Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10) (10 page)

“Hugin,” I growled up at the raven, “stop pecking at Munin, you're wrecking my concentration.”

The large raven ruffled its feathers and gave one last peck to his brother before settling down. Beneath the delicate leafed tree they were perched in, I sat with Geri and Freki, Odin's wolves. All four of the animals had adapted well to their new environment and seemed to now be a part of the landscape. Freki made a huffing sound up at the ravens as if to mimic my admonishment and then settled back into a relaxed position, his head laid on his paws as he watched me.

Whenever I spent time outside of Pride Palace, on the grounds of my territory, they were there. For companionship or to guard me, I wasn't sure but I loved their presence. They were a gentle reminder of Odin and the quality of his heart. Memories of them prowling his hall swept through my head and I smiled a little before settling back into my relaxed cross-legged position.

“
Thank you,” I murmured to the birds. “Now let's try this again.

I held a small rock in my hands and I focused on it intently, seeing it changing in my mind. I sent my will into it, urging, cajoling, and finally demanding that it change into a pumpkin. Nothing happened and I growled in frustration. It was my sixth try that day.

“Come on,” I snarled at the rock. “If Cinderella's Fairy Godmother could do it, I can. Don't you wanna be a pumpkin?”

“
Doubtful,” Kirill was leaning against a tree, watching me with an amused expression. “Rocks don't rot, besides Fairy Godmother changed pumpkin into coach, not vice versa. Maybe you should start vith pumpkin, da?”

“
You wanna come show me how this is done, smarty pants?”

“
I'm not ze vitch,” he shrugged and walked closer, “or the Tima of ze Intare. I'm just Ganza.”

“
Uh huh,” I smirked at him. “So keep your comments to yourself then.”

“
Failure always makes your mood foul,” he shook his head. “Come here, I vill improve it.”

“
Oh really?” I raised a brow but got to my feet automatically. “You're mighty sure of yourself.”

“
I have good track record,” he shrugged and smiled down at me while he pulled me into a hug.

His long black hair was loose and it blew forward in the breeze, tangling with mine. His eyes darkened slightly, going from azure to sapphire, as he lowered his face to kiss me. A low growl rumbled in his throat, vibrating down into his chest and then through mine. My lioness perked up, lifting her head as if she scented something delicious on the wind. Yes, Kirill was her favorite.

“Tima,” he pulled back and looked down on me with heavy-lidded eyes. “I've interrupted you because of zomething Darius has found on Internet.”

“
What is it?”

“
Mermaids,” he said with complete seriousness.

“
Shut up,” I laughed.

“
No, truly.”

“
Mermaids as in faerie water-sidhe?” I frowned.

The fey had opened the way between realms now and I knew there were several who were already visiting the Human Realm but they were supposed to be discreet. They knew this wasn't the same world they used to be a part of and humans wouldn't be able to accept them like they used to. I'd be seriously surprised if they'd let themselves get caught on video.

“Nyet,” Kirill took my arm and started leading me back to the house. “Zey are different, you'll see.”

The ravens cawed mournfully and took off from their perch as the wolves jumped up and disappeared into the terrain. I felt a shiver flow over me, like they knew something I didn't. Or maybe it was just the connection with water, I really didn't like the water.

“What the hell is that?” I stared in disbelief at the computer screen.

It was playing a clip from a news report done on a beach in New Zealand. The reporter was standing in front of a line of beached whales, talking about the effects of sonar on the mammals and how the US Naval ships using the sonar in excessive amounts were causing the beaching of whales all over the world. Then there was movement behind him, an arm emerged from behind a whale body and dropped onto the sand. The cameraman, spotting a better story, went running in the direction of the arm, probably thinking he was about to save someone's life on film, but when he rounded the huge carcass, it wasn't to find a human.

The body was unlike anything I've ever seen. Or anything the cameraman had ever seen, if his startled shout was any indication. It was a dull gray, very similar in color to the whale next to it, and was roughly humanoid. It had arms, a head, and a torso but no legs. Instead, there was a thick tail, like a dolphin's. The hands grasping at the sand were webbed and overly large. The face had two massive totally black eyes, thin lips, and an almost non-existent nose. There was a nose ridge but it flattened down at the end and the holes had little flaps in them that opened as it breathed. On top of its hairless head was a crest, a ridge of bone that was wide at the front, with an opening in it, and tapered off to nothing at the neck.

It looked up at the cameraman and screeched. The cameraman lurched back and as he did, the creature flopped its way back into the water. The camera caught one last glimpse of the tail splashing through the surface before the creature swam away.

“This can't be real,” I leaned back heavily in my seat.

“
You're the Goddess of Love, Lions, and the Land,” Trevor lifted a brow at me. “A witch, a lioness, and a dragon. You're a triple trinity being mated to a werewolf and a werelion, the lover of an archangel, and married to a Faerie King.”

“
Yeah alright,” I rolled my eyes, “but there's a lot of fake footage of paranormal events on the Internet. You can do anything we special effects now. That has got to be special effects.”

“
Why?” Trevor gave me a confused look. “Because you didn't know about them? Vervain, you hate the ocean, how could you possibly have known about mermaids?”

“
Are you telling me
you
knew about them?”

He looked away.

“Nyet,” Kirill laughed. “He vas just as surprised as you.”

“
So again,” I smirked at Trevor. “Are you sure this is real?”

“
It's real,” Torrent came into the room. “I've analyzed the footage myself. That is not special effects make-up and the footage has not been tampered with. You've just seen your first non-fey mermaid.”

“
Whoa,” I whispered. “Shit, it was beached with the whales.”

“
Yes, exactly,” Torrent nodded. “I think it functions the same way whales do. See that ridge crest?” He went back to a frame of the mermaid's face. “I believe this is used to emit sounds for sonar. Military sonar reaches into such a loud range that it's like a rocket blasting off. It physically injures sea life, especially those dependent on sonar. They are more sensitive to sounds and the sonar can cause bleeding in the brain, ears, and other tissues, not to mention large bubbles in their organs. It causes them to panic, flee,  disrupts feeding habits and patterns of behavior but if there are mermaids equally dependent and sensitive to sonar, then the humans are killing them as well.”

“
Oh fuck,” I breathed. “Dying whales are tragic enough but an unknown underwater race being killed? This is horrifying.”

“
You think that's bad?” Torrent huffed. “If the sharks die, every human on the planet dies.”

“
Whatchu talkin' bout, Willis?” I sometimes felt like Torrent was speaking another language.

“
Sonar hurts not only whales and dolphins,” Torrent explained, sounding a little like my high school science teacher. “It can harm sharks and bony fish as well. As if the shark hunting wasn't bad enough.”

“
But what do you mean that all the humans will die?” Trevor's brows came together.

“
Sharks eat fish,” Torrent shrugged.

“
Yes,” I made a motion for him to continue.

“
If they're not there to keep the fish population down,” Torrent sighed, like this was basic stuff we should already know. “Then the fish will consume all the algae.”

“
Uh huh,” I widened my eyes at him. Get to the damn point.

“
Vervain,” Torr huffed. “Where do you think the oxygen comes from?”

“
The Rainforest,” I rolled my eyes. “Everyone knows that.”

“
The Rainforest?” Torrent gaped at me. “Do any of you try to learn about your planet or do you just take whatever's spoon fed to you and accept that as fact?”

“
I...” I gaped at Trevor and he just shrugged.

“
The world is seventy-one percent water,” Torrent shook his head. “Just because you don't like the water, doesn't mean it's useless.”

“
I never said it was useless,” I huffed.

“
Seventy to eighty percent of the oxygen on planet Earth comes from algae,” Torrent finally dropped the big bomb. “Algae is probably the most important organism on the planet and if the fish eat all of it, humans will have no air to breathe.”

“
Shit,” I whispered.

“
Yes, I told you it was bad,” Torrent sighed.

“
Very bad,” Kirill nodded.

“
Anyway, we should go talk to Kanaloa,” Torrent advised. “I'll bet he knows about the mermaids.”

“
You're right,” I sat up straight. “That's a fabulous idea. If anyone knows about mermaids, it would be a god of the sea.”

“
Thank you,” Torrent's cheeks got slightly pink.

“
Are you blushing?” I gaped at him. “Is it even possible for you to blush?”

“
If you prick me, do I not bleed?” Torrent straightened.

“
I don't know,” Trevor looked him over, “do you?”

“
Sorry, Torrent,” I shook my head as I slapped Trevor. “I wasn't thinking.”

“
It's okay,” Torrent shrugged, “and just for the record, I do. Bleed, that is.”

“
Well hopefully not today,” I shot him an apologetic grin.

Kanaloa had a beautiful home right on the beach in Lanikai, a wealthy neighborhood on the Windward side of the island of Oahu. It was two stories tall with lots of huge windows, which had made spying on him a lot easier back when I'd suspected him of hosting the Darkness and basically being a murderer. I was very relieved to discover that he had nothing to do with the crimes and even more relieved that he would never know of my suspicions.

The house was modern looking, one of those boxy affairs with a flat roof and cement walls, but its exterior was adorned with flat copper sculptures of sea life. The turquoise patina of the copper softened the harsh cement and gave it some charm. I walked up the wide slate flagstones to the overly tall front door and slid Trevor a nervous glance. We had no idea if Kanaloa would even be home and I felt kind of rude for showing up on his doorstep unannounced.

I rang the bell and stepped back to wait with our little group. Kirill, Darius, and Torrent had come along with me and Trevor, Darius was once more wearing his ridiculous detective outfit, which he thought made him look like Humphrey Bogart. At least this time he was wearing pants with it, the first time it had been shorts and he'd ended up looking more like a flasher in a fedora than Bogie.

The door swung open and a beautiful brunette stood there. She was thin and glamorous with a bikini clad body that deserved to be on display constantly. I didn't blame her one second for walking around like that(okay maybe one teensy weeny second), I probably would have too if I had that body. Her glamorous form was really a glamor though, as in a fey magic that made her look human. In reality, she was much thinner and her skin was pearl white. Her hair matched her skin with just some opal shimmers to distinguish it, and normally her eyes were really big and really blue. At least their color was the same or I wouldn't have been able to equate this form with the real her at all.

“
Queen Vervain!” She cried in delight. “I had no idea you were visiting today or I would have put on something more appropriate.”

“
I'm so sorry to show up unannounced, Gruach,” I waved away her concern. “You look amazing, don't worry about it. We weren't sure how to contact Kanaloa so we decided to take a chance and see if he was home.”

“
Oh yes, he is,” she stepped back and waved us in. “Come on in, he's just making some coffee. Would you like some?”

“
Yes, thank you,” I looked at the others and they all nodded.

“
Great,” she led us into an airy living room with white furniture and glass sliding doors, open to the salty breeze. There was a large yard edged on two sides by a high wall but at the end facing the beach, the wall was low with steps leading down to the sand. “Please relax, I'll go let him know you're here.”

Only a minute or so went by before Kanaloa came rushing out to greet us. He had on board shorts and no shirt, displaying his magnificent body and detailed tribal tattoos of squid and octopus. His blue eyes brightened when he saw us, standing out against his dark skin.

“Vervain! Trevor!” He came forward and shook our hands. “What a great surprise. How are you?”

“
Well, thank you,” I nodded.

“
Let me go grab the coffee. I just wanted to say hi first,” he rushed back into the kitchen and emerged a few minutes later with a coffee tray and Gruach. “Here we go,” he put the whole thing down on the coffee table between us and started pouring mugs for everyone. “So I've been meaning to thank you, Vervain. Gruach told me she went to you to ask about me and you gave a glowing report.”

“
Well I only told the truth as I knew it,” I shrugged, thankful now that I hadn't warned Gruach off of him before the truth of his innocence came out.

“
You set my mind at ease and allowed me to accept his invitation,” Gruach handed me a cup of coffee. “I appreciate your honesty as well. Things are so tenuous between the gods and fey right now, I wasn't sure if I could trust him and I'm glad I did, we're very happy.”

“
Wonderful,” I nodded and took a sip. “Um actually we didn't come for a social visit but because we saw some news footage of what appeared to be a beached mermaid and we're concerned.”

“
Yes, I saw it as well,” Kanaloa got suddenly serious. “I'm worried about the merfolk, they've kept themselves hidden for so long but now the military sonar may push them out of hiding and I don't know what that would mean for them.”

“
So it's true then,” I hadn't really believed it until that moment. “There are mermaids.”

“
Well, they're not the mermaids of human myth,” Kanaloa shrugged. “They share the same beginnings as humans, evolving from apes, but when apes started venturing into the water for food, some of them evolved to become aquatic. That's actually the reason humans began to walk upright, the apes did it to keep their head out of the water.”

“
So humans stayed on land and these merfolk went into the water?” I gaped at him. “Human scientists would freak out over this.”

“
And both the merfolk and religions would suffer,” Kanaloa said seriously.

“
Religions?” I frowned at him.

“
This would be another notch for the evolution theory,” Trevor concluded. “I don't think the religions would hurt too much, they'd probably just say that god created the merfolk too. Belief is a hard thing to shake.”

“
Still,” Kanaloa shook his head. “I don't think it would be a good thing for either the gods or the merfolk. They would be hunted and studied. You know how humans are. I'm actually glad to have you here, I have no idea what to do about this and I could use some help.”

“
Well what do we know?” I tried to think it through logically. “Torrent thinks they function with sonar like whales do.”

“
Yes, you're right,” Kanaloa nodded to Torrent. “But the frequency is very low. When the Navy sends out a sonar blast, the average strength is two-hundred-thirty-five decibels. To give you an idea of how loud that is, human hearing can be permanently damaged at eighty-five decibels.”

“
See,” Torrent nodded. “Like a rocket blasting off.”

“
Yes, exactly,” Kanaloa agreed. “It's killing them and the whales. Then there's the ones who are simply disoriented by the sonar and end up beaching themselves, like that merman caught on video.”

“
So how do we stop the Navy from using sonar?” I looked around the group.

“
We don't,” Darius shrugged. “They need it for navigation purposes and enemy detection. There's no way they'll stop using it, we just need to get them to use it at a lower level.”

“
And there's something else,” Gruach said in a small voice. “Tell them,” she nudged Kanaloa in the arm.

“
Recently, the US Navy has started using the maximum levels of sonar with repeat blasts throughout what appears to be a predetermined area of the ocean.”

“
What?” Torrent gasped. “They could kill every mammal in the area.”

“
Yes, exactly,” Kanaloa nodded, “and there's no reason for it. I think there's someone behind this.”

“
As in a god?” I cocked my head at him. “You just said this would be bad for gods. Why would a god do this?”

“
The same reason some of them instigate war among the humans, Godhunter,” he gave me an intense look. “To scoop up the dead as sacrifice. Merfolk have just as much energy as humans and any who die from inter-species conflict...”

“
Can be taken as sacrifice,” I finished in a soft voice. “Fuck, this is even worse than I'd thought.”

“
Look, I was planning on doing some more investigating,” Kanaloa offered. “I need to go talk to the merfolk and see what they know. How about I contact you when I know more?”

“
Okay,” I fished out a business card(no it doesn't say Godhunter on it) and handed it to him. “This has my personal cell number on it as well as Moonshine's number.”

“
Great,” Kanaloa looked it over. “I need to go check out your club one night anyway. I heard it's pretty wild.”

“
If I don't pick up, you can leave a message for me with whoever answers at Moonshine,” I gave him a small smile. “You should definitely swing by though, it is pretty amazing, even for water lovers.”

“
Speaking of which,” Kanaloa put an arm around Gruach. “Any of you care to join us for a swim?”

“
Uh...” I looked at Trevor for help but he just laughed.