Pirate's Curse: Division 1: The Berkano Vampire Collection

by Leigh Anderson

  “So you killed them all, even after you promised to make a deal with them?” Rainier asked.

  “I promised them clemency if they brought me Catheryn,” the queen said. “When they returned empty handed, what good were they to me?”

  Actually, he had to agree with the queen there. They were fools for returning to NOLA without Catheryn. He probably would have done the same thing in her position.

  “You and I are not so different, are we?” the queen asked, as if she could read his thoughts. “You are also ruthless, aren’t you? You don’t grow from a scrawny stowaway to the most powerful vampire pirate captain of the dark seas without slitting some throats.”

  Rainier didn’t respond. He didn’t know how she knew so much about his past, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of acknowledging just how right she was.

  “Like me, you also believe in the dominance of your species,” she continued. “You don’t just accept your life as a vampire, you relish it. You believe that vampires are the superior race and should be the only race, if only you didn’t need humans to survive. But given the chance, you’d slaughter all witches and enslave the humans, wouldn’t you?”

  “No,” he said, though even he doubted the truth of his words. “Maybe at one time, but not now. Not anymore.”

  “Not since you met Catheryn, you mean.” The witch cackled. “You are a fool, you know that. A vampire falling in love with a witch.”

  Her laughter increased to an almost manic frenzy. The other witches in the room joined in.

  “It was probably not one of my better choices,” Rainier said with a shrug. “But it is what it is.”

  He tried to act like it was no big deal, as though Catheryn was nothing more than another conquest. He didn’t want the queen to use him as a weapon against her.

  The queen laughed again. “So macho. What a man you are, pretending not to care. It doesn’t matter if you love her or not. She loves you, and she will come for you.”

  “I don’t think she does,” Rainier said. “I’m sure you know she left me on that island to die.”

  “Yet you stand before me,” the queen said. “Stop posturing. It doesn’t become you.”

  “So what now?” Rainier asked.

  “Now,” she said, “NOLA has a worthwhile future for the first time in centuries. Soon, the city will be rid of the human and vampire vermin. Then Catheryn will come for you, and I will convince her to join me. Together, she and I will be the strongest coven in the NOLA Division, and one day, the world.”

  “Catheryn will never join you,” Rainier said. “She’s not evil. She doesn’t even want the powers she has.”

  “She will join me,” the queen said. “I will show her all of life’s possibilities. Teach her the true potential of her powers.”

  “And you don’t think she will use them against you?” Rainier asked. “She’s not like you. She won’t join your cause. She will fight you.”

  “Then she will die,” the queen said. “It is no matter to me. Even if she does have pure hoodoo blood, I am still stronger, more experienced. I will defeat her. She will join me or die.”

  Rainier sighed again and looked around the room. He tried to pretend that all this witch business was of no concern to him, but inside, he was panicking. He had to get out of here. He needed to find Catheryn and help her. She couldn’t do this alone.

  On one side of the room was a fireplace with a mantle. On top of the mantle was a sword. He knew that going for the sword was probably a poor choice. With only human strength and speed, she would probably stop him. But what other choice did he have? He couldn’t just stand here and do nothing.

  He elbowed the witch standing next to him in the face and then lunged for the sword. He grabbed it and spun around, slicing through a witch that had tried to attack from behind.

  As he advanced toward the queen, she stood up from her seat and grabbed a nearby staff. He attacked, but she easily deflected him to the left, the right.

  “Nyang’anya silaha,” she said, causing the sword to fly from Rainier’s hand. Then she grabbed him around the throat.

  He gripped her wrist, but he couldn’t force her to let him go. Her strength was incredible. Even if he’d still had his vampire strength, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to stop her.

  “You are a fool, Rainier Dulocke,” he said, raising him off the ground. Rainier felt his eyes grow big as his feet began to lift from the floor. “Vampires and witches cannot love each other. A vampire cannot defeat a witch. You might be able to kill one of two of us, but you cannot win over all of us. We are the more powerful species. We are the true heirs of the Rift. We are the ones who will rise from the ashes and create a new world, a new age.”

  She placed her other hand on his chest, and he began to feel the little life force he had left drain from him. He struggled to breathe, for his feet to find the ground, to get away. But he was only flailing. There was nothing he could do. She was killing him. She wasn’t even interested in using him to find Catheryn anymore. She would kill him now.

  He would never see Catheryn again.

  Chapter 27

  Three witches ran at Catheryn. She shot one with fire, dodged the other, and called upon a strong wind to lift the third up into the air and then bring him crashing back down. Eva ran up behind Catheryn and quickly stabbed the one Catheryn had evaded.

  “Where was she keeping Rainier?” Catheryn asked.

  “The scout said he was in the basement,” Eva replied as she shot another witch that was charging toward them.

  “Then let’s go!” Catheryn said.

  She remembered the basement, back where this all began. She had been hiding in the closet, first from the witch she had injured in the kitchen, then from the pirates, when the back of the closet gave way and she fell at Rainier’s feet. That one moment had changed her life, and she would never be the same.

  There were so many witches. They never seemed to stop coming. Catheryn didn’t remember seeing this many witches in the house when she lived there. Witches were the least populous of all the races. She remembered Eva saying something about the other witch covens refusing to join the rebellion against the queen. Some of them must have joined with her to help support her evil plan after all.

  Even though Catheryn could fight with a sword, thanks to Rainier, it didn’t come naturally to her. Hoodoo magic was coursing through her veins, and she wielded it like a musical conductor’s baton. She only had to hold out her hand, and the world was at her command. Fire seemed to come easiest to her, shooting from her fingers effortlessly. In larger, more open spaces, she could also call forth a wind. She was unable to call forth water, however. She had to be in the presence of water to control it.

  As they ran from room to room, Catheryn was able to quickly take out some of the targets, but Eva had her back, easily picking off anyone that Catheryn missed.

  They ran down the stairs and into the dungeon, but it was empty, except for two witches lying on the floor. The bars of the cell were bent, creating a hole large enough for a man to get through.

  “He’s gone!” Catheryn cried.

  Eva waved her hand at the bent bars. “He must have escaped.”

  “But where could he be? Where would he have gone?”

  “I don’t know,” Eva said, pulling her back up the stairs. “It doesn’t matter. He probably went looking for you. He’s probably safe. Don’t worry about him. We should go find the queen.”

  Catheryn was annoyed, but Eva was right. They were here to both rescue Rainier and take out the queen. Rainier hadn’t just been removed from the cell, he had escaped. He was probably long gone. Once he found out that Catheryn was part of the assault on the house, maybe he would come back and fight along with the rest of the resistance. Whatever he decided to do, they would find each other later, then they would sort everything out. Then they could plan their future together.

  But for now, Catheryn needed to face the Hoodoo Queen.

  She still do
ubted she would be strong enough to take the woman down. She had a strength and wisdom of age that Catheryn did not possess. Her natural abilities surely could not trump untold years of study and training.

  But Catheryn did have Eva by her side. Eva was strong, agile, and brutal. As the witches came at them, Eva sliced their throats, took them out at the knees, and even pinned some to the walls of the Hoodoo House with her daggers. She fought with a cold efficiency that Catheryn couldn’t help but admire and fear.

  From outside, Catheryn could hear the other thieves fighting the witches. Eva had also said they had some vampires on their side. They were working as a team for the survival of all. Together, maybe, just maybe, they could win.

  “The queen is probably in her throne room,” Catheryn told Eva.

  “And where is that?” Eva asked.

  “Upstairs,” she replied.

  Eva laughed. “Of course it is in the opposite direction. Oh well. Let’s go!”

  Together, Catheryn and Eva fought their way back up to the main floor. Just as Catheryn started up the stairs to the next floor, she heard Eva scream. She spun back around. A witch had Eva in her clutches. Eva’s face was twisted in pain, and blood was dripping from her side.

  “No!” Catheryn screamed.

  She ran over and shot the witch with fire, throwing the witch across the room. Then she shot the witch again, and again. The fire pouring from her fingers seemed to be coming from deep within her soul. It didn’t even matter if the continued assault was needed. She was fueled by pure anger.

  “I only just got her back,” Catheryn declared. “You’ll not take her from me again!”

  The witch was long burned to a crisp, but Catheryn couldn’t stop until she felt Eva’s hand on her shoulder.

  “Catheryn,” Eva said.

  Catheryn turned to her sister and held her tightly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “It’s all right,” Eva said. “I’ll be okay.”

  But Catheryn knew Eva was lying. She was holding her side, blood seeping through her fingers.

  “But you’re injured,” Catheryn said, tears filling her eyes.

  “This little thing?” Eva said. “Just a flesh wound. I’ve had worse than this. Don’t let me stop you, you hear me? You have a job to do. Get up there and stop the Hoodoo Queen.”

  Catheryn hesitated. Not because she was afraid of the Hoodoo Queen, but because she didn’t want to leave her sister.

  “If you die,” Catheryn said, “I’ll never forgive you.” The two girls pressed their foreheads together and Catheryn squeezed her sister’s face.

  “Same goes for you,” Eva said.

  Catheryn finally forced herself to let her sister go. Eva limped toward the front door. Beth would be somewhere behind the line, tending to the injured. If anyone could save Eva, it would be her.

  Catheryn took one last long look at her sister and then headed up the stairs.

  There before her, across the long room, the queen was holding Rainier by the throat, inches above the ground, his feet flailing, gasping for air. The queen’s other hand was on his chest. A golden glow was flowing from Rainier into the Hoodoo Queen.

  She was draining his life force.

  “Stop!” Catheryn yelled. “Release him! I’m the one you want.”

  Surprisingly, the queen did exactly that. She let Rainier fall to the floor, as limp as a ragdoll, and he crumpled at her feet.

  Chapter 28

  Rainier couldn’t move. Even when the queen dropped him and he felt the sharp pain from hitting the floor, it was as if his body had been completely drained of energy. He was alive, but he could not move. He simply laid there, lifeless on the floor. He could only watch as Catheryn faced the Hoodoo Queen alone.

  “Catheryn,” the Hoodoo Queen cooed with her arms outstretched. “My child. You came back to me.”

  Catheryn took a step back. “I am not your child,” she spat. “What have you done to Rainier?”

  “He doesn’t matter,” the queen replied. “All that matters is that you have returned, and now, together, we can cleanse this city and create a haven for all witches.”

  “I’ll never join you,” Catheryn said. “Witch, vampire, human, all people deserve to live.”

  The queen bristled. “The humans are weak and the vampires are competition. It is simply the law of nature, of evolution. We are the next step in the progress of the species. No longer human, we have long risen above that. And finally we have grown in strength and numbers to take our rightful place on earth.”

  Rainier saw Catheryn pause. Was she actually considering the queen’s words? She couldn’t. She must be forming a plan. Rainier tried to call out to her, but only raspy air came out.

  Catheryn took a step toward the queen. “You are evil,” she said. “And I will stop you.”

  The queen shrugged. “That’s too bad,” she said. “I had hoped to have you by my side. But believe it or not, Catheryn, I don’t need you.”

  “Why are you really doing this?” Catheryn asked, narrowing her eyes.

  “What do you mean?” the queen asked. “I already told you why.”

  “No you didn’t,” Catheryn said. “You know a witch can be born of two humans. You know two witches can create a human. It’s an impossible task. So why?”

  Before the queen could answer, one of her acolytes charged at Catheryn, but Catheryn calmly pointed at a stool and sent it flying across the room, smashing against the witch’s head and sending her to the ground.

  “You might be unique,” the queen said. “But hardly necessary to the survival of the witches.”

  Another witch ran toward Catheryn. Catheryn raised her hand, causing the rug to fly out from under the witch’s feet. The rug then rolled up around the witch, suffocating her.

  “Pure blood hoodoo witches had been dying out since Africa,” the queen said. “Yet hoodoo witchcraft remained. It thrived, even. Look at me. No one is stronger than I am.”

  Catheryn took a step toward the queen. “Except for me. And I will stop you.”

  The queen laughed. “I have been watching your progress. It is impressive for someone not raised to hone her magical skills, but believe me, you are still a pale shadow of what you could be if you joined me.”

  Catheryn took a deep breath. “I guess there is only one way to find out.”

  At that, she called forth a strong gust of wind. It filled the room, swirling around everyone, including the Hoodoo Queen. The wind tightened around the queen, forming what looked like a tornado around her. It got smaller and tighter. Rainier wasn’t sure what Catheryn was doing, but he thought maybe she was trying to crush the witch with the power of the vortex.

  The queen let out a laugh that was low and heavy. “Is that the best you can do?” she asked. She raised her arms, breaking the vortex and sending a blast of wind through the room, knocking everyone back.

  Everyone except Catheryn. Her feet stayed planted to the floor.

  “Very good,” the queen replied with a toothy smile. “You think quickly. That is a good trait for a witch to have.”

  Then she caused one of the boards in the wall to break loose and fly toward Catheryn like a stake. Catheryn dodged. Then two more stakes flew at her. Catheryn jumped to avoid them. Then five stakes came at her. She grabbed a silver serving platter off a nearby table and used it as a shield. She then threw the platter like a Frisbee toward the queen, hitting her in the shoulder.

  The queen gasped and gripped her injured arm. She glared at Catheryn. Apparently, she truly hadn’t thought Catheryn stood a chance, that she would even get a shot in.

  “You underestimated me,” Catheryn said. “But that has always been the case. You never saw me for who I was or who I could be. I was nothing to you.”

  Catheryn took a step forward. A vase flew across the room and smashed against the side of the queen’s face. She didn’t even see it coming. Catheryn didn’t even have to use her hands or say a word to use her powers anymore. Blo
od trickled down the side of the queen’s face.

  “That is why you must be stopped,” Catheryn said. “Human, witch, or vampire, we all have the potential for greatness. Yes, some people can be terrible and do awful things, but that doesn’t depend on their race. Witches can be evil or good. Humans can be strong and vampires can love.”

  “It’s not about goodness, or love,” the queen spat. “It’s about survival. Only one race can survive.”

  Catheryn shook her head. “We will never agree on this.”

  “Then you will die!” the queen screamed as she shot a ray of powerful light at Catheryn.

  Catheryn formed a sphere of darkness in front of her that absorbed the queen’s power. Then Catheryn was able to turn that power back on the queen, shooting her across the room.

  Rainier was in awe of Catheryn. She walked toward the queen without fear. Any insecurity about her powers or who she was or what she could do was gone. She had risen above herself and nearly floated as she walked. Her hair and clothes fluttered in the turbulent wind that still filled the room. To Rainier, she looked like a magnificent goddess.

  The queen became enraged. “I might have underestimated you before,” she said. “But I won’t make that mistake again.”

  She lifted her arms, and wisps of smoke flew around the room. It looked as though the wisps had faces—terrible, horrifying, distorted faces with red eyes and pointed teeth. Many were misshapen like gargoyles but they seemed human. They let out cackling laughter as they surrounded Catheryn.

  “You have the blood of your ancestors to give you power,” the queen said. “Well, I have special friends as well.”

  One of the ghastly creatures smacked into Catheryn’s head. Another flew through her chest, causing her to gasp.

  Catheryn used light attacks on the creatures, but they had no effect. She then tried darkness, and then wind, but the creatures didn’t even shudder. None of her attacks worked. She didn’t know what the wisps were or where they came from, so she didn’t know how to fight them.

  “I am the Queen of Hoodoo!” the queen said as she stepped toward Catheryn. “You cannot stop me! I have the power of a thousand dark souls!”