03 The Fate Of The Muse - Marina's Tales (33 page)

I paused, and when he made a move towards me
I lowered myself down slowly. The chair faced an intricately inlaid
table holding a jade box and a crystal ashtray. On the other side
of the small table was a leather wingback chair, its arms
terminating in carved raptor heads. The men at the door seemed to
be waiting for someone, and every now and then I saw them looking
over their shoulders in anticipation.

I could see into the trophy room through the
arched entrance on the opposite side, with its medieval weapons and
instruments of torture mounted on the wall in a gruesome display.
Clearly Brad’s father was an obsessive collector; a man who liked
his possessions. He was also a man drawn to the violent and
grotesque.

I craned my neck to look around the huge
library, and a magnificent one it was. It was filled with
treasures, and lined with bookcases stretching from the Persian
carpeted floor to the vaulted ceiling. Bronze busts of great
historical figures populated the shelves, interspersed with
thousands of uniformly displayed leather bound books, gold leaf
gleaming on their spines. It was altogether too perfect– a sterile
showpiece; a collection, and not a room that bespoke any great love
of books or knowledge.

My eyes were drawn up to the ceiling, and I
was surprised to find it as elaborately painted as the Sistine
chapel, teeming with images of a beautiful youth surrounded by
dancing girls.

“It’s Apollo and the muses,” a woman’s voice
rang out. I turned to see Barbara Watson had entered the room. Gone
was the modest business attire; now she was outfitted in a low-cut
red dress, swinging a mink purse by a gold chain. Her hair was
expensively highlighted, styled and sprayed into place like a
helmet. She stood looking up at the ceiling while I looked up at
her in shock. She was completely transformed from the humble
“green” candidate that had spoken at the rally.

“My brother is very proud of this piece. He
had some of the world’s finest fresco painters brought in from
Italy.” She pointed to it like a docent at an art museum, “There,
and there, are the two springs of Mount Helicon, sacred to the
muses, and said to have been formed by the hooves of Pegasus.”

I stood abruptly, wincing with pain as the
handcuff bit into my wrist, “Where’s Cruz? What have you done with
him? I won’t co-operate unless you let him go.”

She smiled without warmth, the very picture
of frozen insincerity. She sauntered around the library table and
took a seat in the big chair. She motioned for me to sit, “The way
I see it, you’re in no position to bargain.”

I sank back down, rubbing my wrist, “Let me
see him.”

“You’ll discover that there will be no
escaping our custody this time. The sooner you settle in and accept
that fact, the better it will be for everyone concerned.”

She leaned forward in her chair, reaching for
the jade box on the table and extracting a black cigarette with a
gold foil tip. She rummaged in her furry purse to produce a golden
lighter and lit it, inhaling deeply with satisfaction. She leaned
back in the chair to exhale two thin streams of smoke out of her
nostrils, reminding me of a dragon.

“Black Russians,” she said, admiring the
cigarette in her hand.

“I don’t suppose they’re sustainable and
organic,” I said sarcastically.

She smiled cooly, “I know it’s a loathsome
habit, but I must allow myself at least one vice… mustn’t I?”

“I’m sure you have many more than one,” I
told her.

She nodded with amusement, “I suppose you’re
right, my dear. And what might your weakness be?”

I looked at her coldly, “Just coffee.”

“We’ll be sure to stock up,” she smiled.

“You can’t keep me chained up forever,” I
rattled my handcuffs, “What do you want from me?”

“All in good time,” she said, taking another
drag luxuriantly. “We need to get you moved to your new
accommodations. They’re being finished as we speak, but we’re a bit
behind schedule. We never expected to have our hand forced so soon…
It’s really hard to believe that fate has led you right to us
again.”

“You mean Brad?”

At the mention of her nephew she grew
irritable, “I’m really terribly inconvenienced by this whole
business. I had no intention of having any further dealings with
you.” She sucked in a lungful of smoke, “Bradley,” she said sourly
as she exhaled, “has always been a great disappointment to our
family.”

“I don’t know about that,” I looked at her
coldly, “He managed to orchestrate the meeting between you and
me.”

She laughed, “Oh, believe me, he was just
along for the ride. We thought that if I approached you in a
neutral setting it wouldn’t arouse your suspicion. Bradley’s
presence just made my story more plausible– and he really
was
drawn to your paintings!”

I remembered how I’d come to meet her at the
art gallery, and how lucky I thought we were. I squeezed my eyes
shut, realizing how gullible I’d been. Even at the time, I’d
realized her appearance was too good to be true, and I was aware of
the scripted nature of her platitudes. I had foolishly suspended my
own disbelief, wanting to believe in her for Ethan’s sake.

She went on proudly, “It was a little
experiment we devised to determine exactly how powerful you were.
It was a classic two birds with one stone scenario– We got control
of the district we wanted, and we put you to the test to as
well!”

She looked so smugly satisfied I wanted to
slap her overly made-up face.

“You had a man murdered simply to test me?” I
said with revulsion.

“Now, now, Congressman Hill was slated to go
long
before we came up with the plan to have you put me in
his seat. He did us many favors until he got greedy. He actually
thought he could blackmail my brother.” She laughed, shaking her
head, as if the very thought of such audacity was somehow
amusing.

“Honor amongst thieves,” I said.

“I wouldn’t pity the man if I were you. He
was more than willing to turn your boyfriend’s land into a golf
course for a few dollars.”

My stomach twisted at her mention of Ethan,
“If Brad wasn’t supposed to bring me here, how are you going to
explain Cruz going missing?”

“Bradley has been told not to bring his
little
friends
to this house,” she said with revulsion.
“Particularly when his father is away. Security has instructed him
to leave the premises.”

“What exactly do you want with us?” I asked
angrily.

“Oh, my brother and I are fully aware of your
rare gifts. We know that you’ve transformed into a mermaid, and
that it seems to have given you the ability to speak with them. We
have you recorded communicating with them… and yet… we still don’t
know how you found out we were holding the other one. Perhaps you
can enlighten me.”

I realized that the only thing they didn’t
know about was mermaid telepathy. I shrugged, “I have no idea what
you’re talking about.”

She glanced at her watch, “We have all the
time in the world to find out.”

“Surely your brother must realize that I
can’t be forced to help you. Even if you keep me forever! I can
never
want
you to succeed,” I paused for a moment, “Olivia
would know that better than anyone.”

She blanched, and snubbed out her cigarette,
standing abruptly. She reached into her purse and retrieved a
phone, pacing by the fireplace as she placed a call. She looked
really shaken, and her eyes kept darting back towards me.

“She knows about you,” she spoke in a in a
fearful tone, “I have no idea… Of course not! You know you can
trust us! It must have been Peter. Yes… we’ll be moving her there
within the hour, and we’ll take care of the boy… He said he could
be back in town by tomorrow.”

She came back to take her seat, watching me
with narrowed eyes. She put the phone back in her purse and took a
deep breath. Matching up the tips of her fingers, she patted them
together while she thought, finally asking, “How do you know about
Olivia?”

I ignored her question, wondering if I should
have tipped my hand, “Tell me what you want from me.”

She lit another cigarette, blowing the smoke
straight at me in a hostile gesture, “We want the child back. She’s
rightfully ours.”

Now my stomach really sank, “What child?”

“Let’s not play games with one another. We
know about Nixie and we want her back.”

My mind raced, and I struggled to keep a calm
face. The only person I’d told about Nixie was Evie, in our hotel
room in Paris. Now I realized that the room really had been bugged,
just as I had been warned by Marissa. I was struck by a sudden rush
of fear.

“What do you want with her? She’s just a
baby…” My voice caught in my throat as I remembered Peter’s insane
plans to raise an army of muses.

She smiled excitedly, “Having your own
personal muse is a definite plus, but we have other plans for her.
She is far more valuable to us in her present form.”

I just stared at her in shock, afraid to even
ask.

“My brother believes she holds the key to
immortality in her blood.”

“What?” I gasped. This kept getting more and
more horrific. All I could think about was the condition I’d found
Nerissa in, and my stomach started trembling with fear and
rage.

“It’s really very exciting! We have a
research facility prepared, and a team of top geneticists on
standby… Your father is a scientist– surely you can’t be opposed to
scientific exploration.”

I felt sick, “She’s not a science
experiment.”

“My brother is her biological father,” she
added, “So you see,” she went on arrogantly, oblivious to my
agitation, “We’re her family, and her rightful guardians. We need
your help to retrieve her, and serve as an interpreter…We were
planning to have you brought in regardless of what happened with
the election.”

“You are
not
her family,” I
rasped.

She just smiled, continuing, “We have a
pretty good idea of her territory, but unfortunately, Bradley’s…
interference forced us to come for you a little early.”

“I will…
never
… help you find her,” I
choked out vehemently.

“I think you will,” she replied, “And now
that you’ve confirmed that they can survive the breeding process,
we have plans to grow even more of them in captivity. Whether you
like it or not, you’ve given us some insight into exactly how to
hunt them.”

Just then, a third man appeared in the
doorway, and Barbara waved him in.

“We’ve got their car,” He announced, and I
looked up to see the man who’d followed me all the way from Paris
to Aptos.

“Excellent,” she said, addressing him but
staring meaningfully at me, “I want you to take the boy out for a
drive tonight. Make sure that the car burns completely.”

“NO!” I sprang to my feet, yanked back by the
handcuff that tore into my wrist again.

She addressed me without pity, shrugging,
“Collateral damage. I’m afraid his fate was sealed the moment
Bradley brought the two of you to this house. I have no choice but
to eliminate him… but don’t fret, we’ll be merciful. He’ll be
drugged, and he won’t feel a thing.”

“IF YOU HURT HIM I’LL KILL YOU!” I screamed
at her.

“Idle threats,” she smiled, “Are pointless.
You’ll eventually see that we’re serious, and then you’ll choose to
work with us because we’ll make you.”

“I’ll die first,” I said, and I meant it.

“Calm yourself,” her voice was softly
vicious, “What about your boyfriend? Or your aunt? We can easily
get to them… and we
will
if you choose to make us.”

I slumped back in the chair, overcome with
despair. I looked to the guards, but their faces were hard, and
their blank stares were as cold and emotionless as the eyes of
fish.

“Don’t bother,” she said, following my gaze.
“I’m afraid your charms won’t work on them. Our new guards were
specially selected by Olivia herself– completely immune to your
powers. The only thing that motivates them is money, and they’re
being paid handsomely for their loyalty.”

The phone in her purse rang, and she reached
for it deliberately, “Yes? Excellent… you can expect us shortly.”
She set the phone down and motioned to the tall guard leaning in
the doorway. He produced a syringe and advanced on me menacingly. I
scrambled up again, dragging the heavy chair a few feet in a futile
attempt to escape my fate. The other guard came to his assistance,
holding my unchained arm immobile for the injection.

“Nooo!” I cried, as the needle pierced my
vein.

Barbara sat in her chair, watching
impassively as she puffed away on her black cigarette.

They let me go, and I stood tottering, trying
to blink back the fuzzy blackness that was creeping into my
peripheral vision. My knees buckled, and I turned my head to see
the room was filled with shimmering pulses of energy. I groped for
the chair and sat spinning, a soft humming sound in my head.

I blinked, opening my eyes to see Stella
standing before me, “Don’t worry Dollface, it’s going to be
alright.” She winked at me and split into two images, wavering
before my eyes. I blinked again and she was gone.

“You may remove the handcuffs now,” Barbara
said in a voice that seemed to come from a long way off. I watched
numbly as I was unhooked, willing myself to run, but only managing
to make my knee twitch.

And then all hell broke loose.

I sat with my head rolling back, watching as
an enormous figure dispatched the guards one by one until the three
of them lie in crumpled heaps on the floor. Boris? The humming in
my ears grew stronger, and I felt as though a heavy weight were
being pressed down on me.

I could see Barbara come around the desk,
hurling the heavy crystal ashtray at the gigantic intruder, missing
him, and sending a shower of glowing sparks raining down on the
carpet. She seemed to be moving in slow motion, leaving vibrating
trails of color behind her. I was rendered completely immobile, and
all I could do was watch as she reached into her purse, pulled out
a gun and waved it around in a panic.