It had been upgraded years before and sealed off to make it waterproof. When I’d opened the trapdoor, water had rushed in, but not enough to cause damage to the equipment centered against the back wall.
I hit the button Kona had shown me months before, and the trapdoor locked down with an impenetrable iron gate so that even if the sharks found the entrance, they couldn’t get in. Then again, I couldn’t get out, either. There was no other exit.
Lying there in a pool of water, I shifted from tail to legs, gills to lungs. Then rooted around in my backpack for a pair of bikini bottoms. If the shark-men did manage to get in here, I didn’t exactly want to be caught naked.
After getting dressed, I raced to the control center, flipped the switch that brought up all the cameras instead of just the one aimed at the trapdoor, and watched what was going on all around the castle.
Which was a lot. The shark-men had stormed right past the trapdoor and were now combing the halls of the palace for me, spears raised and teeth bared. Tiamat and Sabyn were still outside with hundreds of bunyip. They were stationed at all the exits, just waiting for me to make a run for it. In the meantime, the Leviathan had entered the palace through the front door and was winding his way down the stairs to the palace’s lowest level.
Curious about what he was doing, wondering what he knew about this place, I watched to see where he was going. After he opened a door with his teeth and wound his way down a final staircase, I finally decided. He was headed to a dungeon-type place, much like what Hailana had at the merCastle.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that there was only one reason he was heading that way—they must have been holding Mark and Kona there. My heart raced as tension gripped my every muscle. I wanted to go to them, wanted to know for sure that they were still alive. And was desperate to see that the Leviathan wasn’t going to kill them right now, for spite.
As I waited, tensed up and terrified, I tried to console myself with the knowledge that it would be a stupid move for Tiamat to kill them now. Sure, it would torture me, but at the same time, any motivation I had for showing myself would disappear. They had set this trap well, had known that I would come to save Mark and Kona. Killing them before they got me wouldn’t make sense.
The Leviathan stuck one of his razor-sharp spikes into the lock on one door and it sprang open. Inside were Mark and Kona and Zarek, plus a number of Kona’s men, all looking the worse for wear. They were chained up, much like I’d been in Sabyn’s dungeon, and completely defenseless against the Leviathan. Which was awful enough to witness. But what startled me even more was the fact that Mark wasn’t wearing a scuba outfit or an oxygen tank. He must have drunk the potion supplied by Sabrina, or Tiamat had force-fed some to him. Either way, he was breathing underwater, but I didn’t know how long that would last. It was another bargaining tool in their arsenal, and an effective one at that.
Tempest. The Leviathan’s voice hissed in my ears. I know you’re out there somewhere. Come to me. Come to me and I’ll let them go.
I ignored him—I knew a line when I heard one—and concentrated instead on studying the dungeon where he was. There was only one door that I could see, and the Leviathan was currently in front of it. He also didn’t look like he was planning on leaving anytime soon. Not that I blamed him. It was a perfect trap, one he had to know I couldn’t resist.
He turned then, looked straight into the camera. I know you’re watching, he told me. I can feel your eyes. Never let it be said that I didn’t put on a good show. Then he whirled around and plunged his tail straight through the heart of one of Kona’s guards.
My knees buckled and I hit the ground, hard, as I stared in horror at the selkie who had been alive just seconds earlier. Before I could even catch a breath, the Leviathan whirled around again and plunged his tail straight through another selkie, this one between Mark and Zarek.
The water around them grew saturated with blood.
That’s two down, he snarled at the camera. Only eight to go. You’d better hurry—I might slip and hit your precious human next. He ran his tail slowly over Mark’s neck, and a small line of red was raised wherever he’d touched.No! I answered him for the first time. I’m coming! Don’t hurt them.
No promises, he answered, slapping Kona in the face with his tail and raising a huge red welt. I’m getting impatient.
I’m coming, I told him. I swear, I’m coming.
Mark was looking at the camera with desperate eyes, shaking his head and mouthing the word No over and over and over again.
I ignored him. The Leviathan had called my bluff. There was no way I was staying away from that room.
Chapter 27
But just because I was suicidal didn’t mean I was stupid too. I took five minutes—five of the longest, most torturous minutes of my life as I watched the Leviathan circle the small dungeon room, his eyes taking in every prisoner in turn—to check out my backpack. I had ten grenades, which I couldn’t use unless I wanted to kill everyone in that room, a knife, and a specially formulated underwater pistol.
Then I did a sweep of the room, uncovering a weapons closet that contained every type of spear imaginable, as well as a flare gun and several other underwater-type guns. I grabbed two of the guns and some special ammunition, shoved one into my backpack and one into the side string of my bikini bottom. It wasn’t the best look, but at least it was easy access. Then I slung the backpack onto my shoulders and grabbed a spear.
The camera showed that the corridor directly above the trapdoor was clear, but I didn’t know how long that would last. I punched the button to raise the steel door, took one last look at the camera focused on the dungeon room. Nearly screamed as the Leviathan killed a third guard.
And then I was up and out of the room, swimming into the palace. There were two shark-men there, guarding the door, but I was expecting them. I drove my spear through the first one’s chest—much like the Leviathan had done to Kona’s guards—then pulled it out and went for the other guy. He got in a punch to my right eye, though I managed to avoid the knife he’d been slashing down with his left hand. I speared him in the throat, then whirled around, not even bothering to watch him fall over. I’d come a long way from the girl who’d puked the first time she’d killed someone, but not that far. They were evil and I knew they would have killed me if they could have. But that didn’t make it easier to take their lives.
I found another secret passage two rooms up, in the parlor, followed it to the staircase at the back of the house. When I got there, I peeked my head out but didn’t see anyone—thank God. I was a little surprised that the Leviathan hadn’t called in backup, but then again, he probably thought he could take me. Hell, I thought he could take me. My only goal was to take him out too—before he killed Mark and Kona.
I raced down the stairs, stumbled over a couple of bunyip. I hit them with an energy pulse that slammed them against the walls hard enough to knock them unconscious. Then I continued down the hall to the only dungeon room with an open door.
They were in there. Mark and Kona and however many guards were left. I couldn’t take on Tiamat and Sabyn and everyone else. But I could do this much. I would do this much.
Kona. I reached out to him on our private path.
Tempest. He sounded like hell.