Seaborne (28 page)

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Authors: Katherine Irons

Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Fantasy, #Chick-Lit, #Mythology

BOOK: Seaborne

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And my beauty
, she thought desperately.
My beauty restored tenfold.
stored ten fold. done.”

“Done and done.”

Again the laughter rang out, bouncing off the stone walls and floor, seeping into her bones. She should have felt some regret, some lingering guilt for what she had just sworn to, but already the pain was easing. As she stared down, she could see her limbs taking shape again, feel the thick hair growing in her scalp.

“More beautiful than ever,” she crooned. She felt no guilt. What she’d done was necessary. In time, her son would thank her. How could it be otherwise? With Melqart’s blessing, Caddoc’s power would be limitless. He could have anything he wanted: food, jewels, women, men.

But then, the creak of hinges registered on her consciousness. The door to her cell swung open. She looked up at Melqart, questioning.

“What are you waiting for?” he asked. “Go, my precious. None will bar your way. None will even see you pass.”

“I can’t stay here? I can’t be the high queen over Atlantis?”

He laughed again. “Why would you remain here? Come away with me.”

He offered a cold hand, and with a sigh of understanding and, oddly, a deep sadness, Halimeda took it. “As you will, great lord. I am your servant in all things.”

Richard let the phone ring six times, seven. Justin had made it clear that he didn’t think Richard should call Claire yet, but he couldn’t help himself. He was being an overprotective father. He knew it. And he knew how stubborn his daughter was. As stubborn as her mother had been. He didn’t doubt Claire was sitting there staring at the phone, recognizing his cell number, and refusing to pick up. He let it ring three more times before giving up and glancing at his watch.

It was still daylight on the East Coast. Whenever Mrs. Godwin and her son were away, they always insisted that a nurse or one of the staff remained with Claire. And Justin would be there with her before the worst of the noreaster hit. If Claire had agreed to go to a hotel with him, they were probably talking to each other now.

“Richard? Are you joining us?”

“Coming.” He slid his cell phone back into his pocket. Claire was fine. Justin would see to her well-being. He’d always been too quick to try to protect her … with good reason. Her mother … He wouldn’t think of Nina, not now, not ever if he could help it. She wasn’t a part of Claire’s life and would never be.

He’d try to reach Claire by phone again later. He’d have to fly up to Maine when he got back. He’d rent a car and drive out to the house. Apologize and try to make amends.

But she had to realize how dear she was to him. She was all he had. The two of them had to stick together. They were both reasonable adults. He was capable of compromise, but Claire had to be the same. Once the breach was mended, he’d talk to her about Switzerland again. She wouldn’t have to fly to Europe alone. He’d take time off and go with her to talk to the physicians at the clinic.

They’d make a holiday of it: Geneva, Paris, perhaps even Florence. Claire loved Florence. When she was thirteen, she’d spent the better part of two hours sitting in front of the sculpture of David. She couldn’t turn down the opportunity to see it again with him.

“The car’s waiting downstairs,” his colleague said.

Richard told himself that he needed to stop worrying about his daughter and concentrate on this case. It wasn’t going well, and he’d been called in to make certain that the corporation received a favorable judgment. If he failed, his partners might begin to start hinting about his retirement. He had to prove to them that he was as sharp as ever.

With a sigh, he rose and followed the two other lawyers out of the conference room and down the hallway. He glanced at his watch again. Tomorrow, he thought. He’d try Claire again in the morning. She was always more forgiving after her morning coffee.

Justin cursed as the back wheel made a flop-flopping sound. He was in trouble. A lumber truck had nearly run him off the road on the last curve. Actually, it had run him off the road, and swerving off the edge and back on had obviously done damage to his rear right tire. Why did everything have to happen to him? Bad enough it was raining like Noah’s flood and he’d ruined his new shoes. Now he had to stand by the road and change a tire like some peasant. He had an auto club membership, but he didn’t want to call them for the repair. It was important that he not leave a traceable time line. No credit card statements, no one to remember seeing him tonight.

The tire took nearly a half hour. By the time he was finished, he was soaked to the skin. At least, he wasn’t far from Seaborne. He removed a second disposable cell phone from his briefcase and called the number he’d been given in San Francisco.

A woman with a Jersey City accent picked up. “Rita’s Hair and Nail Palace. This is Faye. Can I help you?”

“I’d like to order a Philly cheese steak with extra onions and cheese whiz.”

“You must have the wrong number, Mister. This is a hair salon.”

“No, I don’t have the wrong number. Is Dario there? He always takes my order.”

“Oh. You want Dario. Hold a minute. He used to have this number, but the phone company changed it. You want …” She gave another number with the same exchange.

He waited until she ended the call and then punched in the new number. A man answered, and Justin repeated his order for the Philly cheese steak. “I need that delivered right away,” he said, giving the hotel address, and the room number.

“You sure that’s correct?”

“Positively,” Justin assured him.

“You can depend on us. Service is our motto.”

“No mistakes, no mix-ups.”

“We don’t make mistakes.”

“Good.” He hated using hired talent. But professionals were worth the extra expense, and he could hardly be at both coasts at the same time. Carlos had vouched for the organization and for their integrity, and Carlos had been generally dependable.

Justin used the tire iron to pound the phone into tiny pieces before tossing it into what looked like a cow pasture. Then, using his personal cell, he made a call to Claire. She answered right away.

“Justin. Hi.”

“Sounds like you’re glad to hear my voice.” He mopped the water off his face with some napkins he’d snagged at the turnpike rest stop.

“You have no idea.” She gave a wry laugh. “The power’s out. We’ve got a generator, but the switch is on the first floor, in the utility room. I’m stuck on the second.”

“In the elevator?”

“No, luckily. But, technically, the elevator is my problem. It doesn’t run without electricity, so I can’t get downstairs. I’m in my bedroom, so there’s no immediate emergency.”

“That’s right, you’re alone, aren’t you?”

“I am. If I’d let Jackie come, she could have walked down the steps and hit the switch for the generator. But I wasn’t expecting a power outage.”

“Not the best decision you’ve ever made.”

“No,” she agreed. “I hate to say it, but this is one time I wish you were here.”

All the better
, Justin thought. He’d been prepared to off the nurse if she’d shown up unexpectedly. He’d had fantasies of raping her, but he was afraid she’d be old or ugly. Besides, there was too much chance of leaving DNA around with bodily contact. But since Claire was alone, it made his job easier. He tucked the wet napkins into a plastic bag. If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was an untidy car. “Is there a hint of sarcasm in your voice, Claire? Are you still harboring resentment over our last disagreement?”

“Should I be?”

“I’ve apologized. I acted like an ass. How many times do I need to say it?”

“You were an ass,” she agreed. How was it that talking to Justin could make her feel so much better? She was still alone in the house, still without electricity, but just hearing another voice banished the childish fears she’d been feeling. “You were deliberately trying to hurt me.”

“Guilty, but I was disappointed. I was beginning to like the idea of being a father. You know how I can be when I don’t get what I want.”

She sighed. “Don’t I just? Admit it, you were already mentally planning a world cruise with my money.”

“We could make it a honeymoon if you’ve changed your mind about marrying me,” he teased.

“No, afraid not, but I wouldn’t mind any human company right now.”

“So you admit I’m human?”

“Afraid so. Obnoxious, but human. Wish you were in Maine instead of the city.”

It was his turn to chuckle. “Coincidence. I’m not in New York. I’m about twenty miles from you. Your father called me and begged me to rescue you. He didn’t expect a power outage, but on the chance you wouldn’t sic that handyman of yours on me, I made reservations for us at that hotel you like in Bangor.”

“I don’t know about that, Justin. It sounds like a bad idea.”

“No. It’s a good idea. They have electricity and room service.”

“You haven’t reserved the honeymoon suite, I hope.”

He laughed. “Two adjoining rooms. Even Richard would approve. I’m coming for you, Claire.”

“I’ll be here.”

“Do you have any light at all?”

“Just a flashlight. Everything’s locked downstairs, but there a spare key under the birdbath by the drive. Just past the rose arbor.”

“I’ll find it.”

“You’re going to get wet.”

“You know, tonight, I doubt I’ll even notice. See you soon, Claire.”

CHAPTER 28

T
he elevator door opened and Richard stepped inside. The only other occupant, a pizza delivery boy carrying a large insulated pizza box, was standing in front of the control buttons. “Three, please,” Richard said.

The boy in the Chicago-Style Pizza T-shirt, cutoffs, and ball cap half turned to look at him and smiled. He wasn’t as young as Richard first thought, maybe mid-twenties, short and thin with a straggly goatee and a ponytail. Oddly enough, the kid was wearing thin leather gloves.

“Would you hit three?” Richard repeated.

“Three, it is,” the man said. And as Richard stared at him in horror, he removed a handgun with a silencer from the box, shoved the weapon against Richard’s chest and emptied three shots into his chest.

Richard felt nothing after the first bullet pierced his heart.

His assailant leaned down and removed Richard’s gold watch and a wallet before propping the body in the corner where it would be the least visible from the door. He hit the button for the basement. When the elevator came to a stop, Leo got out, carefully stepped around the pooled blood on the floor, and heaved Richard’s corpse to block the open door. He walked quickly away toward an exit without looking back. Just before he took a short flight of cement steps to the alley, Leo set fire to a pile of trash, smashed a fire box, and set off the alarm.

Chicago-Style Pizza tee, cutoff jeans, pizza container, ball cap, ponytail hairpiece, gun, and false goatee went into a bag for disposal in Dumpsters on the far side of the city. Underneath the shirt and blue jean shorts, Leo wore stretchy lime green shorts and a pink muscle shirt. He unlocked the chain holding his bike to a pole, jumped on, and pedaled away as the first sounds of fire sirens whined in the distance.

As Morgan approached the house, he was struck by the absence of lights. Always before, there had been outside artificial illumination when he’d come to Seaborne after dark. Usually, light shone through some of the windows, but this night there was nothing, not even the faint glow of an electrical appliance.

It had never occurred to him that he might come for Claire and she would be gone. He’d pictured her in his mind, waiting on the beach or sitting at her window. If she wasn’t at Seaborne, how would he find her? The land mass in North America was large, not nearly as vast as the water world, but too big for him to search for her. And what if she wasn’t on this continent? What if she’d traveled to Europe, even to Switzerland as her father had been urging her? How could he return to the court and tell them that his love had vanished? And what would the verdict be then?

But the power systems that humans used were puny and subject to failure. Perhaps the lightning or an automobile accident had cut off the electricity. He hoped that was what had happened. Lightning sometimes struck ships and destroyed them. He imagined that the force of this storm was enough to wipe out whole electrical grids.

Ignoring the wind and the sheets of rain, he climbed the house to Claire’s balcony. Surprisingly, it was more difficult than he’d expected. He’d accumulated far more time out of the water in the last two months than was wise. Breathing air and maintaining the illusion that he was human put a tremendous strain on his body system. It both weakened and temporarily aged him. But this was the last time he’d have to leave the sea, this one time, and then never again.

“Be there, Claire,” he murmured under his breath. “Be there waiting for me.”

As he pulled himself over the railing, he could see what a mess the storm had made of the area. Chairs and planters were overturned, and flowers and dirt were spewed across the deck. He went to the French doors and peered into the room. All was dark inside. He couldn’t see anything. No music played, no television beamed pictures for Claire’s pleasure.

Lightning flashed behind him, and Claire screamed.

“Shh, shh,” he called. “It’s me. Morgan. Don’t be frightened. It’s just me.” He couldn’t wait. He turned the knob and threw his shoulder against door. Something snapped, and Morgan half fell, half vaulted into the bedroom.

“Morgan! Morgan!” Claire was laughing and crying all at the same time. She rolled her wheelchair toward him, and he bent and embraced her. “Let me out,” she ordered. “Get me out of this.”

Heart slamming against his chest, he unstrapped the belt and picked her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses as he carried her to the bed.

“Where have you been?” she cried. “Why didn’t you come?”

In answer, he pressed his mouth to hers and kissed her passionately. “I’m here now,” he said breathlessly when they finally broke the embrace. “I wanted to be here with you, but I couldn’t. I’ll explain it all to you when there’s more time.”

How warm she felt, how alive! Love for this fragile woman seeped through his blood and bones. How precious she was to him. How lucky he was to have her. “By Zeus’s cod, I missed you,” he said.

“Are you real? I couldn’t bear it if you aren’t real.” She grabbed handfuls of his hair and pulled his head down to kiss him again and again.

Hope soared in his chest. She loved him. It was more than sexual attraction, more than a quick summer romance. She really loved him. At least, he hoped she did.

He sat on the bed and cradled her in his arms. “We need to talk,” he said. “Serious talk.”

“Are you leaving me again?”

“Never.”

“All right.” She sighed and laid her head on his chest. “What are we going to talk about? Oh, your brother for one. He’s been haunting me. At least, I think he has. Someone has, and it looked a lot like Alex.”

“Alex was here?”

She made a sound that might have been laughter. “I think it was Alex. He appeared—well, part of him appeared in my breakfast room, just before the tree came through the roof.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is you’re here, and we’re together.” She caught his hand and kissed the backs of his knuckles, and then turned it over to nuzzle his palm. “Don’t leave me again, Morgan. Please. I couldn’t stand it if you—”

“You asked me before if you were dreaming,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “Did it seem like a dream?”

“Yes, no … I don’t know. How could it not be? You took me under the ocean. I can’t breathe beneath the water. You showed me sunken ships and flying rays and magic caves and … So many wonderful things. It couldn’t be true.”

“It is true,” he said, kissing her again. “Night after night you came with me into my world. We fell in love, and I realized that I don’t want to live without you.”

“If that’s true, take me back. I
want
to go with you. I want to go with you. You can take me to hell for all I care, so long as you’re there and you’ll never leave me.”

“Shh, shh.” He pressed his fingers to her mouth. “Don’t say that. Never say that. Your hell … my Hades is an evil place.” He shook his head. “Not even as a joke.”

“If this isn’t a dream, I don’t understand,” she answered softly. “How is it possible? Who are you? What are you?”

“A man who loves you, who wants you to become his wife.”

“For real?” She grasped his head between her two hands. “Do you love me?

“Yes, I do.”

“Then, yes, I’ll marry you. And yes, I’ll go with you. Into the sea or into a catfish pond or anywhere you want. You mean everything to me, Morgan. More than my life, that’s how much I love you.”

He held her tight against him, cradling her, rocking her as he kissed her hair. “Claire … Claire.”

“As long as you’re not some kind of vampire or a werewolf or a serial killer.”

“Vampires can’t swim. You’re safe from them in the water.”

She giggled. “I’ll keep that in mind. So that leaves werewolf or serial killer.”

“Neither one, I swear. And my oath is my bond. I’m a prince, Claire.”

“I knew that from the first time I kissed you.” She chuckled again. “And I should know. I’ve kissed a lot of frogs. I was married to one, once.”

He sat her on his lap and kissed her forehead tenderly. “Seriously. I want you for my wife, but if you come with me into the sea, it’s forever. We can’t come back.”

He felt her shoulders stiffen. “You mean that? I couldn’t ever come back to Seaborne. I couldn’t see my father? Never?”

“I wish it could be different, but we only have a little time. It’s now or never, Claire. Either you come with me tonight—now, or I can never see you again.”

“You really, really want to marry me—like this, like I am. Crippled?”

He laughed. “You won’t be. Once you’re in the ocean, everything will be all right. You were whole before, weren’t you? Or don’t you remember?”

“I remember everything,” she said. “Our lovemaking, the shaman, the valley, even the fruit your brother gave me that—”

“Wabi? He gave you wabi? I’ll kill him.”

She laughed. “You almost had reason to. I think I was tempted.”

“Wabi does that to women.”

“Only women?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never felt the need to try it.”

“I didn’t
feel the need
, as you put it. Alex tricked me.”

“We’ll deal with him later.” He could feel the weight of the earth pulling him down, robbing him of his strength. “We don’t have much time, Claire. Will you be my bride, come with me to a far country, and pledge your love to me for all eternity?”

“I will,” she answered. “Did you ever have any doubt?”

“Some.” He chuckled. “We have to hurry. There’s not much time.”

“All right. I trust you, Morgan. But if you are a werewolf and you’re going to bite my throat—”

“I don’t have to be a werewolf to nibble that pretty neck, and other tasty parts,” he teased.

“Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to wow me with a two-carat ring?”

“You’ll have a ring,” he promised, “more rings than you have fingers and toes. I’m going to make you a princess.”

She sighed. “If this is a dream, it’s the best one yet.”

“No dreams, and no regrets. Are you sure?”

“As certain as sunrise,” she said. “Girl Scout honor.”

Outside, the rain and wind still beat against the house, but it meant nothing to Morgan. He had what he wanted in his arms.

Justin used his key and a flashlight to enter through the utility room and throw the switch that activated the generator. The motor clicked and hummed before roaring into action. Lights, freezers, refrigerators, and other conveniences came alive. Justin took the back staircase. He wanted to surprise Claire, and a burglar wouldn’t be likely to use an elevator in this house.

He was excited. What he had to do here were only the final steps in his well-thought-out plan. He’d considered doing away with Claire before her accident, but afterwards, he’d imagined it would only be a matter of time before she succumbed to her medical condition. When she’d stubbornly refused to die, he’d asked her to remarry him. And when that hadn’t worked out, he’d come to the reasonable conclusion that he had to take matters into his own hands.

The will they’d made before they were married years ago, making each other sole beneficiaries of the other’s estate, had been of great help to the expert forger whose services he’d hired. With both Richard and Claire dead, who would contest the new one? He’d even purchased an engagement ring to substantiate his story that they’d decided to remarry. The ring wouldn’t be on Claire’s cold finger though—obviously the intruder would have stolen that after he’d killed her.

Justin’s wet shoes made squishing sounds on the carpet as he climbed the curving staircase. At first, he’d intended on strangling her, but he’d play it by ear. He’d take no chances. He pulled the gun from his inside coat pocket and clicked off the safety.

As he reached the top landing, he heard voices, Claire’s and another’s that he was unfamiliar with, definitely male. Another twist, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Justin prided himself on being a man who could think on his feet. He simply tucked the gun under his jacket.

“Claire!” he called. “Are you all right?”

“Justin? I forgot you were—”

A stranger stood in her bedroom doorway, Claire in his arms. They appeared to be quite cozy with each other, and Justin wondered if he’d interrupted a lover’s tryst. Kinky, he thought, and he eyed the man suspiciously. He was big and blond and way too good looking to be interested in Claire unless he was after her money.

“I thought you said you were alone.”

“Justin?” Claire’s eyes widened as she saw him in the hallway.

“What is this?” Justin asked.

“It’s all right,” she said. “It’s not what … This is Morgan.”

“I’ve heard about you,” Justin replied as he moved to block the doorway. “Put her down. Now.”

Claire felt Morgan’s muscles tense. “We have to go now.” Morgan’s voice had a steely note. “No time for introductions.”