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“So, this guy you are after owns mystical creatures—probably from the islands he ransacked—and trained them to kill. On top of that, this guy is some famous pirate surrounded by die-hard loyalists and a possibly deranged, sadistic army.”
“When you put it that way…”
But Ruby’s eyes gleamed with what could only be anticipation. “When do we start?”
“We start nothing,” Maddox protested, ever the moral compass. “It’s dangerous with those creatures in the mix. You should head back to the ship, Ruby, as planned.”
“Speaking of ships…” Nicola cleared her throat. “I think you should do a cleansing of your temporary sleeping quarters before you rest there. You know, just to make sure there is no bad energy lingering. Or scents.”
“Do I even need to ask?”
Nicola’s cheeks burned. “I would rather that you didn’t.”
Maddox looked like he wanted to disappear from the spot, but the man was a statue of composure who managed to pretend he didn’t hear anything after a few seconds.
“Ruby, it’s not safe. They will kidnap you again. And Nicola, this wasn’t the plan.”
“It still is. Kind of.” The two women glanced at each other before Nicola pushed on. “And we can’t have three people going. One of us needs to stay with Isaiah’s crew to make sure they remain safe. The ship’s traps are good, of course, but…”
“A half-vampire who won’t need to hide when the sun comes out is a nice addition,” Ruby piped in.
Fifteen minutes later, they managed to convince the man to head to the ship while they ventured in the opposite direction.
“Do I even need to ask?” Nicola asked in turn.
“No. But I want to clarify either way. We didn’t sleep in the same room, and we are just friends.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Neither of us has time for romance in our lives.”
“Hmm.”
“He’s just protecting me because he needs something from me. Something about talking to the dead—not that I ever offered or said I could help him with it.”
That halted Nicola’s teasing as she realized there were only a few people that Maddox didn’t have closure with: his vampire mother, his human father, and a human servant on their island that she always suspected he had feelings for. That the latter had died around the same time as her brother brought another suspicion, but she decided not to pursue asking. Instead, Nicola followed the line of people talking about the pirate lord until they reached what was supposedly his ship.
“It’s huge,” Ruby pointed out, gawking at the parked vehicle that was almost twice Isaiah’s ship.
“I heard it’s not his only one.” Nicola tilted her head, surveying the empty deck. “Do you think you can find us a way in?”
“Let’s see.”
There was a load of muttered spells, their bodies sizzling with an electric charge, and what felt like her life flashing before her eyes before Nicola found herself rendered invisible.
“Whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand,” Ruby warned. “This is kind of a new thing.”
“Oh. I was about to complain that you should have done this when we were escaping Cross.”
“You are quite different from the ruthless, sadistic vampire image I was led to believe.”
“And you are the polar opposite of the cold-blooded, power-hungry witch image I was told about all my life—not that I believed any of that crap. Come on.”
She tugged them toward a pirate she recognized from the bar and shadowed the man’s entry to the deck. She stopped when Ruby tugged back insistently, then waited until the witch could figure out the traps and lead them downstairs safely. Unlike how easy it was navigating Cross’s and Isaiah’s ship, they kept backtracking on this one when pirates came their way or when they encountered a dead end. Finally, she heard Pan’s loud, belligerent voice and went that way until they were standing in front of a closed room. Nicola tried to hear through the soundproof space, then glanced upward.
“Fancy ship,” she whispered.
“The fanciest,” Ruby whispered back.
