by Guida, ML
“Taking Natasa someplace safe. ’Tis a time spider. She’ll be thrown into another time. But don’t worry. Those who are not eaten by this girl—” Zuto motioned to the spider “—will be thrown into another time. Never to see each other again.”
As if it heard Zuto’s voice, the white spider crawled out of the crevice, blocking Kane’s men from helping them.
Lark leaned close to Mariah. “Raise your wand and we’ll send that black creature back to hell.”
The black spider unleashed a sticky string and ripped Lark’s wand out of his hand.
Lark yelled. Deep lashes marred his hand.
Mariah rushed to his side. “Lark.”
He landed on his knees. “Mariah, stay clear of this creature. Get to the ship.”
She shoved her wand behind her and stepped in front of Lark, determined to protect him from Zuto and his vile spider. His wand, tangled in a sticky substance, dangled from the spider’s underbelly. If only she could utter a spell to retrieve it…
Zuto held each of their gazes as he motioned to Hannah and her father. “Dead or alive. It makes no difference to Maketabori. But it does make a difference to you.”
William blew fire onto the spider, and it jumped in place, squealing.
“Stay here, stupid beast.” Zuto glared. “Maketabori commands you.”
* * *
William wanted to burn Zuto alive, the double-crossing blackguard.
Mariah patted his back and whispered, “Change to human form. Now.”
He turned his head. How could he defeat the spider in human form? As a dragon, he had a chance.
“Trust me,” Mariah pleaded.
William’s tension was so thick that it pushed against his heart and pain spread across his chest. Sweat stung his eyes and his body shook with weariness. He wanted to believe her. Kane was cut off from him, and Lark was wounded. And he had barely stayed ahead of spider as a dragon. Now its damn mate was here. How could he defeat them as a man?
“She’s right. Believe in your love.”
Despite his instincts, William obeyed their plea and shifted. But he swayed on his shaking legs.
Zuto raised his eyebrow. “Defeated so easily?”
William resisted smashing his fist into Zuto’s sneering face.
“Give me your hand.” Mariah reached into her bag and pulled out her athame. Before William could jerk away, she sliced his palm again.
“What the blazes…”
She cut her own hand and clasped his bleeding palm, their blood mingling.
“Mariah—”
“I love you, William. With my whole heart.”
“Good. Say your good-byes, witch,” Zuto taunted. “Now, admit you have lost. And I have won.”
His laughter was cruel and terrible.
Kane, Hannah, and Lark all countered him, making death threats. But William didn’t hear them. All he could do was think of what Mariah had said. He trembled. Power charged through him like before when they had saved the Soaring Phoenix, but this was like a cannon of power booming inside him.
“Say it, fool.”
William didn’t need any prompting. This witch was his woman, his love. “You’re my life, Mariah. My true love.”
Wind blew around both of them, a soft, caressing ocean breeze. Mariah’s hair lifted over her head, and he could feel his flying around him. Blood flowed through him, and tingling sensations rushed over his skin. Mariah’s blood pumped through his hand and his flowed through hers. Their hearts drummed in steady unison. They were one. Together.
Zuto’s laughter died, and he hissed. “What is this? What’s happening?”
His confidence waned, but William didn’t care. All he cared about was Mariah.
White light sparkled and glowed around them. It bathed them with warmth, and suddenly, it flashed around the entire clearing, blanking out all evil.
“You imbeciles, I order you to stop.” Zuto roared like an angry lion.
“Repeat after me. Return to darkness.” Mariah’s soft voice captivated William.
He repeated her words, and as if a thousand candles had been lit, the light burned brighter. Love, goodness, and peace infused the air.
The black spider shrieked and ran around as if it were in pain. Lark’s wand broke free from the web and flew through the air to land at his feet. The creature rushed toward the crevice, wailing, while the white one scurried around in circles as if confused.
Zuto dropped the sword and shielded his eyes with his palm. “My eyes!”
Lark, his hand bleeding, stood and stepped away from them. He raised his wand, but before he could utter a word, the spider spewed white strings upon him and crawled into a crevice, tossing Lark inside as it had Natasa.
The ground closed, swallowing them up.
“No!” Mariah’s sob tore through William.
She released William’s hand, and the white light faded. She rushed toward the place where Lark had disappeared and put her ear to the ground as if listening. “I cannot hear him.” She pawed at the dirt.
William grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. She kicked and fought. “Where’s my brother?” Her voice shrieked with fear and anger.
Zuto stumbled to his feet. “Listen, and listen hard, witch. I’ll heal Ronan’s hand and tell you where to find Lark, but only if you find a mermaid with a gift of song and bring her to me.”
He retreated and leaned against a palm tree. The ground rumbled and more cracks widened.
William seethed with anger over the demon’s threat. How dare he threaten Mariah?
She struggled in his arms, demanding to go back to the splitting ground.
“Will. You. Stop?” he commanded. “What’s a mermaid? Are they going to crawl out of those damn cracks?”
She ceased struggling. “No. Mermaids are magical sea creatures. Sailors often confuse them with sea serpents. They are water elementals. Water nymphs. I am worried about why he wants one. Especially one with a gift of song. Mermaids only possess certain gifts after they mate with a human and are pregnant.” She frowned. “I think Zuto whispered his plan to Ronan.”
“Grand, so more spiders are coming. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
He changed into a dragon and tripled in size again, large enough for Mariah, Hannah and her father to ride him. He clutched Kane’s shoulder and darted into the sky, flew toward the Soaring Phoenix.
Mariah clasped his neck and sobbed. William’s heart broke for her.
He landed on the deck where the crew waited for them, bloody and muddy.
William transformed back into a man as Sean Mallory greeted them.
Willam scanned the deck. “Where’s Ronan?”
Sean hung his head. “With Doc.”
William didn’t relish what would happen to Ronan. The wound would have to be cauterized, and he’d have to learn how to use his other hand. Not an easy task. Ronan was a warrior bred to fight, and losing his right hand would be a devastating blow.
A hideous screech came from the island. Trees swayed and fell. Trunks cracked and snapped. Birds flew into the air, cawing and chirping. Spiders burst out of the dense foliage and swarmed the beach. Not as big as the previous ones, but just as frightening. They clamped their fangs back and forth and spewed white web at the Soaring Phoenix, the strands falling short of the stern.
Zuto never appeared on the beach, but William knew the demon was watching, waiting.
“Fire the guns,” Kane commanded.
Cannons exploded, and balls shot through the air, pummeling into the spiders. Blood, legs, and guts burst into the air and landed on the beach. The smell of sulfur and gun powder filled the air. Surviving spiders limped and shrieked, retreating back into the trampled bushes, stomping on ferns and flowers and knocking down trees.
“I have failed.” Mariah wept against William’s naked chest, smearing mud and tears onto his skin. He lifted her into his arms and carried her below deck. She was exhausted and needed sleep.
Below in th
e crew’s quarters, several pirates held Ronan down as Doc pressed a red-hot knife blade to his severed wrist. Ronan’s screams tore at William as his friend’s skin sizzled. If only there was another place to take Mariah so she did not have to listen to Ronan’s screams and smell his burning flesh.
William shouldered through her makeshift wall and gently set her on her feet. He stripped her of her wet, filthy clothes, helped her into her hammock, and crawled in behind her.
In the long hours that followed, William lay awake to the sounds of Mariah sobbing onto his shoulder and Ronan’s agony. And though he held his true love tight in his arms, he feared the nightmare was far from over.
Epilogue
One month later
Mariah walked along an island riddled with cracks in the ground. She came across a blackened boulder and severed palm trees. Ominous fog crept in. She’d been here before. Fear chilled her spine. Zuto’s island.
“William? Where are you?”
Leaves rustled and twigs crunched.
“William?”
The rolling waves answered her. She whirled around, afraid spiders would seize and pull her down into hell.
“Mariah?”
A faint cry hissed in the wind. She recognized the voice.
“Lark? Lark, where are you?”
She strained to listen. The wind died along with the voice. The ground rumbled beneath her. Something was coming. The spiders. A long sticky rope wrapped around her ankle and pulled her foot from under her. She screamed.
“Mariah, Mariah, wake up.”
The fog faded. Warmth and the male scent of burning wood spread over her.
“Mariah, ’tis me.”
Naked, she was back in her bedroom in Tortuga with her lusty dragon stretched out beside her. His powerful legs were draped over her, and the familiar wetness dampened her thighs. She cupped his stubbled face with her trembling hand. “You are here.” Relief flood her voice.
His eyes filled with concern, William pushed her hair out of her face. “You had the same dream?”
She snuggled closer. “Oui. ’Tis always the same. I am back on the island. But you’re not there.”
“Shhh, you are safe and will never have to go back to the island.”
“But Lark…he’s still trapped there.”
“You don’t know that, Mariah. The spider could have taken him anywhere. Zuto said it was a time spider.”
“I know. But demons lie.”
He rolled on top of her and slipped his hand between her thighs.
She squirmed as he stroked her inner folds. “What are you doing?”
“Giving you good dreams.”
He kissed her, his tongue prowled and probed. Mariah wrapped her arms around his neck, indulging in his masculine taste. Tremors of desire stirred through her, and she widened her legs, allowing his hips to nestle between her thighs. The dream forgotten, she kissed and touched her dragon, exploring his hot skin, caressing him. She dug her fingers into his solid back muscles and when he thrust his flesh inside her, she cried out with joy. She stretched smoothly, her muscles accustomed to his large size. He pulsed inside her, slow at first and then the pace increased, intense, hard, powerful.
The same wonderful pleasure ignited within her that only her dragon could kindle. She shattered again and again. His flesh grew harder insider her and he thrust deeper with the full power of his possession. He rocked his hips once more before releasing his hot seed. She locked her ankles around his hips, pressing them closer, wanting to drain every bit of him. He was hers. Completely. Utterly.
They would have their differences. But he would never leave her. He would always be there for her. Die for her.
She ran her fingers through his thick hair and stared into his passionate eyes. “I love you.”
He nipped her shoulder. “And I you.”
Clangs and bangs down the hallway drew her attention to the smell of baking bread and honey that drifted into the bedroom. Mariah’s stomach growled. William bent over, soft hair brushing her skin, and he kissed her briefly on the lips.
He grinned. “I think that’s a sign your grandmother is summoning us to the kitchen.”
He dragged his hand down her side and she quivered. Not with fear, but with the desire to feel her dragon pumping inside her again.
He took a deep breath. “I suppose we should dress.”
They quickly dressed and walked hand in hand down the hallway to the kitchen.
“Bon. You are both awake.” Grand-mère gestured toward the oak table. “Sit. The pastries are nearly done and tea is brewing.”
The steamy smell of chamomile filled the familiar quaint kitchen. A fire burned in the hearth, and copper pans hung overhead. The herb garden of basil, rosemary, sage, and chamomile sat in front of the bay window. Mariah inhaled, and the fragrances soothed her beaten spirit.
William rubbed her palm with his thumb. Her protective dragon.
Mariah hung her head. “I am sorry I failed you, Grand-mère.”
Grand-mère’s forehead furrowed as she poured the hot water into a porcelain tea cup with hand painted tiny roses around the rim. “Failed what, ma chèrie?”
Mariah lowered her head. “I didn’t save Lark.” William squeezed her hand and reassurance flowed through her. Her love for him had grown stronger over the last few weeks.
“Mon chou, you did save your brother.”
“No, I didn’t. A time spider took him, and my powers were useless against it.”
“You kept him from becoming a warlock. That is the task I sent you and your dragon out to do.”
“You wanted to see him before—” She could not bring herself to say it.
“Before I die?” Grand-mère rubbed Mariah’s back. “And I will, chèrie, I will. Zuto has set you on all path that you must carefully tread. One slip, and you will be under his spell.”
“Do you know where Lark is?”
Grand-mère shook her head. “There is a veil that I cannot penetrate. His whereabouts are hidden. But he is alive.” She gripped her cane and slid into a chair. “I have sensed a terrible presence with him.”
William frowned. “Who?”
She sipped her tea. “You know who, dragon.” Her voice was low and chilly.
“Natasa,” he spat.
“Oui, I fear he and Natasa will meet in a time and place worse than where my poor daughter met her death.”
The terror of her parents’ death rushed over Mariah and the tea sloshed in her stomach. She remembered the running, the hiding, and the constant fear, always the fear. “Will he survive?”
Grand-mère poured more tea into her cup. “If we can get to him in time. He has his wand, and he is a witch. Not a warlock. Both are in our favor. You must not rush this, Mariah. Finding someone in another time takes great magic. Something can easily go wrong. We will need help in finding him and must go through the old books to find a spell to bring him back. Patience is key.”
William leaned on the table. “Help from who? More dark magic?”
Grand-mère slapped her hand on the table. “Cease your doubt, dragon. Without my daughter and your dragon magic, the crew of the Soaring Phoenix would be no more, oui?”
William tilted his chin, and Mariah worried another fight would ignite between them. He still didn’t trust magic and probably never would. But he trusted her.
“He knows, Grand-mère,” Mariah said gently. “This will give you time to look for the spell books since Kane has granted the crew shore leave as they make ready for another voyage. However, he will not leave until you say that Hannah is well enough to travel.”
Grand-mère walked over to the oven and pulled out a tray of warm pastries, and Mariah’s mouth watered. Butter and homemade choke-cherry jam melted off them.
“Eat.” Grand-mère gestured toward the spread. “Hannah and her father are not the only ones who must build up their strength. Soon, you will both be facing the tricky demon who will do anything to get what he wants.” She wagged her
finger. “Be careful of him. He lies.”
“We know this.” William gobbled a pastry loaded with butter and jelly. “He told Drakon that he could make him alive again if he handed over Hannah and her father to him.”
“Zuto did not lie. He does have the power to lift the spell.”
William’s eyes clouded. “So, only Zuto can transform Drakon?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth, dragon. I said he does possess the power, but there are others who could help.”
“Others?” William lowered his voice.
“Gods, of course. Or shall I say god-like. But this will take time. You and Drakon must be patient. I can’t rush this, and before this is all through, Zuto might surprise you.”
William curled his lip. “Are you daft? He’s pure evil.”
“Oui and no.”
William crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. “More riddles?”
Grand-mère bushed her white eyebrows and stuck out her chin.
Mariah waited for the battle, but Grand-mère turned to her. “Zuto won’t lift the curse of your stubborn dragon…At least not yet.”
William rolled his eyes. “Like I said, riddles.”
Mariah wanted to pinch him for being a sullen cur. “Go on, Grand-mère.”
“Zuto is more determined. He feels Drakon betrayed him, so he will have to forgive Drakon before he can be freed.”
William frowned. “Drakon did nothing wrong.”
“He was given an order and disobeyed. An evil one, but an order, nonetheless.”
William’s eyes burned gold, and he muttered under his breath.
Grand-mère ignored him and focused on Mariah. “Now back to what I was saying. The soul of someone you care about a board the Soaring Phoenix is in danger of giving in to him. If he takes the demon up on his offer, more than his soul will be at stake.”
Mariah stopped buttering her pastry. “You mean Ronan, no?”
“He is in deep pain, a pain that will drive him to do terrible things. His pride will drive him to it. Be careful how you help him, mon chou.”
Slow realization slipped into Mariah’s mind. “You mean he and the mermaid?”
