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Charlie saw movement on the deck of the ship, the blue-black outline of a woman, and he knew that Bummer had led them to the right place. Charlie handed his flashlight to Bob and set his sword-cane on the cave floor. He drew the Desert Eagle from the shoulder holster, checked that there was a round in the chamber, cocked the hammer, then reset the safety and reholstered the pistol.
"We're going to need a boat," Charlie said to Bob. "See if you guys can find something we can make a raft from. " The bobcat guy started down the shore with Charlie's flashlight, scanning the rocks for useful flotsam. Bummer growled, tossed his head like he had ear mites or perhaps to indicate that he thought Charlie was insane, and ran out into the lake. Fifty yards away he was still only in water up to his shoulder.
Charlie looked at the black ship and realized that it was sitting way, way too high out of the water - that, in fact, it was sitting with its hull on the bottom in only about six inches of water.
"Uh, Bob," Charlie said. "Forget the boat. We're walking. Everyone quiet. " He unsheathed his sword and sloshed onward. As they approached the ship they could make out details in its construction. The railings were fashioned from leg bones lashed together, the mooring cleats were human pelvises. The lantern on the deck was, in fact, a human skull. Charlie wasn't exactly sure how his powers as Luminatus were going to manifest themselves, but as they reached the hull of the ship he found himself very much wishing it would happen soon, and that levitation would be one of the powers.
"We're fucked," said Bob, looking up at the black hull curving above them.
"We're not fucked," Charlie said. "We just need someone to climb up there and throw us a rope. "
There was some milling around amid the squirrel people, then a lone figure stepped out of the little crowd - this one appeared to be a nineteenth-century French dandy with the head of a monitor lizard. His outfit - the ruffles and the coat - actually reminded Charlie of pictures that Lily had shown him of Charles Baudelaire.
"You can do it?" Charlie asked the lizard guy.
He held out his hands and lifted one foot out of the water. Squirrel paws. Charlie lifted the lizard guy as high as he could up to the hull, and the little creature caught ahold in the black wood, then scurried up the side of the ship and over the gunwale.
Minutes passed, and Charlie found himself listening hard for some hint as to what was going on above. When the thick rope splashed down next to him, he leapt two feet in the air and barely contained blasting out a full-blown man-scream.
"Nice," said Bob.
"You first, then," Charlie said, testing the rope to see if it would hold his weight. He waited until the bobcat guy was about three feet over his head before he tucked the sword-cane down inside the Lexan plate strapped over his back and started the climb himself. By the time he was three-quarters of the way up the rope, he felt as if his biceps were going to pop like water balloons and he entwined his motocross boot into the rope to rest. As if being granted a second wind by the gods, his biceps relaxed and when he resumed climbing he felt as if he might really be gaining his po
wer as the Luminatus. When he reached the railing, he grabbed one of the bone mooring cleats and swung himself up until he sat straddling the rail.
He swung around and his headlamp caught the black shine in her eyes. She was holding the bobcat guy like an ear of corn, her claw driven through his skull, pinning his jaw shut. There was flesh and goo glowing dull red, running down her face and over her breasts as she tore another bite out of the Beefeater.
"Want some, lover?" she said. "Tastes like ham. "
At the breakfast bar in Charlie's apartment, Lily said, "Shouldn't we tell them?"
"They don't all know about us. About this. " Minty held the date book. "Just Audrey. "
"Then shouldn't we tell her?"
Minty looked at Audrey, who was sitting on the couch entwined in a sleepy pile with Charlie's sister and one of the hellhounds, looking very content. "No, I don't think that would serve any purpose right now. "
"He's a good guy," Lily said. She snatched a paper towel off the roll on the counter and dabbed her eyes before her mascara went raccoon on her again.
"I know," Minty said. "He's my friend. " As he said it, he felt a tug on his pant leg. He looked down to where Sophie was staring up at him.
"Hey, do you have a car?" she asked.
"Yes, I do, Sophie. "
"Can we go for a ride?"
Without any hesitation, Charlie whipped the sword-cane out of his back and snapped it down on the Morrigan's wrist. She lost her grip on the bobcat guy, who bolted, screaming, across the deck and over the opposite railing. The Morrigan grabbed the sword-cane and tried to wrench it from Charlie's grasp. He let her - pulled the sword free, then drove it into her solar plexus so hard that his fist connected with her ribs and the blade came out her back, sinking into the wooden hull of the lifeboat she was reclining against. For a split second his face was an inch from hers.
"Miss me?" she asked.
He rolled away just as she slashed at him. He got his forearm up just in time to deflect the blow away from his face, the thick Lexan plate on his forearm stopping the claws from taking off his hand. She lunged for him, but the sword kept her pinned to the boat. Charlie ran down the deck away from her as she screeched in anger.
He saw light coming from a door that must have led to the cabin at the aft of the ship - that same red glow - and he realized that it had to be coming from the soul vessels. Rachel's soul could still be in there. He was only a step from the hatch when the giant raven dropped in front of him and spread her wings out across the deck, as if trying to block the whole end of the ship. He backpedaled and drew the Desert Eagle from the shoulder holster. He tried to hold it steady as he clicked off the safety. The Raven snapped at him and he leapt back. The beak then pulled back, changed, bubbled into the face of a woman - but the wings and talons remained in bird form.
"New Meat," said Macha. "How brave of you to come here. "
Charlie pulled the trigger. Flame shot a foot out of the barrel and he felt as if someone had hit him in the palm with a hammer. He thought he had aimed right between her eyes, but the bullet had ripped through her neck, taking half of the black flesh with it. Her head lolled to the side and the raven body flailed its wings at him.
