Free A Siren's Wish by Renee Field Page B

will do,” said his brother, moving a side panel to reveal two large beach stones already sewn up tight in fish netting.
    Seth didn’t want to look into his brother’s eyes. He knew what he would see—resignation. He wondered just how close his brother had come to going over the edge.
    As if he actually did read his thoughts, Darius answered. “I tried a couple times. Thinking each time I could will my body to rapture…but nothing,” he sighed, turning his face away from Seth. “You’ll want to drop the knife from your mouth. Don’t. If it’s been over a decade, you know it’s going to hurt like hell.” His brother dragged the stones to the side of the yacht.
    “We’re out far enough. Let’s put her in,” said Seth, choosing to ignore his brother’s remark. Grasping hold of one end of the stretcher, and Darius the other, they moved to the side of the vessel.
    “Be safe,” said Darius.
    And love life, said Mercka, winking at Darius as her nose hit the water. In a second she was once again in the sea.
    “Let’s get this show on the road,” said Darius, helping first to tie Seth’s feet and then his hands. Roping each stone around Seth’s legs, Darius helped his brother hop up onto the deck’s small ledge. With a nod, he jammed the blunt end of the knife into Seth’s mouth and pushed him overboard.
     
    Jamie struggled to find her sea legs as she gingerly climbed the steps up to the deck of the boat only to witness her worst nightmare come to life. A man pushing another man into the water and both his feet and hands were tied. And weighted with stones. The scream tore itself raw and loud from her before she could stop to think.
    The cold water that splashed directly into her face did it. It made her stop screaming and it made her mad.
    “Stop that,” she said, wiping water off her face.
    “That’s just what I want you to do,” said the man, who looked the spitting image of the marine specialist she had met earlier that day. The guy tossed a towel at her, which landed directly on her face, making her feel like a dimwit.
    “Who the heck are you?” she asked, scrambling to wipe the water off her face. She watched as the man leaned over the boat’s railing like he was looking for something. There was an anxious look on his face that made her nervous.
    “I’m Darius Fairbanks and you must be Jamie. Heard all about you from Seth,” he said, as he turned to look at her.
    The resemblance of the two was uncanny. Then she remembered what had happened. “He just…he just… How can you…”
    “He’s doing what he must, but it sure as hell is taking him a long time,” said Darius.
    Once again he looked over the boat’s railing. As if he sensed her unease, she noticed the forced smile when he once again turned his attention to her.
    “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He always is. Nothing to worry about. We’ve been doing this since long before you were born,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders, as he turned his attention back to steering the boat.“
    “But how…how do we…” Jamie tried again. “When does he… How can he…” It was no use. She could feel her heart accelerating and knew within seconds she’d be helpless and hyperventilating again.
    “Calm down, will you? Like I said, he’ll be fine, or I’ll kill him myself,” muttered Darius, once again glancing to the sides of the boat. “Here, breathe into this. It will help.”
    Great, another sad paper bag incident . She took his offering.
    Breathing into the bag did help. Now if I can just finish a coherent sentence like any other intelligent being.
    “Seth just couldn’t resist showing off. We let the dolphin go and he likes to take a swim with them. They make him feel at home,” said Darius, grinning.
    “Oh that’s what you did with the dolphin.” Weird. This entire episode doesn’t make any sense. Swimming with a dolphin in the middle of the ocean, sure, why not. Why not? Because normal people don’t do things