Deep Water (32 page)

“Excellent. Well, I think I would like to
have a word with the Bearer, and then I have some other patients to see before
I head over to West Palm Beach.” With his hand over his heart Apollo gave
Amphitrite a flirtatious bow, then a slightly more formal one to Poseidon. A
halo of orange light appeared around him and he vanished.

Poseidon let out a long breath. “Have I
mentioned recently how much he annoys me?”

“You did quite well, dearest.” Amphitrite
kissed him, then did the same to Griffin. “How do
you
feel, beloved?”

“Like I just drank a six pack of energy
drinks,” Griffin said, holding out his hands and flexing them. “Is he always
like that?”

“Apollo? I’m afraid so,” Poseidon said,
frowning at Amphitrite. “Are you sure you want
Ligea
to spend an evening with him? It does seem like we’re throwing her to the big
bad wolf.”

Amphitrite chuckled. “Darling, the last
time Apollo saw
Ligea
she was an innocent young nymph,
which I’m sure was part of her appeal to him.”

“Wait,” Griffin interrupted. “
Ligea
? Wasn’t she the stacked bombshell in gold who
kidnapped me?”

“Yes,” Poseidon growled.

Amphitrite’s eyes crinkled at that. “I need
to hear this story, I think,” she said. “But yes,
Ligea’s
become quite the woman of the world over the years.”

Griffin suddenly grinned. “And Apollo is
expecting some shy little nymph? Bloody hell.”

“He won’t know what hit him,” Amphitrite
said in satisfaction. “It’ll be an excellent object lesson. He’s a good boy at
heart, but he needs to learn a bit of humility.”

Playfully, she put her arms around
Griffin’s neck. “Speaking of object lessons, why don’t you let me take a shower
and get cleaned up, and we’ll see just how good your stamina’s gotten.” She
kissed him, glanced over her shoulder and winked at Poseidon, then headed off
to the bathroom with her hips swaying.

Griffin glanced down at his now-tenting bathrobe.
“Damn. She’s good at that, isn’t she?”

“The best,” Poseidon said, holding out a
hand. “Well, beloved. Shall we?”

“Definitely.” Griffin came over and pulled
Poseidon into a kiss. “She won’t mind if we get started without her, will she?”

Poseidon felt his own cock start to
thicken in anticipation. “I suspect she was planning on it—”

A rapid knock sounded on the back door,
then Aphros rushed in, handsome face creased with tension.

“Father, Thetis’s right whales have been
sighted again,” the demigod said. “There are more of them this time. They’re
heading north of us, towards Cocoa Beach.”

All thoughts of sex gone, Poseidon skimmed
through his knowledge of coastline developments. He stopped at a huge red zone.
“That’s just south of Cape Canaveral. What in Gaia’s name is that madwoman
doing?” he said. “Is she
trying
to
attract mortal attention?”

“She may not care anymore, Father,” Aphros
said bleakly. “I already have two squadrons of tritons on an intercept course,
but they’re going to need our help.”

“Indeed.” Poseidon summoned his armor and
trident, giving Griffin a regretful look. “I’m sorry, beloved. I’ll be back as
soon as I can—”

“Take me with you,” Griffin said instantly.

Poseidon felt his jaw drop. “No,
absolutely not.”

Griffin glared at him. “Why not? I’m a
bloody marine biologist. If Thetis is mutating sea creatures like you’ve said,
I may be able to spot potential weaknesses.”

“It’s far too dangerous. Besides, you’ve
only just been healed.”

“Right, I’m
healed
,” Griffin threw back at him. “And between you,
Ammie
, and whatever Apollo did to me I’m totally charged
up. I can’t drown, and I’m not stupid enough to try and fight one of them, so
let me be an observer. I can compare notes with Bythos, see if there are any
consistent weaknesses in the mutations.”

“No,” Poseidon repeated with a growl. “I
will not allow you anywhere near one of Thetis’s misbegotten creatures.”

He could see his mate’s hackles go up at
that. “But you’ll let your own sons go up against these things.”

“My sons are demigods. You are not.”

“No, but I am a goddess.”

They turned. Amphitrite stood in the
doorway, her beautiful face serious. “If he rides with me, I’ll be able to keep
him safe while he observes the whales,” she said. “We do need more data on
Thetis’s changes, and Bythos can’t be everywhere.”

Poseidon clenched his fists. “Gaia’s tits,
woman, I don’t want
you
anywhere near
these things, either.”

Her expression remained unperturbed. “I
know that, beloved, and I adore you for it. But I cannot and will not hide here
while you and our sons are in danger. If you won’t let me fight, then at least
allow Griffin and me to go out and scout these creatures.”

“Father, she’s right,” Aphros said.
“Especially since we haven’t been able to get a sample of Thetis’s venom yet.
Any information Griffin could give us may be useful.”

The sea god felt his jaw muscles bunch. He
hated the idea of both his mates going into danger. But they desperately needed
more information on the Mad Nereid’s new experiments, and he and the tritons
would be too busy fighting the mutated creatures to take notes. “All right,” he
finally said. “But you’ll have a triton squad with you at all times, and no
argument about it.”

His consort pursed her lips in thought.
“I’ll trade you a triton squad for Skylla and Sthenios,” she offered. “They can
outrun anything in the sea, and they’re vicious when attacked. Plus it means
Griffin can ride with me instead of using a propeller.”

Poseidon considered it. If he was going to
be battling something the size of right whales, he would be more mobile out of
the chariot anyway. “Done.”

Amphitrite nodded. “I’ll get changed.
Griffin should have armor just in case. Aphros, can your tritons lend him
some?”

“I’ll speak to
Kasos
immediately, Mother.” The demigod hesitated, then crossed to her and kissed her
cheek. “Be careful. Both of you.”

Silently, Poseidon echoed that plea.

****

Griffin hung onto the rim of the chariot
as it streaked through the water with Amphitrite at the reins. The lightweight alloy
pauldrons
that now covered his shoulders and upper
arms were strapped on with belts running across his chest, and the color of the
metal matched the sectioned bracers around his wrists. Underneath the
pauldrons
was a garment that looked like a mesh tank top,
and a thick circlet held a cap over his
crown.

“This mesh doesn’t seem very strong,” he
had said to Amphitrite when a triton came onshore with the armor. “Why don’t
they wear breastplates?”

“Not practical underwater,” she had
explained, helping him into the coverings. “Remember, water has much more
resistance than air. Too much bulk and a triton is slowed down by it no matter
how strong he or she is, whereas water flows right through the mesh. Even so,
it will still turn most regular bladed weapons.”

“I take it they don’t wear anything on
their tails?”

“There’s a mesh casing that they can wear
in very dangerous circumstances, but that won’t work for you.” She had frowned
at his legs. “You’ll be in the chariot, which will protect you from the waist down.
That’ll have to do for now. I’ll ask Hephaestus to make you some proper armor
afterwards.”

Griffin wondered how many more gods he was
going to meet as the chariot surged behind a squad of tritons. The sea warriors
held onto towropes attached to a device that looked like a monster version of an
underwater propeller. Their commander, introduced to him as
Kasos
,
guided the propeller through the water while Poseidon and Aphros flanked the
warriors, tridents held at the ready.

“One of these days, I really need to sit
down with one of you and have a long talk about
mer
technology,” he said in
Éthlé
.

She gave him a brief grin. “I think you’ll
be pleasantly surprised,” she said in the sea tongue. “
Seafolk
aren’t nearly as medieval as
landwalker
legends make
them out to be. The larger grottos are just as sophisticated as any major land
city, technologically speaking.”

“I bet,” he said, eyeing the large
propeller. Ahead of them, the water appeared as a solid wall of dark blue. “Are
we getting close?”

Amphitrite studied the featureless water,
obviously seeing more than he could. “Yes, we are.” She pulled back on the
reins, and the powerful seahorses slowed, allowing the attack group to continue
on. “We’ll curve around to the right and watch. If one of the whales or an
ilkothella approaches us, I’ll steer us away.”

“Understood. But I’m not going to be able
to see much.”

“Yes, you will.” She touched the side of
his circlet. A rectangle of blue light snapped down in front of his eyes like a
high-tech visor. Suddenly he could see the sea floor below them clearly. The
featureless water now looked like translucent walls of blue ice, constantly
shifting as he watched. “Welcome to
mer
technology.”

“Oh, my God. This is fantastic.” He studied
the shifting lines in the water, wondering if they indicated turbulence and
current flow. “Does it have a setting to show salinity?”

“Yes, as well as temperature and other
conditions. I’ll show you how to use it later. Right now, keep an eye out for
the whales.”

His delight vanished. They were there to
do a job. “Right.”

He watched as the tritons and their
flanking gods headed off into the distance. Suddenly the tritons dropped their
tow lines and spread out like a school of fish, and Poseidon’s trident lit up
with a dim glow.

Ahead of them, a huge shape loomed out of
the shadows.

Chapter Fourteen

“This one is mine,” Poseidon called.
Aphros and the tritons backed off, forming a defensive cordon behind him.

The sea god eyed the right whale swimming
towards them. Adult rights were usually somewhere between 45 and 60 feet long,
but the behemoth in his path was closer to 70 feet. The usual scabby white
patches on a right whale’s head, a result of parasitism by whale lice, had
extended over much of its upper body, giving it a gruesomely mottled look.

The creature’s mouth opened and Poseidon
got a look at the row of tiny but fiercely serrated teeth that had replaced the
whale’s baleen plates, the filtering system that had allowed it to feed on
floating clusters of tiny crustaceans and krill. Deprived of its usual method
of feeding, the whale would grow hungry enough to use its backup method of
opportunistic feeding, looking for anything large enough to satisfy its
appetite.

Which appears to
be me.
He ducked out of the whale’s charging path, testing the creature’s reflexes. It
flexed around in a surprisingly tight circle, coming back for him. Right whales
were slow and docile, but Thetis’s venom had gifted it with greater speed and
flexibility, turning it into a gigantic shark.

He hefted his trident, focusing his power
on the three tines of the weapon. They flowed together and merged into a single
barbed head in the classic harpoon shape. Cocking his arm back, he hurled the
weapon into the whale’s skin, piercing it. The whale convulsed, letting out a high-pitched
bellow of pain. A blackish fluid gushed out of the wound.

Poseidon hated to kill the creature. Right
whales were endangered as it was, the northern species critically so. But he
couldn’t allow the mutated beast to roam freely and attack other marine animals
or humans. He reached out and grabbed the shaft of his weapon, sending a
killing surge of power along it into the whale’s gut.

It shuddered as its internal organs
ruptured and died. He leapt away just in time to avoid the whale’s rapid
dissolution into a foul cloud. His harpoon hung in the dark tendrils, and he
called it to him, burning off the sticky residue as it came into contact with
his aura.

He turned his attention back to Aphros and
the waiting tritons.
One down. The rest
of the pod to go.

****

Griffin could feel his jaw muscles bunch
as he watched Poseidon face down and kill the mutated whale.

“Does he have to get that close?” he asked
Amphitrite. “Can’t he kill them from a distance?”

“Yes, but that takes more effort on his
part, and it’s not as exact,” she said, her hands clenched around the chariot’s
reins. “This way, the deaths are quick and clean. He doesn’t want them to
suffer.” Her tone made it clear that she’d be willing to live with more
suffering if it improved Poseidon’s safety. Griffin agreed with her on that.

Grimacing, the Nereid clucked at the
seahorses. “Come on, we have a job to do.”

Sthenios and Skylla pulled the chariot
towards the area from where the right whale had appeared. Griffin adjusted his
visor until he could see turbulence patterns in the water. “Looks like some
massive displacement there.”

“Yes. That whale was definitely not alone.
So where are the others?” With a flick of the reins she guided the seahorses
lower towards the ocean floor. “There should be—”

Something massive slammed into the bottom
of the chariot, shoving them upwards. Cursing, Griffin clung to the chariot’s
rim as Amphitrite fought to keep control of the vehicle. The seahorses screamed
in rage, surging forward. He risked a look back and almost pissed himself at
the yawning mouth lined with saw-like teeth that snapped closed just inches
from the back of the chariot.

Amphitrite yelled something in Ancient
Greek to the seahorses. They galloped faster, manes streaming out with the
motion. Griffin hung on like grim death as the chariot raced away from the
second whale. He looked back again, relieved to see that they were pulling
ahead of the beast.

Then he spotted something behind the
bullish, mottled head.
What…

Oh, my God. That’s
impossible.

“Can you get around to its side?” he
yelled to Amphitrite. “I need to look at its flippers.”

The Nereid gave him an “Are you
shitting
me?” glare but hauled on the
reins. Sthenios and Skylla slewed to the right in a tight turn, flinging
Griffin hard against the side of the chariot. The whale followed. Ignoring the
pain in his hip he stared back at the whale, tracing along the creature’s
midline to where its flippers should have been.

Fuck. I was right.

“Get us out of here!” he yelled.

“I’m trying to!” Amphitrite yelled back.
They had dropped down to mere feet above the ocean floor now, racing along it
with the right whale in pursuit. The seahorses arrowed through the dark water,
swerving through rocky outcroppings and seaweed stands like rats running
through a maze. The right whale stayed with them, smashing through obstacles
without stopping.

A grim Amphitrite steered the chariot down
even further, angling them towards a jagged outcropping of coral growth. “Hang
on!”

Griffin did, praying the goddess knew what
she was doing as they headed straight for the hill-like outcropping. At the
last moment the white seahorses plunged through an opening that he hadn’t even
seen, slowing as soon as they were inside.

Panting, Griffin stared up at the
underside of a covered coral lagoon. The lacy structure appeared to be solid
from the outside, but allowed dim light and water to flow through it.

A loud grinding crack sounded behind them.
Turning, he saw the right whale’s snout pulling back from a hole it had broken
in the coral.

“Can it get in here?” he asked.

“Eventually, yes,” Amphitrite said,
handing him the reins. “Here.”

“What are you doing?”
                

She plucked her trident from its holder,
glaring at the tines. They collapsed inward, forming a single vicious-looking barbed
blade. “I’m going to kill it.”

Griffin’s gut chilled. “It’s too
dangerous!”

“Not if I hit it right,” she said, hefting
her weapon. “If I can get past the jaw, one blow should kill it.”

The coral wall groaned again as the right
whale drove into it, scabrous snout wedging into the hole like a cat after
trapped mice. “Especially since it’s being so courteous about giving me a
target,” she said, kicking free from the chariot. All he could do was hang onto
Sthenios and
Skylla’s
reins and watch as his mate
surged towards the whale, lithe arm cocking back to strike.

The whale shook its head back and forth,
trying to widen the hole in the coral. Amphitrite hurled her trident/harpoon
past the long snout, aiming for the whale’s eye. The beast jerked at the last
moment, sending the weapon skidding along the bony outcropping in front of the
eye.

It bellowed in pain, shoving itself
further into the hole in the coral. To Griffin’s horror the giant scabrous head
sideswiped Amphitrite before she could get out of the way, tossing her to one
side like a rag doll.

Sthenios and Skylla shrieked in tandem,
jerking the chariot around. With Griffin clinging to the reins the seahorses
charged at the whale, their golden hooves clawing through the water and
slashing at the whale’s snout.

A pale shape surged past them. Harpoon in
hand, Amphitrite torpedoed directly towards the whale’s eye, flipping in
mid-course and slapping her feet on either side of the rolling orb. She raised
the harpoon and slammed it down.

Shrieking in agony, the whale shook its
head and tried to back out of the hole, but the harpoon jammed in its eye
socket blocked it in. The grimacing Nereid hung onto the weapon, and Griffin
saw a ball of light pulse down the shaft into the whale.

The creature shuddered once, then exploded
into an inky cloud. The seahorses backed the chariot away from the foul matter
as Amphitrite kicked off to the other side. She stopped there, letting her
harpoon fall as she grabbed her left shoulder and grimaced.

Griffin wrapped the reins around a
protrusion on the chariot’s rim and started swimming over to her. “Are you all
right?” he called.

She lifted her head and smiled weakly.
“Shaken, more than anything—” Her face paled. “No!”

Griffin twisted in the water. Something
heavy slammed into his chest, shoving him backwards and driving the water from
his lungs in one great whoosh. Dazed, he looked down and saw a thick wooden
shaft sticking out of his chest.

And then agony washed everything away.

****

Amphitrite darted to Griffin’s side,
catching him before he could sink to the lagoon floor. She stared in horror at
the spear protruding from his sternum.

Then up at her sister Thetis. The First
Nereid hovered in the water, tattered robes streaming out from her disfigured
body.

“Well met, sister,” Thetis called,
sneering. “Although I didn’t expect to find you slumming with
landwalkers
.”

Amphitrite’s lips pulled back from her
teeth in a rictus snarl. “Thetis, you
bitch
!”

“Now, now,
Ammie
.
You killed my pet,” Thetis called mockingly. “It’s only fair that I kill
yours.”

Amphitrite tore her attention away from
her gloating sister, focusing on Griffin. “Beloved,” she begged, “please, don’t
leave me!”

There was a last flicker in Griffin’s aura
as if in answer. Then it disappeared. Her newly found
agapetos
was dead, lost once again to her.

Amphitrite let them both drift to the
lagoon floor, laying his body down as gently as she could. Her shaking hand
closed his eyes.
I will avenge you,
beloved. I swear this.

Looking up at her smirking sister, she held
out a hand. Her trident flew to it, the now-separate tines glowing with power.
“I’m going to kill you for this,” she snarled.

“Oh, really?” Disdain and something akin
to eagerness flickered over Thetis’s face. “You think you can do battle with
me, sister? Then come and find me.” The Mad Nereid disappeared into a whirl of
sickly grey, streaming out through gaps in the coral.

Amphitrite let out the underwater
equivalent of a whistle. Sthenios and Skylla tossed their heads and pulled the
chariot to her. She leapt into it, not daring to look at Griffin’s still form.
The seahorses surged out of the lagoon after Thetis.

I’ll return for
you, beloved
,
she thought, hoping his spirit could hear her on its way to the Underworld.
Just as soon as I kill my sister.

****

More of the mutated whales appeared out of
the blue gloom. Aphros and Poseidon teamed up to handle them, letting the
tritons run a search patrol around the area to harry more of the beasts towards
the killing area.

Pain burst through Poseidon’s chest like
an exploding star. He hunched over, wondering if someone had mistakenly thrown
a harpoon at him, but his sternum was intact.

With horror, he remembered the only other thing
that could affect him like that.

Panting through the blazing pain, he
reached out for Amphitrite and Griffin. He could only feel Amphitrite. In his
mind he heard the dry click of Atropos’s shears cutting through Griffin’s life
thread, saw the golden fragment drop to the floor of the Fates’ cottage.

“
No
!”
he howled. Moving blindly, he stabbed down at the whale and blasted his power
through the harpoon. The whale erupted, sending dissolving chunks billowing
everywhere.
Amphitrite!

Griffin
is dead,
came back to him, the thought raw and ragged.
Thetis killed him.

How?

Spear
through the heart.

The pain in his chest eased, replaced by
blinding fury.
I swear by Gaia I’ll tear
the bitch limb from limb!

Not
if I get to her first, husband.

Aphros swam to his side, the demigod’s
silvery fishtail and equine forelegs churning through the water. “Father? What’s
wrong?”

“Griffin is dead.” Another whale loomed
up, dragging Poseidon’s attention back to the battle. Pushing power into his
harpoon, he went after the creature with furious intent.

He would kill the rest of Thetis’s beasts.
And then he would go after their mistress.

****

Griffin opened his eyes.

Something had happened. He’d had a brief
flash of something slamming into his sternum, and an awful choking pain.

He sucked in a deep breath, pushing
fingers against his chest. It was reassuringly solid.

“Hello, Griffin.”

Blinking, he looked around. He was sitting
in a lounge chair in back of the cottage. The cove was a deep, perfect teal
under the summer sky. Overhead the sun stood at its zenith.