41
Kathrine perused the surroundings. The atoll with the islands where the Al-Hatib Tournament was being held was part of the Maldives. However, no one could get near it without paying an exorbitant fee in advance.
The tournament’s participants were scattered across the small islands and would learn the location of their battle at the last moment.
Spectators would follow the tournament from their luxury houses – spread throughout the islands – or perched on their expensive yachts in the Indian Ocean.
Small sports boats roamed the area, offering quick transport between islands.
The tournament’s owner, Al-Hatib, lived on a separate island.
Even Kathrine, who loved the cold, dark lands of Antambazi, could not remain indifferent to the wild paradise the Arab had acquired for himself in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Palm tree crowns intertwined to form an impenetrable canopy of greenery over the island.
Pristine sand encircled the land while sun rays penetrated the translucent waters around it and created a magical palette of reflections.
If anyone approached Al-Hatib’s residency by water, armed guards rushed out in motorboats and politely explained the island had restricted access. Kathrine and her team had spent the last twenty-four hours surveying them.
“Magnificent yacht! I envy its owner…” Lina pouted.
“And I do feel a bit sorry for him, knowing he’ll never see it again.
” In a tiny bikini, she stretched out at the rear of their boat, letting the sun trace her body’s every curve.
The mirrored lenses of her sunglasses reflected the turquoise veils of the Indian Ocean.
Kathrine failed to comprehend how Lina needed her sunglasses, even on a cloudy day, yet in complete contradiction, her body absorbed the sun’s powerful rays and suffered no damage.
“Those like you, ‘the blessed,’ who’ve inherited a perfect set of genes and have no problem with the Earth’s sun, have never heard of it, but we, the rest, use sunscreen,” Lina said, as if she had read Kathrine’s thoughts. After so many years of working on the same team, she probably had.
“Stay focused. I don’t want any complications.” Kathrine checked her diving suit and fastened weights around her waist.
Lina grumbled, “I’m undercover, after all. No one should suspect that I’m a rich witch, here to spend millions in the stands of Al-Hatib and sunbathe between the fights.”
Kathrine put on the vest with the oxygen tank and secured the backpack to her chest. “I want everyone ready. The moment I finish, you must besiege the islands. But not before that. I don’t want the Arab suspecting anything and fleeing.”
Kristo emerged from inside the yacht. “And what about his guards?” He was dressed in special attire that could stretch during the transformation into his secondary form. In his hand, he gripped his lucky Heckler & Koch handgun.
They would need luck to execute the entire plan.
“Al-Hatib is the priority. Then the contestants. The guards, if necessary,” Kathrine said. She didn’t wait for his confirmation – she knew everything would be carried out according to her specifications.
She approached the edge of the platform. “Are the others in position?”
Lina adjusted her earpiece. “Everyone is ready. Waiting for the signal.”
Kathrine secured the diving mask to her face and breathed in through the regulator.
“Good luck, Commander!” Lina shouted.
Kathrine disappeared into the ocean’s depths. When her vision cleared, the compass on her left wrist directed her towards Al-Hatib’s island. With swift movements, she approached it underwater.
About twenty feet from shore, Kathrine resurfaced to scan the waters around the island.
She let her gear sink and, taking her backpack, swam to shore.
She quickly crossed the beach, slipped under the palm trees, and stripped off her neoprene suit.
It would be easier to remain unnoticed if she didn’t wear clothes.
A light breeze caressed her damp skin. She adored the feeling of sea salt on her body, its scent in her nostrils. It reminded her of home – and Sevar.
She allowed herself a five-second pause before transforming.
Unlike most other immortals, her body didn’t change size during the transformation, but it gained remarkable agility and speed.
Her skin took on a greenish-yellow hue, and her hair vanished, replaced by the same reptilian skin as the rest of her body.
Numerous small spots coloured her face in the shape of tiny droplets under one eye, almost like tears.
Her facial features changed to a serpentine appearance, but her eyes retained their violet hues.
Despite the altered contours, her femininity was still discernible in the shape of her breasts and the curve of her butt.
When she slipped under the canopy of palm trees, her skin blended with their colours, the green and woody tones of her backpack melding with the surroundings.
The island wasn’t vast, so Kathrine had no difficulties in navigating to Al-Hatib’s cosy two-story estate.
The lower floor opened into a beautiful garden with exotic flowers, while the upper one had a terrace with a pool.
Palm trees reached for the sky on either side of the house, casting breezy shadows over the wide-open windows of the second floor.
Al-Hatib’s guards patrolled the area around the residence, but the palms were left unguarded. Kathrine couldn’t blame them for their negligence – known immortal species weren’t capable of blending into exotic surroundings, much less climbing tall trees without special equipment.
Kathrine emptied the backpack and assembled her weapon. Then, she had no trouble climbing up the palms. Entering the house through an open window, she padded into a spacious bedroom in wood and white. The satin bedding was ruffled, and sounds of running water came from behind a closed door.
A couple of minutes later, the steady flow ceased, and the Arab emerged with a towel wrapped around his waist. The hand he was raking through his wet black hair froze in mid-air. His eyes narrowed to slits, scanning the stranger in his room.
Kathrine broke the silence. “I’m here for the mirror, Mr. Al-Hatib.”
He laughed. “Of course, you’re here for the mirror. Everyone’s here for it.” His gaze ran an appraising path down the curves of her reptilian body. “What are you, anyway?”
“Someone with no time to waste. The mirror, please.”
The Arab sighed in annoyance and went to the wall safe.
“No time to waste, eh?” he muttered. “I don’t know how you got in here, but I guarantee you won’t get out.
The safe has a security system programmed to activate if the mirror is removed even a day before the end of the tournament.
No one can take it out without setting off the alarm – not even me.
The moment it’s triggered, the signal will be sent to the players on all the other islands, and I guarantee none of them will let you leave the territory.
And even if you somehow manage to escape”—he nodded towards the camera in the far corner—“the Tribunal will immediately be on your trail and will know exactly who to hunt, thanks to that camera over there. Do you really want me to take out the mirror, or would you rather leave now, and we’ll pretend I never saw you? ”
“Open the safe,” Kathrine said.
“Foolish creature…”
He entered the code on the panel until the lock mechanism clicked. When the door opened, the mirror flashed, all alone inside the safe.
Al-Hatib scowled. “If I take it out, the tournament’s over. The chaos that’ll follow—”
Kathrine fired three successive shots into his heart and one into his head. His body collapsed to the ground. She stepped around it and reached inside the safe for the mirror. The moment it touched her hands, a deafening alarm burst across the island.
Al-Hatib was right. The alarm would, indeed, spark his guards into action. It was also the signal for the other reptilians to kill all the participants and ensure she got out of there with her prize, and no witnesses left behind. After all, the Queen’s orders were to be abided by.
Kathrine stowed the mirror in her backpack and crawled back out through the window. She crouched in the treetops, waiting for her team to take her off the island.