Free MERCILESS (The Mermen Trilogy #3) by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

care.
    “ They who, Liv? Tell me.” She didn’t sound concerned as much as she did excited.
    “I’ll tell you everything. But first, explain what you learned from having that water analyzed.”
    “Why would I do that? The world thinks I’m insane. That lawyer of yours had my practice shut down and I had my house taken away. My medical license has been suspended because they think I’m some crazy black woman, speaking voodoo and witch-doctor bullcrap. You’ve ruined my fucking life.”
    Phil. That Phil . He really was an asshole. “He’s not my lawyer—well, he wasn’t. Now he is. But I can fix all that with one phone call.” She wasn’t sure how, but Phil could at least give the woman money or something to get her back on her feet. “The water. Tell me what was in it,” Liv said.
    “That’s the thing. The lab didn’t know. There’s some compound or chemistry in it that gives it a charge. Like millions of tiny microscopic batteries working at the cellular level. There’s nothing like it on Earth and there’s no explanation regarding how it works. It just…works.”
    “It sounds like some kind of radiation.” Great, now she was reciting lines from some weird version of Spider-Man.
    “Nothing like radiation. More like…when the compound in the water interacts with other molecules, it fires off millions of tiny sparks.”
    Oh shit . Liv felt the room start to spin. That was what Roen had called the island—the spark of life. His people believed Crazy Dirt’s water was some sort of catalyst that got the heart to start pumping in the very early stages of life. Honestly, Liv thought it was all just a lie, that the island was evil and using her fictitious importance as a means to justify her cruel behavior toward her people.
    Maybe you’re both right.
    Dr. Fuller continued, “It also turns dying cells into stem cells. It’s a miracle drug, Liv, and I know it came from that island. Where is it?”
    “How did you even know about the island?”
    “How do you think?” Dr. Fuller asked.
    Liv sighed, feeling like that giant rat in that giant maze again. Every turn she made, every obstacle she encountered wasn’t by chance. “Let me guess; you dreamed about it.”
    Dr. Fuller didn’t respond, but she didn’t have to.
    “I’ll ask Phil to look into your medical license and I’ll bring you here to the island so you can see if for yourself, but you’re coming here to work. The men on the island are sick,” Liv said.
    “So it is real?” Dr. Fuller said triumphantly. “The island is real.”
    “Yes. But the water is gone and the island is dying. And I need someone who can help me figure out why.”
    “What are the symptoms?”
    Liv quickly went through the list. “Can you help?”
    “I doubt I could get there in time to do anything,” Dr. Fuller replied.
    “I have a plane in Seattle. Where are you?”
    “I’m in Seattle now. At my sister’s place.”
    What a coincidence . That nagging feeling throbbed away in the pit of Liv’s stomach. Everything felt all so…predetermined.
    “I’ll have Cherie, my assistant”—it was so strange to say that—“call you shortly and tell you where to go. What supplies are you going to need?”
    Dr. Fuller wasn’t sure, so she merely rattled off a list of generic stuff like IVs, penicillin, etc.
    “Okay. We’ll have that stuff on the plane,” Liv said. “And I’m sure I do not have to spell out that you are not to tell anyone about this, Dr. Fuller. Not a soul. I’m letting you come here so you can help us and have some of your questions answered. But if you take one misstep, speak one more word about any of this to anyone, there will be no end to the havoc Phil will wreak on your life.” Finally. A purpose for someone like Phil. “Are we clear?”
    “I understand.”
    “See you soon, Dr. Fuller.” Liv ended the call, now genuinely beginning to believe that none of this was a coincidence. It was all too weird. All too manufactured, like the