Chapter Eleven

Noah sat by Ethney’s bed. She looked so peaceful when she slept, like she didn’t have a care in the world. The comforter was tucked up under her chin and her arms lay above the bedding allowing him to have a full view of her magnificent mermaid mark; it really was a true likeness. It was too bad she was injured and he didn’t truly get to appreciate the full force of her power.

Daire assured him she would heal on her own, like she had a few days ago, and recover in a few hours time. All the wounds were gone, as if they never even happened. It was only a matter of her waking up now.

As if she knew exactly what he was thinking, her eyes fluttered before blinking open. She gasped and twisted, only subduing when her eyes landed on him.

“What happened?”

“You were shot multiple times. If you weren’t you, you’d be dead,” he said. When he saw multiple bullet holes riddling her body he freaked out; any human would be dead from the impact. She would’ve been ripped from his life in just a blink of an eye. Thank God she was something more than human.

“I know. How is Claire? Are the rest of the girls okay? Did they find Aric?” she asked as she fought to sit up, her body trembling from exertion.

Noah reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. “Careful. Just because you heal fast doesn’t mean you’re ready to move around.”  He removed his hand when she gave him a scathing look. “All of the girls and the others from the Keys are okay. Elena is drawing blood and doing a full workup on everyone. Aric’s pretty banged up, but he is resting in a room down the hall. Daire is with him.”

“Has Elena found anything yet?” Ethney asked.

He shook his head. “She’s only been at it for a few hours. It’s going to take her some time just to get everyone’s blood and put everything together.” He looked away from her and sighed. “I’m worried she isn’t going to have enough time. She’s only one person and there is a lot of data to look over.”

“What about the others? Brockwell’s men? What did your team do with them? Did they take them to the black ops facility? They need to be eliminated.” She shoved the covers back and swung her legs over, as if she were going to get out of bed.

He put his hand on her knee to keep her in place. She wasn’t going to like the answer and she was in no condition to go storming out. He was hoping she wouldn’t think to ask. He already had his ass chewed out from Daire. “They are holding them at a compound outside of town. I’ve told them everything I know about their condition. My friend Mick assured me he’d do what he could.”

“Don’t tell me they want them to go through legal channels,” she said. Her feet hit the floor and she tried to stand, but collapsed back to the bed.

“Take it easy. You just woke up,” he said holding his hand up. She narrowed her eyes at him and he hoped by answering her question it would keep her in place, at least for the time being. “Not necessarily. This mission is off the books, but it’s not my call about what happens to them.”

Ethney ground her teeth together. “At least Brockwell is gone.”

“We haven’t found his body,” Noah told her quietly. Divers searched for his remains, but came up empty-handed. He couldn’t let his guard down until he had the undeniable proof that bastard was dead.

Ethney moved so she was sitting up with her back resting against the headboard. She put her feet back on the bed and drew them into her chest. “He’s dead. I dragged him under until he stopped breathing. There’s no way he survived. Trust me.”

“You killed him?” Noah asked. He saw her take him down, but then she resurfaced injured. It was a miracle she saved Claire, let alone killed Brockwell, too. Had she held onto him that whole time? Where was he? Without a body they couldn’t be sure the monster was truly dead.

She shook her head. “I didn’t have a choice. That man has hurt so many people. Look what he did to you—to your family. He couldn’t be allowed to live. There is no way he can be rehabbed or whatever you want to call it. The ones already changed are too far gone.”

“I know you didn’t have another choice. I’m glad you took care of him. He doesn’t deserve to share the same air as the rest of us.” It was the truth; the world was a better place without Brockwell in it.

“Drowning is one of the worst ways you can die. You’re aware the whole time and your body fights it until it can’t anymore,” Ethney stated, her voice barely above a whisper. “That’s how my children died. That’s why I chose to become a mermaid, so I’d never have to experience that terror ever again.”

“Your children drowned?” Noah asked, surprised she was being so honest with him. Until now, she’d been trying desperately to push him away.

Ethney nodded. “My father was beheaded right away because they knew he would never talk. They thought I knew stuff and they used my children as leverage to get me to talk; only I didn’t know anything. They held them under one at a time in an effort to get me to talk. If I’d known anything I would’ve told them. If I’d been stronger I would’ve killed the men myself, but I couldn’t and I had to watch them thrash in the water until their bodies were lifeless.”

“I can’t begin to imagine.” He really couldn’t; he saw some fucked up shit in his time overseas, but to have someone you trusted do that to you was a whole new level of scary.

Ethney blinked and a stony mask crept over her face taking the insecurity with it. “You need to speak with your superiors. Those lycanthrope will turn on them. On the full moon their howls will call to anyone in the facility. Spellbound, the rangers will release them and then our problem will be so much worse. Can you imagine an army of military trained lycanthrope? If you think Brockwell was bad, imagine what your comrades could do—what you could do.”

He had experience dealing with power hungry infidels and they were crazy enough, but military trained men and women with extra human strength and speed losing their mind would be a catastrophe.

“If they don’t exterminate them, I’ll help you do it.”

“Good.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “It will have to be before the full moon or you’ll be just as far gone as them.”

“Elena is going to come through for us.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “How can you be so positive?”

Noah reached out and took her hand. She let him, though her eyes never strayed from their joined hands. “Because I have to have hope. Without hope, what’s the point of living?”

She grimaced as if his words touched her. It suddenly dawned on him she probably gave up on hope; she survived so long through so much evil she was jaded. He saw it in his line of work before; the evilness of the world could harm even the most beautiful souls.

“When I pull through this, I’m going to take you on a date,” he said with a smile.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I never do.” He silently hoped this wouldn’t be the first one. Elena was the most intelligent and accomplished doctor in her field—she was going to find a cure.

“Why are you doing this, Noah? If you live through this, why not find someone else who isn’t honor bound to kill you? Surely there are nice, normal women in the world.”

She rolled her eyes and looked away, but he stopped her by tucking his thumb under her chin and gently turning her face back to his. “There are plenty of good women in the world, but if Elena is successful, you won’t be honor bound to kill me and I’ll be like you.”

“No. You’ll be a human. Big difference.”

He laughed out loud. “You’re right. But you won’t have to kill me.”

She offered him a small smile. “That might be, but you’ll still be mortal and tied to the same life span as a human. I’m immortal. It just wouldn’t work.”

“But Daire—”

“Was a special case. I doubt Astraea is going to be making any other deals. It’s been six months and she still can’t find a replacement for Daire. Besides, Grace is his soulmate, the reincarnation of his wife, his one true love.” She clucked her tongue and closed her eyes, letting her head fall back on the headboard.

“I didn’t know soulmates actually existed,” Noah said.

“Neither did I until a few months ago.”

“How do you know when you find your soulmate?” he wondered out loud. Was there some type of sign, magic, a spark, a yearning to be with that person—to touch them and soothe away their troubles? He’d really like to know because he felt all those things for the beauty before him. Was it just lust or was there something more going on?

“I don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders feeling deflated.

Maybe he’d have to ask Daire about it later. That was assuming the guardian would talk to him. After the earful from earlier, it was clear Daire wasn’t too fond of him—not that Noah could blame him. His group hadn’t held up their end of the deal; the lycanthrope must be neutralized. He just needed to convince his superiors, which was easier said than done.