by Justin Sloan
She blinked, unsure how to answer that. Regular people weren’t supposed to be aware of the UnknownWorld, so she had to assume Valerie had somehow, in the short amount of time since she’d ran off, let this man know about her.
With a nod, she took the gamble.
“That way,” the man said, then lifted the knife and threw it. The sun glistened on the blade as it shot past Sandra’s face, inches from her nose, and lodged in the chest of a pirate behind her.
She gave a second, more grateful nod, and then turned to see where the man had gestured.
“Merde!” she swore in French, which for her was the epitome of swearing. She’d been found en route to the Algerian sex-trade before being made Valerie’s servant, and something about a bunch of big, hairy men swearing in French and planning how they’ll sell you as a sex slave made her never want to repeat such language.
When Valerie had taken her under her wing after Donovan and their clan had destroyed every last one of those bastards, Sandra swore a lifetime’s allegiance to the vampires. She’d do anything to serve.
And now she was going to be tested, it looked like, because she’d spotted Valerie and it didn’t look good.
The vampire was on the ship to their left, and somehow a group of pirates had surrounded her and backed her up to the edge of the sunlight, so that every time she tried to strike at them, the sun burned at her skin.
The Were was in his cat form, or cougar or puma or whatever he was, and was putting up a fight. But from where Sandra stood, she could tell it wasn’t going well. A quick glance over the edge showed that the sun was quickly approaching the horizon, but not fast enough.
As little as she knew her help mattered, it looked like she was going to have to do something here. Something stupid, she realized, as she climbed out on the rope and started making her way over. Having never really tried something like this, it only took two steps for her to fall, but she grabbed hold and hung there, upside down, with her legs wrapped around the rope.
The sound of fighting continued behind her, but all she cared about was reaching her master. She shimmed on, one hand after another. Nothing would stop her. Nothing but death, and she didn’t plan on meeting that asshole anytime soon.
CHAPTER FOUR
Somewhere Over the Atlantic
Valerie was exhausted and frazzled. Every time she moved for an attack, the pirates would leap back into the sun.
She darted forward and took down a pirate who’d stepped into the shadows, but a second later, two other pirates slashed at her with swords. They knocked her off balance so that her hand went into the sunlight.
Her skin had instantly burst into pain, and she almost went into shock at the burning sensation. But Diego was there to tear at one of the pirate’s shins with his teeth and then leap on her to knock her back into the shadows.
He growled in a worried way.
Instead of responding, she grabbed him and rolled aside as a bullet exploded in the wood where they’d been lying.
“Not my finest hour,” she admitted as she looked around.
She ripped some of her shirt with her fangs so that she could wrap it around her hand for protection. The hand would heal, but not right away. Sunlight burns were always bad that way.
The pirates were jeering, daring her to come in for the attack. They were in a bit of a stalemate, in that she couldn’t attack them in the sunlight, and they were dead if they stepped into the shadows.
Meanwhile, she glanced over to see that the fight wasn’t going well back at the main ship. And then, something on the ropes caused her to do a double take.
No, it couldn’t be.
Sandra was hanging from the rope with her legs wrapped around it, pulling herself up and over.
That stupid, stupid, girl would need a good talking to if they survived this. She needed to learn when to stay where she was told.
Then again, Valerie would be dead if Sandra had done that last night, so… who knows.
A pirate turned and saw what she was looking at.
“We got a fresh fish!” he called out, and then moved for the rope, blade in hand.
If he cut that rope, Sandra would fall to her death in the stormy ocean below.
That couldn’t happen.
Sunlight be damned, she thought as she leaped with a burst of energy and sank her teeth into the man’s neck. She twisted as the two fell to the deck, so that he fell on top of her. To her relief, it’d worked, and his larger body blocked the sun. Doing her best to ignore the pain of her exposed skin, she kicked off from the ship’s railing so that they slid back into the shadows.
The man’s blood poured into her mouth, helping her heal at an accelerated rate. She was still hurting pretty damn bad, but at least Sandra was safe.
Diego growled a warning.
She kicked the dying pirate aside and saw that the others had decided to use this situation to their advantage, charging all at once. They were almost on her, true, but they were also in the shadows.
Her territory.
The first two froze when they saw her smile, but it was too late for them. The fresh blood had fully restored her strength, and then some. With a sweeping spin, she kicked out their legs and then leaped at the next two. Diego had one at the rear down, and was thrashing his head from side to side with his teeth in the pirate’s throat.
The pirates let their fright overcome them and started swinging swords frantically, even cutting at each other in a mad dash to escape.
Exactly where Valerie wanted them.
This was different from what she’d seen in the slaughter at her brother’s hands. This was a defensive fight. There were no children being killed pointlessly this time, and there was one more thing that made this different.
This was damned fun.
It was a thought that almost scared her. She was sure that later she’d look back on this moment and wonder what the hell had gotten into her, but right now, she was in her zone.
She dodged a sword and knocked a gun sideways, so that the bullet took out another pirate instead of Diego. Then she flew into a double kick that sent two more pirates over the edge of the ship.
Now that she had them in the shadows, this was child’s play.
Turning, chest heaving and blood dripping down her chin, she focused on the last of them. He had a pistol aimed at Diego and had managed to get back into the sunlight.
Dammit.
The pirate grinned, two of his teeth missing, “One more step and this cat’s head explodes all over the deck, got that?” the pirate told her in his best attempt to sound menacing, but his shaky voice gave him away.
“I don’t need to do anything,” Valerie replied with a confident smile. “Because I know something you don’t.”
The pirate cocked his head, and then a sword chopped off the pistol hand before plunging into his back.
“That’s my girl,” Valerie smiled.
“Sorry I was late,” Sandra said, bowing her head. She smiled and released the sword so that the pirate, unbalanced, took two steps backward and then fell overboard, another scream piercing the evening.
Diego transformed back into a man, “That’s a hell of an entrance.”
Valerie noticed Sandra blush and look away.
Rolling her eyes, she asked as she pointed in his general direction, “Diego, what’d I tell you about the twiglet and bits?”
He smirked, looked around and took a couple of steps to a dead body. He grabbed a pirate hat to cover himself as he stood back up.
Valerie had to laugh at that. Male burlesque shows had popped up in the parts of France that were making their way to being rebuilt, right alongside the female ones. Valerie had to imagine this was what one of those dancers would look like right at the climax of the show. Minus the blood and cuts, of course.
A BOOM sounded from the main ship, and they all turned, smiles fading instantly. The blimp had taken enough hits that its protective layer was finally punctured. Before their eyes, it started to
deflate, the ship heaving from side to side, pulling the two pirate ships with it.
This was followed by a second, bigger explosion as the pirate ship opposite them burst into flames and then exploded.
“Well, that’s not good,” Diego said.
“Your wisdom knows no bounds,” Valerie said, staring in shock.
Two thoughts came to her at once. First was that, although this could be very bad, it was pretty hilarious that Diego’s clothes were back on that ship and were about to sink into the Atlantic. The second thought was that they had a ship now, and could save the innocent men and women if they acted fast.
“Get more ropes,” she yelled as she started running to the side.
“I might have to drop the hat,” Diego called back, his attempt at humor not masking the worry in his voice.
“Just do it!” she shouted.
All three ran to the rope guns to secure more rope to the ship’s railing. Valerie’s shot first, and she felt the lunge of the ship as it connected. The main ship was beginning its descent into the ocean, so they’d have to act fast.
“You two stay here. Prepare to cut the ropes when I say,” Valerie told them as she slid over the side and started walking on the rope she’d just shot over the side. “And while you’re waiting, for God’s sake, Ass-cat, put on some clothes!”
Sandra snickered at that one, and Valerie heard the girl repeat “Ass-cat” under her breath. She also noticed Sandra’s eyes dart over Diego’s way just as he pulled on a pair of bright red pirate pants.
Valerie had never known Sandra to show any interest in anyone, so she’d have to ask about that when everything settled down. Was it a little animal lust, or simple curiosity?
Valerie decided to leave on an embarrassing-for-Sandra note, and called back, “I saw that!” before upping her pace and running across the rope to the other ship.
She could almost sense the blushing from here, if that were possible. But now was the time to focus.
“Captain!” she shouted when she’d nearly reached the main ship.
He was still in the midst of a fight, even while the ship was going down. That wouldn’t do. Not wanting to waste time and risk the final ship going down as well, she ran at vampire speed, reaching for her sword as she did.
Now was her time to see if the sword training worked for the other hand. She gripped the handle tightly, ignoring the pain in her burns. Two strikes came her way at the same time, but they didn’t have her speed. She stepped around the first, parried the second, and then kicked one of the attackers so that he went sliding down the ship, which was now tipping at a steep angle. The second took one look at her red eyes and ran.
She turned to help the captain, but was pleased to see him strike down one of his attackers on his own, then shoot something that looked like a coil gun. Now she understood how the second ship had been taken out.
“Back so soon?” he asked, taking two steps before steadying himself as the ship’s angle intensified. He looked around for more pirates.
“You have to get your men and women aboard that ship,” she told him, pointing to the ship where Sandra and Diego waited. Diego did a mock salute, and it looked like he’d found the most ridiculous ensemble he could come up with.
Mental reminder: Flick him on the ear for that later.
The captain was looking between the far ship and his own, his expression full of angst.
“What is it?” she asked, frustration growing.
“You don’t understand,” he said. “I lose this cargo, my life’s as good as over. My family starves, and—”
“Captain!” She pulled him close, convincing him with her fangs to deal with his issues later.
God willing.
She continued, “You’ve already lost the cargo. There’s no way to recover from that.”
It took him a moment to process this, but then he nodded. “Yes, of course. Save the men and women.” He spun and announced in a great, booming voice, “ABANDON SHIP!”
As if they’d all been waiting for the command, everyone made for the ropes. But the captain didn’t move.
“Get your ass over there,” Valerie said. “We don’t have time for this honor B.S. This is your life, and if you don’t get over there and captain that ship, I’m not sure anyone else can. That means we all die, and I’m not letting you make that decision for us.”
She hadn’t realized how intense she had gotten, how up in his face, or how red her eyes were glowing, but he certainly seemed to. After the terror had cleared from his expression, he grimaced, looked at the other ship and spit out “Dammit!”
He ran for the ropes.
The remaining pirates were trying to make the same climb, but the captain and Valerie fought them off until the rest of his crew was on board, and then the two jumped up and ran across the rope.
“NOW!” she shouted, and Diego and Sandra began to detach the ropes. A couple of straggler pirates had made it onto the ropes. One even managed to hang on after it was detached, but now it was unfortunately attached only to the rapidly sinking ship.
The captain made it across, with Valerie close behind. She turned and cut the rope with her sword, not even bothering with the detach mechanism.
With a thunderous tremor, the ship’s antigrav tech kicked in and it righted itself while the other ship broke off and began its plummet into the ocean far below. As it still had the other, flaming pirate ship attached, watching it go was quite a sight. When the two crafts hit the water, the steam billowed high, but the ship Valerie and friends had won for them was now underway once more, and the cloud of steam was in their wake.
The remaining crew were looking at her with confusion, and a couple had their swords out still, eyes on Diego.
“Stand down,” Valerie told them, a command in her voice. “He’s with me.”
Her eyes, still glowing red, pierced them as she walked past towards the Captain’s tower. The sailors sheathed their swords as she glared at each in passing.
They knew who was really in charge here.
CHAPTER FIVE
Captain Bronson held the wheel, heading due west, doing his best to keep the tears from his eyes. He looked at the controls, focused on his mission at hand, trying to ignore the disarray the pirate captain had left his control room in--scattered clothes, half-emptied bottles, and what he hoped was a fake skull.
“Didn’t anyone clean this damned room?” he spoke aloud, though no one was nearby to hear him, or see him surreptitiously wipe a tear from his eye.
Couldn’t have anyone walking in on him now, could he? He was a damned Captain, after all. He had to keep it together, for his crew.
But he hated the thought of what all that lost cargo meant for his family back in what had once been Oxford, England, but was now termed “The Old Ox.” He wanted to get his family out of there, away from the ruffians who walked the street day and night without concern.
Maybe he’d bring them to Old Paris, which, although it hadn’t totally recovered (and no country was ever likely to do so, in his opinion), it at least had safe zones. The Old Ox boasted relative safety on what had previously been the university campus, as it was now set up like a fortress.
He could only leave his family there alone because he’d assigned two of his best men to guard them. His wife was tough—she’d bested him in more than one wrestling match. He’d even seen her take down two thugs at once. A roundhouse kick to the first thug’s temple and a sneaky elbow to the second’s throat.
