Chapter 13
"You mean they kept you locked up so that you could not come to the beach?" Maggie asked Adam. "For that?"
"There was something that they did not want me to find out. m Something that Barnabas is afraid of."
Maggie was not sure what that could be or why. But if it meant hurting Barnabas, she was all for it. And who knows what Barnabas was up to? She had never believe that he was truly the nice reformed character that everybody took him for. There was something nasty about him, still, something that should be found out, and if Adam was the one to find it.
"I will help you. Let's go get all the equipment you need. You can put it in my credit card."
"Angelique, Adam has done it. He's going to be eaten by a Gorgon, or turned to stone. You have to help us."
He was breathless. First he had to free himself . Maggie had not bothered to take the penknife from his back pocket), then he had raced downstairs to find Adam gone (Barnabas had been OK), and then he had raced to find Angelique. He was speaking fast, and probably not making much sense.
"Maybe you should let it happen. You cannot save people from their own stupidity."
"He's not stupid. He's bespelled."
Angelique sighed. Pregnancy made her cautious. Any energy of her own that she expended in her craft, was energy stolen from her baby, so she was stingy with it.
It was not that she did not wish Adam ill. It was that she did not wish to tangle with a Gorgon. Who knew what might happen if the Gorgon did not feed on Adam? Better that only Adam suffer, and not the whole town.
It was Adam's fault. He should have remembered all the warnings about mermaids. If he chose to disregard danger as he did, why couldn't he face the consequences? As for Maggie, well those who look for trouble usually end up finding it...
"I have to save them, Angelique. both of them."
On the other hand, if anything happened to Maggie, she might have to deal with a very angry Sabrina...
"All right. I will help you. but you'll have to do most of the work. I am pregnant now and cannot take risks."
Maggie saw Adam dive under the waters.
The doubt kept nagging her. What could be Barnabas's secret? Why underwater? That would be a most unlikely place for Barnabas to hide anything...
And Quentin too... Somehow the story that Adam had told her did not make fully sense. Perhaps she should have asked him questions instead of knocking him out and leaving him.
No. She had made her choices. She had to live by them. And she owed it to Barnabas. She had to show him up for what he was, and destroy all the lies he had built around himself. Did he really expect her to behave as if nothing had ever happened between the two of them?
...Only that it was wrong...
No, that's what Sabrina would say. What did Sabrina know? Sabrina had never been locked up in that cell.
Adam swam deeper and deeper. He had his weapons with him. With them he would slay the dragon and claim the beautiful princess. Then he would reign in the kingdom beneath the sea and never come back to Collinsport.
He saw the mermaid wafting for him, welcoming him as she swam in quick circles in front of him. She guided him to the Bearded Stones, where he saw the fish entangled in the kelp. They were to be consumed in the wedding feast, the mermaid explained. They were to be wed as soon as he had slain the dragon.
The mermaid swam faster and faster. The water carried to him the message that the female was awakening, and was filled with unfertilized eggs. That drew him forward to fill his need to fertilize them.
He also knew that the female was hungry, and that if he approached too fast, he would die instead of mating...
Only this human creature would quell the hunger.
Only the human would allow him to mate.
He swam over the opening of the cave where the female began to arouse itself from the long sleep that preceded mating.
The female knew her own needs, to deposit the eggs in the presence of the male. And the need of her hunger, too. She trusted the male outside to do as males did: send food ahead of him. If the male failed, then he would be devoured, the mating would fail, and she could only hope that another male was nearby.
Some of the food could fight. But they usually did not fight hard enough that she would feel threatened and turn on the petrifying state on them.
If that happened, then the male would be devoured, and she would have to hope for another male to show up before her eggs died inside her.
Quentin clutched the protective amulet that Angelique had given him. And the knife and mirror, too. No more was needed to destroy the gorgon, Angelique had said. The mirror could petrify her if she looked into it, and the knife was guaranteed to slice cleanly through her neck.
He hoped that it would be enough. By her own confession Angelique did not know much about gorgons. Only that a mirror could be the best defense. And a knife capable of slicing through anything, no matter how tough was the best weapon that could be found... And what the protective amulet did was allow him to breathe under water.
He should not complain. She had done her best in a short time. She did not know much, she was unsure that helping Adam was the right thing to do, if in endangered anyone else. And still she helped him.
Adam went into the cave, keeping his eye on the huge armored tail that extended below him. A blow with that tail and it could be over. He had to find the head first.
The tail moved. Quickly, Adam moved into a crevice and managed to escape the blow He waited. Did the dragon sense his presence? Or had it moved by reflex?
The tail stilled and Adam moved out of the crevice. All the had to do was reach the head...
Then the tail moved again. It curled quickly and caught him.
He pulled the trigger on the harpoon. It stung the monster and it released its coi8ls.
Adam raced out of the cave. It would not work that way, no. He had to make the dragon leave the cave, head first. Then, as the head emerged out of the cave, he could try harpooning it. Between the eyes. Or on the back of the neck..
He swam around the mouth of the cave, pushing rocks into the creature's direction, hoping to make it turn around and go towards the entrance.
The mermaid saw this and understood what Adam meant to do. It had not been the first time that the human prey sought to outwit the hungry female. And the male knew how to handle such reluctant prey.
The gorgon turned around, slowly, still fighting the slumber, but aware of the food hovering near the mouth of the cave. Food that she would find speared at the entrance, blood still streaking from its wound.
Quentin saw the mermaid lifting the trident against Adam's unprotected back. He could not waste any time. He charged.
The knife cut through the mermaid like butter..
The body fell, cut in two., as the gorgon emerged scenting the blood.
Quentin fumbled for the mirror. This should protect against the gorgon. He flashed it into the creature's direction.
The flash of light distracted the gorgon as Adam approached it. She looked into the glass, but since she was not using her petrifying glance, she remained unaffected.
The gorgon attacked Quentin. She hit him with her tail, making him drop the knife. Another flick of her tail, and she had knocked the harpoon out of Adam's hands.
Then she swooped down and swallowed the half mermaid on the ground,. The one that that looked human.
Adam swam for his harpoon, and he found Quentin's knife. It was sharp
Quentin saw what Adam was doing and swam in front of the gorgon distracting her from Adam, carrying the mirror as protection.
Adam was now at the back of the gorgon and began to saw through its neck.
The gorgon roared silently, showing its sharp teeth, her eyes changing color, looking wildly around.
Quentin had enough sense to duck behind the boulders, lifting the mirror. If she should look into it.
Adam sawed through the neck, and the head fell.
Adam lifted it. Quentin hoped that he did not look into her eyes...
Adam lifted it, and looked for the mermaid, which had disappeared. But she was gone... And gone was his desire for her...
He had a trophy. A trophy to show everyone... And he had to get out before he drowned.
He swam upwards and so did Quentin behind him. When he caught up with him, he would put the mirror in front of the gorgon's eyes and destroy her power...
Adam was shaken by his prize. Snakes... snakes for hair... he seemed to remember something about it.
He should not look into its eyes, he remembered.