“When we get to the mainland I’m putting so much silver into that bastard,” I muttered.
“Huh?”
“Nevermind.” I pushed to my feet with a sigh. Things appeared to be wrapping up aboard the other clippers. “Let’s head inside and get some shut-eye. We’re going to need our strength for tomorrow morning.”
“Please let me come?” Kaya begged. “I won’t get in the way.”
“We need fighters Kaya. I’m sorry. But I’ll tell you what,” I muttered, stretching my arms above my head. My bones popped audibly in the still night air. “Once we get back with Elle in tow, you can be the first to board.”
“Promise?” Kaya said, extending her pinkie toward me. I almost rolled my eyes. What were we, eighth graders? I stared at the pinkie for a long second, coming to the realization that this could very well be the last time we saw each other. Even if Dom managed to find someone to remove Valerius, there was no guarantee that I’d survive to see the return trip.
I slid my pinkie into the crook of hers and squeezed. “I promise, Kaya.”
***
The waves thumped quietly against the side of the clipper. Maybe it was my super hearing, but it sounded too loud. No one else seemed particularly concerned about it.
After activating the spells I’d carved into the metal, we’d set out. There were only six of us spread out over two boats. My crewmates consisted of Jay and Bly, both of whom had insisted on staying by my side. Gerd and a large wolf I hadn’t spoken to rode with Dom.
The mission was simple: take over one of the vampire vessels before our leaky schooners sunk underwater. We were counting on stealth, rather than superior force. Jay fiddled with the iron earring fixed onto his left ear.
“Damn these things are uncomfortable.”
The shivering vibration of the earring gave the illusion of sound, allowing his voice to crackle into my mind though he’d barely moved his mouth. Iron was even less useful as a communication device, given all its impurities, but I’d had few options. Outfitting the werewolves with silver rings wasn’t going to fly.
Bly threw an elbow into Jay’s side so hard his bones creaked. His lips pulled back from his teeth in a silent snarl of outrage.
“What was that for?”
“We were instructed to be silent,” she hissed, her voice and higher pitch making my skin itch. I was taking this damn thing off as soon as we had escaped the dragnet. “Do not jeopardize this mission because you are a weakling.”
Jay bristled and his eyes grew more wolfish by the second. I shoved myself between them, wincing when the clipper creaked audibly. My magical wards were barely holding this thing together.
“If you fight I swear I will push you both overboard and allow you to swim back to shore,” I hissed at them.
The threat shut them both up, Thank God. I didn’t have any intention of following through on it. I would need every single one of our crew to board and man one of the ironclad warships that the vampires were using. Our only hope of sneaking up on one without being detected by sonar was to do so quietly. The clippers were relatively small and we hoped that arranged in a loose formation could be mistaken for spinner dolphins, one of the native marine mammals nearest the island.
I looked up nervously at the dark, cloudy sky. We’d waited for dawn, hoping the vampire guards would leave the deck clear during the day. With the cloud cover, sunlight might be a nuisance, but it wouldn’t be fatal. Too bad we couldn’t afford to wait for better weather. Hopefully it wouldn’t matter.
The darkness was thick as we entered the shadow of the nearest ironclad. It stood at least sixteen feet taller than us, rising out of the low mist.
We slid to a halt near the stern of the ship. About fifteen feet up, a ladder folded neatly into the side of the vessel. Our entire plan hinged on my ability to silently board and lower that ladder down to my fellows. It would also include the wholesale slaughter of whatever vamps were guarding the stern.
I clutched the ax Dom had loaned me, hefting it awkwardly. Guns were my chosen weapon. I felt naked without a Sig or CZ 75 tucked somewhere my person. Dom would have been better at this sort of combat. He’d trained with Roland for years and could wield a Claymore as easily as any gun. But I was the only one who had a chance of getting this done quietly.
Jay stood and offered me a hand up. I took it, sliding the ax onto the carrier strapped to my back. The warmth of his body warded off the worst of the early morning chill and grounded me before the coming confrontation.
Jay folded his hands together, forming a stirrup of sorts. It would probably have been endlessly amusing to my cousins, all of them cheerleaders at some point, that tomboy Natalia was depending on such a move to save all of their lives.
I slid my booted feet into his grip and clung to his shoulders.
“Ready?” he mouthed. I nodded. Here went nothing.
With an audible grunt, Jay heaved me up with all of his considerable might. I shot up quickly, skimming the side of the ship as I went. The iron was frigid and coated in condensation. I realized my mistake only seconds before reaching the edge of the ladder. Too late. I had to try it.
My fingers scrabbled for the bottom rung of the ladder, clutching the skinny metal bar like it was life itself. My grip began to slip at once, as my full weight hit the slippery metal. I was going to fall and make a very audible splash on the surface of the water below. Dropping from this height, the surface tension would make the waves feel like smacking into a concrete floor. I might drown.
Not a freaking chance, I snarled to myself.
I squeezed the rung as hard as I could. The metal twisted with almost no effort and the friction allowed at least some of the water to evaporate. Heartened, I raised a hand to the next, using the sleeve of my shirt to wipe the condensation off of this rung. I breathed a sigh of relief when I was able to keep a solid grip on it.
The ascent was easier after that. By the time I reached the top of the ladder, some of my earlier confidence had returned. We could do this. Maybe there were only a few low-level vamps guarding the vessel. It was almost sunrise, so most of them should have gone down below already. Once the bloodsuckers were dead, we’d sail out of here and retrieve Elle. We’d get the cure and save the wolves, then clear our names with the Trust by proving Lamonia’s treachery.
I peered over the last rung and scanned the deck. There were no guards in sight. Climbing onto my deck, I carefully withdrew my ax, hoisting it into a ready position.
The voices coming from the bow of the boat stopped me dead in my tracks, and I strained Valerius’ superior hearing to catch every word.
“Fuck off, Ashby,” Findlay’s voice growled. “I’m not in the mood for your theatrics tonight.”
Ashby’s chuckle sent shivers down my spine. It was beyond sick that the filthy bloodsucker’s mere voice could elicit a reaction from me. I hadn’t expected them both to still be here, but it was too late to turn back now.
“You should be celebrating, Findlay. Your lady love is back and relatively safe.”
“Celebrate the fact you have yet another hostage to hold against me? I think not.”
My brow furrowed. Another hostage? Who else did Findlay care enough about to be held against him? He might have cared for Sienna Vogel once upon a time. But pragmatic bastard that he was, he’d ultimately sacrificed her life to preserve Catalina’s. I wished I could claim that I’d do differently in his position. The fact was, I hadn’t. I’d killed Ewan Saunders, a once friend, during the ill-fated attempt on Elle’s life.
Just three of us were left, now. Dom and I had been successfully dispatched in the coup at Hamburg, so far as the vampires were aware. How long would it take them to target Cayman Bello, the West African shaman, the only unaccounted for member of the Five?
The familiar sound of liquid sloshing against the edge of a glass bottle told me Findlay was hitting the sauce. Normally that was a move I could get behind, but right now, it just ma
de things more difficult. How much more unhinged was the summoner going to be with a fifth of whiskey in him?
I crept forward quietly, pressing my back to the wall. Shadows appeared to cling to me like stubborn spider webs, following me and obscuring me from view. It seemed I’d developed a new power since rising. I scratched at the unfamiliar symbol on my collarbone, shimmering like the night sky as the rolling smoke masked my movements. It was probably part of the reason our mission hadn’t resulted in total failure already.
Peering around the corner, I got my first good look at the pair of them, illuminated by a floodlight from the nearby captain’s quarters. They stood side-by-side at the bow of the ship, clinging to the railing that overlooked the water, their stark silhouettes cutting against the silver and orange clouds on the horizon.
Ashby had continued with his uniform theme, this time donning something a little more modern. The fatigues still clung to his ass like a dream and I cursed my runaway libido for noticing. I was not going to admire this fascist Ken Doll for even a second. A wide-brimmed hat and a red scarf protected his skin from the weak rays of the rising sun. Findlay was wearing a suit and a long black cape; typical Trust attire.
“But your lady love is not destined to go mad and destroy the world, that is something to celebrate no? That duty was passed on to your soon-to-be sister-in-law. It’s a shame that she won’t see the wedding. Algerone has everything planned just so. It will be the pièce de résistance of our peace efforts, don’t you think?”
“I don’t want your damn wedding or your company,” Findlay said. “Fuck off.”
I was so absorbed in the little melodrama, I didn’t hear the pad of soft feet running at me until it was almost too late. Something, probably Valerius, sensed the sudden change in air pressure and I arched backward, just missing the first shot aimed for my head. With a deadly hiss of air, it skimmed my cheekbone and went flying toward the front of the ship.
The bullet clipped the steel railing only feet away from Ashby’s right hand. He jerked, whipping his head around, shifting into a combat-ready position. It was the most focused I’d ever seen Algerone’s handsome lieutenant.
The sound rang like a gong, echoing through the rest of the ship. Shit. So much for stealth. Nothing to do now but fight.
I backpedaled a step. To the vampire behind me, it must have looked like a retreat. The bloodsucker bared its fangs in a triumphant smile and raised its gun to take aim again. With a stomach-turning jolt, I realized the model in his hands was the piece I’d designed for Sienna Vogel many years ago. He must have stolen it off her body during the Hamburg incident.
“That’s not yours, you fucking piece of shit,” I snarled.
The darkness writhed and twisted around me like a living thing, and all remaining color drained from the thing’s face as I brought the ax to bear. I sprung like a mousetrap.
The vampire’s torso cleaved in two, tearing apart like well-cooked brisket beneath the ax blade. The vampire had turned just enough that the blade lodged into its spine. I got a satisfying glimpse of its heart and innards spilling onto the deck before the creature dissolved into a pile of goo.
“Sound off,” Ashby shouted. “If I find out any of you are slacking off, I will rip out your fangs and send them to Algerone.”
The thud of boots coming up the stairs echoed in my ears. Reinforcements. More than I could handle alone. I casually kicked the ladder with the heel of my boot, sending the rungs clattering down within reach of my comrades. Now I just needed to buy enough time for them to get on board.
I stooped, retrieving Sienna’s gun, and rolled forward through the small cabin, turning to land on my back so I could fire as the first vampire emerged from below. My rounds pierced his heart and split his brow. It was enough to make the next few behind him hesitate. The enchanted gun seemed to hold onto Sienna’s essence, even after she’d passed. The weight of it felt like a familiar albeit snooty friend in my hand.
Wiping the grip free of vampire goo, I stuffed it into the waistband of my borrowed jeans. We’d lost Sienna because I wasn’t fast or smart enough. I wasn’t going to lose the last of her possessions to these vampires as well. I’d give it to Bello, when we found him. Someone worthy needed to wield it.
I stepped into the floodlight and into Ashby’s view, darkness rippling behind me like a cloak. Smoke curled from the lips of the warm gun in my right hand, which was glowing like a lit cigarette. Blood dripped from the edge of my ax, plinking onto the deck below in the silence that followed my arrival.
“Hey Ashby,” I quipped, raising the blade back into battle position. “I’m home.”
chapter
11
TO ASHBY’S CREDIT, HE ONLY hesitated a second.
Before Findlay could do much more than blink at me in shock, Ashby was in motion, charging me like an angry bull. I ducked low, using the handle of the ax to sweep his feet out from under him. His head hit the deck with a satisfying thwack and his eyes went out of focus. And that would have been curtains for dear old Ashby if his backup hadn’t shown up.
The crack of gunfire sounded especially loud to my over-sensitive ears. A hot slash of pain ripped through my right bicep.
A glance down revealed a hole the size of a quarter in my arm. The pain was barely a pinprick with the adrenaline and rage spilling into my veins. That didn’t mean the wound wasn’t serious. As I’d learned through our trip to the Everglades, Valerius could allow me to ignore a lot, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t doing damage to my body.
Sure enough, when I tried to move the injured arm, the muscles clamped down, refusing to budge. Some random bloodsucker had rendered my dominant arm useless through pure, dumb luck.
Ashby scrambled up and lodged a boot into my stomach, launching me back into the nearest bulkhead. My head cracked against the corner, the lightning bolt of agony reminding me unpleasantly of my death via Ferris wheel.
Behind me, a bass growl signaled the arrival of my backup. Glancing over my shoulder, I caught the hulking outline of Gerd’s umber pelt and beyond him, the slightly smaller and darker wolf that was Jay. The smallest of their number, Bly, was crouched over a fallen vampire, muscle fiber from his throat dripping like macabre spaghetti from her maw.
Dom vaulted over the side of the ship, gleaming in the diffuse light like some sort of trench-coat wearing demi-god. I caught a grim smile and the flash of his improvised weapon. Kinan had welded a sharp jut of metal to a long pole, effectively creating a steel spear for Dom’s use. I’d put my own touch on it just after waking when the demon’s magic was weakest. Enchanted for strength and speed, it wouldn’t miss a target when thrown.
As I watched, Dom managed to spear two vampires through the chest simultaneously. They exploded seconds later, splashing to the deck in chunks of skin and viscera.
A wordless snarl curling my lips, I fumbled the ax into my other hand and swung wildly for Ashby. The vampire danced nimbly out of my reach and let out a high, mocking laugh. “I expected an escape attempt. The indomitable Iron Heart wouldn’t sit and wait to die. But I never believed you’d be imbecilic enough to bring any of the mutts as your backup.”
I let the ax drop. Melee combat had never been my strength and now that I had a gun and a gaping flesh wound, it was probably for the best. Sliding a finger into the trigger guard, I felt more like myself than I had in days. I wasn’t as confident shooting with my left hand, but at close quarters, I was unlikely to miss him either way.
“How do you figure? Because it looks like those mutts are kicking your men’s pale asses, Ashby.”
Ashby’s smile was a slash of vicious joy that cut deep into my confidence. And then he said it. One word, and I realized our fatal miscalculation.
“Findlay,” Ashby murmured. It was a whisper, but seemed to fill the ship.
I turned, ready to shout at the werewolves to run. But it was too late. I’d lost track of the summoner during the haze of bloody battle on the deck. He stoo
d from his crouched position on the bow and took a step toward us, clenching his hand into a fist.
“Stop,” he thundered, power rushing out from him in a burst of warm energy. It brushed over my aura harmlessly and only succeeded in stirring Valerius’ ire.
How dare the mere mortal cast at us? We will rip his throat out and wear his skin as a prize. Let me through, mortal, let me—
My hands balled into fists at my side and I clenched my jaw until my teeth creaked, trying to ignore the demon’s persuasive tirade. The images of Findlay, skinned alive and hung like a freaking deer over my mantle helped stay the worst of the impulses. I was not an animal, goddamnit.
The wolves behind me weren’t so lucky. I spun around to find the wolves that had accompanied us crouched low to the ground, shaking, and pawing at the metal deck. Hate gleamed in their eyes as they stared fixedly at Findlay.
I hadn’t factored the summoner into our escape plans. Somehow I’d assumed he’d be snuggled up somewhere with Catalina, happily ignoring all the destruction he’d wreaked on the rest of the world. It still baffled me why he’d stay here, playing my jailer with Ashby when he was supposed to be the loyal figurehead of this new peace movement.
But now I realized the truth. Findlay was the last layer of protection. He could control animals, including the wolves when they were in their shifted forms.
Ashby stood tall and unafraid, his smirk growing more insufferable by the minute. He had us beat, and he knew it. Findlay had at least partial control over the werewolves that had accompanied us on this suicide mission. If he forced the issue, the wolves would kill Dom and I both. Still more vampires poured onto the deck, surrounding us. The press of bodies was close enough to evoke the familiar scent reaction. The smell of incense and cigars did nothing to comfort me in this situation. It did mellow Valerius, just a fraction.
Agent of Magic Box Set Page 28
