by David Wood
“From time to time you can.” She turned and addressed a knot of Finfolk who stood off to one side. They were all that remained of Gwyneth’s warriors. “Things are going to change here. No more kidnappings. No more treating our number like prisoners. If anyone cannot accept that, speak now. Your heads can join the others.”
For the first time, Maddock realized how many headless corpses lay on the ground. No quarter had been given in this fight.
No one had the stomach to fight. The survivors, including Thel’s daughter, who had come off worse in her duel with her mother, made their way to the fountain for healing, then set to disposing of the bodies.
Thel pulled Bones aside for a quiet talk, then she and her daughter departed.
“That family’s going to need some counseling,” Willis said.
“What was up with you jumping into the water?” Bones asked. “We needed you in the fight. You’re just lucky the Lusca didn’t eat you, too.”
“I had a little help,” Maddock said. He pointed to the water where the strange little woman waited. Her elbows resting on the rocky ledge, her arms covered her bare breasts. “You can’t see it underwater, but she’s got scales down there.”
“Webbed feet, too,” the woman said.
Bones frowned, his lips moved, and then his expression brightened. “It’s you! But you’re young and hot!”
The woman laughed. “I told you that you would like Mama Wata. Now, you boys must say your goodbyes. This is no place for you.”
Maddock nodded. This was the moment he had been dreading. Rae was seated at the edge of the fountain, her fingers trailing through the water. He sat down beside her and she managed a sad smile.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t brought you down here...”
“You didn’t bring me. I came to find my brother.” She pressed a finger to his lips before he could reply. “It’s done. Let it go.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to know each other better.”
“Goodbye, Maddock.”
They kissed and then he stood. She seized his hand.
“Do you know what Junkanoo is?”
“The street parade?”
She nodded. “If you ever wanted to say hi, there’s a good chance you’ll find me at the parade.”
He smiled. “It’s a date.”
He couldn’t bring himself to look back at her as he returned to his friends, who stood talking to Riddick Blackwood and the woman who called herself Mama Wata.
“Maddock, this dude says he’s the real Riddick Blackwood,” Bones said. “But he’s never heard of Jack Sparrow.”
“Don’t mind Bones. Thanks for saving my life.”
“And thank you. You made me realize I don’t want to die. I just need a little variety.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “I would love to go up top for a drink, but I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Come on up with us,” Maddock said. “First round is on me.”
Blackwood looked down at his pirate garb. “I don’t think I’m dressed for the occasion. But I hope our paths cross again some day. Today was literally the most fun I’ve had in a hundred years.”
“You boys come here,” Mama Wata said sharply. Maddock, Bones, and Willis obeyed immediately. “Kneel down where I can see you.” She eyed them individually, as if taking their measure, then nodded as if making up her mind about something. “Close your eyes. I will give you my blessing.”
Maddock closed his eyes. He felt the touch of her fingertip on his forehead. She drew a shape there and his entire body tingled.
She pulled his head down close and whispered in his ear.
“Forget.”
Epilogue
The sun was just peeking over the horizon when the three men returned to Sea Foam. Matt was dozing in a chair on the aft deck. He sprang to his feet when Maddock cleared his throat.
“Where the hell have you been? We looked everywhere and couldn’t find you. You guys are never leaving me behind again!”
“Dude, chill,” Bones said. “We got lost in some caves. Only just found our way out a little while ago.”
Maddock’s memory was hazy but what Bones said sounded correct.
“Where’s Rae? And did you find Kyle?”
“Yeah, he was lost in the same caves. They going to take the ferry back,” Maddock said. “We had a fight. She’s too obsessed with that brother of hers.”
“Sorry, man. That sucks.”
Corey appeared on deck, rubbing his bleary eyes. “Did I hear you guys say you got lost? For almost twenty-four hours? That’s amazing. Bones is never going to live that down.”
“Dude, you once got lost walking home in our own town.”
“I was drunk,” Corey said. “Anyway, where’s the ring and the amulet? And did you find the Lusca?”
Maddock frowned. Hadn’t they found... something? His thoughts were murky.
“It was all just a legend.” The words came to him unbidden. “The artifacts were a matched set but that was the only thing special about them. Rae is going to see to it they get into a museum.”
Corey and Matt exchanged bewildered looks. Matt scratched his head.
“And Echard?”
“Found him down in the caverns. He’d taken a bad fall and was on the verge of death. He admitted he was a black market antiquities dealer. That’s why he wanted the amulet.”
Matt seemed to be having a hard time taking all of this in.
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Echard’s dead, Rae and Kyle are safe, there’s no sea monster, and we’ve got nothing to show for all our work?”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Willis emptied his pockets, spilling double fistfuls of gold coins onto the deck.
“Where did you get that?” Maddock asked.
“I don’t know. Found them along the way.”
“In that case,” Corey said, “I’d say this expedition was a success.”
Maddock nodded. “Let’s find a place to fuel up and then we’ll head for home.”
Two hours later, Sea Foam was cutting through the water, headed in the direction of Key West. Maddock sat sprawled on the deck, an unopened bottle of Dos Equis in his hand. His head was killing him and try as he might, he couldn’t picture any of the events since the group had left the boat in search of Kyle.
A shadow fell over him. He looked up to see Bones standing there.
“Pull up a chair.” Maddock slapped the deck beside him.
Bones sat down and gazed up at the sky.
“I feel like there’s a bunch of stuff I ought to remember, but I can’t.”
“Same here. What about Willis?”
“He wanted some rack time. Said his head was killing him.”
“I know the feeling.” Maddock closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. It wasn’t any better when he opened them.
“Stuff doesn’t make sense,” Bones said. “Kyle left with Thel, but she wasn’t there when we found him, and he didn’t say anything about her, did he?”
Maddock shook his head. “Why didn’t we ask?”
“I don’t know. And I remember being lost in the caverns, but how did we get down there in the first place?”
“Well, we started out...” Maddock realized he couldn’t remember either.
“And how do you know the Lusca is just a legend? We just wandered around the caves for almost a day.”
Maddock didn’t have an answer, only a strong conviction that the monster didn’t exist.
“And there’s one more thing.” Bones reached into his pocket and took out a golden figurine. It was a winged being holding a fiery sword. “I thought it was an angel, but look at the face.”
Maddock frowned. The thing had the head of a serpent.
“It’s got a tail, too,” Bones said, turning it around. “And the weirdest part is, I don’t remember where I got it.”
“That’s not unusual,” Maddock said. “You’re so light-fin
gered you sometimes steal without even thinking about it.”
“Hey, I haven’t done that in a long time. And we’re not talking about cool dishes from the Japanese restaurant. This is a freaking golden idol and I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Neither have I,” Maddock admitted. Strangely, he didn’t even care.
“And when I look at it, I get pissed off and want to throw it into the ocean.”
“In that case, give it to me. That’s too much gold to throw away.”
Bones made to hand it to him but changed his mind and pocketed it again.
“Sooner or later I’ll figure it out. The memory has to come back to me sooner or later, doesn’t it?”
Maddock nodded. “Absolutely. One day, you’ll remember.”
If you enjoyed Blue Descent, try Dourado, book one of the Dane Maddock Adventures!
Want to keep up with David’s work? Join his mailing list for updates, new release announcements, and book giveaways, and receive a free ebook when you confirm your subscription.
For a complete list of David’s books and series, visit his website to get your free reader’s guide
BOOKS and SERIES by David Wood
The Dane Maddock Adventures
Blue Descent
Dourado
Cibola
Quest
Icefall
Buccaneer
Atlantis
Ark
Xibalba
Loch
Solomon Key
Contest
Dane and Bones Origins
Freedom
Hell Ship
Splashdown
Dead Ice
Liberty
Electra
Amber
Justice
Treasure of the Dead
Bloodstorm
Adventures from the Dane Maddock Universe
Berserk
Maug
The Elementals
Cavern
Devil’s Face
Brainwash
Herald
The Tomb
Destination-Rio
Destination-Luxor
Destination-Sofia
Jade Ihara Adventures (with Sean Ellis)
Oracle
Changeling
Exile
Bones Bonebrake Adventures
Primitive
The Book of Bones
Skin and Bones
Venom (forthcoming)
Jake Crowley Adventures (with Alan Baxter)
Blood Codex
Anubis Key
Revenant
Brock Stone Adventures
Arena of Souls
Track of the Beast (forthcoming)
Myrmidon Files (with Sean Ellis)
Destiny
Mystic
Sam Aston Investigations (with Alan Baxter)
Primordial
Overlord
Stand-Alone Novels
Into the Woods (with David S. Wood)
Callsign: Queen (with Jeremy Robinson)
Dark Rite (with Alan Baxter)
David Wood writing as David Debord
The Absent Gods Trilogy
The Silver Serpent
Keeper of the Mists
The Gates of Iron
The Impostor Prince (with Ryan A. Span)
Neptune’s Key
The Zombie-Driven Life
You Suck
About the Author
David Wood is the USA Today bestselling author of the Dane Maddock Adventures and several other books and series. He also writes fantasy under the pen name David Debord. He’s a member of International Thriller Writers and the Horror Writers Associon, and also reviews for New York Journal of Books.
Learn more about his work at http://www.davidwoodweb.comor drop by and say hello on Facebook at www.facebook.com/davidwoodbooks.
