”

Of course they could see, but they didn’t seem to care. Castlebury was unmoving on the deck, still and bleeding — I hoped he was dead, I hoped there was nothing left in him, because if he lived, I might kill him myself.

As I searched for a weapon, Dante and Hyrum sailed over the side. The two massive stallions struck the deck, and within seconds they had thrashed, kicked, slammed, and trampled the poaching bastards mercilessly until we received cries of surrender from two remaining crewmen. Screams from the humans floating in the water, and a frantic scramble to climb aboard, announced Kekoa’s arrival.

They hadn’t expected sea animals to put up such a huge fight, nor had they anticipated meeting a tiger shark.

I hurried to Adon’s side and knelt beside him in the blood-stained puddle. My fingers smoothed over his golden pelt while he took labored, agonized breaths.

“I’m here. I’m here, and I’m not leaving,” I whispered. Leaning over him, I set my brow to his and sobbed.

“Father!” Dante appeared beside us, his expression broken. “Father, no. Please. You cannot leave us. Not now.”

“Dante, I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I tried.” He’d never meet his granddaughter in her hippocampus form. Never see her gracefully shooting across the waves beside her father. I was as angry as I was heartsore for my mate, unable to stop the tears flowing down my cheeks.

“He says he isn’t afraid. He looks forward to reuniting with my mother.”

In the next breath, he was gone.

September

~Alessa~

“I
t’s over,” Marcy told me over the phone. “Teo made so many bribes the British consulate has forgotten Victor Castlebury even exists. He’ll spend the rest of his life in a Mexican prison. He won’t be alone, though. Most of the crew perished but the ones who survived were wanted in a few countries for similar crimes. They won’t be talking about what they saw either.”

“It’s more than that murderer deserves,” I grumbled. “More than any of them deserve. Adon may have been the only person lost, but the entire herd has been affected.”

“Have they come to a decision yet?” Marcy asked.

“It was a unanimous vote. They want Dante to replace his father in leading the herd.”

The months following the attack had left the herd on edge, frightened and angry. They mourned Adon’s loss, but none so much as Dante. His role in the rescue of the mares and children had cemented his place in their hearts as the new leader. No longer an outcast, he had made a flawless transition into the role of his father’s successor.

I made every day with my husband and child count, but as the passing weeks brought the changing of the seasons, I knew the herd would move on when fall arrived. They had to.

I never wanted to see Dante suffer on land again, and I’d sooner die than allow Phoebe to experience the pain he endured to be with us. A need to keep her healthy superseded my desire to have her beside me.

I joined Dante on the beach after ending my call with Marcy. The ocean-scented wind tousled my hair as I moved up to his side.

“I can’t believe it’s time to go already.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Dante confessed. “I don’t want to rip Phoebe away from her mother and leave you here alone.”

“I can make it alone, Dante, but
they
can’t make it without you. Look. Look at me,” I told him, touching his face. “There’s a hundred horses out there counting on you right now. On
you
, baby. I don’t want to separate from you... I don’t want to watch you both swim away, but we knew this day was coming.”

He kissed me hard, lips demanding and desperate against my mouth. At the end, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged him.

“I’ll miss you both every day. Not one day will pass without you in my thoughts.”

“And I won’t go one night without you in my dreams,” Dante replied.

“What if I offered another solution?” Teo’s regal baritone announced behind us. I turned my face from Dante’s shoulder to see the immaculate overlord of our island in his human guise crossing the beach.

“Another solution?” I asked, curious.

“What if we made a home for the hippocampus herd here? A permanent home of their own to dwell year-round, without an unnecessary migration.”

“There wouldn’t be enough food to sustain us, Teo. We migrate to allow the underwater flora a chance to recover, or we risk overgrazing—”

“I’m aware,” Teo said. He wore a mysterious smile on his handsome face, piquing my curiosity. “But are you aware of
my
gift?”

“Gift?”

“Each of us dragons has a gift, a magical talent so to speak. I commune with animals and control the growth of plant life. Kekoa and I have recently found a trio of islands to cultivate, the distance no more than two hours by water.”

“You can make a permanent home for us?” Awestruck, Dante stared at our mutual friend in disbelief. “If that’s true, it’ll put an end to our migration route and the risk to the herd.”

“But why now?” I asked. “Why has this idea never come up before?”

“It was mentioned. Once. Adon, however, was not a trusting horse. He felt beholden to me for the time your herd stayed. Plus, I think memories kept him going back to Greece.”

“My mother,” Dante said in a low, thick voice.

“Indeed,” Teo replied. “Of course, it will take some time for your new home to flourish, and for that, I apologize.”

“One more migration.” Dante’s gaze returned to the water. “Thank you for this, Teo. I only need to keep them safe one more time.”

“About that...” Teo’s grin widened. “I have asked a favor of a dear friend from Japan. His daughter is en route as we speak to escort your herd to the Mediterranean islands. No shark or orca will dare to tangle with an Asian water dragon.”

Dante’s eyes bulged from his face. “A water dragon?”

“Yes. Thus eliminating the need for the rear guard. No more hippocampi will die needlessly. Your numbers have diminished enough.”

I couldn’t stop crying and I couldn’t stop hugging Teo. I don’t remember running over to him, but suddenly I was clinging to him and sobbing into his shoulder.

“Thank you!”

“How could I call myself a conservationist if I stood idly by? The hippocampi didn’t naturally diminish. The blame for their suffering lies at the feet of mankind, and I have spent decades fighting this injustice with human money,” the dragon said.

“When will your friend arrive?” Dante asked.

“Otohime shall arrive tomorrow, ready to travel alongside your group.”

“Thank you.
Thank you
,” I told him again as I kissed his cheek.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate this,” Dante said, appearing to be in shock. “You’ll have our gratitude, Teo. This is...” My husband inhaled a deep breath, moved beyond the ability to find words.

“Return to us in the spring and live happy, peaceful lives,” Teo replied. “Such is enough thanks for me.”

***

T
hey left at dawn two days later. From the privacy of Teo’s personal island, I was treated to the awe-inspiring sight of a hundred equine heads bobbing on the surface. Dante faced me in silence, while I cradled Phoebe in my arms.

“I’ll think of you both every single day,” I whispered.

“You will always be in our thoughts. We’ll come back to you, Alessa, safe and whole. I promise.”

We shared a tender farewell kiss then I hugged my daughter tight against me. Phoebe grinned and patted my cheeks with her tiny palms. She appeared too small and helpless, too young to be going out to sea, but I knew better. She was a natural in the water, her hippocampus form sleek and energetic.

“Be a brave girl for mama,” I told her as I kissed her cheeks. Dante scooped her up when I was done.

“I will take the best care of her, Alessa. I promise she’ll come to no harm,” Dante said. “I swear on my life.”

“I know. I’ll be here, waiting for you. For all of you.”

Dante carried Phoebe into the water. As a human child, she hadn’t mastered walking, but oh how she could swim. Tears blurred my vision as I stood vigil, watching my loved ones disappear into the ocean.