by Stead, Nick
Selina glared up at her sister until the giant bat was lost to the darkness, then she rounded on Zee. “Next time, keep out of it. You might be our captain when it comes to all things nautical, but this was not your concern.”
“I disagree,” Zee said, still radiating calm. “The wellbeing of my crew is as much my concern as the course we take and the state of our vessel. Your sister needs her space and it is not for us to deny her that. I’m sure you’d be out there with her if you had the ability. This life isn’t for everyone.”
Selina glared at him a moment longer, then stormed inside the cabin.
“How can it be for anyone?” I asked. “How can you stand being cooped up on a ship with the same people for days on end and nothing to look at but the ocean? At least on land you get new and interesting landscapes passing by, instead of this endless water that never changes.”
“Take no notice of him, he simply fails to see your beauty, my sweet,” Zee said, looking out at the waves. “But you will always be my mistress, now and forever.”
I rolled my eyes. “I get it, the sea drove you crazy. That explains everything.”
“Maybe a little,” he grinned. There was a change in the wind and we caught the smell of rain, sending the pirate back into the wheelhouse. “Now look what you’ve done – you’ve offended her!”
I followed him in. “Seems like we’ve done well to avoid any storms till now.”
“That’s exactly why we need Brendan’s experience when the sun forces me below deck. There’s been plenty of storms on the horizon but between us we’ve managed to steer clear of all of them. It’s only a matter of time before we get caught out though.”
“So how did you and Brendan meet?”
“Oh, he was a fisherman working for one of these big modern companies on a much bigger ship than this one. They made port to process all the fish to be sold and restock food supplies for the next trip, then the crew had a couple of days to recover from the long fortnight at sea. Brendan spent his time at the nearest inn looking for some female company, just like I would have done in the days before Lady Charlotte. He wanted ale and women, but instead he found me.”
“And what were you doing there, Captain?”
“I happened to be in the area looking for a new ship, after too long spent on land trying to avoid the Slayers. They’d sunk my last vessel and my crew went down with her, and it had become safer to hide on land for a time. But I was ready to return to my mistress and Brendan was still a young man when we met, filled with ambition. I put him under my spell to be on the safe side, but all it really took was the promise of his own ship in exchange for following my orders without question.”
“You used him to build a new crew?”
“Aye, that I did. As far as the crew knew, he was their captain and they were no different to any other fishermen. Our ship was bigger than this one and I had my own private cabin where I could hide from the sun without fear of their questions. Most probably didn’t even know I was aboard. They only ever saw me on deck when I chose to be seen and it was easy enough to make them forget soon after. There were just one or two over the years Brendan talked to, but they’re long dead now.”
“Why didn’t you use your power to keep him from talking?”
“He was forbidden to tell them the full truth. Those who were curious enough to ask what was hidden in the locked cabin were given a half-truth – something along the lines of me being a friend who’d gotten into trouble with some dangerous people, so he’d agreed to harbour me until the danger passed. If they asked too many questions they could easily be replaced when we next made port, once they’d served their final purpose as dinner. Otherwise I’d only take a little blood from each crew member and make do while we were out on the ocean, in the same way we had to make do with rations back in my days as a human pirate.”
“And you really trusted him not to hand you over to the Slayers?”
“When you’ve been around for long enough, you learn how to make the most of your powers, or you die from a foolish oversight. I’m confident he will not betray me so long as my spell holds.”
I thought about that for a moment. “If humans can be enslaved so completely that you have that kind of trust in them, why don’t we make more use of that power to turn them into our spies and double agents?”
“We have, in the past. But it’s not without risk – the Slayers once discovered a spy in their ranks and deliberately fed him false information, with devastating consequences. I’m sure if we chose to go back down the path of open warfare we’d make use of human spies again, but unless that day ever comes, we have no real need of them.”
We fell silent and I left him not long after. The conversation was a brief distraction from the boredom of life on deck, nothing more. My envy of Lady Sarah and Gwyn grew, and my mood turned fouler again. Like the storm that threatened to catch us, my fury was building, my mind clouding over and becoming charged with the potential for violence. It was only a matter of time before it found a target to strike at.
CHAPTER TWENTY–EIGHT
The Storm Breaks
The bite in the air was growing colder still. Those of us with living bodies had been forced to don yet more layers to protect ourselves from it, to the point where we were beginning to look like Eskimos. But Zee successfully kept us ahead of the storm for the remainder of the night, so at least we were spared the rough seas we’d otherwise have had to endure. The sea spray was bad enough as it was, without having to cope with towering waves crashing over the deck.
My own storm proved harder to evade. I found myself back in the galley with Selina the next day, my mind crackling with the build-up of rage just waiting for something to discharge itself into. She sat across from me with a ham and cheese sandwich and a bottle of wine, reading one of those women’s magazines filled with people’s real-life stories and celebrity gossip. And suddenly I couldn’t contain my anger any longer. I’d waited long enough to confront her.
“So when were you going to tell me about the deal you made?” I asked, my voice the calm before the tempest.
If she was surprised by my question, she didn’t show it. “What did Will tell you?”
“Not Will. Jaken.”
“Jaken?” she said, her face puzzled.
“You know, the demon you made the deal with? Looks like a demonic version of a werewolf?”
“That doesn’t sound like the demon I bargained with,” she answered, still looking confused. “I don’t recognise the name but I don’t pretend to be an expert in demonology.”
“He’s the one Will serves. He might also have come as a man, with four gashes on one cheek and another over His eye. That doesn’t sound familiar?”
“No.”
Was she lying? If Jaken had gone to all the trouble of setting up a scenario to make the deal happen, then why would He let another demon handle it?
“Never mind. It doesn’t change the fact you handed my soul over to Hell without asking me first.” It wasn’t quite a growl, but the anger was beginning to creep through.
“Would you have preferred it if I’d left you on the moors to die?”
“Maybe I would!” I roared, my rage breaking through the deceptiveness of my calm exterior and lighting up my eyes with more amber fury. I was on my feet, leaning across the table with my claws digging into the surface. She shrank back, out of guilt more than fear I think. “You only saved me because you think I have some great destiny to fulfil. Now the demons have a hold on my fate as well. How is that fair?”
“You were already unconscious when I reached you. If I’d tried contacting your spirit first it would already have been too late. I won’t deny I did it because I believe fate has chosen you to lead us into a new era, but I would have taken the same drastic action for my sister. There was a way to save you so I took it, just as I would for Sarah. Maybe that’s selfish of me, but I couldn’t stand by and watch you die.”
“You weren’t willing to make a deal to save m
y sister. What gives you the right to decide people’s fates?”
“I didn’t have the tools needed to contact Hell, and I knew you would be even less happy with trading her soul for her life than you are about your own.”
“Oh so you just did a ritual out there on the moors while I was bleeding out did you?”
I was vaguely aware I was shaking with all that pent-up anger and it was fuelling the transformation. The changes were slow and only subtle so far, but Selina could see what was happening and began to ease out of her chair.
“It wasn’t a ritual but I do need some tools of the craft to channel the power for most spells.”
“And you just happened to be carrying those around?” I snarled through teeth which no longer fit comfortably in my mouth. Speaking was becoming more awkward but I forced the words out anyway. “Or have you been in league with Jaken all along?”
“I swear to you, Nick, I don’t know this Jaken demon,” she said, on her own feet then and continuing to back away. Her sandwich sat abandoned and half eaten on its plate.
I shadowed her movements, my predatory instincts made stronger for being cooped up for so many days on end. “So you say. Maybe we should ask Him. Maybe He ordered you out onto the moors to make the deal and gain power over me, same as He ordered Will out there to shoot me.”
“Nick, think about what you’re saying. If I were in league with this demon do you really think I’d have turned down the chance to give them Amy’s soul?”
She’d gone as far back as this part of the cabin allowed. One hand touched the wall as she pressed up against it, the other creeping into her pocket for something.
“And what did you promise the demon who answered your call and demanded my soul for my life?” I moved in closer so our faces were almost touching. My hands clenched into fists as I struggled to keep from losing control, blood running down where claws dug into skin. I noticed Selina’s gaze dart down towards my fangs. “Did you promise I’d be Hell’s bitch just as soon as you’re done guiding me down this destiny you’ve seen? Did you promise them an attack dog at their beck and call, or am I to be the kind of pet werewolf that plays fetch and suffers a beating when it takes his master’s fancy?”
“Your soul for your life, that was all I promised.” She squirmed beneath the force of my blazing eyes. “It means you’re bound to Hell but not to a specific demon like Will. You have no master.”
“You really think that makes it any better? Maybe that’s worse! It seems like any demon can call on me and I have to obey.”
“It seemed like a better deal than enslaving you to the demon I bargained with.”
“You should have let me die.”
“I’m sorry, Nick, truly I am, but the bargain was struck and there’s no taking it back now. You need to go and calm down. Then we can talk more if you want to.”
“Don’t tell me what I need to do!” I roared, my face starting to bulge out into a muzzle. It must have looked like my lupine side was straining against the human body it was trapped in, struggling to break free.
The witch’s next words were in a language I didn’t recognise, but I didn’t need to understand them to know what she was conjuring. It was like a magical shockwave, an invisible force which slammed into me and sent me flying backwards, into the opposite wall. I landed in a heap of rage and aching flesh, pain eroding the last of my self-control. My wolf form was breaking free of its human prison and I embraced it.
Tattered clothing rained down as I rose up, lips pulled back into a primal snarl on jaws growing more impressive by the second. Those layers I’d been given to ward off the cold were no more than a nuisance to my shifting body, becoming increasingly tight and restrictive. I ripped off as much as I could in the time it took to pick myself up, though they were soon forgotten when I set my sights back on the witch. If she wanted a fight I’d give her one, and I was going to enjoy it.
She met my gaze, the fear and guilt in her eyes gone. To the angry clouds still darkening my mind that was proof of her true allegiance with Jaken. She knew she’d been found out so she’d dropped the act of a remorseful friend regretting going against my wishes. Now she was probably feeling overconfident in Jaken’s power to prevent us killing each other, plus her own witchcraft. I knew better. The demon was possibly the least reliable ally we had.
With another roar, I bounded forward, eyes fixed on the exposed flesh of her pretty face. But I never reached my target.
Just as I was about to leap for her frail human body, something crashed into me and knocked me off course. I hit the wall for a second time with a snarl born of both frustration and fresh pain, struggling back to my feet to find Varin blocking my path.
The barghest could have been my shadow, his fangs bared in a mirror image of my own, his red eyes blazing with a similar fire to my amber flames. I knew from past fights there was no way I could beat the spirit creature, but all I really needed was a good scrap to diffuse some of the anger. So I lunged for him again.
Selina left us to it. I imagine she probably rolled her eyes on the way out, but I was too busy with my rival to take note of her expression. We were already locked in combat, the barghest dodging my attack and pulling me to the floor with his jaws. I rolled onto my back before he could pin me down and grabbed his neck in my hands, trying to throw him off. It became a wrestling match then. To an outsider it would probably have looked as aggressive as a real fight, but Varin’s bite was deliberately softer than his jaws were capable of and he acted like any mortal dog at play. His fangs only nicked my skin once, releasing nothing more than a thin trickle of blood.
We separated briefly while I picked myself up again, only for a second clash moments later. The game might have kept us busy all day, or at least until my anger retreated into its pit and I began to tire. But fate had other plans.
Without warning, the rocking of the ship turned violent and I lost my footing. I was back on my arse yet again and when I struggled upright, it was to find Varin had simply vanished.
The floor continued to shift beneath my feet and I realised what must be happening. My storm wasn’t the only one to have broken that day. The ocean’s tempest had finally caught up with us, and with the sun still up our fate rested in Brendan’s hands.
My stomach was churning with the motion of the waves and I had to fight to keep my last meal down. The sensible thing would have been to seat myself back at the table and endure the harsh weather in the safety of the cabin, but cabin fever had eroded all semblance of common sense by that point. Looking out across a stormy ocean promised to be far more thrilling than the calmer waters we’d seen so far.
I made my way over to the door leading out on deck, just as Selina was heading back in. She had her hood up, her waterproofs keeping off the worst of the rain and the ocean spray, but her face had still gotten wet. And there was little wonder. I could see the water crashing against the sides of the ship, throwing up a temporary white wall with every downwards drop into the next wave. Then the wall would collapse into a foamy torrent, rushing over the deck in a bid to claim it before retreating back into the sea as we began to climb again, only to return with renewed fury moments later.
The wind hit me the moment I opened the door. It didn’t quite have the same force as the spell Selina had thrown at me, yet. But I had a feeling things would get rougher still before the ocean began to calm again.
“You don’t want to go out there,” Selina said as I stood to one side, letting her pass. Varin was with her.
“Are you kidding? This is the most exciting thing that’s happened all voyage. I want to watch those monster waves.”
“You’d be better watching them from the wheelhouse.”
“Gwyn and Brendan are up there and I’m not in the mood for their jokes.”
She knew better than to argue as I stepped out, but I could sense her disapproval. It would have been a pretty stupid way to die after all I’d survived since first being bitten, though somehow I didn’t think that would
be the ending to my story. When my time came, I was sure it’d be at the hands of an enemy, rather than nature’s wrath.
There was a kind of terrifying beauty to the ocean storm. We were climbing waves almost as tall as our ship and it was easy to imagine any one of them swallowing us whole. I had to cling on to keep from being dragged into the depths, the white froth battering my body and soaking me from head to toe. It wasn’t long before I was regretting ripping off my waterproof clothing. The water was so cold it felt like it should have been ice, and my body started shivering. But still I remained out on the ship’s deck, watching the waves with awe.
I don’t know how long I stood there for. The sky looked to be growing darker and I guessed we had maybe an hour until the vampires rose from their corpse-like comas, maybe less. I would probably have stayed out in the storm all night if I’d been given the chance. But the waves looked to be growing taller still and it seemed I’d been right in thinking that the worst was yet to come.
Brendan’s voice came over some kind of tannoy system. “Back inside, Nick. It’s not safe on deck.”
I turned to look up at the wheelhouse but I couldn’t really see anyone in the windows with all the spray limiting visibility. Deep down I knew he was right. I shouldn’t have needed telling to return to the cabin, but it was like the sheer power of the elements had me mesmerised. I stayed where I was.
“Nick, get back inside!” he yelled. I thought I detected fear in his voice, though whether that was really for my wellbeing or more to do with the thought of facing Zee’s wrath if I drowned was debatable. “That’s an order!”
Another wave crashed against the ship, plunging us up and back down again with enough force to lift me off my feet. My arm was almost wrenched from its socket but I didn’t let go, and my supernatural strength proved to be greater than the elements, for the time being. It saved me from being thrown overboard where a human would surely have fallen.
