Page 27 of Fionn
"She did not. I arrived just in time to pull him away from her. I brought her back to the island and had the medpod check her over. She is unharmed, except for some scratches, but the experience has exhausted her beyond measure. She insisted on swimming by herself for as long as she could, but Kelon had brought her far offshore and Peritans are not made to swim such long a distance."
"Where is he now?"
"We do not know," I admitted. "I left him unconscious in the ocean, but he should have recovered by now."
"Could he be planning to kidnap her again?"
"I will protect her," I snapped, insulted that she didn't think me enough of a protection for Elise.
"That is not what I asked."
Rainse put a hand on my shoulder. "He may. Kelon is a spoilt finman who is not used to having others reject him or ignore his demands. I am worried he might make plans to go after the female again."
"Then you have to find him. Fast. The plane with the other women is still in the air. I will tell them to circle in a holding pattern above the island until I know it is safe for my girls to be there. Paul, I want you to gather all female staff and have them guarded."
Rainse straightened. "I volunteer to guard them." When both Paul and Pam shot him a strange glance, he pushed back his shoulders. "I swear I will not let any harm come to them. I will protect them with my life. My brothers and I are trained warriors. Your Peritan males won't stand a chance against Kelon, but we are stronger than him. Let me do this to atone for our leader's misdeeds."
"He's no leader of mine," Cerban spat. "I will patrol the sea to search for him. But first, we should meet with our ship's captain and crew. If we get them on our side, the Tidebound can easily scan the ocean for Kelon."
I nodded. "I wanted to talk to you about that, Pam. I know that right now, you will find it hard to trust any of us. Kelon has broken not just our, but your trust. However, we need to convince the rest of the crew to switch sides. I see only one way to achieve that other than double their salary, which is not something we have the means for."
Pam grimaced. "I can see where this is going."
"I would like to politely request that all twenty-one finmen are added to your database. I don't want to promise them a female, not if they are of Kelon's stock and don't deserve one. Just the chance that they might find their mate. I believe it might be enough to sway them."
Paul cleared his throat. "Do any of them have a record of mistreating women? Or a criminal conviction? Are they safe to be around women?"
"Kelon's adoptive mother is a matriarch of much power and influence. The Tidebound was chartered with her money. I doubt she would have allowed Kelon to hire anyone without an impeccable record. But I promise we will check, each and every one of them. Even if a few crew members will be ineligible to join your agency's database, it will be enough as long as we have the majority on our side."
"I'm not sure this is what I want," Pam sighed. "But if it means protecting Elise and the other women from harm, I am willing to give it a go. But only under strict conditions. I will personally look at every single man's profile. If I don't like what I see, he will not be added to the Hot Tatties database. And of course they will all have to supply a DNA sample. For this, I will not allow matches based on personality alone. Our genetic algorithm will be the deciding factor."
I bowed my head, relief flooding me. I tried not to show it. "I agree. Thank you, Pam. We really do appreciate it."
"Thank you," both my clutch-brothers said earnestly. They readied themselves to go. Paul also looked as if he was itching to leave and assemble the island's female staff.
"Fionn, I need to talk to you," Pam suddenly said. "Once you have talked to the crew. It is important, but it can wait a little bit."
Again, I felt reminded of clutch-school. Pam would have made a great teacher in another life.
"Of course, Pam. I will call you as soon as I can."
14
Elise
Sand was being poured over me, buckets upon buckets. It landed heavily on my naked body, pushing my limbs against the hard ground, trapping me in place. I opened my mouth to scream but more sand rained down on me, filling my mouth, my throat, my lungs. I couldn't breathe, couldn't even scream as I was buried beneath the sand-
"It's alright, Elise. It's just a dream. Wake up. Please, wake up."
I recognised that voice, but it took me a long time to remember. Sleep was sticky and persistent, trying to keep me in its treacherous embrace, but his voice led me back into reality, in a world without sand and fear and pain.
I opened my eyes to find Fionn staring down at me, concern on his perfectly angular face. His features reminded me of a marble statue that had been chiselled by hand but hadn't been polished yet.
"Hi." My throat was dry but a glass of water would soon fix that.
He smiled. "Hi. How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been run over by a lorry. Or been hugged by a giant octopus with anger issues. What time is it?"
