“This island,” she said, “and the people who live here are all connected. If they die, she dies. No more water. It’s in your best interest to let this doctor try to help them.”
A gunshot echoed off in the distance, jolting Liv in her skin.
The man smiled sadistically. “Better hurry. I think one of your patients just bit the bullet.”
Oh no. These guys were going to pick off the mermen in their bungalows one by one.
Another gunshot rang through the air off in the distance.
“Another one bites the dust.” The man smiled.
“Fine, Freddie Mercury,” Liv blurted out. “I’ll take you.”
The man gave her a strange, irritated look.
Not a Queen fan, huh?
He looked back at his men. “One of you start going through the cargo hold and see what’s down there. We’ll be setting up camp here, so we’ll be needing any supplies they brought. And kill these people if I’m not back in an hour.” He turned his attention to Liv. “Lead the way.”
With a gun to her back, Liv glanced over her shoulder and gave Dana a comforting smile. How the hell had she ended up on the plane?
It was as if the island had carefully orchestrated this entire event, like a tragic Shakespearean play. Maybe the island wanted revenge on those who’d wronged or disobeyed her, so she’d brought these depraved criminals to torture and kill everyone. But then why had the island made a deal with her? The island asked for her life in return for the water to save the men. And why the hell would the island tell this man about the place, but not tell him where to find the water? I mean, why stop at just leading him to the shore?
They were being played and manipulated. There was no doubt.
“Move it, lady,” the bald man said.
Liv looked up at the sky—just for a moment—praying for strength and some help. She noticed the sun just coming up. This would make it harder for her to get away and warn everyone. But Amelia knew the plane was here. Maybe she saw the men.
“I said move!” The bald man turned his gun around and hit Liv between the shoulder blades, causing her to stumble her way down the stairs.
Wow. I didn’t think there could be anything worse than mermen. But for all of their vile, archaic, and ruthless ways, at least they behaved according to some rules. They believed that their natural advantages—strength, looks, endurance, and the natural attraction women had for them—were fair play, like a tiger had a right to use its teeth and claws. Yes, that made them opportunistic assholes. But these men were a completely different breed. Monsters. They lived by no codes, they didn’t care about anything but their own greed, and they were the sort of men who preyed on the weak. Working in a battered women’s shelter had taught her to spot them a mile away.
There would be no persuading them to leave or behave reasonably. She got that now.
“You touch me again,” she growled, “and I’ll personally feed you to the maids.”
He laughed. “And the butlers, too? How about the chauffeur?”
“I’m talking about those creatures on the beach,” Liv clarified.
The man laughed. “Yes, those little hermit crabs were scary. Now move your ass,” the man said, “or I’ll shoot you in the stomach so you die slowly.”
They hadn’t seen the maids? Strange.
Without a word, she turned toward the Great Hall, and it suddenly dawned on her. If Amelia got away, she would go straight to Roen. And Roen would come running, too weak to fight and definitely outnumbered. There were over a hundred of these assholes somewhere on the island.
Shit. She had to do something. Quickly. This was going to be up to her to settle.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Where the fuck is the water?” The bald man slapped Liv across the cheek, sending her flying onto the cold stone floor of the Great Hall.
Liv wiped the blood off her mouth with the back of her hand. Asshole! “I told you,” she said, “the island is sick. There is no more water.” These men would see no reason to let anyone live once they had what they wanted, so she wasn’t about to tell them jack.
He picked her up by the collar of her T-shirt and slapped her again. She flew back, nearly hitting the carved wood throne. Motherfucker.
Leaning forward on both hands, trying to stop the room from spinning, Liv opened her eyes and that was when she noticed a rusty machete lying underneath the chair. Oh my God. It was just one reach away. But if she rushed this guy, he could easily stop her.
Get him closer, Liv. If she could surprise him, she could land a blow.
She twisted her body onto her butt with her legs straight out and her arms extended behind her. Her right hand was now only a foot from the machete. “Well, since you seem to want me on the floor, I’ll just stay here.”
The rage in the man’s face was nothing shy of lethal. “You said you’d take me to the water,” he growled.
“This is where the water comes out. But we have an island full of sick men. Don’t you think that would be different if we had the water?”
The man’s eyes shifted a bit. He wasn’t a smart one, but that was usually the case for men who beat women—they used their muscles because their brains were too small to get what they wanted any other way.
Liv looked up at him. “If you think hitting me some more will do any good, be my guest. But if you want water, you’ll have to talk to the island.”
The man approached and squatted in front of her but was too far for her to make a move and not have him see it coming. Get closer, asshole.
“Oh no,” she taunted, “what’s the matter? Island doesn’t want to tell you? I bet your men think you’re an idiot. I bet you promised them they’d be millionaires if they just trusted you. You’re all a bunch of fucking idiots.”
Another gunshot went off somewhere just outside.
The man looked away for a split second, and Liv took her chance, gripping the machete and lunging. She struck him in the shoulder, and he fell back, wailing. She raised the machete and struck him again at the base of his neck. Blood came from the wound as he screamed and pointed his gun at her. She quickly swung again, hitting him in the arm. The gun skidded across the floor.
The man hacked and moaned for all of ten seconds before his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Liv stood there panting, staring down at him as he stopped breathing.
She wanted to retch. It was the bloodiest thing she’d ever seen. This world of theirs, this island, had turned her into a savage just like the mermen. The only difference being that she was fighting for the people she loved, not for Crazy Dirt.
Oh, shit! Dana!
Liv grabbed the gun on the floor and threw the strap over her shoulder, rushing from the Great Hall. She stopped for a moment as the trail forked—one way led to Roen’s, the other back through the forest and to the plane.
Roen was in no condition to help, but maybe some of the other men were in better shape. They hadn’t been injured like Roen.
“Liv! Liv!” From the direction of Roen’s house, Amelia came running down the hill between a stand of dead, orangish brown pine trees, slipping on fallen pine needles.
“Be quiet,” Liv hissed.
Panting, Amelia stopped right in front of Liv, doubling over. “Roen went off to the plane to help you.”
Oh no. “Their leader made me come here to show him the water. I just killed him.” Liv’s mind darted back and forth. Roen was heading to the plane. He was smart enough not to go in with guns blazing. Right? Then again, mermen went a little mer-nuts when their women were in danger.
“Amelia, you have to go and try to warn the others.”
Winded, Amelia replied, “Jason said there was some sort of alarm or something. He went to go trigger it.”
Liv remembered there was an enormous communication tower over by the harbor. She’d seen it the last time she’d been here. So, of course, they had some way of sounding an alarm.
Amelia went on, “He said that he’ll signal for everyon
e to make their way to the Great Hall. We’ll figure out who’s strong enough to fight and who stays behind to look after the men who are still weak.”
Suddenly, the air filled with the sound of…
“Are those seagulls?” Liv asked.
“I think that’s their alarm,” Amelia said.
Jesus, it sounded like the soundtrack from that old birds movie. But the recording or whatever only lasted ten seconds.
“Okay,” Liv said, “I’m going to see if I can’t catch up to Roen. I’ll meet you back at the Great Hall.” She hoped Amelia wasn’t squeamish, because she’d just gone all merman on that horrible man.
“Be careful, Liv,” Amelia said as Liv ran off.
As she bolted through the woods, pushing her body to run as fast as it could, she tried her best to keep an eye out for any of these men. Yes, she now had an automatic gun strapped to her back, but she had no clue how to use it.
When Liv came up to the tree line skirting the runway, she saw that the belly of the plane was open and there were a lot more men now. Maybe a dozen, if not more.
Where the hell is Roen? She could only pray he hadn’t tried to get inside the plane.
She looked up at the light blue sky and whooshed out a breath. Going back to the Great Hall was her only choice now.
As she hiked back, she spotted five men heading down the trail toward Roen’s house, but they were walking away and didn’t see her. Then, as she continued on the path toward the Great Hall, she heard screaming and gunshots up ahead.
Oh shit. Was everyone in there already? It had only taken her ten minutes to get to the runway and about twenty to turn back around because she wasn’t sprinting. But if everyone had gathered inside the hall, then what the hell would she do now? She was all by herself. Liv pressed the sides of her head, feeling like she was in some twisted mermen slash pirate version of the Hunger Games, the island being the one pushing all of the buttons. Was all this purely for her amusement?
This can’t be happening. She was stuck all alone, in the worst possible situation.
Deep voices coming from two different directions startled her. She hid behind a tree, listening to them speak in some sort of Slavic language.
Okay. Think, think, Liv. But that was easier said than done. She hadn’t eaten or slept more than a quick nap, and she’d been under insane amounts of stress. Liv moved away from the voices and started heading in the direction of the beach just on the other side of the mountain.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” said a voice that came out of nowhere. She turned quickly and saw a thin man with a big gun. She had one, too, but it was hanging off her back.
Liv slowly raised her hands.
The man’s gaze settled right on the gun hanging to her side. “Where the fuck is Yohan?”
Yohan. The guy she killed was named Yohan? He’d looked more like a Vlad or a Beavis, but not Yohan.
“I asked you a question.” He aimed his gun at her, and in that moment, Liv realized he had every intention of shooting her.
“I found the gun on the trail. I don’t know where your Yohan is,” she lied. And he knew it.
Liv saw a dark shadow rise up behind him. The thing was at least nine feet tall.
“Holy shit,” she whispered, unable to believe the size of the mermaid who was in the process of opening its razor-sharp jaws. The man turned to see what had grabbed Liv’s attention just in time for Liv to cover her eyes.
The man didn’t even scream. There’d been no time for that. But Liv heard that familiar sound of crunching.
Liv turned to her side and hurled, only there was nothing in her stomach. After a moment, she gathered herself. She needed to get the hell out of there, but when she stood up straight, she realized that the maid behind her wasn’t alone.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. This day just needs to end.”
~~~
Liv didn’t know how much time passed—ten, twenty, sixty minutes—but it felt like a slow burn to hell. Every time she tried to get past the maids, they blocked her. She’d run ten yards, there they were. She’d run ten in the opposite direction, there they were again.
They’re not going to let me leave. Dozens of yellow eyes blinked like sequenced Christmas lights hiding in the shadows of the dried-out forest all around her.
“Okay.” Liv panted, finally giving up. “I get it. I’m going to be your dinner. But there are men—very, very bad men—killing off some of your mates right now as we speak.” Liv pointed toward the mountain. “They’re killing your sisters, too. Why the hell aren’t you eating them? And why the hell did you let those assholes on the island?” Liv’s rage, she realized, came from her heart. She had nothing left to lose at this point because she’d already forfeited her life—a debt she’d pay just as soon as the island called it in. But that was the funny thing. Knowing she was, without a doubt, the only person who would and had to die, gave her a certain peace. She no longer felt afraid. Not for herself anyway. She just wanted her life—and her death, she supposed—to mean as much as possible.
The maids didn’t move or react.
“I know you understand me,” Liv seethed, “way more than you let on. So what do you want?”
That freaking large as hell maid slithered forward, weaving through the fallen branches and a sea of inky black bodies with long tails.
Slowly, the maid stood up on the curve of its tail, towering over Liv nine feet in the air.
Okay, maybe there’s a little fear left in me. Liv tried to keep from wetting herself.
It looked down at her as if unsure if it wanted to snack on Liv’s head or make her its pet. “Water,” it said in a gravelly voice.
“Water?” Had Liv heard her correctly?
The thing lowered its head, putting them nose to nose. Liv could feel its breath on her face, she could smell the salt of the ocean on its skin, she could hear the low, menacing growl deep inside its chest.
“No water. No protection.” The maid’s bright golden yellow eyes snapped shut and then opened again.
Ohmygod. They wanted water. That was why they hadn’t fought. They were…they were… “This is extortion.”
The maid’s mouth curled into a vicious smile before it slowly nodded.
Liv’s first reaction was anger, but she quickly realized that out of everyone here, these women had suffered the longest. The men fought, the men died, but the maids lived on, hoping and praying for the day they’d be released from their hell. The island never saw a reason to let them go or let them move on.
They’re fighting. They’re standing up for themselves. And Liv simply couldn’t blame them.
“You want to be turned back, don’t you.” Not a question.
The beasts howled and screeched into the air. Liv covered her ears to shield them from the excruciating sound. But it made plenty of sense, and now Liv knew what she had to do.
“The water is there inside the mountain, underneath the floor,” Liv said, “but those men are here to take it. If you help us, I’ll do everything I can to get you water.”
The maid hissed at Liv like a cobra, and she was sure the thing was about to kill her.
Liv was too scared out of her frigging skull to scream. Perhaps a little pee came out, though. Holy crap.
The thing ran its pink tongue over its sharp teeth. “We eat bad men. You get water.”
Liv sighed with relief. “Thank you. Can you help my sister, too? She’s on that plane.”
The thing nodded at one of the maids, who slithered off back toward the beach. The rest turned down the path in the direction of the runway. One by one, the maids, about eighty or ninety of them—Liv was too freaked out to count—followed along, slithering past as if she were invisible.
Liv looked up at the early morning sky, trying to keep it together. Thank you. Ohmygod, thank you.
She was about to follow after the horde of creatures but heard gunshots back in the direction of the hall. Her body tensed.
She glanc
ed down the trail leading back to the plane. She wanted to go to Dana, but she knew in her heart that wasn’t where she was needed. She was armed now with an automatic gun she’d taken off the leader. No, she had no clue how to use it, but those vile men didn’t know that. She had to stop them from killing more people.
Liv charged back up the hill toward the hall and toward the sound of the gunfire. When she reached a small clearing just outside the mouth of the enormous cavern, she spotted the thugs standing in front of a line of mermen and their women. They were shooting them one by one, demanding sacred water.
Liv’s heart sank. How could people be so, so cruel?
She came up behind them and pointed the weapon. “Step the fuck back.”
One of the men, a toothless bastard with one arm, laughed and then pointed his gun right at one of the women. To the woman’s credit, she just glared at him. She wasn’t afraid to die. She wasn’t going to cower. And she’d probably be the first to jump on the man and fight that gun out of his hand.
Liv heard a loud rustling behind her, branches snapping, leaves crushing, gravel and dirt grinding. She didn’t have to turn around to see what was coming through the forest; the looks on the faces of the men said everything.
“What the fuck are those?” one of the men croaked.
Liv smiled. “Welcome to El Corazón, assholes.” The moment those words left her mouth, a wave of hungry maids rushed past her.
~~~
It took the maids less than a few minutes to kill all of the men inside the hall and drag them off into the forest along with the dead.
Waste not, want not. Liv tried to feel something, some sort of regret or remorse for those vile men, but it was like the time she killed Shane; she only felt relief. In addition, she felt angry that these thugs had killed some of the maids and the women and men. More than anything, she felt utter disdain for the island. In her heart, she knew that none of this had to happen, but Crazy Dirt had gone out of her way to ensure it did for reasons known only to her.