Reva’s sickeningly sweet breath beat against Willa’s cheek. “It’s a pity she didn’t get to hear the final notes of my lovely sonnet. It was so ear-splittingly good.”
The duchess’s tinkling laugh filled Willa with greasy nausea. Until she absorbed what the woman had just said. “Y-you killed her with your horrible screeching?”
“How rude of you to describe it so.”
She ignored Reva’s outrage, her mind spinning. Max had said sharks were immune to the siren call…
Did that mean Aurele was still alive? Had she utilized the old possum trick and only played at being dead?
“There are those who would say my song is nearly as beautiful as my face,” Reva continued, apparently still pissed about the slight against her singing. “Maybe I should give you a small taste of my talent.” Leaning low, she pressed her lips against Willa’s ear and began to hum softly, slowly building in pitch and volume.
The ringing started in Willa’s head, and she winced.
“I see you’re starting to appreciate my melody.” Reva’s tone brought to mind an asp poised to strike. “I think you’ll particularly enjoy the big ending.” Picking up directly where she’d left off on her song, the duchess began increasing the output of her nails-on-chalkboard soprano, until Willa was writhing and twitching. The sound of shattering glass announced Reva had reached the window-breaking stage of her performance.
Despite her agony, Willa didn’t fail to notice that her eardrums didn’t yet feel like they were ready to melt. Back at the stationhouse, when the Taurus’s windshield had erupted, she’d thought herself seconds away from sure death. Although she was in misery now, it was nothing compared to the state she’d been in then.
Max had suggested that when her nymph returned, she might be immune to the siren call too. Could he be right? Had she at least developed a slight tolerance?
Reva belted out a round of ear-blasting trills, building up to her promised finale. The scream the duchess blared made Willa’s eardrums ring, but they didn’t rupture. Her head ached so unbearably she teetered at the edge of unconsciousness. The blackness swept closer. Reva’s shrieks grew fainter. A nail raked along her ear, scratched across her cheek.
“Give my regards to your precious Aurele when you meet up again in the afterlife.”
She detected the duchess’s mocking laugh right before passing out.
Max deflected the blows from two of Reva’s henchmen while pounding his fist into the head of the third. Behind him, he could hear Boone engaged in a similar situation. He knew Boone could take care of himself. What terrified him at the moment was the utter stillness of Willa’s body as Reva Bellemuir’s siren call trickled to a close. If that bitch had killed Willa, there would be no ocean deep enough for Reva to escape his wrath.
A punch landed in Max’s gut, doubling him over. Through his blurry vision, he noticed the duchess walking away from Willa. Reva yanked the trident from the ground and began strolling toward the dunes in the distance. The evil bitch was basking in her perceived triumph.
Growling, he rammed his head into the belly of the goon closest to him. The asshole staggered, giving Max the opportunity to kick him square in the balls. His eyes rolling backward, Max’s opponent slumped onto the grass. One of the man’s comrades extended a pair of lethally tipped talons. Max stared at the potential weapons. Okay, so these bastards packed some interesting heat. He noticed the dude dressed in the butler’s uniform approaching from the sidelines. Up until now, the guy hadn’t jumped in the fray. Max had no idea why. Maybe the fucker just liked to watch him getting roughed up.
“That’s enough.” Butler dude’s voice was cultured, keeping in line with the whole Jeeve’s vibe, but underneath it was a strange sibilant quality. “The fucking shark is mine.”
The two who’d been going at it with Max backed off, and his new opponent faced him, the man’s black irises glinting animosity. “You stole the girl from me. Did you think I’d let that slide?”
Max stared at him, trying to make sense of the accusation. Without warning, a roar bellowed from the man and he launched himself at Max, knocking him into the exterior wall of the groundskeeping building. The force of the attack stunned Max. The guy might dress like Mr. Belvedere, but he carried the weight of a damn sumo wrestler.
“How do you like it, shark, getting rammed to a pulp? Maybe I should bite your fucking arm off.”
Out of the blue, an image of a severed tentacle floating to the ocean floor slammed into Max’s consciousness. Turning his head, he gazed into black eyes that were slowly shifting to red.
The leviathan.
Fury raged through Max as he recalled the part this creature had played in bringing about these events. His fury became forged with determination when he thought about the leviathan bite that had tattooed Willa’s back.
“You’ve saved me the trouble of tracking you down so I can kill you.” Max loaded his words with deadly intent. “That’s mighty generous of you.” Swinging out his leg, he kicked the creature off him. His fist crunched into the cartilage of the leviathan’s nose. The beast retaliated by extending its talons and stabbing Max, coming dangerously close to puncturing his kidney. Ignoring the sharp burst of pain radiating through him, Max delivered an upper clip to the son of a bitch’s chin, forcing the leviathan back a step. His next punch caved in the beast’s cheekbone. After that, he went about dislocating the fucker’s jaw.
A monstrous shriek wailing between its bloodied teeth, the leviathan jumped on top of Max, sinking its incisors into his shoulder. He felt the cold, sticky drip of its venom seeping past his skin. Doubling his fists, he pummeled the creature in the head, but it wouldn’t relinquish its hold. The venom making him woozy, he staggered before banging them both into the wall. Still the motherfucker wouldn’t give up. If anything, it dug into him deeper.
The way Max saw it, the son of a bitch just threw down the gauntlet. You didn’t go around biting a shark without expecting a little reciprocation. Clamping his teeth into the leviathan’s ear, he gave a vicious tug, severing it. The leviathan released him, its scream anguished. And pissed. One handful of talons swiped for Max’s face, but he grabbed the creature’s wrist before it could make contact. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky with the second hand. He grunted as five blade-sharp talons sank into his side. They twisted, the agony wicked. He struggled to breathe and block out the pain.
“I’m going to kill you now, shark. And then I’m going to finish off the girl. I only wish you could be around to see it.”
Willa. He risked a quick look in her direction. Sure enough, she was lifting onto her elbows, looking dazed.
“I don’t know which of you I’m going to enjoy killing more.” The leviathan’s expression smug, it dug into him harder. “You. Most definitely.”
Despite his best efforts to rein it in, Max’s pained groan leaked free. His knees threatening to buckle, he grasped the leviathan, seeking purchase. Something bulky and cylindrical rolled in the butler’s jacket, and Max dug his fingers in, jabbing the objects toward the leviathan’s chest. A strange gurgle escaped the creature’s throat, and its talons unexpectedly retracted. It scrabbled with its coat, the beast’s awkward flailing knocking Max backward. Convulsing wildly, the leviathan slid to the floor.
The creature offered Max one final sinister sneer. “Fucking shark.” And with that parting shot, the leviathan’s irises took on the glassy stare of the dead. The butler’s coat fell open, revealing an empty syringe sticking from the leviathan’s starched white vest.