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

spinning, Liv opened her eyes and that was when she noticed a rusty machete lying underneath the chair. Oh my God . It was just one reach away. But if she rushed this guy, he could easily stop her.
    Get him closer, Liv. If she could surprise him, she could land a blow.
    She twisted her body onto her butt with her legs straight out and her arms extended behind her. Her right hand was now only a foot from the machete. “Well, since you seem to want me on the floor, I’ll just stay here.”
    The rage in the man’s face was nothing shy of lethal. “You said you’d take me to the water,” he growled.
    “This is where the water comes out. But we have an island full of sick men. Don’t you think that would be different if we had the water?”
    The man’s eyes shifted a bit. He wasn’t a smart one, but that was usually the case for men who beat women—they used their muscles because their brains were too small to get what they wanted any other way.
    Liv looked up at him. “If you think hitting me some more will do any good, be my guest. But if you want water, you’ll have to talk to the island.”
    The man approached and squatted in front of her but was too far for her to make a move and not have him see it coming. Get closer, asshole.
    “Oh no,” she taunted, “what’s the matter? Island doesn’t want to tell you? I bet your men think you’re an idiot. I bet you promised them they’d be millionaires if they just trusted you. You’re all a bunch of fucking idiots.”
    Another gunshot went off somewhere just outside.
    The man looked away for a split second, and Liv took her chance, gripping the machete and lunging. She struck him in the shoulder, and he fell back, wailing. She raised the machete and struck him again at the base of his neck. Blood came from the wound as he screamed and pointed his gun at her. She quickly swung again, hitting him in the arm. The gun skidded across the floor.
    The man hacked and moaned for all of ten seconds before his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Liv stood there panting, staring down at him as he stopped breathing.
    She wanted to retch. It was the bloodiest thing she’d ever seen. This world of theirs, this island, had turned her into a savage just like the mermen. The only difference being that she was fighting for the people she loved, not for Crazy Dirt.
    Oh, shit! Dana!
    Liv grabbed the gun on the floor and threw the strap over her shoulder, rushing from the Great Hall. She stopped for a moment as the trail forked—one way led to Roen’s, the other back through the forest and to the plane.
    Roen was in no condition to help, but maybe some of the other men were in better shape. They hadn’t been injured like Roen.
    “Liv! Liv!” From the direction of Roen’s house, Amelia came running down the hill between a stand of dead, orangish brown pine trees, slipping on fallen pine needles.
    “Be quiet,” Liv hissed.
    Panting, Amelia stopped right in front of Liv, doubling over. “Roen went off to the plane to help you.”
    Oh no. “Their leader made me come here to show him the water. I just killed him.” Liv’s mind darted back and forth. Roen was heading to the plane. He was smart enough not to go in with guns blazing. Right? Then again, mermen went a little mer-nuts when their women were in danger.
    “Amelia, you have to go and try to warn the others.”
    Winded, Amelia replied, “Jason said there was some sort of alarm or something. He went to go trigger it.”
    Liv remembered there was an enormous communication tower over by the harbor. She’d seen it the last time she’d been here. So, of course, they had some way of sounding an alarm.
    Amelia went on, “He said that he’ll signal for everyone to make their way to the Great Hall. We’ll figure out who’s strong enough to fight and who stays behind to look after the men who are still weak.”
    Suddenly, the air filled with the sound of…
    “Are those seagulls?” Liv asked.
    “I think that’s their