She shivered.
They tried to kill him
, she reminded herself.
That doesn’t exactly make us seem friendly.
An idea occurred. “That’s what we need to do. Get behind them.” She looked to Tessa. “You said when you were in the undersea chamber that you’d teleported Kenneth and Jake down. Think we could do it again?”
Tessa snorted. “Sure, if you happen to have a wall-to-wall row of labradorite pillars in your back pocket there. It takes a hell of a lot of energy to move a human being.”
Whittaker looked at the sisters. “You can teleport things?”
Another blast hit the door, hastening Tessa’s explanation. “It was an accident. Alone, a Mer doesn’t have enough energy to move more than small things from place to place. Even if we had the extra crystals to draw off, it might not be enough to make a complete jump to a new location. You could end up halfway through a wall or something.”
Addison joined the fray. “What if we pooled our energy?” she suggested. “I’ve been practicing my Mercraft and I’m getting pretty good at hitting the mark.”
“You could use me as a battery,” Kenneth volunteered.
Tessa shook her head. “We’re not using the
D’ema
. That almost killed you last time.”
“What’s D’ema?” Whittaker asked.
Gwen’s jaw tightened. “It’s the death magic. The human body carries many of the same minerals crystals do, and just like we can suck the energy out of crystals and convert it, we can also take it out of a person.”
Whittaker quickly connected the dots. “You lose too many minerals and you die.”
Gwen didn’t blink. “Call it black magic, the deadlier side of our abilities.”
Another blast hit. Instead of striking the steel door, it smacked the concrete around its frame, delivering a solid blow. A chunk the size of a Frisbee broke away and hit the floor. It shattered into tiny little pieces.
“We need a plan here, and quick,” Whittaker warned. “If you can get me behind them, put me there. If I can knock a couple out while you keep them occupied from the front, it’s the best chance we’ve got.”
Although she’d always denied the fact, there was one thing Gwen knew about herself no one else on the face of this earth did. Her Mercraft was strong, stronger than she’d care to admit. Where her sisters had to concentrate to make a connection, she didn’t. She needed only to flick an eyebrow to move an object. A snap of her fingers would destroy it.
While Tessa was capable enough, Addison was still the weak link. As the youngest, she was still searching for control over her abilities. Once she matured, Addison would surely surpass both her older sisters, easily and without question.
But her time hadn’t come yet.
I’m going to have to do this,
she thought. And it scared the living bejesus out of her. Not because she didn’t know how to control it, but because she did.
When she was a small child, her mother had taken her aside and warned her to be careful with the gift brewing inside her. Gwen, her mother had told her, was different. She struggled with her identity and it tormented her. The Mer in her wanted to come out and wouldn’t be denied.
It was a battle she fought every day of her life. The best she could do was keep a leash and a muzzle on the dark, black entity. For the most part, she succeeded.
But the Mer inside was always there, straining to break free.
Gwen had vowed never to use her power against anyone, but now she had no choice. It was a matter of life and death and their time was running out. She had to protect her kindred, no matter the cost. Given a few more heated blasts, that door would buckle like a plate-glass window hit by a semitruck.
A massacre was sure to follow.
A nervous sweat trickled down Gwen’s spine, but she ignored the discomfort. Her nerves were already on edge. Overthink her plan now and she’d lose it.
“You and Addison pull from Ken,” she ordered Tessa. “Then link to me. Pulling from you three, I should be able to get me and Whittaker out of the basement.”
Tessa’s brows rose in surprise. “Both of you?” she spluttered. “We could maybe transport one, but two—no way.”
Gwen fixed her sister with a level stare. “Right now we really haven’t got a lot of choices,” she warned in a low voice that brooked no argument. “We’d better try it before they think of the same thing.”
“It’s risky, Gwen,” Tessa warned. “Do you even know what you have in mind?”
Gwen stared directly into her sister’s eyes. She refused to be intimidated or talked out of the notion simply because it was dangerous. If anyone was going to take the risk, she’d be the one to do it.
“Just trust me and do what I say.”
It was the strangest thing Blake had ever seen in his life. He’d seen people panic in the face of an emergency, but he’d never seen them sit down.
He watched as Addison, Tessa, and Kenneth positioned themselves on the floor. Kenneth sat cross-legged, hands resting on his knees like some kind of guru. He blew out a nervous breath. “Oh, man. This isn’t going to be easy.”
Tessa knelt to his left. “Addison and I will carry as much as we can.”
Addison settled down on his right side. “I’m not sure I can do this, Tess. I’ve never done D’ema before.” She spoke in a slightly strained voice. The remarkable calm she’d shown in the face of the attack seemed to be wavering. “I’ve only taken energy out of crystals.”
Tessa made a motion. “I’ll pull the energy from Ken, then push to you. You double it and push to Gwen. After that, she’s on her own.”
Gwen nodded. “Just get me a boost. I’ll do the rest.”
“This might not work,” Tessa warned.
“It’ll work.”
Though he wasn’t sure what would happen, Blake hoped whatever they had in mind would come off without a hitch. That mention Addison had made about materializing inside of a wall didn’t exactly sound appealing.
Think of it this way,
came the whisper in the back of his mind.
You’re actually getting to see an alien life force in action.
It wasn’t the most comforting thought he could have had. The only thing he knew—or thought he knew—about mermaids was that they had tails and swam. Some lore even had them singing songs so alluring that sailors would drive their ships aground.
He frowned.
And then they drown the crew
.
Blake glanced toward Gwen. Gone was the uncertainty and discomfort she’d earlier displayed. Like a businesswoman making a company decision, she’d taken control and was calling the shots. That alone intensified his attraction tenfold.
Looking at her, he felt his heart clutch behind his rib cage. She was brave, beautiful, and totally awesome.
Yet even as he admired her, his guts twisted. If Gwen and her sisters could really do what they claimed, the implications spoke volumes. No doubt the A51-ASD scientists would classify them as a level five, the most dangerous of aliens thus far encountered. Most aliens held in cold storage were classified as level three at most.
He frowned. And that was because they were deceased. Cadavers, even alien ones, usually didn’t present too much of a problem.
Blake recoiled from the gruesome notion. He didn’t want to think about what would happen to Gwen and her sisters once the sciences division pulled them into custody.
And they would.
Because it was his job to turn the Mer over.
Blake wiped a hand across his clammy brow. His tongue passed over papery lips. Shit. “Just do what you have to.” The words slipped out before he could check them. This situation was going to get worse before it got better. He had no choice but to play it through to the end.
Gwen mistook his words of self-reproach for encouragement. “Everybody link up,” she ordered.
Tessa put one hand on her husband’s face. “Press your fingers to his temple, Addie,” she instructed, showing her sister the correct touch.
Addison followed the instructions. “I’ll try not to hurt you,” she told Kenneth.
Kenneth drew a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Been through this before.” He winced. “Hurts like hell, but I’ll survive.”
Tessa held out her hand toward Gwen. “Your turn.”
Addison offered hers. “Let’s do this.”
Gwen glanced over her shoulder to Whittaker. “Grab on to me and hold tight.”
Shoving the tranq gun in the holster his service weapon had previously occupied, Blake moved up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.
Gwen pressed back against him. “Hang on tight and don’t let go,” she breathed. “Focus your energy, girls. Push it out and let us have it.”
At first Blake felt nothing.
Then it happened. A pressure pushing against his skin, like the beginning of a ferocious wind. The surface of his skin began to heat up, bringing with it a tight, prickling feeling. The sensation spread over his body like a layer of plastic cling wrap.
And then it started to burn.
Kenneth groaned. “Oh, God, that hurts . . .” His voice trailed off in a long, low moan of agony.
Although his instinct was to immediately push away from Gwen, Blake held on, forcing himself to tighten his grip on her body. A crazy mix of fear and anticipation coursed through him.
Gwen stiffened beneath his hold, writhing against him in discomfort. A cry broke from her lips. “Push harder, girls. I need more.”
Another red-hot wave of heat rolled over Blake’s body. Molten claws of energy latched onto his skin, clutching through his flesh to connect with bone. His heart thudded fast and hard, barreling painfully against his rib cage.
Blake’s chest seized as he sucked in a lungful of air. He threw back his head to cry out, but there was no way his scream could pass through clenched teeth. A cold, damp sweat rose on his skin. The heat was beginning to turn to ice. He trembled under the onslaught of arctic sensations. For a moment he half expected his blood to freeze in his veins.
It was Gwen who cried out in a heroic push. Her cry echoed throughout the small room, crashing against the walls. A white-hot flash blasted out of nowhere, heading toward them at supersonic speed.
Blake barely had time to flinch and shut his eyes before the explosion hit. Every nerve in his body went haywire, his senses temporarily short-circuiting. The floor beneath his feet vanished.
Then everything went pitch-black.
The tumble through darkness was brief and abrupt.
Blake landed hard. Stumbling forward, he fell, landing on his hands and knees. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to block the dizzying vibrations flowing along every nerve ending. It didn’t work. His stomach lurched, sending a wave of acid up his throat. He heaved, gagging as the taste of bitter coffee rolled past his lips.
Head spinning in all directions, Blake struggled to climb to his feet. His movements were clumsy, like those of a man who’d had way too much alcohol. He felt numb and strangely detached, as if every molecule in his being had been ripped into tiny little pieces. His veins throbbed beneath his skin.
Vision focusing, he searched for and found Gwen. She stood a few feet away. Hands pressed against her stomach, her face was dead white. Mouth open, she was gulping in great breaths of air.
Blake drew in a breath of head-clearing oxygen. The fuzziness lingering around the edges of his brain began to fade. “I never want to do that again,” he gasped. His limbs still trembled like an aged and elderly man, but at least he could control them.
Gwen nodded, pressing her hands against her face. “I feel like I’ve just been run through a shredder.”
A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. That pretty much summed it up. He decided to stick to conventional transportation methods from now on.
Summoning his strength, Blake glanced around. “Wow.” A low whistle broke from his throat. “We’re outside.”
Gwen’s hands dropped. “I didn’t mean to take us this far.” They’d traveled at least five hundred feet, maybe more.
Struggling to regain his balance, Blake forced back the unpleasant feelings. Pushing his body past its endurance was part of an agent’s training. Now was no time to crumble under the strain.
He reached for the tranq gun. “Better get back inside.” He eyed Gwen. “You can stay here if you want.”
Gritting her teeth, she shook her head. “No. Let’s go get those bitches.”
They hurried toward the house. The back door didn’t exist anymore. Neither did a lot of the house. The entire bottom floor was in ruins, furniture overturned, walls blasted down to the bare frame. The hostile Mer had come through with the destructive efficiency of a tornado hitting ground. Nothing in their path was spared.
The sound of concrete crumbling issued up from the basement. A woman’s scream of pain tore through the air.
Without considering any real plan for his actions, Blake whipped down the stairs with Gwen nipping at his heels. The basement was narrow, poorly lit.
Gun at the ready, he skidded to a halt, searching the scene.
Holy shit!
Part of the rear wall was gone, door and all.
One of the strangely dressed Mer lay amid the rubble. Her body was contorted and it took Blake a second to realize she’d literally been cut in half. Tessa had a Ri’kah and she’d used it with cold efficiency.
It hadn’t been enough, though.
The safe room had been invaded.
Blake caught a glimpse inside the chaos.
Tessa struggled between two of the Mer holding her, whipping back and forth in an attempt to keep them from subduing her. Curses and threats punctuated her efforts.
Blake had to give her credit. She was doing a stellar job of giving her captors hell.
He eased a little closer.
Kenneth lay nearby. Whether he was unconscious or dead, Blake couldn’t tell for sure.
Addison had the worst of it. Back against the wall, her hands were raised in a futile attempt to ward off the death strike one of the hostile Mers was preparing to deliver. At that distance there was no way her would-be assassin could miss her target. She raised her Ri’kah and prepared to deliver the fatal strike.