“Aye, aye, Captain.”
As Devyl neared his cabin before he dealt with Sallie’s soul, he felt Thorn’s presence there. Or at least the remnants of it. Curious about the visit, he stepped inside to find a map pinned to his desk with four very specific kinds of daggers. The kind that would have angered him had a fifth one not held a note pinned to a set of islands north of San Juan.
Your ex-bitch and her pack of demons can be found here. Guard your back, my brother. They will be gunning for you.
The Sarim send their best to you. Claim they’ll come should you call. Wouldn’t bet on that, but you can always try.
You know where I am.
TTUYA
Devyl actually laughed at the signature, which stood for “The Thorn Up Your Arse.” He’d give the demon credit. Thorn was even more antagonistic than he was.
He strangely liked that in a person. Liked it even more in a demon.
Prying the dagger loose, he glanced over the map. Then cursed and rolled his eyes as he saw where they’d be heading.
Meropis. He should have guessed that on his own. What better place to put a gate to a hell dimension?
Perfect. Just futtocking perfect.
A chill went up his spine. Not from the location, rather, there was a breach he felt. Cocking his head, he listened carefully.
He’d just about convinced himself that he was being paranoid when all of a sudden he caught the scent of the beasts that had crept on board, under their collective Sights.
Water sprites.
Shit! Grabbing a dagger, he rushed to let the others know before they were sent to the bottom of the ocean, compliments of Vine.
13
Cameron was talking to Kalder when a bit of the sea came up over the side of the ship. At first, she thought it nothing more than the usual spray.
Until the water took on the form of a muscled man. Then it quickly formed armor over his aquatic skin.…
Her jaw slack, she felt the blood heat up in her veins. Kalder turned, then called to the others as he dove for the creature. The moment he touched it, his body changed over to his merman features.
William, Rosie, and Kat unsheathed their swords to lend a hand. But before they could, more creatures came over the side in slick tidal waves.
Valynda grabbed her arm. “We need to get belowdecks. Fast!”
“What are those?”
“Water sprites.”
Cameron had never heard of such. “And how do you fight them?”
“With a great deal of skill … there’s a split instant when they solidify into flesh to attack. It’s a blink of an eye and the only time they’re vulnerable.”
Cameron saw what she meant when one went after Kalder. It rose up for him and just as Valynda described, it became flesh for only the merest heartbeat. Kalder quickly jabbed his sword into its chest right as it turned solid. With a fierce, ear-piercing shriek, it exploded into a gory mess and rolled across the deck.
She started forward to help, until another wave manifested in front of her. It rose up like a skeletal monster and turned toward her with fangs bared.
It reached out with a clawed hand.
Too petrified to move, she froze as it reached for her.
Just as it would have seized her, a sword went through its middle. Like the other, it exploded into a bloody mess to show her the captain who’d speared it. “You all right, Miss Jack?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Then you’d best be getting below.” He turned to fight another.
Mesmerized, she watched him as he took down two more with expert skill—one right before it would have killed Kat.
He was amazing. At least until one of the masts came free and slammed into him, an instant before two of the sprites sank their fangs into his flesh.
Kalder and William rushed to his side to fight the sprites off. Time seemed suspended as she expected the captain to be swept over the deck by the waves of attackers. Yet a heartbeat before he would have been taken into the sea, the side of the ship rose up to cradle him and hold him fast from their grasp. It took her a moment to realize that it was Marcelina as the ship who was now fighting off the sprites and protecting the crew.
But why had she waited to stop them?
Belle let out a chant. One that was taken up by Janice. Then Rosie. Together, their voices caused a shield to go up over the ship to protect it and block the sprites from accessing their decks.
Only then did Bart and William lift the captain from the deck and carry him between them toward his cabin.
Cameron and Valynda followed, intending to help. Though to be honest, Cameron didn’t know much about medicine or doctoring. A bloody nose or black eye were the worst injuries either she or Paden had ever suffered at home.
“The captain can’t die, right?” she asked them.
Valynda screwed her face up at Cameron’s question. “Technically true.”
“Technically?”
“While we can’t be killed the way a person can, we can be deported back to where we came from.”
“Meaning?”
“Remember what we told you about Thorn? How he could revoke our pass and return us to the hells he saved us from?”
“Aye.”
Valynda drew her brows together into a deep fret. “He’s not the only one who can do that. Other creatures have that ability, too. Problem is, we don’t always know which ones we’re fighting against what can do it. Until it’s too late for us.”
William sighed as he pulled the covers over Captain Bane. “And sometimes the process of being pulled back looks an awful lot like this.” He jerked his chin toward Devyl.
Bart nodded in silent agreement.
“Is there anything we can do?” Cameron asked them.
“Pray,” they said in unison.
Marcelina entered the cabin and quickly shooed them out.
Cameron hesitated in the doorway. She wasn’t sure why, but something inside her was unsettled. “Mum? Why did you wait so long to help the captain fight against the water sprites?”
“I thought he had the matter well handled.”
She narrowed her gaze on the older woman. For reasons she couldn’t quite name, she wasn’t sure if she could believe a word of that.
Mara arched her brow as she sensed a change in Cameron. A darkness inside her that hadn’t been there before. A sudden mistrust. “You have something more to say?”
“Why do you hate him so?”
“For reasons you’d best be glad you can’t fathom. I’ve seen a side of him that is inconceivable to one of your inexperience.”
“I’m not near as na?ve as you be thinking, mum.” Cameron glanced back to the bed and frowned. “None is perfect. ’Tis what me mum always said. When first she met me da, he was hiding from the law. ’Twas what brought us to America, after years of living in terror of being found, and their fear of what would become of me and Paden should the law find me da over there. They’d have hung him in England as sure as I’m standing here. So they changed their names and left all they knew to protect him so that we could start fresh.”