Chapter Twenty-Six

 

 

 

ALEC FOLLOWED ISA OUTSIDE and down to the rocky shore. The wind spit water at them, and dark clouds collecting overhead promised a more thorough soaking in the near future. When he’d met her, he’d assumed that a widow of independent means would be free to enjoy his attentions. Instead, he’d learned she faced an intense pressure to remarry on nearly all fronts.

Uncertain what to say, he stood beside her, silent.

“My mother is right about one thing,” she said, wrapping her arms about herself. “If the University of Glasgow once again denies my application, my choices are limited. Apply further abroad. Pursue my current life as an itinerant healer. Or marry.”

They’d promised each other an affair, but his presence here, working with her as a physician negatively impacted her reputation within the Finn community. A continued association would cause potential patients to turn her away, possibly ending her career among the Finn. He wasn’t even certain marrying her would help.

Marriage had never been something he’d seriously considered, tainted as his view was by his parents’ bad example. If he were being brutally honest, he had to admit there was a certain appeal to the idea of marrying a woman with a strong mind, one driven to pursue interests that overlapped with his own. He would miss Isa when their lives pulled them in opposite directions, for he was rather enjoying their liaison, both in and out of bed.

Chair.

Alec grinned. Then sobered. Had he actually just considered proposing? His heart gave a great thud. Marriage wasn’t what she wanted. Nor him. Not now.

But maybe he could peel back a cloud?

“There are always alternatives,” he said. There had to be. “We will catch two madmen and put an end to whatever nefarious plan they have in mind, thereby preventing further deaths of British citizens. The Queen will be indebted. With a wave of her royal scepter, she will offer to grant you one wish. And you will say…‌”

A hint of a smile tugged at her lips. “I wish to attend medical school, Your Highness.”

“And that will be that. You’ll remain in Glasgow.” He closed the gap between them, tracing the edge of her jaw with his finger. “And whenever I’m on base, I will make clandestine calls, dragging you away from dry textbooks for practical exercises in human anatomy that will have you screaming in delight.”

Isa’s eyes fluttered closed. “Promises, promises. No sooner made than they are broken.”

He couldn’t fix them, but he would endeavor not to add to her list. “Not all men are afraid of a woman’s intelligence,” Alec murmured as he ran his thumb over her mouth. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and deliberately took a long step backward. “Time to hunt for a secret, underwater cave. I expect your uncle will return at dusk, after the fishing boats have put into harbor when any unusual vessels or activities are unlikely to be remarked upon. I’ve plotted likely locations for caves in the area and would like to narrow down the possibilities. Shall we say goodbye to your mother and take to the sea?”

~~~

They returned for a brief silent and tense meal‌—‌for which his stomach was eternally grateful‌—‌then parted ways. As they descended the narrow roadway that led back to the main road, they passed a handful of individuals who declined to return Isa’s greeting, including one Mrs. Carr who stood in the doorway of her blackhouse scowling. Though she uttered not a word, Alec could swear he heard her growl.

Back stiff and chin held high, Isa insisted they make a brief stop at The Dragon and the Flea. “It’s impossible to know how many men‌—‌or women‌—‌my uncle is holding inside that cave or how many biomech octopuses may be attached.”

“We can’t manage a full-scale rescue operation,” Alec argued, growing increasingly worried as he eyed the supplies the shopkeeper piled upon the counter at Isa’s behest. Not only did a number of amber glass bottles containing usual anesthetic compounds rest upon the counter, she’d decimated the man’s supply of sharksilk and severely depleted his store of bandages before sending him hunting for every last hemostatic clamp‌—‌excellent for clamping a bleeding vessel‌—‌he could locate. “This is only a sneak and peek.”

“I’m aware.” She pointed her chin at the message Alec now printed on a long strip of paper. “Neither can we assume there will be time to return to Stornoway should your men arrive to assist.”

“True.” He blew at the ink‌—‌impatient to be on their way‌—‌and rolled it up before inserting it into a brass canister and affixing it to the leg of a skeet pigeon. He slid the punch card into the bird’s cipher cartridge and wound the clockwork mechanism.

Minutes later they emerged, laden with brown paper-wrapped packages tied up with string, and he threw the skeet pigeon aloft. By the time they arrived at the pier, the bird was no more than a black dot in the eastern sky.

~~~

Isa’s boat rose and fell upon the waves. After dropping anchor near one potential sea cave after another, daylight was now fading fast. Alec unhooked the boat’s Lucifer lamp and stowed it in a cabinet, lest its glow attract unwanted attention. The blue paint upon their hull would allow them to blend into the vast expanse of night-dark water.

Much hung upon his supposition that Isa’s uncle would visit this secret, underwater cave. Doubt crept in. They were bobbing on the waves beside Hebridean cliffs, acting upon the assertions of a feverish woman. Her story rang true, but could they truly trust the accuracy of her report?

Perhaps he should have insisted upon bringing Isa’s sister with them, despite her fever. What if Commodore Drummond returned to Stornoway and learned of their proximity? Would he harm Nina? Come hunting them in turn?

Aether, he missed his team. With a few more pairs of eyes, all possibilities could be covered. The meager selection of weapons and ammunition he had on hand‌—‌an air rifle and pistol fitted with TTX darts, both useless under water‌—‌put them at a disadvantage. He thought of the skeet pigeon, winging its way to Glasgow. He’d even be grateful for his brother’s assistance, but ever since his promotion this past fall, Logan was more distracted than ever.

Returning to the deck, he glanced at his time piece. This would be Isa’s fifth and final dive for the day. She’d been underwater sixteen minutes and was due to surface momentarily.

Though a blow to his pride, he’d been forced to admit that sending her‌—‌a Finn‌—‌below water to make a preliminary survey of the rock face was the only feasible approach. Not only would swimming tire his still-sore knee, but his aquaspira breather could absorb carbon dioxide for a sum total of only three hours without replacing the scrubber canister filled with soda lime. He’d already expended thirty minutes of breathing time crossing the loch and wanted to save every last minute for the moment Isa found an underwater cave entrance that held promise.

Wearing his dive suit‌—‌knife strapped to his thigh‌—‌wasn’t mere readiness or optimism, it was necessary protection against the cold wind that lashed across the deck. Still, he kept his swim fins and his aquaspira breather easily accessible.

He lifted his spyglass again, scanning the water for the hundredth time. So far only a few innocent fishing boats had ventured near the coast, but even those had departed for harbor now. There was nothing more he could do at the moment save watch and wait. It made his skin itch.

A faint sound alerted him to Isa’s return, and he set aside the spyglass, reaching for a woolen blanket to hand her as she climbed onto the deck and stood, wearing nothing but a dive knife strapped to her thigh. With her skin made golden by the setting sun, it was impossible not to stare. A twist of crimson-wet hair. Rosy-peaked breasts. The gentle flare of hips. He gaped, unable to imagine being ready to let this woman leave his life any time soon.

She blushed at his open admiration and wrapped the blanket about her shoulders. “No luck. A promising beginning, but the channel only cut into the cliff a dozen feet or so.”

He placed a hand over his heart. “We may hunt a monster, but I’ll never grow tired of this sight.”

It baffled him how no one in her community fully appreciated the gem in their midst. Scorned for the color of her hair, tolerated for her healing skills, all of them‌—‌particularly her relatives‌—‌sought to anchor her to a small fishing village, to wall her away, cutting her off from the world and all it had to offer.

Isa sauntered forward to rise onto the bare tips of her toes and plant a kiss on the edge of his jaw. “Careful,” she teased. “You might start wanting to keep me.”

“And if I did?” His heart gave an approving thud at the thought.

“Consider the ramifications. The sight of your very own selkie has enchanted you to the point of distraction.”

She tipped her head, and he followed her gaze. There, on the distant horizon, the dark silhouette of an approaching vessel. He grabbed his spyglass.

A steamboat chugged slowly in their direction. For several long minutes they watched, passing the spyglass back and forth. And then he saw it. As the sun sank behind the Isle of Lewis, a few last rays of light glinted off a dorsal fin. Water poured off the back of a gray, metal cylinder that rose from the sea, its eyes glowing a faint yellow. Shadows shifted behind the odd window as those within ran about at their various tasks.

“The megalodon has surfaced.”

Isa snatched the spyglass from his hands, looked, then set it aside. “Its snout is pointed away from the cliffs.” She pointed at the dark shadow of the sea cliffs. “Mark that formation in your memory.”

“The megalodon has never been glimpsed by the Navy,” Alec mused aloud. “As Commodore Drummond, your uncle would not want anyone to connect him to such a unique and deadly submersible.”

“You think he travels aboard the boat. That the megalodon rises to meet him.”

Alec nodded. “To transport him into the sea cave along with anything deemed worthy of salvaging from the castle.”

“We need to get closer.” She threw aside her blanket. “Let’s go.”

“Isa, wait.” He caught her wrist. “They’re more than half a mile distant. The water is frigid. You’ve been swimming all day.”

She smiled, but waved a hand, dismissing his concern. “The cold doesn’t bother me. Besides, there’s no choice.”

He nodded, then pulled on his swim fins and reached for his goggles. “Be careful not to alert them to our presence.”

Together, they slid into the water. Isa set a blistering pace and, by the time they reached the megalodon, he was so impressed he would have declared his undying devotion. Except his lungs were filled with fire. His oxygen-starved muscles were bathed in lactic acid. And he’d swallowed enough seawater to pickle his last meal. His arthroflex knee‌—‌thank aether‌—‌was the only part of his body that didn’t throb or burn.

They held onto the megalodon’s pectoral fin, beside what might have been termed gill slits, were they not covered with metal screening and serving to take on water to cool the internal combustion engine. Yet there was genuine sharkskin covering a yielding sort of flesh beneath his hands. The biotechnology involved in this creature’s construction was at once both fascinating and horrifying.

Alec stared at the small steam-powered boat that now approached. As the captain reversed its engines, bringing the boat to a stop, the submersible’s jaw opened with a faint metallic creak. A glowing Lucifer lamp hung from the roof of its mouth as several armed men jogged up a kind of staircase, spreading out behind jagged, metal teeth upon a grated platform. A vaguely familiar woman followed, fashionably attired but‌—‌oddly‌—‌barefoot.

“Maren!” Isa hissed beside him. “And those beside her holding harpoons were gathered around my sister’s wedding bonfire.”

An entire assortment of traitorous guests, loyal to one particular Finn.

Commodore Drummond himself stepped out onto the bow of the ship. Men rushed forward to drop a gangway between the two vessels so that he might cross to his wife.

Rather than greeting her with any kind of fondness, he cut to the quick. “Nina escaped, and you’ve allowed her to live. Why?”

Alec strained, listening for the answer.

“Simple expediency,” Maren answered her husband. “Whisper a few well-chosen threats in her ear, and Nina will clamp her lips together to save her husband. Though she tested negative for factor Q and is, therefore, expendable, my brother’s blood has proven most pure. As predicted by our biochemist, the increased level of factor Q allowed the bypass octopus to attach to Jona exceptionally well. Provided Nina remains unharmed, he is prepared to cooperate with our demands. I thought perhaps such a reprieve might be a useful policy, subject to your agreement, of course.”

“I see.” The commodore stroked his chin. “The family of any Finn that turn traitor are subject to extermination, unless a full-blooded male submits to attachment.”

The answering smile Maren displayed contained far too many teeth. “After all you have invested in the future of the Finn culture, why waste precious natural resources?”

Pureness of blood. Future of a people. Drummond had a lofty vision for the future. A Finn could assist his quest or be sacrificed to the cause.

“Brilliant, as always.” Drummond drew his hand down the side of Maren’s face, his eyes gleaming with prideful possession. “Now turn your mind to the problem of my other niece. She and that Scot need to be eliminated.”

“She still lives?” Maren’s lips twisted. “I thought‌—‌”

“Aye, a problem we shall take steps to correct. Soon. Tonight, however, we have a collection to make. I’ve received word that several Finn men‌—‌likely pure bloods‌—‌are at sea this evening. We’ll return to the cave and collect a volunteer to help us fetch them.”

Maren nodded. “As you wish.”

“A moment…‌” He turned toward the armed men and snapped his fingers. “Send over the passengers and begin offloading the materials.”

Lord Roideach crossed the bridge to the megalodon’s mandible first, his hand wrapped tightly about his son’s wrist. Miss Russel followed, a small bag in hand, her every step cautious, her wide-eyed gaze darting about. Behind her, men began to carry wooden crates from the boat onto the megalodon and down its throat.

Thomas, jumping and leaping with excitement, tugged at his father’s restraint. “Mother?”

Maren bent low and opened her arms, her expression now one of warm, maternal welcome. “Thomas! I do believe you’ve grown another inch!”

The boy slipped his father’s grip to throw himself into Maren’s arms. “Do you have my seal skin ready?”

“Of course, darling.” Her smile faltered as she looked at her Finn husband, sparing not a glance to the man who‌—‌in British eyes‌—‌had made her Lady Roideach.

“Keep the children close,” Drummond said. “With a BURR team member involved, we need to increase security.”

Maren nodded. “We’ll be below.”

Roideach moved to follow, but the commodore lifted his hand. Several weapons pointed directly at the lord’s chest. “I’ve done everything you asked,” Roideach said. “She’s mine. You agreed. A woman can have only one husband.”

“You misunderstood.” Drummond shook his head. “I promised to let her choose. And her choice is clear.” He unholstered his own pistol and pointed it at Roideach. “She has chosen her own people, and I will see her crowned a queen.”

“Sir!” Miss Russel exclaimed.

“You need me!” Roideach yelled, fisting his hands at his side.

Without taking his eyes from his quarry, Drummond spoke. “Do I? Miss Russel, need him? Or, without the constant threat of his wandering hands, might you prove an exceptional scientist?”

“I‌—‌” Miss Russel stammered, glancing between the men.

“Let’s find out, shall we?”

Bang!

Roideach fell, clutching his abdomen and howling in pain.

Beside Alec, Isa sucked in a breath of salty sea spray.

“No harm will befall your son,” Drummond said, bending over the lord. “He is, after all, a valued member of the peerage and a Finn. We mean to make good use of him.” He placed the sole of his boot against the dying man’s shoulder and shoved.

Splash.

“We’ve new volunteers to collect,” Drummond announced. “We leave in two hours.”

“Yes, sir!”

The small boat departed, leaving Roideach floating in the water, already forgotten.

Deep within the megalodon engines roared to life. The great mandible began to close, and the fin shuddered beneath his hands.

~~~

“I’m going with it,” Isa announced. Discussion of the disturbing conversation they’d overheard would have to wait.

“With the megalodon?” Alec said, his blue eyes large behind the lenses of his swim goggles.

The Frankenstein fish shuddered and began to move. “I’ll track its path. Meet you back at the boat.”

“I need to find Roideach. Try to save him. I have questions.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed before letting go, calling as the vessel picked up speed, dragging her away. “Please don’t go inside the cave without me!”

Waves washed over her head, and she tightened her grip on the pectoral fin as the biomech creature turned. As it surged forward and began to submerge, she took a deep breath. Pressure rose in her ears, in her lungs, across her body. Her endurance would not be tested by temperature or oxygen depletion, but by the strength found in her fingertips. She was tired and no match for a submersible moving at full speed.

The gleam of the megalodon’s eyes cast a glow over the dark, gneiss cliffs that plunged deep into the water, revealing an even darker shadow inside the cliff. An underwater opening, ragged and rough. A mouth that waited to swallow the shark‌—‌her‌—‌whole.

Where Alec would never find her. And she needed him, needed his help.

Not a moment too soon, Isa released the pectoral fin. As the megalodon sped past, jets of water swirled about her, tossing her against rough rocks, knocking free what little air was left in her lungs and sending flashes of light across her vision. She couldn’t lose consciousness. Not underwater. That meant death, even for a Finn.

Kicking furiously, she stroked upward, breaking the surface and dragging in great lungfuls of air. Waves crashed over her, flinging her at the sheer cliff. She scrabbled at the rough wall, seeking a handhold, but was dragged backward.

That’s when she saw it. A crevice.

As the next wave pitched her forward, Isa angled her body, catching at the gap and wedging herself into its relative safety. Naked, cold, bruised and afraid for the lives of her sister and her brother-in-law, she forced herself to study the surrounding cliffs.

The opening through which the megalodon had passed was far enough beneath the water’s surface that it was invisible. This stretch of cliffs was so sheer, so tall and treacherous, that there were no nearby villages, no natural harbors.

A perfect location for a mad Finn to ferment his delusions of grandeur while subjecting his own people to inhuman treatment.

~~~

Had Roideach resigned himself to a quiet death, Alec never would have found him midst the choppy waves. As it was, however, the man never stopped screeching for help, not even after the boat’s engines faded away to nothing.

This frantic, the lord would drown them both long before his stomach wound would end him. Alec punched his UP bag, tied it to a length of rope and swam in the man’s direction, careful to hold the buoy far in front. Shipwrecked men were rarely rational. The moment it hit Roideach on the shoulder, the man thrashed wildly, grabbing onto the float and clutching it to his chest.

“A simple thank you will suffice,” Alec yelled, swimming backward until the rope drew taut, drawing the man in the direction of Isa’s boat even though saving this particular man’s life was about as appealing as dining on pufferfish prepared by an untrained chef.

“You!” Roideach sputtered, the whites of his eyes flashing.

“Me,” Alec agreed. “We might make it back to my boat. Or we may not. Depends on your rate of blood loss, the speed at which I swim, and whether or not you answer my questions.”

“Please,” the lord begged. “I can’t feel my feet anymore.”

Cold or blood loss, impossible to say in these frigid waters. “CEAP. Name the committee members.”

“Impossible. There are several subdivisions, divided by anthropomorphic curiosity. For security purposes. I served only on the Selkie Committee.”

Aether, how many existed? He was willing to bet Logan knew. “Names!”

“Me. Lord Dankworth.” A wave hit Roideach, and his grip slipped.

Hard to tell beneath a starlit sky, but Alec could swear the man spat bloody seawater from his mouth. The bullet had penetrated near the man’s liver but appeared to also have caught a portion of his lung. In which case this would be a short interrogation.

“Dankworth is dead,” Alec called. “Poisoned.”

“Necessary. I had no choice.” The man drew a ragged breath and started coughing again. More blood. “He discovered Drummond’s true nature and threatened to expose him. Us.”

Bilge rats had more personal honor. “Names! Or I stop swimming.” Alec slowed.

“Commander Norgrove.” Roideach’s hands slipped again. He wasn’t much longer for this earth.

Another traitor within the Royal Navy. Lovely. “His role?”

But a wave washed over Roideach’s head, across the UP bag, and when the water receded, the lord’s fingers no longer clutched the gas-filled float. Dammit.

This was an unwanted complication. Not the justice he’d planned for Roideach. Moreover, this would leave two extremely amoral Finn now in control of the unfortunate child’s future. Treading water, Alec waited several long minutes. Waited until it was clear young Thomas had inherited the title.