Jake shrugged. "I had no choice in the matter. I have to stay on her good side."

Kenneth felt the rise of anger. "Why? Because it benefits you?"

Jake smiled with smug self-satisfaction. "Don't you see what's happening here?"

Kenneth shook his head. "Aside from you continuing to kiss a.s.s to get your way? No, I don't."

Raising his hands in front of him, Jake clenched his fists. "I've found Ishaldi," he said. "Don't you see what that means? My entire career is about to rise from the ashes."

Kenneth could only stare at him, utterly speechless.

Tessa sprang to her feet. "That's it?" she yelled. "You're going to sacrifice my life and Ken's life for a f.u.c.king career move?" Lunging into motion, she shot across the cell, intent on taking the archaeologist down.

The Mer guard accompanying Jake immediately raised her arm. The Ri'kah curled around her hand pulsed. Kenneth caught a bright flash of energy just before Tessa reached her target.

The flash shot out, striking Tessa squarely in the chest. The force slammed her violently back against the wall. She slumped to the floor.

Heart pounding in long jarring beats, Kenneth immediately dropped to her side. "Tess. You okay?" He checked the back of her head. A nasty lump was beginning to form.

Eyes out of focus, Tessa's gaze wavered. "I-I'm okay."

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" he spat furiously toward Jake. "Why are you helping these people? Can't you see what they are?"

Jake grinned. "I'm saving my a.s.s." His eyes glinted deviously. "In this case, the needs of the many outweigh the loss of a few. The Mer must return to our waters to survive. Once there, they can begin rebuilding their sovereignty as a sea-going people."

"With you as the man easing their way, I suppose?"

"Of course," Jake said cheerfully. "Not only will my long years of research be vindicated, but my credibility will be totally restored. History will be rewritten and I will be immortalized."

Kenneth barely resisted rolling his eyes. "You've got to be kidding."

Jake sneered. "No, I'm not. But don't worry. When I tell the story of how the sea-gate was unsealed, I'll be sure to include a bit about the heroic effort you both made." He clucked his tongue. "Too bad you had to die in the end."

Pressing a shaking hand to her head, Tessa shot her ex-lover a nasty glare. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You used me. Now you're using my people."

Jake's contemptuous smile widened. "They ceased to be your people when Queen Nyala chose to seal the sea-gate."

Kenneth swore silently to himself. He'd seen right through Jake from the beginning, but had tolerated him because of Tessa. Her dream, her life's dream, had been to discover the truth about her people. Everything she'd hoped for had turned to ashes in her hands.

Kenneth eyed the dangerous guard, wondering if he could move fast enough to evade a bolt from her weapon. By the look of disdain on her face, she'd love the chance to take a few more potshots at the humans.

Talk about feeling impotent, totally useless.

Hands clenching into fists, he got to his feet. Maybe he'd just try it. What did he have to lose anyway?

The Mer caught his move. Her weapon came up. "Do not try me," she warned in perfect English. She bared her teeth viciously. "You will not survive."

Jake smirked. "All it takes is a flicker of a thought for her to set that thing from stun to kill." He raised a brow. "Though their technology dates back a few hundred centuries, it is amazingly effective. Their weapons rival some of the best we have today. I think when the Mer emerge, they will be taken very seriously, if you get what I'm saying."

Kenneth smiled coldly. "It must thrill your tiny ego to be the leader of an army of women."

Jake ignored the insult. "My ego's doing just fine, thanks very much." He smiled, pointing to himself.

Kenneth's heart lurched. "You're really going to do this, aren't you?"

Flicking his long blond locks off his shoulders, the archaeologist smiled. "I have no choice. It's destiny." He laughed, giving a flash of straight white teeth. "Vindication has the most delicious feeling about it. It almost sends a shiver down my spine. Not quite as good as being rich or Mer, but it's d.a.m.n close."

Shaking off the blow she'd taken, Tessa climbed unsteadily to her feet. "f.u.c.k you, a.s.shole."

Jake sauntered out of the cell. His Mer guard paused long enough to restore the wall to its former solidity.

Once again they were locked in. The stone walls seemed to bear down from all four sides, crushing them in a relentless grip.

Without warning, Tessa launched herself against the wall. "f.u.c.k you, you son of a b.i.t.c.h! You lying b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" She pounded at the stone wall with her fists.

Fearing she would hurt herself, Kenneth rushed to grab her. Arms closing around her waist, he dragged her away from the wall. "That won't help anything," he said, attempting to get her under control.

Slipping free, she started kicking at the unbreakable obsidian. Tears poured down her cheeks. "First chance I get, I'm going to kick Jake's a.s.s to h.e.l.l and back."

Kenneth tried again. Coming in from behind, he wrapped his big body around hers like a straitjacket. Pressing her against his chest, he simply held her. "It's okay, babe. Just calm down."

"I don't want to calm down," Tessa said between angry sobs. "I want to kill that a.s.shole."

He kept his hold firm. "I know, I know. I'm p.i.s.sed, too. But beating down the walls isn't going to work. If I thought I could kick them down, I would."

She relaxed in his hold, the whole of her weight suddenly sagging against him. "I know you would."

He kissed the top of her head. "Okay to let you go?"

A long minute pa.s.sed. She finally nodded. "I think so."

Kenneth released her. She managed to stand on her own. Brushing matted hair away from her sweaty skin, she offered a weak smile. Her face was swollen, skin blotchy and red. "Sorry about that. I just lost it for a minute. I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

She planted her hands on her hips and glared at the wall. "Yeah."

Kenneth dragged a hand through his hair, staring at the unblemished surface. Man, what I couldn't give for a keg of dynamite. "No use in throwing a fit. It isn't going to budge."

Sighing heavily, Tessa dragged herself over to the shallow basin and sat down on its edge. Dipping a hand into the water, she splashed her face. "At least it's cold." Filling her hand a second time, she took a long drink. "Too bad this isn't poison," she muttered.

Her remark caught him squarely in the gut. A chill slid down his spine. He remembered the day he'd tried to take his own life, the sense of hopelessness filling him like a black and bitter acid. "Don't talk like that, Tess."

Tessa looked up, her gaze drained of all hope. "Our backs are against the wall. They're going to kill us no matter what."

Kenneth tried to distract her. "Right now I'm thinking about wringing Jake's neck."

She allowed a reluctant smile. "I should have sucked the life right out of Jake when I had the chance." Her hand lifted to the crystal she wore around her neck. "Did you know a Mer can siphon the energy right out of you?"

Kenneth shook his head. "I don't see how that's possible."

"The human body is full of minerals, which are unformed crystals. All a Mer has to do is latch on and she can drain you." She snapped her fingers. "And like that, you're dead, all your energy sapped away."

An idea glimmered in the back of Kenneth's mind. "What do you do with the energy?"

She shrugged. "Anything I want. It's the most powerful magic a Mer can use."

"Could you use it to teleport us out of here?"

Tessa blew out a deep breath. "These walls are too much of a psychic damper to try to get through. The best I could do would be try to blast a hole."

"Then do it."

Startled, Tessa looked up. "Do what?"

"Take the energy from me." Kenneth pointed to himself. "I'm a pretty big guy. There ought to be a lot of charge in me."

She shook her head. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's forbidden to use D'ema, death magic."

"But if you use it, there's a chance you could get us out of here, right?"

"Yes," she admitted slowly. "But you might die in the process."

He thought a moment, then shrugged. "So? I'm dead if we don't try. And if I have to, I'd rather die by your hand than have some Mer zap me with her little laser gun."

Tessa looked at him long and hard. The idea clearly distressed her. A silent minute pa.s.sed, and then another. "No. I'm not going to do it." Her voice trembled with pent-up emotion.

He persisted. "Why not?"

"I thought we weren't doing the suicide talk anymore." Her forehead furrowed a little. "You talked me out of it, remember?"

Suicide was one thing. Sacrifice was another.

I have what she needs.

Determined to persuade her, Kenneth moved toward her. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he gave her a little shake. "Think straight for a moment. If there's a chance you could get one or both of us out of here, you should take it."

Tessa adamantly shook her head. "I won't be bullied into using my magic against you."

Kenneth gave her a harder shake. "I'm not bullying you, Tess. I'm trying to give you a way out of here. If one of us can survive, then we have to try."

She twisted out of his grasp, putting as much distance between them as the cell would allow. "How can you ask me to kill you when I've just figured out I love you?" Her glare was hot, filled with confusion and anger. "It's not fair. It's not f.u.c.king fair!"

Kenneth froze, stunned by her words. She loves me? came his dazed thought. In the back of his mind he'd suspected she cared for him. But loved him, truly loved him? He never would have believed it was possible.

Her confession strengthened his resolve. "Nothing about life is fair. But you've got to take the chance if it means getting out alive."

Clenching her fists, she shook her head. "Don't make me do it."

Kenneth walked over to her. Reaching out, he slipped his fingers beneath the crystal hanging around her neck. Heat pulsed from the tiny stone. He almost believed he could feel the beating of a tiny heart resonating from within its depth. "If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me."

Her throat worked. "I-I can't. It's bound to be painful." She shook her head adamantly. "I don't want to hurt you."

Letting go of the stone, he reached for her hand. "I can take the pain." Kissing the cold tips of her fingers, he pressed her palm against his chest. "Do it now, and do it fast."

Shivering, Tessa tried to jerk back. "No."

Kenneth held on, keeping her hand flat against his chest. "Do it. Then do your d.a.m.nedest to get the h.e.l.l out of here."

Worn down by his badgering, Tessa wavered. "I'll try to just take a little," she finally agreed. "Just enough to break through the stone."

He nodded tightly. "Take what you need."

She hesitated. Tears began to roll slowly down her cheeks. "I'm going to hate you for this. I'll never forgive you."

He licked papery dry lips. "So hate me for the rest of your life. You need a charge and I'm it."

Tessa reluctantly lifted her hands, pressing the tips of her fingers against his face and temples. "I've never done this to a living person before. Just inanimate rocks."

He smiled. "There's a first time for everything, babe."

Blinking hard, she offered a wavering smile. "I wish you were Jake. I'd gladly suck the life out of him."

His jaw tightened. "Can't say I wouldn't mind that myself."

Tessa's muscles tensed. She pressed a little harder. "If I can get to him, I will," she promised.

Kenneth nodded and closed his eyes. Good enough.

Tessa closed her eyes and murmured, "Don't be afraid. You'll free a pressure in your head, but that's only me."

The force invading his body came slowly, creeping in through his skull. Latching on with steel-tipped claws, Tessa's symbiote burrowed deep. Pain spiked through his brain, hot, crimson, and definitely hungry.

Biting back a moan, he fought to remain conscious as fiery hot tendrils ran down his neck, shoulders, back, and abdomen. Blazing with pain, he felt as if his insides were boiling.

Tessa cried out softly. "I'm not going to take everything." Her voice sounded panicked, afraid.

But her symbiote kept going.

Kenneth's vision wavered, suddenly going dark. He was vaguely aware of his skin growing cold.

He clenched his teeth. Tessa has to get out of here. That's all that mattered.

Her symbiote dug deeper.