Warriors,Winners & Wicked Lies: 13 Book Excite Spice Military, Sports & Secret Baby Mega Bundle (Excite Spice Boxed Sets)

by Selena Kitt

  Cardinal nodded. Natalie put a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough for now." There was an instinctual moment, just a breath, where Cardinal processed about six different ways to get past Natalie and take out Alexander. With the boat cruising at this speed, dumping him bodily overboard would cause the best kind of chaos. But with Sling at the helm and both Whip and Cards' hands tied, none of her scenarios ended well. She hadn't seen Druggie since the shootout, but maybe there was another corner of the boat. She stood and let herself be led back downstairs and to the back berth.

  Cardinal rubbed her chin on her shoulder. "You're going to keep us separate, aren't you?"

  "It would be foolish not to. She'll get meals and bathroom breaks just like you."

  Cardinal looked back. "And you'll be violated instead of her." It wasn't something to be thankful for, not really, Cardinal wasn't even sure what kind of tone was appropriate to put on a sentence like that.

  Natalie ignored her. "Dinner is in six hours."

  "Make sure she gets water up there? Please?" Cardinal leaned back, resisting the push into the berth just a bit. Natalie avoided her eyes.

  "This isn't my first kidnapping." Natalie closed the door and locked it. Cardinal lay down on the berth. She stared at the door and, very quietly, shook to her core.

  Chapter 7

  "Need the bathroom?" Natalie asked some time later. She stood in the doorway, gun in hand and eyes more tired than before. Was she spending time up above with Alexander or avoiding him down below?

  Cardinal had lay staring at the wall of the berth where, at some point, Natalie had carved a wildflower into the headliner. Just one, and it was smaller than Cardinal's thumb, but it made her hopeful that inside the hard woman was a girl that just wanted someone to take her home.

  Cardinal slid off the bed and turned to be released from the zip-ties. It was just as bad as before: white-hot pain from wrists to shoulders. Cardinal breathed carefully through the haze and was proud of herself for remaining upright. She used the facilities with Natalie watching, pistol ready.

  She shuddered, overwhelmed. Whip needed help, they both did. And Cardinal was starting to think Natalie had given up. She was just as much a prisoner as they were. "Can I get some water?"

  "I'll get you a bottle. Sit at the table." She was so matter-of-fact. Completely at home on the boat where her rapist had raised her. What kind of force of will did it take for her to keep going? Cardinal's mission history didn't have any way to prepare her for this. She tracked down missing ivory, not missing people. She didn't know what Natalie's mental state could possibly be. Wasn't there a syndrome for this kind of thing? When the kidnapped person starts helping their kidnapper?

  Cardinal sat. She accepted the bottle and forced the water down over the lump in her throat. There was no use dwelling on what she didn't know. She needed new cards in her deck. It was time to create an advantage. "Where are we going?"

  "An island where we can hold you until we're paid for our trouble."

  Cardinal tilted her head a bit. "Zodiac won't ransom us." But Natalie knew that already. Cardinal didn't understand the games at play here.

  Natalie sat at the other side of the table, pistol pointed only vaguely in Cardinal's direction. "I know."

  Again, Cardinal got the feeling that Natalie didn't really want to shoot anyone. That she didn't really want to be kidnapping anyone. That piracy wasn't really her thing but it was the hand she'd been dealt in life and that was what she'd take. After years of this life, was it just automatic now? "Then why are we still ... here?" Alive?

  "Alexander believes you can be ransomed."

  Cardinal lifted her eyebrows and sat back. "You haven't told him." What was Natalie doing? Did she want to escape this? Did she even know? Natalie didn't respond to the comment. Cardinal changed direction. "How did you get here?"

  Natalie smirked. "You sure your Aries is good enough for you two?"

  "We know you were sold for drugs—"

  Natalie tapped her pistol on the table. "Two kilos of the most refined fire eyes south of Russia. Your average fourteen-year-old goes for only a half-kilo nowadays."

  Cardinal's eyes shot wide. Fourteen, shit. What kind of trauma could a fourteen-year-old endure and still come out functional? But it didn't match the men she'd seen above deck. "These guys don't run drugs. Your garage-band druggie wouldn't know refined if it smacked him." And even if they had a million dollars in ivory stashed aboard, they didn't really feel like smugglers either.

  Natalie smiled wistfully for no good reason. "They run people. Pseudo-rescues. Find a hostage, pay the pirate in money or blood, return the hostage, collect the reward money. My mother was offering quite a lot of money for my return."

  They, not we. Even if Natalie thought she had no choice but to go pirate, she didn't really belong here and she knew it.

  "Right before her death." Cardinal was beginning to understand. "And your father wasn't going to pay to get you back."

  "No reward money, no hostage." Natalie shrugged. "I heard he bankrupted a few years later."

  "He's addicted to fire eyes."

  Natalie stood. "Good. I hope he's haunted by visions of Mom."

  Cardinal drained her water bottle and allowed the ziptie again. The berth felt more cramped than before. What does a pirate do with a hostage he can't sell? One that's too old for the sex market? Cardinal stared at the small wildflower carving and felt her gut writhe.

  Lock her in the forward berth. Zip-tie her hands so she can't fight back. Tell her that her parents don't want to pay for her. Tell her they're here to help, she just has to trust them.

  Rape her until she believes it.

  Chapter 8

  Restraints. Bathroom. Chicken and veggies for dinner. Cardinal understood the pattern. "How long until we get where we're going?" How long did Cardinal have to talk her over to the team? Where they hell were they going, anyway? Cardinal was locked down tight, and she had no doubt Whiplash was in the same situation. This was too practiced. Natalie was the only leverage between them.

  "A few days. Longer if we need to avoid someone, but that's rare." Natalie sat at the table. Her hands rested on the pistol. Casual. Just dinner with a friend. Cardinal choked the food down.

  "How's Whiplash?" Cardinal scanned the interior of the boat and noticed one of the berths was looking a bit more threadbare. That had to be Druggie's spot. The others were claiming his shit. Cardinal's aim had been true, then. Had they just dumped his body over the side? Could she drop Sling overboard and leave a trail of breadcrumbs for Cleo to follow? God, that was morbid.

  "She's fine."

  Cardinal still didn't know what fine meant. Was her eye ok? "Can I see her?"

  "After breakfast tomorrow."

  Cardinal frowned and ate her food automatically. Calories were important. "There was a lump on her head, it didn't look good."

  "I iced it down and I've kept her awake in case of concussion," Natalie said. Practical. No deception here. Cardinal couldn't get any traction with these canned responses. Did Natalie care about Whip beyond the inconvenience of dying?

  Cardinal didn't want to be pacified but based on the practiced way Natalie saw to Cardinal's needs, she didn't doubt Whiplash was likewise taken care of. Still, it grated not being able to see her. "Thank you."

  "She's no good to me either if she's dead."

  Cardinal perked up. "So it's self-interest that drives you." That was useful. That could be turned against Sling and Alexander.

  "Took the pirate oath and everything," Natalie said.

  Cardinal stared. Joke? That was a joke? "Heh." Cardinal desperately wanted to know what made Natalie tick. She only had a few days to figure it out. The deadline pressed in like a mile of water above her. "What is she good for then? You know you're not getting a payout from Zodiac." And if they were let go, Cards and Whip would just track them down with some Pisces backup.

  Natalie gestured Cards to her feet. "She's good for putting you back in the berth until to
night."

  Cardinal swallowed a groan at Natalie's stonewall and offered her hands.

  Chapter 9

  "We moved Whiplash inside for the night." Natalie said as she closed the berth door behind her. "She's still tied up but the gag is gone for now. She's been eating well."

  Cardinal resented the status update as much as she was thankful for it. She needed to see Whip with her own eyes. Needed to talk to her—get a handle on how they were going to get control of this boat!

  Natalie extended her hand to the open head. "Last chance to use the bathroom tonight."

  Cardinal took it and the opportunity to brush her teeth, even if it was only a swig with her fingers. Natalie retied her wrists in front. Cardinal's shoulders ached from holding one position all day and the new one stretched abused muscles. She crawled up on the bed, finally able to lie on her back for the first time in hours. She sighed.

  Natalie climbed up on the side with the wildflower carved in the wall and lay facing away from Cardinal.

  Cardinal rolled up onto her side. Natalie traced the carving with one finger. "Natalie—”

  "Please don't call me that. It's not my name." The tone was flat. Resigned.

  Cardinal was silent. She refused to call her Nadel, that name tied to a lawless, amoral life. One she wanted to break the woman away from. Cardinal wanted her to see that it wasn't a way to live. It wasn't what she had to tolerate every day. She could walk away. "Wildflower."

  Natalie hunched tight. Defensive?

  Cardinal reached her hands up to press them gently against Natalie's back, high on her spine. "Will he come for you tonight?" She felt Natalie shake—the tight reaction that only happened when a person really, didn't want to show emotion. It told Cardinal a lot. "Tell me."

  "Not while you're here."

  "And Whiplash?"

  The shaking couldn't be suppressed. Natalie wrapped her arms around herself and rocked.

  Cardinal wiggled closer, alarm rising in her chest. "What about Whiplash?"

  Natalie whispered, "I don't know." Cardinal's gut dropped. She surged off the bed but Natalie was suddenly there in a panic, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her back to the bed. "Stop, please don't—"

  "Get out of my way, dammit, Whi—!"

  Natalie kissed her full on the mouth. No hesitation: lips and tongue. Cardinal stumbled back, shocked that Natalie would resort to something even remotely sexual in her desperation. Wasn't that exactly what she dreaded from Alexander every night? Natalie's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth. Then she covered Cardinal's, instead. "I'm so sorry." She insisted. "I really don't know but if you say anything, you'll put the idea in his head and then he will. I don't think he'll risk it. He still thinks you can be ransomed."

  Cardinal pulled Natalie's hand gently away from her mouth. Natalie let her. Her bright eyes watched Cardinal’s with sharp, raw attention. "Please believe me," she whispered, her voice tight. Her fingers spasmed around Cardinal's like she wanted to hold her hand, and then remembered she was supposed to be the kidnapper.

  Cardinal resigned herself to remaining quiet even though it meant maybe Whiplash wasn't safe. Maybe there wouldn't be much point in the morning—no. If Whip was being violated, the least Cardinal could do was believe she was strong enough to handle it for the course of their mission. She was trained. Whiplash was impulsive and headstrong, but she was a tough bitch to keep down. They'd deal with the aftermath when this was over. Cardinal rubbed a small circle on Natalie's palm. She was the weakest point among the pirates. Cardinal was not above taking advantage of it.

  She was an awful person.

  "That kiss was terrible," Cardinal said, which, wasn't exactly a lie but her intentions made it taste sour anyway.

  Natalie choked. "What? I—what?"

  Cardinal swallowed her pride and committed. "Just now. That kiss? It was really bad. Now, I understand it was one of those heat-of-the-moment things; really sudden, probably not much planning behind it—"

  Natalie backed up a step and found the berth door. Confusion and a little bit of offense in her eyes. "You think I don't know how to kiss?"

  "Well, I'm not expecting you to be a master or something, but it was sloppy around the edges, you know?" Cardinal closed half the distance between them, with a lazy shrug.

  Natalie floundered. "I don't even ... what do you want?"

  Perfect. Cardinal leaned close. She was going to hell. "I'd like you to kiss me, Wildflower."

  Natalie's eyes flared wide. Her irises were an amber so light they were almost yellow. Like wildflowers. She teetered between fear and the trust/longing/desire Cardinal knew she wanted to believe in.

  Cardinal hovered just there at the edge of Natalie's personal bubble—she hesitated to push any further lest Natalie drop her into the category of assailant rather than hope. Balanced on a cliff, just barely this side of rape. Coercion wasn't consent. This was deplorable. She stayed there anyway, arching an expectant eyebrow.

  But Natalie leaned that final breath forward and Cardinal felt her stupid heart jump like a teenager. Her pulse raced. Natalie's lips brushed hers softly. They parted each other and tongues met. Breath sighed over cheeks. Cardinal repressed a whine as longing rose up out of the depths of her and wrapped itself around her heart. Natalie smelled like salt and tasted like light ocean foam. Cardinal swayed closer, drunk on self-loathing and the pure giddy first-strike of attraction. Everything was hot: the air, her blood, their lips together. Cardinal wanted. Badly.

  It was beyond wrong to do this. She parted the kiss gently. Natalie made a soft, neglected sound in her throat that went straight to Cardinal's gut. She wanted to hear Natalie make that sound again and again. There wasn't a circle of hell low enough for her.

  Natalie's eyes stayed fluttering closed. Cardinal turned away before she had to deal with what they said when they opened. What they would accuse her of. She climbed up on the bed and lay on her back, bound hands awkwardly on her stomach. “That was a good kiss,” she said quietly. That, at least, was the truth.

  Natalie didn't move for a long time. Cardinal began to wonder if she would lie down at all or risk going outside. She lay down. Back to Cardinal and finger gently tracing the wildflower carving on the wall. It took a long time, but Cardinal felt the tension go out of her. She tried to harden herself to the new reality of her captivity. Tomorrow she'd pull every string she could. Cardinal was already damned. Did it matter so much how deeply?

  As she drifted to sleep she heard Natalie say, "My mother called me her wild little flower."

  It didn't tear Cardinal apart from the inside out. Why would it?

  Chapter 10

  As promised, Cardinal got to sit briefly with Whiplash up on deck the next morning where all the pirates could see them. The ocean was flat in every direction, even the haze of land was gone behind them. Somewhere in front was a distant island and the boat whined at full speed to get them there. But between, there was nothing but open ocean and no way for Cardinal to know where they were. Even if she got a hold of a radio, she wasn't sure they were in range of a tower, never mind digging up a pair of coordinates.

  Her hands were bound behind her back, like Whip's, but she could sit on the bench beside her. Whip looked much better, her color was up. The gag was gone. She sat upright instead of laying on the bench. And she wasn't giving Alexander any hateful stares. Cardinal shook in relief. The gamble was still on, but for now her dice were playing well.

  Cardinal leaned against Whiplash. "Hey."

  Whip muttered back in formal Polish, "The landing is in two days. That's when we move."

  Cardinal blinked at the floor of the boat, trying to piece the sentence together. It seemed like a year ago she'd decided to communicate with Whip in another language. She pulled the dusty verb forms out of their shoebox in her mental closet and went fishing for nouns. "The woman won't kill if she can avoid it," she said, avoiding names to dodge attention.

  "The Captain will." Whiplash rubbed her cheek against
one shoulder as if they were discussing nothing more pressing than the weather. "He is angry. Always."

  "He will try sex." Cardinal couldn't put the warning more specifically—the words weren't there. She wasn't supposed to need to words rape or sexual assault in polite company in Poland.

  "Hey!" Sling growled at them from on top of the cabin. "What are they talking about?"

  Natalie scowled. "English or Italian."

  Cardinal smiled tightly, Natalie only corrected them after another pirate insisted on it. She was fairly certain the woman wanted them to escape. Did their kiss the previous night have anything to do with it? "Of course." Cardinal switched to English. "Other than your head, things are okay, then?"