Edward Pierce silently glowered at the city of Havana from the deck of his yacht. The past two weeks had been frustrating beyond belief, and the time and events had taken a toll on him. Not that he would let that show to others; he was still clean-shaven, wore a clean and pressed suit, and kept his demeanor businesslike. He couldn’t afford to show weakness; he had learned early on in the business world that businessmen were either predators or prey; and those who showed weakness were prey.

It was beneath the surface that the recent events were beginning to affect him. Two weeks ago his mansion had been half destroyed and the luxury bunker underneath was inaccessible, if it was still intact at all. His men guarding the premises had been subdued by masked figures that they hadn’t been able to identify, but the former mercenaries among them had been certain that whoever had done it had been professionals and had come for a reason.

The reason had been obvious enough, they had come to steal his mermaids, and that meant that someone had betrayed him. He could think of three people who might have betrayed him for the mermaids, though Camille Hart likely would have killed them and wasn’t clever enough to realize how valuable they really were. He had felt that it was most likely to be Dr. Natalie Emerson and that animal trainer that she had had him hire, Erica Winslow. They both seemed to care about the beasts and while that should have been a warning flag, Edward had chosen to ignore it because they were getting results.

When all three women had turned up missing in the aftermath, Edward had decided to expedite the search by offering a reward for any information on them, and a larger one for their capture. Informants had started coming out of the woodwork but there was nothing that could be confirmed. Then the assistant that he had placed in charge of the project forwarded him an email with an attached video file from some woman called Rosa in Cuba.

The video was authentic and the woman had Emerson and Winslow, though only the former seemed to be still alive. Cuba was a likely location to flee to and their presence in Havana had been confirmed by several tips that arrived claiming to have seen the pair in the city. ‘Rosa’ had insisted on him coming to deliver her money in person though and, worse yet, on the day that his new marine park was due to open to the public.

Why did she choose that day? How much had Emerson and Winslow told the woman under torture? From the look of Rosa, she was no stranger to getting what she wanted by any means necessary. Edward could respect that, in fact, she was the type of person that he would usually hire to get what he wanted. She was intimidating, wasn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty, and she seemed to get results.

He needed to get Emerson so he could figure out how much she had told the woman and, more importantly, where his mermaids were. He would have just let the bitch die but the trackers that he had Dr. Harris place in the creatures had seemingly vanished and that made Emerson the only person with any clue where the beasts were now. He was furious at having to delay the opening of his new attraction, which promised to be extremely profitable and more than make up the money and resources that went into creating and training the creatures. Now though, he would have to delay the opening and find a new trainer and caretaker for the beasts as well, if he was able to get them back at all.

That alone would have been enough to put him in a foul mood, but things had gotten worse since the Cuban bitch had contacted him with her demands. Several of his businesses had suffered from cyber-attacks and had sensitive information leaked to the public, most of his people in the Miami PD were under investigation by internal affairs, and two three-letter government agencies were investigating him, his business dealings, and how he had acquired some of his recent business acquisitions.

He downed the remaining contents of his large snifter of brandy, placed it back on the bar, and then returned to his cabin to retrieve the briefcase full of money. He needed those goddamn mermaids back. He needed to recoup his losses from their creation and generate some positive press. He had no choice but to meet Rosa’s demands and meet her in person. It was probably better to not be in the States anyway, while those investigations were ongoing.

He would have been a fool to go alone though, so before leaving the yacht he had instructed Joe and the half dozen mercenaries that he had hired to follow him and keep him in sight in case this Rosa tried anything or he needed them. Joe had suggested hiring locals for the job but Edward wasn’t about to trust two-bit thugs with his life when Rosa might already have them under her thumb. At least with mercenaries, he knew that he could buy their loyalty. He would have had more of his regular men do it but he needed some of them to guard the yacht and he had left most of his men at home to ensure the destruction of certain sensitive documents and information from the remains of his home and several of his businesses.

The taxi dropped Edward off at a small open-air café near the water that matched the address he had been given. His frown from having the driver taking the scenic route to inflate the fair flipped into a smile as he saw the place. Good, he was still a few minutes early and this was a very public place so Joe and the mercenaries would be able to keep him in sight easily enough. Since he didn’t see Rosa yet he ordered a coffee and took a seat that would give him a good view of anyone approaching the café from the street. He smiled again once he saw the pair of dark grey SUVs with tinted windows that he had rented for Joe and the others park down the street.

I was sitting with Natalie and looking at Pierce’s yacht through a pair of binoculars out the window of the ancient VW minibus that we were sitting in. I had been worried that Pierce wouldn’t take the bait but Uncle Jack had had some other locals send in photos showing Natalie and ‘Erica’ in Havana to make him sure that we were here. He had also been making things hot for him at home with increasing cyber-attacks on his businesses and releasing various information that Pierce did very much not want to be made public to the right people. “He’s back on the deck with a briefcase and he’s on the phone,” I reported.

-= Yeah, he’s calling for a cab, =- Uncle Jack’s voice replied via my earpiece. -= I’m sending in our guy. Carlos promised to take him on the scenic route. They should be reaching you roughly five minutes after pickup, Max. =-

=- Affirmative, Jack, we’ll be ready for them, =- Mom’s voice promised as Natalie started the van and we headed to our next destination. -= We’ll take care of them and then make for the café. =-

We had had someone watching Pierce’s yacht and following him around since he had arrived in port two days ago, so we already had a pair of SUVs that matched the ones that Pierce had rented the night before. We had been expecting him to try to hire some local muscle and were ready with counter offers but he had brought a small group of mercenaries instead, along with his head goon, Joe. That was good news for us and bad news for them since the local criminals were more than happy to help us deal with the foreign mercenaries on their turf.

I would have almost felt bad for the mercenaries but Mom and Dad told us that they knew the risks every time that they took a job, especially in a foreign country. They were also very familiar with the mercenaries in question; they had been on opposite sides on a few occasions and their leader, Garret Kline, had tried to kill Dad at least twice during those times and had done some really shitty things for really bad people. Dad was more than happy for a bit of payback and a chance to take down an old enemy once and for all.

-= Kline is getting soft and lazy, taking all these civilian protection jobs. If it were me, I would have had a pre-arranged driver and route set up, and I would have hired a couple of locals to fill out the numbers and make sure there were no hard feelings, =- Dad grumbled over the radio.

-= He’s half-assing it for the big payday, =- Aunt Carmen agreed. -=I wonder how much Pierce offered him, not that it could compare to our bonus for this job. =-

“Bonus?” Natalie asked in confusion from beside me as she drove.

-= We’re doing this for you girls because Naiya and Maddie are family. They care about you and see the other Naethari as family, and that makes you family too, Love, =- Uncle Jack clarified. -= We want you all safe and happy, that’s our payday. What Kieshala offered us is great, but it’s just a bonus. =-

-= I’ve got the SUVs in sight and the taxi just turned the corner, firing now, =- Maddie called out. -= Okay, the lead vehicle is down. Dad and Mom, you’re free to move in. I have you covered from on high. =-

-= Good, we’re moving in. everyone return to comm silence until I give the word, =- Dad ordered.

As Natalie drove us past the area where the ambush had been planned, my sharp Naethari eyes could see that everything seemed to be going mostly to plan. The first of the SUVs had been flipped and rolled and was a mess of dented gray metal, plastic, and shattered glass after Maddie had taken out the driver. The crash of the vehicle had blocked the narrow and little-used alley that they had been driving down and that was when some of the local muscle had moved in with Dad and Mom to cut off the escape of the other SUV and finish them all off. It looked like a massacre in progress.

Natalie and I had taken a shortcut and quickly arrived at the rundown motel near the waterfront, not too far from the café. It was a seedy place that served the needs of the local prostitutes but there were no cameras and the manager hadn’t asked any questions and took cash when I had rented the room earlier that day, shifted and dressed to look like the type of young woman who would normally frequent the place. By the time Nat had parked our stolen van in front of the room, Dad let everyone know that the locals were taking care of the cleanup and giving the police something to chase. Mom, Dad, and Maddie were all on their way to catch up with Carlos’ taxi in the other SUVs and they estimated that I had five minutes before Pierce showed up at the meeting place. With that in mind, I started getting ready.

I focused my mind on the form that I wanted to take, gathered my magic, and pushed it out toward my skin. Once the tingling stopped I took a quick look at the hand mirror that I had brought along to make sure that I had gotten the look right. Damn, the ears were a little off again; human ears were a little hard to get just right, even though I had been working on trying to perfect them for over a week now. Before that, I had never really tried to change my ears since I kept my appearance mostly the same, except for having legs, and my hair usually covered my ears. Now though, I needed to look completely human.

I re-summoned my magic and made a quick correction until I was satisfied with the appearance of the girl looking back at me. She was Latina and looked roughly eleven or twelve years old with long and somewhat messy black hair and brown eyes. With the right look achieved, I got into the back of the van and quickly changed into the underwear and other clothes that we had acquired earlier in the week, a slightly dirty and worn yellow dress and sandals. “How do I look?” I asked Nat as I shrugged into the oversized navy blue backpack and rubbed some of the dirt that I had brought on my face and bare arms and legs.

“Like a street kid in dire need of a bath,” my sister’s blonde girlfriend replied with a thumbs up.

-= Pierce is sitting on the patio and watching the street, =- Mom reported. -= From the smug look on his face, he thinks that we’re his backup. You’re up, Naiya. =-

“On my way,” I replied. Then I gave my earpiece to Nat since we didn’t want Pierce getting suspicious, left the van, and trotted off toward the café. Meanwhile, Nat would be entering the motel room, where Aunt Carmen was already waiting with Kara, Jenny, and Kieshala.

“Good luck, Naiya. See you soon,” Nat said as we parted ways.

Once I arrived at my destination, I made a point of looking around before finally approaching Pierce and doing my best to look like a scared kid rather than a Naethari who really wanted to get her claws into him. When I spoke, it was in a local accent that I had been practicing all week. I also tried to sound fluent in English but like it wasn’t my first language. “Hola, Señor. Are you… Señor Pierce?”

He gave me a look that could curdle dairy products. “What is the meaning of this, brat? I’m here to meet Rosa.”

I stepped back in false fear. “Sí, Señor, Rosa, she send me. I am Naiya. I take you to her? Please, Señor, do not… angry. I come muy quickly, as Rosa tell me.”

“Hmmmph,” he snorted dismissively. “Take me to her, time is money, girl.”

I made a show of looking down at my dirty feet before fishing around in my backpack and coming up with a photograph of me and the other Naethari chained up in a small pool doing our best to look miserable. “Sí, Señor, I take you there. Rosa, tell me to ask… how much you pay for this?”

Pierce’s eyes widened as he saw the photo and he smiled in a predatory way. He looked like he was about to get everything that he wanted, handed to him on a silver platter, as he half pushed me along out of the café’s patio area, glanced at the grey SUVs, and made a quick motion for them to follow. “Take me to Rosa, brat.”

“Follow me, Señor,” I said. I was glad that I was in front of him so he couldn’t see my smile as I thought, “Hook, line, and sinker.” Then I took off as only a kid can, leaving him struggling to keep up.

Pierce could hardly breathe by the time we reached the motel with the SUVs following at a discreet distance. I opened the door to show Natalie, looking as if she was tied up on the twin bed, as Aunt Carmen sat in the room’s only chair and looked up at the sound of the door opening. Pierce shoved me aside to step into the room, drawing a gun from underneath his jacket as he did so, and demanded, “Where are the mermaids?”

As he brazenly strode into the room, the three Naethari inside made their presence known with angry hissing as they came out from hiding behind the bed, behind the door I had just opened, and in the bathroom. “Looking for us?” Kara asked, looking ready to pounce.

I was already shifting again and had changed back into ‘Little Naiya with legs’ as he seemed to realize that not only had one of us spoken but that this was a trap. He couldn’t decide exactly who to point the gun at as Natalie sat up on the bed and Aunt Carmen stood up, looking just as intimidating as my fellow Naethari. He waved the gun around threateningly and started backing out the door, probably hoping for his goons to jump in and lend a hand. I was already singing as he backpedaled and bumped into me, the words of Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight flowing melodiously off my tongue.

He was fighting me, but it wasn’t surprising with the size of Pierce’s ego. He had turned around and was gaping at me in sudden confusion and fear so I locked my eyes on his and tried to smother his will with my own. I could feel when it happened and my magic started to take hold, and as I sang the last notes and felt him become fully pliant I commanded, ~ Drop the gun, you don’t know how to use one. The knowledge eludes you. ~

I could have ordered him to do far more but this wasn’t my fight. Kieshala had suffered far worse at Pierce’s hands than any of us and we had all agreed that his life was hers to take. I just wanted to make sure that it was a fairer fight than she had gotten the first time, and that one of us wouldn’t get shot in the process. I did block the door to keep him from escaping though. I may have remained small to not burst out of my clothes, but I still had the strength of a Naethari.

Kieshala sprang upon him with no hesitation as the gun fell to the floor, coiling her tail around him. I could swear that I heard bones cracking and popping from her crushing grip as he screamed and she brought him to the floor and pinned him under her weight, her vuhac leaving a long gash across his chest as he struggled against her. All too soon, he was too distracted by the pain of the toxin to struggle and she leaned over him to get in his face as she hissed.

“Your bones are broken, you are bleeding, and my poison will soon kill you. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, Edward Pierce. You hurt us, tried to control us, and thought yourself superior to us, but you are nothing to one of our kind. We could save you from the poison, mend your broken bones, and even give you the immortality that you crave… but we will not. You know why. Think about that and how inferior you are as you die,” Kieshala said with a tremor of long-held anger in her voice as she drove all three bone blades of the vuhac on her right arm deep into his chest.