“Aye, aye, Captain.” William grabbed her fast and hauled her away.
But not before she saw what was rising up from the bowels of the stygian waves to engage them.
Holy mother and all her saints…!
Cameron couldn’t breathe at the sight of what had to be Lucifer’s own prized pet shark he’d crossbred with an octopus. Scaly, huge, and tentacled like nothing she’d ever seen or heard of, it came after them while the crew took aim and fired cannons at it. The deck beneath her feet vibrated from the recoil of it all. Her ears rang from the sharp percussion.
William shoved her into Bane’s quarters and slammed the door tight.
Gaping and terrified, Cameron stumbled toward the windows to watch the creature that was after them. One who appeared to have brought even more sinister friends with it. Her heart pounding in her chest, her ears filled with the sound of rushing blood and more cannon fire, along with shouts and gusting wind. The smell of gunpowder and sea nauseated her. Never, never had she seen or heard such. This was the stuff of nightmares and horror.
From where she stood, she could see Kalder fighting against the beast that dwarfed him as they tangled in the water. The merman stabbed it with a long spear while Captain Bane sent balls of fire from his fists into its scaly hide. The creature screamed and arched its back, reaching for them both with its thorny tentacles.
Until the beast met her gaze through the lead glass as if it sensed her watching it.
Time hung still for a long minute until it let out a piercing cry unlike anything she’d ever heard. It was so shrill, it shattered the glass between them, raining pieces of it over her.
Closing her eyes, she raised her arms to protect her face until the shrapnel settled. The ship rocked from the fierce waves the creature caused. Nauseated by the rolling sensation, she staggered back against Captain Bane’s desk. Winds from the sea whipped against her, tearing pieces of her hair free from her queue.
With a deep growl, the creature dove for her, heading straight toward the cabin. She gripped the desk so tightly that the wood bruised the palms of her hands.
In that moment of sheer, utter terror and unbelievable horror that reminded her she was without weapon or protection, Cameron reached for the medallion in her pocket and remembered the prayer her mother had taught her as a girl. The one that Paden had always recited with her whenever she was scared …
“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. No evil shall befall thee, and neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because He hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set Him on high, because He hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer Him. I will be with Him in trouble. I will deliver Him, and honor Him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”
No sooner had she finished those words than her pocket and hand began to heat up—the pocket where she held the stashed talisman Paden had sent her for her protection should she need it.
*???*???*
Devyl staggered back as he saw the shimmering veil fall over the ship and every member of his crew. It even covered Kalder in the water. A gossamer light rained down like a spring shower. Only, instead of leaving them wet, it cast their skin in an ethereal glow, like that of coal that held fire inside its darkness.
William and Bart stared at each other with slack jaws. Then they turned toward him for an explanation he couldn’t even begin to give them.
“Captain?” Belle asked as she shimmied from the rigging and moved to stand beside him.
He had no answer for her, either. Not for this.
And definitely not for whatever caused the beast and its compatriots in the water to splinter into a fine gleaming mist that settled over the waves only to vanish in the blink of an eye.
What the hell?
If that wasn’t shocking enough, a huge wave lifted Kalder from the sea and set him down on the deck near the prow, as if to make sure he was safe, along with the rest of them.
His own jaw agape, Devyl handed his sword off to Belle before he made his way toward the only source for this he could imagine.
Cameron Jack.
He found her in his cabin, on her knees, clutching at the medallion her brother had sent her. Her eyes had lost all color. Her lips were as pale as her body as she whispered a barely audible prayer. Even her hair had turned a bitter white.
The stark red, bleeding cuts caused by the shattered windows provided the only color anywhere on her body. Yet the strangest part?
Glass hovered in the air around her, forming the illusion of glittering wings jutting out from her back.
William drew up short behind him and cursed. “What manner of creature is she?”
When Bart stepped around them with a raised sword to attack her, Devyl stopped and disarmed him. “She’s not our enemy, Mr. Meers.” He returned the sword.
“What is she?” He repeated William’s question.
“Something that would piss down the leg of those what don’t think much of us if they knew she was among our crew. And it explains much about what happened to her brother and why the Plate Fleet be sunk as it was.”
William scowled. “You’ve lost me, Captain.”
Devyl carefully closed the distance between them before he took the medallion from Cameron’s hand. The moment he had it pried loose from her fierce grip, her hair returned to its natural chestnut shade and her eyes to their blue-green color.
The glass fell to the floor, where it struck and let out a small, tinkling sound reminiscent of jester bells.
Cameron blinked twice as if waking from a deep slumber. With a fierce grimace, she glanced among them. “Is the fighting over?”
Bitterly amused, Devyl released a tired breath as he rubbed his thumb against the searing medallion. The ancient power and the soul of the warrior it contained thrummed from the metal, similar to a heartbeat. No wonder Menyara had sent her to them.
Damn that interfering bitch for it.
“Aye.” He glanced to his men over his shoulder. “It appears we needs amend our earlier answer to the lass, Mr. Death.”
“Deeth … and what answer be that, Captain?”
“There are no humans aboard this ship, at all.”
Cameron gaped at him. “P-p-pardon?”
He held the medallion up in front of her face so that she could see the remnants of the faint glow it contained from having been activated by the evil that had come up against them. “Do you remember anything from the last few minutes?”