MERCILESS (The Mermen Trilogy #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

tarmac of the small private airport, to her parents, who waited just outside the one-room terminal building. It was four in the morning and the sun was just coming up, but she easily made out her father’s drooping thin frame wrapped around her mother.
    Liv ran all the way, trying not to trip in the large slip-on tennis shoes she’d been given by the rangers who’d found her first.
    She reached her parents and threw her arms around them, squeezing as hard as she could. “Oh my God. I missed you guys so much.” Her father broke down and began to cry. “I’m so sorry about all this,” Liv sniffled.
    No, it wasn’t her fault, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t sorry. She could only imagine what they’d been through. A few months ago, Liv had been shipwrecked and presumed dead. After that episode, she’d only been home a few months when she and Dana were kidnapped—yes, by Shane—right from her parents’ fortieth wedding anniversary party. She and her sister were then taken by boat to El Corazón, where Shane had planned to lay a formal claim on Liv and take over the island. Dana had simply been a pawn, meant to provide Shane leverage and make Liv obey him. Obviously, none of that worked out and she ended up with Shane in that beach house. Roen and Lyle had thankfully managed to get Dana on a plane home before things got really ugly.
    And by really ugly, you mean Roen dying.
    Liv pushed back hard on her negative thoughts. You don’t know that. You just don’t. But every ounce of sanity she had left was hanging on by a very tattered thread.
    As her parents held her tight, all three of them sobbing, news cameras appeared from nowhere and surrounded them.
    Fucking vultures. These people had relentlessly stalked her for over a month after her first rescue. She could only imagine how long they’d camp out in front of her parents’ house this time.
    Too bad for them, I’m not sticking around , she thought quickly. Oh, God. How am I going to explain this to my parents? Her first priority, after spending a little time with her family, was finding a way back to El Corazón. Yes, she was going to return, and this time, she probably wouldn’t come home.
    Ever.
    That place was beyond dangerous because the fucking island was some mysterious being, psycho and sadistic all the way. Of course, the “people” who lived there believed their home was sacred, but Liv suspected the island was just a parasite that fed off the mermen’s power. Whatever the truth, there would be no peace in Liv’s life until she found out what happened to Roen.
    Liv pulled away and looked up at her mother, who had the same long brown hair and wide brown eyes as her and her two sisters. “Where’s Dana?” She would’ve expected to see her here.
    Her mother opened her mouth, but nothing came out except a heart-wrenching gasp.
    Liv immediately looked at her father, who’d removed his thick glasses to dry his eyes. His curly gray hair was ten times whiter than the last time she’d seen him.
    He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to compose himself. Meanwhile, the reporters kept taking their pictures, throwing questions at them: “Who took you, Liv?” “Did they arrest anyone?” “Where is your sister?”
    Oh no. “What aren’t you telling me?” Liv feared the worst.
    Doing her best to ignore the flurry around them, her mother took a deep breath. “We were hoping you’d know where to look. Don’t you remember anything, Liv? Anything at all?”
    “What?” Liv stepped back, covering her mouth. “What do you mean?”
    Roen had definitely put Dana on a plane home right before Shane’s men caught Liv and threw her to the maids for dinner.
    So then…where the fuck is Dana? Had she stayed on the island?
    “No, no, no. This can’t be happening.” Liv covered her face as the cameras kept shining bright lights and taking dozens of photos. “For fuck’s sake, stop it!” she screamed, pushing one photographer back. “Get the hell