Gift of Darkness: Book 3 in The Vampire Pirate Saga

by Isadora Brown

  Thick mist coated the island in a protective blanket. Kelia closed her eyes as fog rolled over the small parts of her exposed skin.

  Her eyes teared up in frustration. Her body was starting to ache, being in the same position for a long amount of time, especially with her scars from her time in the Society’s Sightless program. She didn’t want to sleep—could not, even if she tried.

  She furrowed her brow at that thought. She hadn’t gotten through that to give in to this. This would not be what happened to Kelia Starling. She would not cry because life was too hard or because she didn’t know how to handle the situation. She needed to trust herself. The answer would come. It always did. It just required more patience than she was used to having.

  So she continued to wiggle and press and move against the rope, hoping that even though she could not see any difference in her bindings, she was doing something.

  Kelia wasn’t sure what time it was; it must have been the same day, but the shift in the sun’s position in the sky suggested hours had passed. She was so tired, she could barely continue to stand, and her knees tingled as though they would give out at any moment, but that would only cause her further discomfort at having nothing but rope to hold her up.

  Worse, her stomach was sending mixed messages to her body, which then caused her body to produce sensations that were detrimental to her focus and her resolve. How Kelia could feel both nauseas and hungry at the same time was beyond her, but her head pinched with frustration anyway. With her muscles tight and strained, it was difficult for her to keep moving against her bindings.

  Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Her jaw quivered, and she let out a frustrated shout that did nothing except press back into her mouth against the handkerchief.

  There was no breeze, not today, but at least the clouds still blotted out the sun. It made it difficult to discern the passage of time, but it also kept the temperature nearly bearable.

  Unfortunately, her bindings remained unchanged from what they had been hours ago. She felt weak, in desperate need for sustenance with no clue how she was going to acquire some.

  Her eyes flitted back to the island, hoping someone might come to these docks. But judging by how neglected this place was, how empty the area was—void of all vessels save for this one, the boat they used to get here, and perhaps one other ship—it appeared as though the west side of the island was rarely used if not abandoned entirely. Which meant there was a slim chance she would be found, and even if she were, there was a high likelihood that she would not be found by anyone who would actually do anything to help her.

  Kelia ground her teeth as tears slid down her cheeks and soaked into the handkerchief gag. Her skin on her face tightened from residue of dried tears that she longed to wipe off but was unable to. Her helplessness only made more tears fall.

  Why did the Shadows need her? What was the purpose of taking her? The Queen wanted Drew. Certainly, Shadows that she met on other ships claimed the Queen had a bounty on Kelia's head. However, it was difficult for Kelia to understand why. Emma could explain that Drew cared for her, but Drew cared for Emma and for his sister as well. Why did these Shadows think it would be better if they took Kelia rather than Wendy or Emma?

  Unless the thought had crossed their mind, but they rejected because both Emma and Wendy were powerful witches. Because they would be difficult to fight with. Because perhaps even if one of them was taken, they could manipulate the rope, they could free themselves from being bound with ease.

  Kelia was a mere human, with no powers to her name. She could not free herself with her mind, with an incantation. She had only her hands and perhaps a weapon—if only someone would provide her with one. She was...useless. Weak.

  A human.

  I'll be the worst fucking thing that ever happened to that bitch, Kelia thought to herself. She would to put up whatever sort of fight she could, even if it did nothing, just to be difficult. Certainly, she would not make this easy on the Queen.

  A big, fat drop of rain landed on her nose, and Kelia pressed her lips into a thin line. Rain would come, and Kelia would endure it, just as she endured everything else.

  Another hour passed, perhaps two. It was difficult for Kelia to know and easy for her not to care. She was simply waiting for the evening, waiting for the rain to slow, when she expected she would get more of an opportunity to free herself. Once the Shadows woke—once they left this island and started to head to wherever this Queen resided—an opportunity would present itself.

  She hoped.

  Something caught her peripheral, and she turned her head as best as she could. There seemed to be something in the distance, something red and black. It seemed to be moving...

  She blinked once, trying to clear exhaustion and faded tears from her vision. At first, she did not believe anything could be there. However, as they got closer, the greenery surrounding the strange objects moved.

  Something was approaching.

  People.

  That had to be people.

  Kelia shouted, only to have her voice muffled by the soaked handkerchief. The rain was still light. The sky, however, seemed intent to change that. Thunder grumbled in the distance. Kelia predicted the storm would not pass the Island of the Damned until nightfall, and perhaps, if Casey and Robert were awake, she might be able to talk them into sheltering her. However, if people were coming toward the dock, perhaps she could find a solution that did not involve the Shadows at all.

  Kelia cleared her throat. She had not spoken for hours and wasn’t sure she could trust her voice, which would be muffled by the cloth gag all the same.

  She could make out two distinct forms from the figures in the distance but could not see faces or even decipher if they were male or female. There was something familiar about them, though.

  She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. The clean, cool scent of the rain refreshed her senses and helped her turning stomach. The boat rocked back and forth, getting more violent with each passing hour. But she was holding her own, and hopefully would not have to for much longer.

  When she opened her eyes again, the figures had reached the dock. Female. She could tell they were female. One of the females had dark hair and what appeared to be an olive complexion. The other was pale with frizzy red hair.

  Kelia's eyes sprang open, and she pressed against her confines, forgetting that she could not simply go to them the way she wanted to.

  Emma and Daniella were walking to the ship.

  They must have realized she was missing. She would bet Drew sent them looking for her, and for once, she was thankful for his rescue. All her talk about not needing his help, but the truth was, just like sometimes he needed her, she needed him, too. Him, and Emma, and even Daniella.

  It did not matter if she could not rescue herself this time. All that mattered was that they came for her. Her new family.

  The sky was still overcast, with mist-like rain falling and caressing her face. Although she had a gag in her mouth, she decided they still might be able to pick up her muffled shouting. Witches might not have a superhuman sense of hearing, but they did have enhanced abilities. With Emma’s abilities, could she possibly feel Kelia’s distress?

  Kelia's throat burned as she cleared it and tried to shout through the gag again.

  Daniella and Emma were looking, but in the wrong direction, and now they seemed to be moving farther from her rather than closer.

  Tears spilled down Kelia’s face, which frustrated her even more. She did not want to be weak, crying because life was too difficult and she was unsure how to handle it. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to prove everyone wrong about her. Show them that she wasn’t just a mere human. That she wasn’t just an easy target for the Queen to use to get to Drew.

  Yet she could not even free herself from these damn Shadows. The last thing she wanted to be was a damsel, and yet, among her crew, how could she be anything but? She had no abilities, no powers, no way to defend herself unless she had her
blade.

  She shook her head, trying to get rid of such thoughts. Being tied to the slender mast on a mangy boat gave her too much time to think, too much time to sit around and feel sorry for herself. She needed to break free from her thoughts and focus on what was important—freeing herself.

  As she continued to struggle against the ropes, she realized how exhausted she was. Her body stuck in a standing position—the same standing position for hours on end—coupled with the fact she had eaten anything today, nor had she drunk any water, left her weak. Any movement was an effort, and she felt herself start to resist the movement so soon after she started it.

  You think Drew Knight would see you as a partner? a cruel voice asked. As anything worthy of his affection? Of his time? He must always come chasing after you. First, with the Sirens. Then, with the Mage. And now, with the Shadows. And that was only one night. You are a risk unworthy of his time.

  Kelia clenched her jaw as the cool rain fell on her face.

  Stop, she told her inner critic. This was no time for pride. Nobody could be strong all the time. She needed her friends.

  She closed her eyes and surrendered to the moment, put all her trust in them. They would find her. They had to.

  And if they didn’t, her situation wouldn’t be any different, so there was no use letting it distress her further.

  The witches seemed to circle back now, their booted feet finally stepping onto the rickety wooden docks. They strode to the end, not far from the boat where she was being kept prisoner, though they wouldn’t be able to reach her without another boat.

  Emma pointed to one of the boats—the rowboat the Shadows had stolen from Drew's ship. Due to the torrent of the sea, the boat had been pushed against the sand on the small beach. Both women hurried to walk off the dock and into the rocky sand where they grabbed the boat. They then carried it to the ocean. Within moments, they had pushed the boat into the ocean and hopped inside.

  In a manner of minutes, Emma and Daniella maneuvered toward Kelia. Because of the small size of both vessels, one of the witches had to stay behind and hold the second boat to keep their own from floating away.

  Kelia expected Emma to come and retrieve her, leaving Daniella to hold the boat side by side, but it was Daniella who stood and carefully climbed onto Kelia's vessel.

  "Not surprised to see you're in trouble," Daniella muttered once she was directly in front of Kelia. "Again."

  She took off the cloth gag first, and Kelia gulped in her first real breath of air in too long.

  "Hurry up and get me out of here," Kelia said breathlessly.

  Daniella started to rub her hands together, slowly at first, then faster, until smoke slipped out from between her palms. She let out a frustrated grunt, dropped her hands and shook them out, then started again. More smoke.

  It was becoming obvious to Kelia that this was not Daniella’s desired effect.

  "What's wrong?" Kelia asked in a sharp but low voice.

  "The rain keeps putting out my spark," Daniella muttered.

  "Well, try again!"

  "What do you think I'm doing?" Daniella snapped. "You're not being helpful."

  Like salt in an open wound.

  “I’m sure you’ll get it,” she tried, though she couldn’t conjure a confident tone as being encouraging of Daniella didn’t come naturally.

  “That’s worse,” Daniella said. “Don’t be lame. Just shut up.”

  On her third try, a small ball of flame molded to Daniella's hand. She smiled to herself and placed her hand on the thick ropes, just far enough away from Kelia that it didn’t burn. In another moment, the ropes gave way, and she nearly collapsed.

  "We must go," Daniella said, curling her fingers into a loose fist and extinguishing the flames. "Drew Knight is absolutely sick with worry for you, which means he's an absolute pain in everyone's arse."

  Kelia bit back a smile. But just as she shook the last piece of rope off and took Daniella's hand to start toward waiting boat, a voice boomed from behind them

  "And where do you think you're going?"

  Chapter 16

  Kelia froze. Her heart lurched in her throat. Daniella had to tug on Kelia's wrist to remind her to hurry up and get off the boat.

  "I don't think you'll be leaving now, poppet," Robert said. He, too, was behind her, probably standing next to Casey. "The Queen is expecting you."

  "You can tell the Queen," Kelia said, slowly turning around, "that due to unforeseen circumstances, I won't be accepting her invitation."

  Her voice was still ragged, her throat burning with each word she spoke. She did her best to hide the pain with a look of cool indifference, but it was difficult to do, especially considering she could not even stand up straight due to the stiffness in her body.

  "Unfortunately for you, the Queen doesn't like it when people reject her invitations," Casey said, his eyes narrowed in on Kelia. Neither of them moved; neither of them even attempted to stop Kelia from leaving. "An audience with the Queen is a rare circumstance. She doesn't grant them to just anyone."

  "And yet she must have granted one to you two," Kelia pointed out as she threw her leg over the boat. "Sorry to disappoint, gentlemen. Shall I send a new, pressed handkerchief along with my sincerest apologies?” Antagonizing them was unnecessary and foolish, but she was so angry she couldn’t stop herself. “I can have it embroidered with her initials if she would like. I should get the letter B stitched in the silk, correct? For Bitch?"

  Both Shadows were touched with darkness the minute the word came out of Kelia's mouth. It was difficult to describe, save for their body hunching over, tensing as though they were ready to spring into action. Their brows furrowed heavily over their eyes, their nostrils flared, and their long, sharp fangs protruded from their mouths.

  Kelia’s heart skipped a beat. Daniella had made it into the boat with Emma. Kelia needed to throw the rest of herself over immediately.

  "Get in the boat," Emma urged with a tight voice.

  Someone tugged on Kelia's dangling ankle. Kelia fell into the boat with an ungraceful thump.

  The rain started to get heavier, pelting down without forgiveness. They needed to get back to the Wraith lest they wanted to get caught up in the storm.

  It wasn’t just Sirens they had to worry about, either; there was risk of catching a debilitating illness. Kelia had already suffered one months before, following Drew's timely rescue of her from the breeding program. She had been incapacitated for days, drinking everything Emma threw at her.

  Her fear paralyzed her. Even now, as she found a seat and took a set of oars in her hand, she refused to look over the side of the boat, afraid a beautiful demon might pull her under once again and cause her to drown. However, a small, dark part of her considered risking it, if only to ascertain whether her mother was still alive.

  "You best start rowing," Emma snapped as she kept her dark eyes focused on the Shadows. "Get the boat away from where they can reach it. They might be confined to the ocean, but if they can land on different boats, they can move across the ocean freely.. My powers cannot work on water. I am an earth witch, and the water—especially water controlled by Sirens—will repel my own. Daniella can pull fire from energy around us, but the rain will make it difficult. Start rowing. Now!"

  It was the one thing Kelia could do without question. Perhaps the task was mundane, but it was a way for her to help, so she did it and did it quickly.

  Without warning, the small vessel nearly toppled over after a loud thud. Kelia didn’t have to turn around to see that one of the Shadows leapt from their boat to land in Emma's.

  "All we want is the human." The voice sounded like Casey's. "We'll let you both go if you give us to her."

  "I'm sorry," Emma said with a forced politeness that sounded foreign, coming from her mouth. "That human is free to do as she wishes, and she clearly has no desire to be with you or your Queen."

  "Perhaps I should take you, too." There was a thundering boom and then anothe
r. The boat rocked violently with each step he took. "I'm sure the Queen would be pleased to meet the witch who ripped Drew away from her. You did, after all, break his bond, Emma. She was not happy when that happened."

  "Did she send you specifically to track down Drew?" Emma was stalling him, Kelia realized. If they could just get back to the Wraith, Drew would be able to help. "Or were you an afterthought, someone who heard about it and thought you could take it on even though the task is much too complicated for your small brain to decipher.”

  "Tend your mouth, witch," Casey said in a low voice, each word perfectly enunciated. "What would happen if someone sewed your pretty, little lips shut? What then? Would you still be able to cast your spells? Would you still be able to please Drew and the others the way they long to be pleased?"

  Kelia’s heart skipped a beat at the words. It could not be true—she knew it could not be true—and yet, she could not help but feel... It was difficult to describe. Jealous, perhaps? Heartbroken?

  "What's this, Slayer?" Another step, and the boat rocked harder. "Was that your heart trembling at the thought of your precious Drew Knight being pleased by his witch? Do I detect feelings for him in your quiet and stoic demeanor? Would you like to know how you can help your friends? These witches are your friends, are they not? Or will you have to re-evaluate, considering Emma, here, is also Drew's lover. Can one be his lover and your friend, I wonder?"

  "You’re asking if you can be his lover and my friend?” she asked, turning his taunting around onto him without missing a beat with the oars. “I don't think you're his type. And I have enough friends."

  "The Queen is always looking to add another," Casey said. "And she doesn't ask."

  Kelia’s shoulders and arms started screaming in pain, still suffering from being pinned against the mast of the ship, but she pressed forward. She had no blade, no other weapon. She needed to row. She could not stop until she reached Drew.