Mere Temptation (9 page)

She’d heard this argument a hundred times back when she dated Sidon as a kid. Her mother didn’t mind her having sex, just so long as it wasn’t with a dragon or a mere. “Mom, I’m not ready for that big of a decision. I’m happy in Landworld. I have a great life, and I’m looking forward to heading back, but…” Isa wasn’t sure how to end the sentence. She did want to go back, but part of her wanted to stay in the Key as well.

“Okay, honey, I won’t mention it again.” Isa practically burst out laughing. Her mother would speak of little else, no doubt. “But come stay at my place. You know it’s not safe here where that thing can claw at you.”

“Mom, Sidon is not like that, and you know it.”

“I know nothing of the sort. Did you know they made him Guardian now? Kara was always my friend, so I tried to be accepting when he was small, but he’s a grown dragon now, and you know perfectly well that dragon males only want mere girls for one thing!”

Isa’s temper flared. Between the dragons’ prejudices and her own ambivalence, there were too many voices in her head saying too many conflicting things. She didn’t need her mother’s shrill accusations superimposed on the din.

“Mom, it’s been nice seeing you again, but I’m happy to stay where I am. I’ll probably be leaving in a few days, a few weeks at the latest, and I hope to see you again before I go.”

With that, she opened the tall glass door into Sidon’s house, shutting Ashala’s voice behind her.

* * * *

Gracie’s story still haunted Karon as he sat at his desk later that day. He had always allowed himself to imagine that the subjects he delivered were treated well. Okay, maybe he didn’t think they were treated
well.
The truth was he tried not to give much thought to what happened to them once they were delivered. He’d been assured that Dendric released most subjects after a few months. The rest they terminated once their usefulness was over. Karon didn’t have much opinion one way or another about the issue of terminating subjects—after all, everyone had to die sometime. But heck, even animals had rights nowadays, right?

The com sounded. “Dr. Grathers just arrived.”

“Send him up.”

Grathers’s lab coat covered a squirrelly, round-shouldered frame. His thick glasses shrank his black eyes. The guy looked like a rodent.

“Captain Karon, hello. So glad to finally meet you in person. Though I suppose we’ll get to know each other extremely well, what with being shipmates.”

Karon flinched. “I was under the impression that a facility was being built.”

“Oh, yes. That’s true.” Grathers giggled, and the sound rubbed Karon like a cheese grater. “They’re building the cells and tanks now, but I can start some of the work right here.”

Karon grunted.

“I’ve brought some of my own tools, but I’ll need to see what supplies you have on hand.”
   

“Doc can show you our med room and supplies. It’s pretty much just emergency stuff.”

“Are you set up enough for me start with the autopsies?”

Karon stiffened. “I was under the impression you were just going to take blood samples and run tests here on the ship.”

The doctor laughed again, and the sound wiggled like splinters under Karon’s skin. “Oh, we’ll do that first. Well, not all the tests. We need tanks and equipment for most of our trials. But there’s such a cornucopia of subjects at this location. It’s crucial that we more fully document mere anatomy.”

The doctor babbled on, seemingly slipping into science-brain. “There’s only been one mere autopsy documented to date, and that subject was in human form. At the very least, I’ll need to perform autopsies for each major age range in both forms. Though, of course given mere healing abilities we may not have to sacrifice the subjects in order to autopsy them. Oh, can you imagine! If the young ones survive we could do serial anatomic studies throughout their lifetime!”

Karon’s stomach turned at the idea. “Dr. Grathers, I hate to interrupt, but I have some work I need to get to. I’ll have Jackson help you find your quarters. Doc will find you later today to show you our med area.”

“Of course, thank you. Oh, and Mr. Karon, I heard you still have that succubus on board, is that true?”

Karon’s nostrils flared at the twitchy doctor.

“Yes.”

“I’ve read all the papers on that particular project. Would it be possible to have access to it for a time?”

“No.” And with that Karon led Grathers to the door and, gratefully, shut him out.

* * * *

The late afternoon sun streamed through the window, warming his napping body. He reached across the bed for Isa, but she was gone—a split second of fury flashed before the shushing stream of the shower registered. The taste of her scent in the air calmed him, and the humidity of her bath gave the room a pleasant terrarium feel. Sidon growled in pleasure.

He grabbed the washcloth and opened the shower door to Isa’s naked body. Water streamed down her long hair and over her perfectly round behind. He placed little wet smooches all along her back and rubbed the wet towel over her shoulders. She sighed happily. Words bubbled up from nowhere, almost against his will.

“Tell me again why you can’t stay in Sirena.”

Isa stiffened, and he fought the urge to hit “undo.” It was wrong to bring this up so soon. He’d just have to play it cool, make his mistake work in his favor.

“Si, you know the answer to that. I like living in Landworld.”

“Well.” He roamed his hands down her body now, seeking out the spots that made her whimper, kissing them. “You could just live there some of the time then come back.”

“Not if I’m marked.”

Sidon frowned against her hip as he kissed it. “No, maybe not. But we’re not talking about you changing. I’m just asking why you can’t live here at least part of the time.” That was the ticket. Sound reasonable, Jedi-Mind-Trick her so she couldn’t say no.

Isa paused and thought about it for a moment. “You’d want to change me eventually.”

His fingers ran along the inside of her knees, and he couldn’t resist teasing her. “Ya think?”

She sighed at his attempt to be light. “I won’t change.” She said it in a small, defeated voice, and he felt like crap. It wasn’t her fault marked mere didn’t normally leave the Keys, or that most dragons treated them like chattel. In her shoes he might make the same choice.

His calm scrubbing continued, moving to her calves and gently lifting a foot to clean the sand from between her toes.

“I’m not asking you to change, Isa. I’m just saying… I’m just saying I’d like it if you stayed for a while. If you can.”

Panicked fear of rejection scalded him as she peered down. Barely two days and he was washing her feet, practically begging her to stay with him. This would stop immediately. He gave her his best offer, and she could either take it or leave it.

He prepared to stand and walk out before he humiliated himself more but steeled himself for her reply.

“And we’d just continue going down on each other indefinitely?”

He almost barked his laughter.
Yeah, she’s staying.
Sidon started kissing his way up from her ankle. “Sounds good to me.”

* * * *

Dr. Pierson Grathers looked over the subjects one by one. He allowed himself a little internal thrill at the site of them, his first real mere samples. He’d had the others for a limited time. He could only take blood, spinal fluid and a few tissue samples before the protocol required him to toss them back into the sea. These were his to study and dissect. Yes, there would be more subjects for this arm of the study, many more. He looked forward to their arrival, but these little mermaids would be the objects of his first investigation, and that made them special.

Pointing to the youngest, he asked his lab assistant to prepare her for surgery. The subject started to cry and scream, and he considered again the possibility of re-writing the protocols to include removal of the samples’ larynx. Too bad they needed to study the phenomenon of mere song. But still, it was something to consider once they identified a few alternative gene markers for maturity.

Dr. Grathers jotted some notes as his assistant secured the subject to the table and began intubation. The subject’s distress calls were fascinating, similar in some ways to those of a human child. With a stab he recalled that his daughter had made a similar sound. Sometimes the disease that slowly cut off her vision and breathing made her cry out in pain.

Wincing, he cut short the memory. Jilly was dead and gone. His life’s work now lay in cracking genetic puzzles. Coming back to himself, Pierson quietly consulted his notes to determine what procedure he would perform first. Yes, this little subject might very well prove to be his favorite one.

Chapter 6

Baited

When the Council’s dragons emerged from Sidon’s office late in the evening, Isa was still scowling. They didn’t acknowledge her on their way to the door, and she glared at their backs until they left.

“So,” she asked in her most prim voice, “can you tell me what you talked about, or is it super top-secret dragon stuff too complicated for a mere to understand?”

Sidon dropped to the couch, looking exhausted and raking his hands through his hair.

“No, not super top-secret.” He pulled her onto to his lap, and laid his chin over her shoulder. “The Council has agreed to use their radar station to help us locate the ship. Once they do, I’ll sneak aboard, retrieve the kids and plant the surveillance equipment. We’ll listen and watch, and figure out what it is they want, and how to stop them.”

“We know what they want. They want mere.”

“Well yeah, but there’s always somebody trying to catch mere. We need to find out who sent these guys, what their connections are. If it’s just a small, isolated group we might be able to redirect them, but if they’re connected to something larger, we need to know.”

Isa considered his reasoning. “Okay, you’re probably right. It’s just, I dunno, I always think of the Council as all-powerful.”

“Isa, I’m the Guardian here. It’s my job to deal with this. The Council will help, but it’s my show.”

She thought about it and looked at Sidon in a strangely new light. His bravery shot her through with an overwhelming urge to kiss him. His mouth parted for hers, and she turned her body to face his as their lips met. He seemed so tired and overwhelmed with responsibility, and her heart swelled with a desire to take care of him, to love him, even. So she rocked herself on his lap, looked adoringly into his eyes and allowed him to do the same to her.

Hours later, Isa watched Sidon wrap dagger sheaths around each of his upper arms. Then he strapped a waterproof carrier across his back.

She followed him down the stairs of his house, to the underground cave where the water lapped. He was naked except for a pair of thin black pants and had never looked more beautiful. She pulled him around by the arm to plant a kiss on his lips before he left. His mouth cocked up on one side, and his eyes looked as if they were drinking her in. He kissed her back, crushing her against his chest.

When he let go, he pulled off his pants, pausing to wiggle his eyebrows at her.
Conceited jerk!
Then he strode into the water, turning to look at her once he was submerged to his waist. His dragon form stretched out behind him, and as it did, his upper body grew and expanded till he resembled nothing so much as a sea god. Isa’s breath caught in her throat. “I’ll be back before you know it. Don’t even think of running. I’d catch you.” His larger-than-life voice resonated in the small cave, and Isa just shook her head. No, there was no way she’d be able to escape him, not until he let her go.

* * * *

Sidon struggled to quiet his breathing as he streaked through the boat’s passageways. He’d found the section where the kids were held shivering in their cages, and he’d shuffled them off the ship and into the water before anyone was the wiser. Laird had circled below the ship to accompany them home, but Sidon stayed aboard to plant the equipment before the crew realized that their catch had been lost.