Siren's Call (19 page)

Jake picked up the artifact, turning it every which way. “Pure gold.” He indicated some of the finer details. “Damned if I know what it was used for. Something ornamental, I’m sure. Maybe it would be easier to identify if all the pieces were intact.”

Tessa suddenly made an involuntary sound. Something about the piece sparked recognition in her eyes. “Hot damn,” she muttered. “I think I’ve seen one of those before.”

Gwen frowned. “Where would you have seen something like that?” her sister demanded, asking the question everyone was thinking.

Raking her hands through her long hair, Tessa’s face took on a shadowed, guilty look. “When I was about to turn fifteen, Mom showed me some . . . things she had stored away in the basement.”

Kenneth felt his heart skip a beat. His gaze tracked hers, focusing on the mysterious artifact Jake held. It didn’t look like anything special. Her admission intrigued, spreading the infection of curiosity. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so fascinated by a woman. “What kind of things?”

Breath hitching, Tessa laced her fingers together, pressing her hands under her chin. For a moment she looked like a kid who’d gotten caught stealing forbidden cookies out of the jar. “Magical stuff,” she mumbled. “Mom told me I had to take care when using them. They’re the keys to a Mer’s power.”

T
essa shivered as she led the way down into the basement. As a young girl, her mother had shown her a secret, then warned her she must never let her curiosity overcome common sense.

As a young girl, she’d heeded the warning. As a grown woman, she’d become more and more drawn to the Pandora’s box of secrets her mother had entrusted to her care.

Gwen followed closely at her heels. “Does anyone get the feeling we’re walking into the mouth of doom?”

“Yeah, isn’t this the part where the monster reaches out and drags one of us off into the darkness?” Addison added.

“Actually, I think this is the part where Scooby asks Shaggy for a snack,” Kenneth put in. “And then the monster pops up.”

Jake brought up the rear. “And this is the part where the archaeologist pukes from all the pop culture references before he proceeds to dazzle you all with his brilliance.”

Tessa shined her flashlight toward the ceiling, looking for the cord dangling from the overhead lightbulb. Spying it, she reached out and pulled it down. A wash of bright light flooded the basement, instantly chasing away the shadows.

She huffed. “And this is where the leader of the pack says you’re all nuts and to stop acting like morons.”

Everyone blinked, looking around the basement. Gwen snapped off her flashlight. “We really need to get that light at the top of the staircase fixed,” she grumbled.

Tessa frowned. “It’s on my to-do list,” she said tartly. She never did understand why Gwen offered to pay for repairs on the house, but never quite came through with the money. She suspected the hotel wasn’t doing as well as Gwen wanted her to believe. In a tight economy, people just didn’t spend a lot of money on vacation and travel.

Addison looked around. “Man, I don’t think I’ve been down here in at least a decade.”

It was true. At one time the basement had been outfitted as a family room, filled with old comfortable furniture, an entertainment center, and a Ping- Pong table. It even branched off to a small bedroom with an attached bathroom.

Gwen yanked away the sheet covering the Ping-Pong table. “Nobody plays anymore,” she said, looking at the silent paddles and balls.

“Not since Mom and Dad died, that’s for sure,” Addison said.

Jake glanced up. “Car accident, if I remember co r-rectly.”

Gwen tossed the crumpled sheet on the table. “Yeah,” she filled in. “Some teenager with a learner’s permit and a lead foot ran a red light at an intersection. They both died instantly. Hard to believe the little fucker walked away without a scratch.”

Scrubbing a hand across his face, Kenneth shook his head. “Man,” he muttered. “That isn’t right or fair.”

At the mention of their parents Tessa felt her heart squeeze as if the organ was caught in the grip of an iron fist. “There just wasn’t any more time for games.”

At fifteen she’d had the weight and responsibility of two younger sisters thrust upon her. Gwen was only thirteen, Addison two years younger. Not only did she have to finish raising the girls, she’d had to deal with teaching them how to navigate the angst-ridden world of being Mer teenagers. Though they’d had a relative on their father’s side to help handle the finances until Tessa turned eighteen, their befuddled, never-married uncle Jay knew nothing about raising children.

Hands on her hips, Gwen scanned the basement. “So where is this hidden alcove containing all the secrets of Merdom?” She frowned. “And how come you never told me or Addie about it?”

Tessa stiffened. Of course the shit would hit the fan right after she’d opened her mouth about recognizing one of the artifacts Jake had recovered. “I’ve wanted to tell you both,” she admitted. “But the time never seemed right. I mean, both you and Gwen never really seemed interested in the Mer side.”

Addison frowned. “That really sucks that you kept this all to yourself,” she said. “I mean, we’re both Mer, too. We have a right to know about what we are.
Who
we are.”

Tessa passed her hands across her face. “It’s not that you didn’t have the right to know,” she said, almost wishing she’d made no mention of the hidden items. “It’s because of the power these things have. You know. The craft Mom warned us not to use.”

Addison and Gwen exchanged a look.

“Ah, right,” Addison said. “Don’t want to be messing with that.”

“That can be some bad mojo,” Gwen added.

The men just looked confused.

“What the hell is bad mojo?” Jake demanded.

Drawing a deep breath, Tessa indicated the Ping-Pong table. “It’s easier to explain if I show you,” she said. “Put some muscle into moving that thing, won’t you?”

Kenneth headed toward the table. “You going to help?” he asked Jake, cocking his head toward the other side.

“Guess I’d better.” Jake took his end. The two men moved the table aside. “This okay?”

“Fine.” She pointed to the rug the table had sat on. “Roll that up,” she told Gwen and Addison.

The girls rolled. As the rug disappeared, a segment of the floor was revealed. Though the basement floor was bare concrete, the large rug had covered a secret: a section of the floor was hollowed out and covered with a thick piece of plywood.

Addison whistled under her breath. “I never knew that was there.”

Tessa knelt, working her fingers into the crack between the plywood and the concrete. “You weren’t supposed to know.” The plywood wasn’t easy to lift. She’d last opened the secret recess almost a year ago, eager to try her hand at a little more Mer-magic.

The experiment hadn’t been a success.

Kenneth knelt beside her. “Let me help.” Fishing out a pocketknife, he slid the blade in between the cracks and lifted one corner.

“Thanks.” Tessa slid her fingers into the narrow crack and lifted. Jake claimed the section of plywood, setting it aside.

Gwen and Addison shined their flashlights into the narrow recess.

“What’s there?” Gwen asked.

Tessa bent, lifting out a small box. “Everything we are as Mer is here.” Opening the box, she turned it so everyone could look inside. An elaborate choker fashioned out of gold and diamonds glinted against the black felt lining the box.

Gwen’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “Holy shit, is that what I think it is?”

Tessa nodded. “They’re not the kind of diamonds you think they are, Gwen,” she said. “They’re Herkimer diamond crystals, not very valuable at all.”

Gwen frowned. “Then why hide them away?”

Jake pointed to the crystal hanging around Gwen’s neck. “Crystal magic. Herkimer diamonds have the unique ability to convert one form of energy into another.”

Addison raised her brows. “Is that so?”

Jake nodded. “As an example, when pressure is applied to a crystal, energy is released in the form of heat, light, and electrical voltage. This is what is known as ‘piezoelectricity.’ ”

Tessa slowly closed the box. “This crystal is very powerful. Herkimer can be used to enhance telepathy and out-of-body travel, as well as generate manifestation energy.” She took out another box, opened it. A small clear crystal orb about the size of an orange nestled on black felt.

“This is what the necklaces we wear are made out of. Crystal quartz, which is the basic stone of all magic. It can be used as the amplifier of other stone energies. It also enhances psychic ability.”

Addison reached for the stone around her neck. “Hot damn! That’s why we can do what we can do, right?”

Tessa nodded and picked up yet a third box. Opening it, she revealed a variety of gemstones and other crystals. “These stones each have a magical property. Using them can help enhance our own inherited abilities, which we use as shifters to adapt from land to water. It’s the power we were all born with as Mer.”

Thrusting her hands out in front of her body, Gwen staunchly shook her head. “Oh, no, no! I refuse to mess with that shit.”

Tessa looked at her middle sister. “I happen to know you have a very strong talent with this so-called shit, Gwen.”

Kenneth picked up one of the random stones, balancing it between thumb and forefinger. “How can a stone be magic?”

Jake scratched his chin. “I suspect it would be in the psi-kinetics, an ability all of us seem to have been born with but few can use.”

Kenneth put the stone down. “You just flew over my head with that one.”

Having an insider’s edge, Jake chuckled wryly. “Try the ability to move things with just a thought. Energy is all around us, and using crystals is one of the ways to tap into that power. What we call magic, the Mers would actually call science.”

Kenneth’s brows shot up. He looked at Tessa, all wonder and surprise. “You can do that?”

Tessa sighed. “I can, in a limited fashion. So can Addison. Gwen’s the best at it, though. She can really get things to jumping when she sets her mind to it.”

Gwen stepped away from the hidden recess. “No, don’t get me started. I don’t do that shit, you hear me.”

Tessa looked at her younger sister, so obviously frightened and upset by the day’s revelations. “It’s a part of what we are, Gwen, a part of our power as Mer.”

“And it’s something Mom warned us to be careful with,” Gwen shot back. “The first thing we learned was not to embrace our inner selves, the darker side of our minds.”

Jake looked into the recess. “You said you recognized the artifact upstairs.”

Tessa retrieved a larger piece. “This is it,” she said, tugging at the silky material cushioning the object. “Except its whole. There were so many pieces missing on the other that I almost didn’t make the connection.” The wrapping fell away to reveal the complete relic, a glorious piece fashioned of gold and studded with several semiprecious stones.

Jake’s blue eyes glittered with greed. “Jesus, it’s in pristine condition.”

Tessa lifted her brows. “And it’s deadly as hell.”

It was Jake’s turn to look surprised. “Deadly?”

Tessa slipped her arm through the spirals. A bar halted her hand’s progress. Her fingers curled around the grip. A large clear-cut stone rested across the top of her knuckles. Other, smaller stones were woven into the gold braid.

Jake’s face immediately paled. His eyes narrowed, and the fine lines around his mouth tightened. “Holy Christ, that’s not a—” he started to say, ratcheting to his feet. Fear made his voice an octave higher than normal.

Catching Jake’s worry, Kenneth also looked more than a little alarmed. “What is that thing?”

Tessa couldn’t help grinning. She liked seeing Jake scared shitless. Kenneth Randall had only just walked into the world of the Mer, so he had no idea of what she could do. Jake had a little more experience. Which was probably the reason he’d cut and left town as soon as possible. Simply put, he wasn’t taking any chances.

“Mom said it’s called a
Ri’kah
,” she explained, identifying the deceptively designed, jewel-encrusted gauntlet. “In the old days it’s how we defended ourselves.”

Stretching her arm straight out in front of her, she closed her eyes and centered her energy. All she needed was one tiny little spark to activate the thing. Catching a glimmer in her mind’s eye, she concentrated, pushing the force outward. For a moment sound and light fused, filling and engulfing her with a pulsing, bright static energy.

Feeling heat rise up from inside her, Tessa growled a soft spell, channeling the force she’d whipped up in her mind into the stones. The crystals around her arm began to glow. Almost simultaneously a shot of pure red-hot light beamed from the crystal across her knuckle. It struck the far wall, blasting a small hole into the plaster. Like a Fourth of July firework, sparks showered in a thousand different directions.

Everyone could only stare, thunderstruck.

Addison was the first to break the silence. “Holy shit, I love that!” she said, close to dancing with delight. “How fucking awesome was that?” She headed toward Tessa. “I’ve got to try that thing.”

Frowning severely, Gwen cut her off. “Nobody’s going to be playing with it anymore. We don’t know what we’ve got there and it’s too damn dangerous.” She turned toward Tessa, pointing a threatening finger. “You’ve got no right to be playing around with things you don’t understand. Take it off. Right now.”

Though her initial instinct was to buck Gwen’s demands, Tessa decided caution was best. She’d only just begun to grasp the fundamentals of Mercraft. Right now a lot of it was pure guesswork. She could do some serious damage without intending to.

“You’re right,” she said, sliding the weapon off her arm. “I haven’t really gotten the hang of it yet.”