Shocked and stunned even more, she looked up into a pair of angry red eyes. “Thorn! You rank futtocking bastard! What did you do?”
“Du?” She reached to touch his face, then sobbed even harder.
“Shh,” he breathed, rocking her in his arms. “All’s well, my love.”
Her breathing ragged, she glared at Thorn. “What cruelty was this?”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Thorn smirked. “No cruelty. All of it was the honest truth. Devyl took your place in order to set you free.”
Elf nodded. “He said to tell you every word I spoke.”
Mara scowled at them. “I don’t understand.”
Du wiped at the tears on her cheeks, then offered her a crooked grin. “I’m such a cantankerous bastard, they refused to keep me. Apparently, my face is not nearly as sweet as yours.”
Thorn scoffed. “Not entirely true. When I signed Devyl on, it was with one understanding.”
“You were never to be harmed, Mara.” Devyl brushed the hair back from her face.
“Aye.” Thorn sobered. “He gave his soul to unbind your lives and by doing that and then sacrificing his life so that you could live again.…”
Du held up his wrist for her to see that his Deadman’s Cross was gone. “I bought my freedom.”
Thorn nodded and smiled. “He made his sacrifice. His slate is wiped completely clean. And rather than flee and start his mortal life anew, he chose to stay on with his crew and to wait and see what you wanted to do with your freedom.”
Gasping, she ran her fingers over his arm where his brand had been. “You’re free?”
“Aye, thanks to you.”
Thorn and Elf gave them the cabin.
Aghast, Mara stared up at him. “And Vine?”
“Dead. I killed her. We’re on Santiago’s ship and—”
She interrupted his words with a kiss. And then another. “I will make our ship again with my body as soon as I’m strong enough.”
Devyl nipped her lips, then brushed his nose against hers. “Our?”
Laughing, she nodded. “Aye, Captain Bane. You don’t think I’m about to let you sail without me, do you?”
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.”
His eyes turning even darker, he reached for the laces on her gown.
Mara’s breath caught as he gave her a kiss so hot it scorched her. His hunger was absolute and it matched her own. More than that, it inflamed hers. She still couldn’t believe this was real.
That she was back from the dead and that he was here in her arms.
“What were you thinking when you switched places with me?”
“That you had no business there.” His tongue teased her earlobe, sending chills over her as he laid her back against the bunk. “And that I couldn’t live knowing you had died because of me.”
“You are a fool, Dón-Dueli.”
He pulled back to flash his dimples at her. “Aye, but only for you.”
That was true. Her breath caught as he swept her gown off her body and the cool air hit her skin. Desperate to feel his flesh against hers, she pulled his shirt over his head. And leaned against him so that she could savor his embrace. “We’ve much to do, you know.”
“True.” He nipped her chin with his teeth while he held her gently in his arms and cradled her body with his. “Santiago has signed on to be our backup until we see this finished.”
“And Thorn agreed?”
“Free will. Agreeing’s got nothing to do with it. He can’t stop him.”
She shook her head at the poor pirate who had no idea what he and his crew were in for. “What else have I missed?”
A boyish grin played along the edges of his lips while he drew small circles around her breasts and nibbled the outline of her jaw. “Much bickering. A lot of soul-searching as we tried to put Sallie’s soul back in its bottle and Strixa decided to stay on with us as well.”
She arched a brow at that. “Really?”
He pulled back with an irritable grimace. “Aye, but is this truly what you want to be focusing on right now, love?”
She dropped her hand down the waistband of his breeches and noted the way he held his breath. And the instant softening of his glower. “Not really.”
His breathing turned ragged the moment she dipped her hand inside to gently stroke him. His features relaxed and turned gentle and sweet.
Biting her lip, Mara took pleasure at the power she had over her captain. A dark and fearsome sorcerer corymeister he might be, but it was a Deruvian magelyn who owned his heart and could change his mood at her merest whim. “I will always fight for you, Du. Come the morrow, I want you to teach me how to wield a sword.”
He arched a brow at that. “You’re sure?”
She nodded. “You were right. We’re only as strong as our weakest link, and I will not be the means to defeat you.”
Devyl cupped her cheek before he kissed her. “You are never my weakness, Mara. You are my strength. And I will teach you to be the best swordsman in all the world.”
“Good.” She slid his pants from his hips. “Now come here, husband, and show me some of your finer, most skilled moves.”
Laughing, he laid her back against the bunk and gently slid himself home.
Mara sucked her breath in sharply at the sensation of Duel deep inside her as she cradled him with her body. She should be afraid of the future. The gates were still cracked. And they’d lost a number of their crew. Paden’s unborn child carried with it the blood of Michael that could open all the gates and unleash the worst of all evils upon the earth.
And yet in Duel’s arms, she felt completely safe. Because she knew her Devyl would never allow any harm to befall her.
Nay—so long as this Devyl and his Deadmen were on the side of right, evil didn’t stand a chance.
EPILOGUE
Gadreyal hesitated as she neared the only creature she answered to … the one being even more corrupt and dangerous than she was.
Papa Noir. Dark and sinister, he sat on his throne with his sister Azura by his side, glaring at her. “You failed.”
“Not yet. I merely positioned my pieces.”
Noir rolled his eyes. “You failed,” he repeated.
Gadreyal could have handled it a lot better had Jaden not picked that moment to enter the room.
He was a handsome beast, except for those unnerving eyes. One a bright, bright green and the other a deep earth brown. Like Noir and Azura, he was a primal power who would have been invincible— Had Jaden not sold himself to them to protect one of Gadreyal’s greatest enemies.
“Is it done?” Noir demanded of Jaden.
He took a long minute to glare at his owner until he finally nodded. “I wasn’t given dominion over trees for nothing.” He snapped his fingers.
After a few tense moments, Vine slowly unfurled from the floor until she blossomed back into the great beauty she’d been.
Her eyes were dark and deadly as she glanced around them.
But Noir was unimpressed. “You two know your target. Do not fail again.”
Gadreyal inclined her head to him before she took Vine’s hand and led her from his study.
Vine didn’t speak until they were alone. “I can’t believe I live again.”