Storm Unleashed: Phantom Islanders Part III

by Ednah Walters

  “Don’t need to. Mine already came true.” He nuzzled my cheek. “What would you wish for?”

  Nothing. I smiled. “For as far back as I can remember, Jo and I would wish to be transported away from our homes to a magical world where we could be free and happy and loved unconditionally. I bet she’s still wishing it.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I live in a magical world where I’m free, happy, and loved unconditionally.” I leaned sideways and turned my head to look at him. “I should have wished for you. I guess I didn’t have a face to go with you then. Maybe the promise of you. Or maybe I should have walked into the nearest ocean and you would have scented me and plucked me from all the heartache. But I like to think the time had to be right.”

  His chest shook with laughter.

  “What?”

  “I’m not sure you answered my question. I think you did, but it got lost somewhere in there.”

  I kissed his chin. “Nothing, silly. I would wish for nothing because I have everything. You. Your people. The island.”

  “Do you ever think about your mother? You talk about your father but not her.”

  I shrugged. “She was there. Then she was gone. She smiled a lot. She gave me my eyes, my hair, and my stubborn streak. Dad was easygoing. Give him beer and a perfectly charbroiled steak, and he was good.”

  “Anything else about your mother?”

  “Nothing really. Not her perfume or favorite dress, what she loved to eat or her favorite song. Is that weird? Or maybe I was too young to remember. Or maybe my father had a greater impact on me than she did. What do you remember about yours?”

  “She loved roses, so our father would bring her some whenever he came home. The candelabra he gave her when they mated had roses, and our house had rose bushes along the path leading to the door and on flowerbeds near the porch.”

  How could he remember so much and I couldn’t remember a damn thing about my mother? “Did you always have the gift to create lightning?”

  “No. That came with the island. That’s why I have to go back to connect with it if I use all the magic.”

  I was getting a crick in my neck from turning my head to glance at him. Standing, I straddled him and sat facing him with my back to the rail. He tugged me closer, the position very intimate. I wrapped my legs around him.

  “Okay, repeat what you said about the island and magic.”

  “I’d rather be doing this.” He lowered the neck of my chemise and dropped a kiss on my shoulder. “And this.” He pushed the neckline even lower and bared my breast, but I stopped him before he could do anything else.

  “Answer me first. Please.”

  “My lightning ability is part of my connection with the island. Think of the island as a source of magic. I stay connected with it, and I recharge my abilities. I used it like I did in Hy’Brasil. It wanes until I can’t create any. I have to go back to the island to recharge.”

  “Oh. So now you can’t create anymore bolts?”

  “No, lass. See?” He looked to our right and a spark appeared, but it fizzled. “I have to reconnect with the island. The longer I stay away, the longer I’d need to reconnect and recharge. If I don’t use the ability, it also wanes but slower. It’s the same with all the other captains.”

  “They all have special abilities?”

  He nodded. “Now can we go back to more fun stuff?”

  “Not yet. Your wings. King Tullius chopped them off and yet you have them. How?”

  He frowned. “Deck rescued them after we escaped. For days, while we were at sea, he and my brothers used whatever they could find to tether them to my body with little results, until we met Moira and she brought us to the island. She helped me shift with them and absorb them back into my body. But the damage to the parts of me that form the wings was done. The outside wounds healed quickly, but the inside took longer and healed incorrectly despite her help. For centuries, I could not control them, and whenever I tried, they came out crooked and it hurt worse than the kraken’s bite. Even now, they are not as powerful as they once were. Not perfect. And they still hurt. So I don’t use them, except when I have to.”

  He’d been through so much. They all had. Sighing, I hugged him and ran my hands up and down the two vertical scars on his back. His muscles trembled at my touch.

  “Someone I adore told me not to focus too much on the past,” he whispered in my ear. “Let’s try it and focus on the now.”

  And we did.

  ~*~

  The sea was rough the next day. That usually meant the gods were out collecting the dead, yet we didn’t see any other ships or wreckages. From the long faces of the crew, they knew it, too.

  No one went for a swim.

  The queen mother slept through it all. The shakes were gone, and her temperature was normal. I spent most of the day in the cabin, staring out the window when not holding back Gwyn’s hair while she threw up in the wardrobe. She didn’t just hate flying; she hated the rough sea.

  Tired of being cooped inside, I left the cabin to watch the crew battle the rough weather. A drift of deep concern reached my psyche. Storm was worried. That wasn’t good.

  “Is he still out there?” Nerissa asked.

  “Yes,” Storm said. “He insisted on doing another round. If he doesn’t come back soon, I’m going in to find him before his goddess decides to grab him.”

  The two were by the helm, but their voices carried down to where I stood at the entrance of the cabin. Who was crazy enough to be out there in the ocean when the gods were collecting the dead? Was that why Storm was worried?

  “Let me see.” Nerissa appeared by the rim of the deck with a monocular. She lifted it to her eye and studied the turbulent water. “I see him.”

  “Drop the ladder,” Storm called out.

  “You heard the captain. Drop the ladder,” Nerissa called. “And get him something to wear. Does he really think the Royal Army is out there?”

  “He worries. Losing Lexi to the Royal Guards was hard, but it was too close to the past for him. It took a lot for him not to smoke them back on the island. They decimated his kind, and he’s never forgotten it. Yesterday when he went out for a swim, he was scouting the water. Same with today. He’ll probably be out there every day until we get home.”

  They were talking about Levi. I ran upstairs to join them.

  “Are you saying Levi blames himself for what happened to me?” I asked, my gaze volleying between Storm and Nerissa. “He fought three dragons and killed two of them.”

  “Kraken’s breath,” Nerissa whispered. “That explains it. He woke up first and was impossible for days, but he never said anything about killing his kind. Poor Levi.”

  I didn’t realize I’d started walking toward the ladder until Storm caught my hand.

  “Where are you going, mo ghrá?”

  “To talk to Levi. He can’t blame himself for what happened to me.”

  Storm frowned. “And you can’t blame yourself either. The Dragons sold their services and would have killed him.”

  It didn’t make it okay if Levi blamed himself. I nodded, but on the inside, I knew if it weren’t for me, he would not have killed his own. Feeling bad for him, I went back to the cabin.

  It wasn’t long before there was a soft knock at the door and Levi poked his head inside the cabin. “Storm said you wanted to talk to me, lass.”

  I jumped up and hurried to the door. “Come inside.”

  He glanced around the cabin, his eyes lingering on the bed. “How is she doing?”

  “She’s still out, but the shivers are gone.”

  I opened a chest and pulled out a bottle of rum and two tumblers. I placed the bottle and one tumbler in front of Levi.

  He picked up the bottle and studied the label.

  “I still can’t stand that drink,” I said.

  He chuckled.

  “Ah, lass. If you only knew.” He poured some and took a sip. “This is the rum of kings.�
��

  “Then Lord Conyngham has great taste.”

  He glanced around the cabin. “This is his?”

  I nodded and poured myself some ale. “After Captain, uh, when you and Storm fought Captain Ren’s men and Dragons, I think you did a number on their ship. They had a hole in the hull they couldn’t plug, a mast they couldn’t replace, and a banged-up rudder. Lord Conyngham rescued them in this ship.”

  “Then it’s fitting we relieved him of it and take you home on it.”

  Levi leaned back with a smug smile, and I knew he’d disabled Captain Ren’s ship. Why then did he blame himself for my kidnapping?

  He sipped more of his rum and hummed. “This is good stuff.”

  “I’m sure Lord Conyngham won’t mind if you take the whole bottle.”

  “I won’t either.” He rested his arms on the desk and studied me. “What is it, lass? I can feel your sadness. Is it Storm? If he’s been mean, I could talk to him.”

  I chuckled. “No, he is perfect.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  “Perfection is relative.” I sipped my ale and made a face. It was too dry and not sweet enough for my palate. I put it aside and studied Levi. This was the longest conversation I’d had with him since we met.

  “You really shouldn’t be out in the sea on a day like this.”

  “I know. I had to make sure the Royal Army wasn’t following us. My Ori wouldn’t be happy if that happened again.”

  “What’s an Ori?”

  “A guardian angel. My people believe everyone has one. My Ori can only guide me along the path I’ve chosen, not dictate my actions. I am solely responsible for what happens to me.”

  The Islanders beliefs never ceased to fascinate me.

  “Maybe my Ori was asleep on the job when I was taken. I’m sorry you had to kill the other dragons.”

  He sighed. “Not my finest moment, but they were a disgrace to my kind. They deserved to die by the bite of another dragon.”

  “Yeah, well. I’m happy you made it and they didn’t. You and Storm fought valiantly. You were just outnumbered by Tully’s people.”

  He glanced toward the bed and grimaced. When he spoke, his voice was low. “He won’t stop coming after Storm, yet death is not enough for the pain he causes people, including Storm,” Levi said.

  I frowned. I’d forgotten Storm shared a bond with his brothers. “Do you feel his pain now?”

  “No. On the island, yes, but it’s gone now. You’re a good mate to him.”

  In name only. My cheeks warmed at my thoughts, and I reached up to touch the bridle. It was behaving now.

  “Thank you. You guys are awesome at the way you watch out for each other. I don’t know how you found each other in this vast ocean and made it home safely, but I’m happy you did.”

  “But we didn’t find each other, lass.”

  I frowned. “Then how did you make it back to the island?”

  “The island found us.”

  I gawked at him.

  “What? How?”

  “I don’t know. Our people said we washed ashore at the port.” He frowned. “That’s the island’s magic.”

  The island had brought them home. Just like it had disappeared for Captain Ren.

  “What happened to Captain Ren?”

  Levi grinned, blue eyes twinkling and the long grooves on his cheeks deepening. “He paid for his crimes. I didn’t get the name of the traitor from Ren, but I’m sure the island will reveal him to us when the time is right.”

  It probably would. I watched Levi walk to the door in bemusement.

  The rough sea stopped us from reaching the Mac Lir. Storm and I spent some time with his mother, but most of the time he was on the deck with the others, controlling the sails, wrestling the helm, and pumping water that washed onto the decks. When he came to bed, he was so exhausted he crashed.

  The rocking of the ship kept me awake. It reminded me too much of my trip to Hy’Brasil. I barely fell asleep when I heard yelling.

  “Sails!”

  I sat up. The ship wasn’t rocking anymore. The gods were appeased.

  “The Mac Lir,” I said and tried to scramble off Storm’s chest, but he trapped my legs with his and tucked me under his chin.

  “It’s still dark outside, lass.”

  “I don’t care,” I whispered in his ear. “Get us to the Mac Lir, so I can have a bed, food other than fish and pickled vegetables, and you. Not necessarily in that order.”

  I’d never seen him move so fast. He disappeared outside. When he didn’t come back, I pulled on the same dress I’d been wearing the last two days and boots, and left the cabin.

  The entire crew stood on the main deck, staring at the Mac Lir. My stomach dropped. The ship was still a fair distance away, but it wasn’t alone. One other ship was beside it.

  “Is that the Royal Army?” I asked.

  “No.” Storm lowered the monocular. “That is King Tullius’s ship.”

  CHAPTER 18

  “And they’ve replaced our flag with theirs,” Zale said, not masking his amusement. He had the monocular trained on the other ships.

  “Let me see.” Nerissa took it from him and focused the spyglass. “Idiots. Now we must teach them a lesson.”

  “Replace all their flags with ours.”

  “What am I missing?” I asked. “Why aren’t you guys worried?”

  “It’s only one ship,” Levi said as though that answered everything.

  “So?” I asked. “It’s bigger, which means it has a larger crew.”

  Nerissa grinned. “But they’re not us. We are fast and unstoppable. Plus, they don’t know it’s us on this ship. After we rescue our people, we’re going to enjoy redecorating their ship. I found some paint in storage.”

  “And we must relieve them of their precious goodies for the discomfort they’ve put our people through,” Zale piped in.

  “Unless they’ve hurt them,” Storm reminded everyone, and the grinning stopped.

  He and Kheelan had been having a mini conference away from us. The crew was gathered below on the main deck, waiting for orders.

  “We’ll split up,” Storm said. “Three captains and half the crew will go with the boarding team, and two will stay on this ship. “Zale and Levi are with me,” he said.

  He walked to the edge of the deck and addressed the gathered crew.

  “Half the crew, three from each captain’s team, head below and grab your boarding passes.”

  Chuckles rippled among the crew as some turned to the lower decks.

  “The rest of you, all hands on deck. Banan and Donnelly… Where’s Donnelly?” Someone called back the feisty shieldmaiden. “I want the two of you at the helm. Banan, you are familiar with the ship and its quirks, and Donnelly, you’re fast on your feet. I like risk-takers.”

  She grinned. “Thank you, Captain.”

  “You two will take over the helm from Captain Zale.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.” The grin on Banan’s face as he came up to the aftcastle, which was reserved for the captain and the other officers only, was wide.

  “Tullius’s people know my key people, so Kheelan and Narissa will stay out of sight until we rescue our people, but they are in charge. We don’t want the king’s crew to suspect a thing. Lord Conyngham’s flags will work to our advantage.”

  “Lord Conyngham often takes a lady or two for long leisure sails, Captain Storm,” Banan said. “And whenever he meets with the king’s vessel, we often stop to give the king a bottle of rum from his collection. The king will expect us to stop.”

  “We’ll stop, but the king will not be getting his drink today,” Storm said. “We’ll do the collecting. Bring the starboard side closer to his ship. Lexi stay up here.”

  Panic flared. I didn’t want to deal with the mad king. Even thinking about him gave me the creeps.

  “Why?” I asked.

  He chuckled at my reaction. “Because, lass, from your gown, Tullius will assume you a
re Lord Conyngham’s guest. It helps our deception.”

  I made a face. “Okay. But I don’t have to talk to him or anything like that, do I?”

  “No. He’s known to hide behind his crew, and we don’t want to hurt anyone. The second he appears on the deck, go to the cabin and stay there.”

  We were about to face the mad king, the evilest monarch on the Atlantic Ocean. He wouldn’t just anchor his ship next to his most hated enemy’s and go to sleep. This had to be a trap. While Storm smiled with anticipation, I gnawed on my lower lip.

  “Stop worrying,” Storm said, tugging me to his side. “This will be over before you know it. He won’t see us coming.”

  “We think you should stay, Captain,” Levi said.

  Storm angled his head. “What?”

  “We took a vote, and it’s unanimous that you shouldn’t go on this mission,” Levi continued. “You are a family man now and should focus on being here for your lovely mate and your family. Kheelan will take your place.”

  Storm laughed, his gaze sweeping the faces of the captains. The laughter disappeared when he realized they were serious.

  “A vote? When?” he barked.

  “Just now,” Nerissa said. “You give the crew time off to focus on their mates after claiming, so we are giving you time off, too. As the first captain to get mated, we assume the same rules apply to you.”

  “It can wait until we get home, where the council will decide on how long and when we take a break.”

  “But we represent the council and have the votes,” Levi said. “I always vote for Ryun whenever we are at sea.”

  “Deck gave me the authority to vote on his behalf before we left,” Zale said. “And we go with the majority on every decision as per your rules.”

  Storm’s eyes narrowed as he studied them. “What’s really going on here? Because this is worse than a mutiny. I still have to be friends with you.”

  The others laughed.

  “It’s not funny,” he retorted, and they stopped laughing.

  “Like I said, you are a family man now, Captain,” Levi said. “We’re just lightening your workload.”

  “I don’t recall asking,” Storm shot back.