Page 26 of The Devil's Embrace

“Isn’t he gorgeous?” Aodhan asked, and dumbly, Calix nodded his head.

He really was though. His tail was a mixture of glittering blues and yellows and various shades. It sparkled and winked beneath the harsh overhead lighting being directed down upon him. His abs were toned and he had a long torso that led to broad shoulders. His face was a bit harder to make out, due to both the distance and the gag, but his long white hair gleamed like moonlight across the dark expanse of the ocean at night.

“Absolutely breathtaking,” the woman next to him agreed.

Aodhan draped an arm around Calix suddenly, leaning forward to catch her attention. “I wasn’t talking about the fish.”

She followed his gaze when he dropped it to the hand she still had resting on Cal’s knee, and she pulled back as though burned. “Good Light! How rude of me. Please accept my humble apology. I didn’t notice the two of you were together.”

“Really?” Aodhan didn’t even try to pretend to believe her, but she only giggled again.

“There was always the chance you would be open to company,” she said sweetly. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“We’re a complete set,” he stated dryly.

“Oh, well then.” She sent Cal a wink and slipped an old-fashioned paper business card into his palm. “Call me if you change your mind, gorgeous. I like your style.”

The lights in the room flashed, signaling the beginning of…whatever they were about to see, and Calix shoved the card into his front pocket absently, curiosity getting the best of him as his attention returned to the glass box.

Chapter 8:

There were two other men standing within the glass case, one dressed all in white, another dressed all in black, aside from his deep red mask. Their masks were decorated differently as well, the white one decorated in painted golden leaves, while the other had been left blank.

Somehow, Calix found himself drawn to the less flashy one, taking in the tall man and his inky black hair, the only personal feature that could be seen. Hell, he even had on leather gloves to hide his hands.

The man in white wasn’t wearing any. He didn’t have any shoes on either, and he seemed to be speaking to the merman, his facial expression hidden behind the full mask. Whatever he was saying though, it was clear the creature tied to the table did not agree.

The merman’s thrashing became wilder, his muscles pulling taut against his bonds. The glass must be soundproof, maybe even mirrored one way, since no one inside had so much as glanced at the audience.

The audience who were watching silently with bated breath.

The tension and excitement in the room expanded until Cal could practically taste it every time he inhaled. Even Aodhanseemed riveted to the scene, leaving just him feeling like the outsider, clueless and left in the dark.

A door leading into the box from the other side opened, and someone handed the guy in white a cruz saw. The saw blade had a diameter of around two feet and was controlled by a wireless remote in the form of a fingerless glove. The tool had been created years ago to help builders get to higher and harder to reach places. It also allowed a single carpenter to cut two objects at once by wearing a glove on each hand, doubling his productivity.

Maybe Calix was dumb, because it took him much longer than it should have to figure out what was going on, and it took the blade positioned to hover over the merman’s tail for it to click.

Aodhan’s hand slapped over his thigh and held him down when he would have leapt to his feet.

“Wow, I can’t believe how lucky we are,” the woman whispered next to him, having missed his reaction. “We’re actually going to get to see firsthand if the legends are true or not.”

“What legends?” Cal really didn’t want to ask, but the words poured out of him anyway.

At the front of the room, the saw blade was being repositioned, as though the man in white had a specific place he wanted to…

Bile rose up the back of Cal’s throat and he swallowed.

“Rumors are, if you cut a merfolk tail down the center, those two pieces will heal into legs,” Aodhan filled in, keeping his voice down as well. “Since they’d been impossible to find in the wild, no scientist has been able to confirm or deny these claims.”

“Until tonight.” The woman was practically vibrating in her seat.

Calix blinked and turned on Aodhan. “You can’t actually intend to just sit here while—”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Aodhan interrupted, giving him a warning look that sent a shiver straight down his spine to his toes. “It’s what we’re both going to do.”

He shouldn’t be giving into that tone or the authority ringing in it. He was the one in charge here. He was the lead detective on this case, and Aodhan was merely a doctor liaison. There was literally no reason Cal should be listening to him, and yet he found himself doing exactly that.

It wasn’t like there was anything he could do anyway, he told himself as they waited. Even if he called for backup, by the time the police got here, it would be too late, and considering the number of masked men who’d occupied the front of the mansion...Bodyguards, he now realized. Meant to protect the guests from any unwanted scrutiny.

---