He stopped talking and looked up. Somebody was fumbling with the hatch. Ash stealthily rose to his feet, stretched, gripped the handles, and hung on. The hatch lid moved a little, so that he could see light around the edges, but whoever was outside was unable to lift both Ash and the hatch, and it stayed closed.
“It must be locked,” one of the priests said, pounding on it, the way people do for no good reason. Did he really think that if they were down there, they were going to answer the door?
“He must be down there,” a second voice said. “We’ve searched everywhere else, and the demon’s stench seems to be coming from here.” The hatch rattled again.
“I’m lead on this, remember,” priest number one growled. “We all agreed that I’m to be first to bleed the demon mage.”
“I didn’t agree to that,” priest number two retorted.
“You were there,” priest number one said.
“That was days ago. If you wanted first blood, you should have cut one of the other mages.”
“They aren’t the same,” priest number one whined. “There’s something different about them. Foreign-tasting.”
“We’d better decide before the others finish with the ones in the cabin,” a new voice said, “or there’ll be all of us sharing.”
“You are not in on this, Robert,” said priest number two. “Why don’t you go back and see how the others are doing? Maybe they’ll share.”
The squabbling continued, growing more heated. At least they’d left off yanking at the hatch, but Ash knew it couldn’t last forever. He found the collar and retrieved some of his smaller weapons, secreting them on his person. Not that he was likely to live long enough to use them, but still.
His flash was building, but it was like he was trying to stopper multiple holes in a crumbling dike. There was no way he could hang on to the hatch, heal Lila, and see to the dragon as well. He needed some help.
Which gave him an idea. Quietly, he let go of the handles, knelt, and began running his fingers over the floor.
“What are you doing?” It was Lila, her voice barely a whisper.
“Looking for the key. Ah. Here it is.” He held it up triumphantly, then looked it over. It was hinged, two half circles that seemed to fit together to form a tube. “How does this work?”
“This doesn’t seem like a good time to—”
“I’m going to free the dragon,” Ash said.
“Oh, I see. This situation isn’t bad enough, so you’re going to try and make it worse.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Ash said. “The dragon can be a distraction.”
“A distraction. Right. Being burned alive would distract me from my other troubles.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re just hoping it will set the ship on fire and then it’ll blow.”
Well, he was hoping that. Just a little. “Lila. I need to know now.”
“All right, fine. It fits on to the collar. Once you close it, slide it along, and when you hear a click, you’ve reached the latch. If you pull on the collar, it should come apart at that spot.”
Ash eased up next to the dragon. Its golden eyes were fixed on him, pinning him like a serpent’s. “Let’s try this,” he murmured. He released a little flash into the dragon, to placate him. Then, slipping his fingers under the metal collar, he managed to slide the key under. He brought the two halves together, then attempted to slide it along the collar. It just barely fit, and it slid in fits and starts. He worked it around the dragon’s neck, slowly, listening hard. Finally, he heard a click. Gently, he pulled on the two sides of the collar, and it came apart in his hands.
He was out of time. Metal scraped on metal as the hatch shifted. Light poured in. Ash leapt to grab the handles. He hung on, but this time the priests seemed to have found a way to work together. Ash found himself rising with the hatch until he was looking into the hooded face and fanatical eyes of a Darian brother. Multiple blades sliced at him frantically. He let go and fell back into the hold. He heard the crash as the priests toppled backward and the hatch landed on the deck above.
He looked over at Lila. Her eyes were closed. The dragon lay quietly alert, watching him as if to see what he would do next.
Now we’re in for it, Ash thought. He touched his amulet. Not enough. Not nearly enough. Though if he fried the first few who came through the hatch, that might discourage the rest for a while.
Where’s the bloody King’s Guard when you need them? he thought.
Guarding the bloody king, no doubt.
If he set fire to the ship, would the charges go? He tried to remember what Jenna had said about that. All right, sul’Han, would you rather burn to death, be blown to bits, or have a bunch of fanatics suck you dry?
Ash gripped his serpent amulet, the one that had belonged to his father, and waited for the first vampire priest to come through the door.
39
THE DEVIL’S BARGAIN