Mistress of the Stone (36 page)

Luísa had seen men killed often and in horrid ways, but this death shocked her. She reeled back and again the bars of light surrounding her held her like a mother with her child.

Seconds later a new ghost appeared. Saint-Sauveur carried his head under his arm. He said nothing at all, staring at his dead body on the cold hard ground. He turned and walked out.

Shadrach nodded to the ghouls that had been his witnesses. One by one, they vanished. Luísa felt certain Saint-Sauveur’s suffering was only now beginning.

Shadrach approached her and bowed. “May I help you out?”

She nodded. “Yes, please.”

Shadrach pulled out her knife and slashed through the bars of moonlight. Like a mirage, it too vanished.

“My task here is done, mistress. I have no other purpose in this life.”

Luísa reached up and hugged Shadrach. He flinched and then softened in her embrace.

“Then you must find yourself another purpose.”

He had no time to answer her because Paqua and Sibyl returned to the tomb’s chamber. Sibyl rushed to Shadrach and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him and for a moment Luísa thought she witnessed stone turn to flesh. Shadrach held her by his side, his wings shielding them both.

“You have one more duty to perform, Luísa,” Paqua said. “If you love me, you will do what must be done.”

Luísa wasn’t sure she had the courage for what he had in mind. “I need your help,
viejo
. Tell me the words I must say to release you to the other side.” Tears stung her eyes before running down her cheeks. She looked up at Paqua and choked back her sobs. “Look at what you’ve reduced me to. Shameless old man! What would the crew say?”

Paqua lifted her chin and wiped her wet cheeks with the backs of his fingers. “They’d say their mistress was a jewel of the sea and far more tender than she betrayed.”

“I don’t want to lose you.” She sobbed.

He patted the moonstone in her hand. “Part of me will always be with you and with this island,
querida
.”

“And the werewolves?”

No one answered her at first. Then Sibyl approached.

“I’ve never known a pirate, Luísa, least of all a woman pirate. But I know how strong you are, and how noble. Xander saw it in you all along. He knew in the end the choice was yours alone. And he was right.” Sibyl hugged her, the scent of roses on her hair. She kissed Luísa on both cheeks. “’Tis your decision,
Portuguesa
. We’ll not sway you.”

Where was Xander? She needed to see him, to explain to him why she must do what she had to do.

Luísa shut her eyes. The smell of the crypt had freshened and the creaks and groans had been replaced by silence. She felt the thump of her heart and the heat of the merged stone in her hand.

She opened her eyes and saw her friends. There was only one curse she could rescind. Her lips didn’t want to move, but she forced them. “Say your farewells, Shadrach. I know which curse to undo.”

Shadrach heaved a raspy breath. He took Sibyl into his strong hard arms and kissed her. His words to her were soft and breathy—and for her alone.

Paqua pulled Luísa into his arms and rocked her the way he did when she was but a child. “Not the journey you expected, was it?”

“No. Not at all.” She hugged him back.

“And what of the
Inglés
?”

Her heart was breaking. She had lost him too. “I doubt our paths will cross again.”

“I’m not so sure.” Paqua glanced behind him. Shadrach and Sibyl were ready. He took Luísa’s hands in his. “Time for us to go,
querida
.”

Luísa’s heart sped up, and at first she couldn’t hear him for the sobbing in her head. She had to say goodbye. Forever. “I can’t,” she cried.

“Yes, you can,
mi amor
. Luísa Tavares is no coward.”

“I love you, Paqua.”

He gushed, the first time she’d ever seen that side of the gruff old mystic. “I love you too.” He cradled her face with his craggy hands. “No child has ever been dearer to me.”

She wiped her nose and sniffled. “I won’t forget you. Not ever.”

He wrapped his hands over hers, cupping the merged stone between them. “I will always be here,
niña
.” He squeezed her hand, and she knew what he meant. He was tied to the stone and to this island. They all were.

“I’m ready,
viejo
.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

When Luísa left Izabel’s tomb, only Shadrach accompanied her. He put his arm around her and showed her the way out of the vine-covered jungle.

They walked in silence, and then it struck her. The
jungle
was silent, completely silent. She stopped in her tracks.

“Why is it so still?”

“No need to be frightened, Luísa. It’ll take the mortal world a few days to get used to the calm, but soon it will return to its rhythm.” A flap of wings rustled above their heads and then stilled. He squeezed her hand. “See? The living are still here, only now they don’t have to compete with the dead.”

He led her to a cove in the shadow of Izabel’s tower. Shadrach turned to her and rubbed a thick rock finger across her cheek. Its warmth surprised her.

“We part company here, mistress.” He pointed at the beach. “Follow the shoreline to the west. It’ll lead you to the werewolf village—and your father. I wish you long life and happiness.” He bowed low, his eyes refusing to meet hers.

“Shadrach.” She clutched his hand. “Where will you go? What will you do?”

He looked up at the tower and then at her. “My life is here. It won’t be the same without Sibyl, but I cannot follow her and she could not stay.”

“Come with me, Shadrach. The sea has many adventures. By God and Jonah, none of the brethren has ever seen the likes of you.” She smiled at him benevolently. “My father would welcome you aboard. With Paqua gone…”

“I can never take the place of your friend.”

“Maybe not. But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t make a new friend.” She tugged on his arm. “Come with me! The world is large and beautiful. There’s so much I can show you.”

Shadrach unraveled Sibyl’s rope-belt, the one she had left him and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “My home is here, mistress. Sibyl—her memory is here. This is as close as I can get to her.”

“There’s nothing here but grief. What will you do with the rest of your life?”

He squared his shoulders, jutting out his solid chest. “I’ll do what I was made to do, watch, listen and protect. The island is alive again and it will need watchers like me and my thralled brothers.”

Luísa’s mouth tightened to a thin seam, knowing she couldn’t convince him otherwise. Shadrach was beaching himself deliberately. But what of the were-creatures? She had doomed them by using the stone to free the dead.

“I wish I could have done something for the were-tribes. Papa and I should leave here before they realize what I’d done.”

“They already know. Some will be angry. Most will get over it.”

Luísa blew out a breath. “If only I could’ve helped them.
Dios mío
, I would not wish that hell on anyone.”

Shadrach rubbed coarse fingers over his chiseled gray chin. “Perhaps there is a way.”

“What? How? How can I help them?”

“You can’t rescind their curse, that much is finished, but perhaps you can exchange it for another curse.”

“You mean I can put a new curse on top of the old one?”

He nodded. “The right words will blanket the first one. A curse atop a curse.”

“But how can that help them? What good would it do to give them a different curse?”

Shadrach shrugged. “It’s only a suggestion, mistress. You’re the only one who wields the power of the moonstone.” He looked up at the sky, the moon beginning its downward descent. “And you still have time to use the moon in your favor. Think carefully on your words and utter the curse on the stone while it’s whole. Once the blood moon leaves us, the stones will be deaf to your prayers.”

Luísa clasped the merged stone in her hand. She had the power to change the destiny of the werewolves. Was there a curse that could free them?

She hugged Shadrach and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll miss you, Shadrach, more than you know.”

“And I will miss you, Luísa. Go now while you still have the moon.” He bowed again and then turned, bending at the knees and launching himself into the air. His tattered wings carried him up and up toward the white tower of the Sorceress. He flew around the parapet once and landed on a roost. He squatted there and waved. Shadrach had returned to his purpose.

Now Luísa had to find hers.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Luísa ran as hard as she could to the werewolf village. Her mind raced along with her legs, and by the time she reached the settlement, she knew what she had to do.

As she expected, the werewolves were not happy. They had already gotten the news that Saint-Sauveur was dead, and that every ghoul on the island had gone to its rest.

Etta growled at her in greeting. “What more suffering do you wish on us, woman? Take your people and get off our island.”

The crew of the
Coral
was aboard ship, getting her ready to sail on the morning tide. Only her father and Dooley stayed behind to wait for her.

“
Gracias a Dios
! I didn’t think you’d ever return,” her father said with an exasperated sigh. He hugged her, unwilling to let her go. “Luísa,
mi
corazón
. I never wanted this for you. None of this. I should’ve never taken you to sea. I might have spared you this heartache.”

She kissed his wrinkled cheek and wiped the tears off her father’s face. “I freed the undead, Papa. There’s no heartache in that.” She lifted her face toward the moon. “But now we must leave. I have one more task to complete before the moon goes to bed.”

“Miss,” Dooley interrupted. Koko, the mischievous monkey that had tormented her during her stay, danced on his shoulder, checking his scalp for bugs.

“Dooley!” She rushed up to him with a hug so tight he blushed. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“I’m fine, Miss. And I’m awfully glad to see you too. We’d thought the worst for a while. Captain Daltry…” He paused, glancing down at her to measure her reaction. “The Captain, Miss. He asked if you’d take Koko aboard and care for him. He said now that his sister was gone, there’d be no one here to keep him company.” He petted the monkey’s cheek. “I’d be glad to take care of him, Miss.”

“Where is Captain Daltry?” Luísa looked at Dooley and then her father. Neither responded.

Koko squealed and put his hand to his heart, bowing his head in obeisance.

“Papa? Where’s Xander?”

“Gone, daughter. He felt certain there was little else to say between you.”

Luísa fought back tears.
He didn’t even say goodbye.

“I see.” She took a breath and pushed the curls off her face. “Then we best get off this island, Papa. We’re done here.” She rolled the words to the new curse in her head. Would it work, or make things worse? The werewolves were hostile. It would be safer for her and the crew if she tested her spell aboard ship. If she failed, at least they wouldn’t get murdered prematurely.

She strained her eyes, scanning the shore for the tiniest glimpse of her
Inglés
as Dooley rowed them back to the ship. But Xander was nowhere to be found.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Luísa and her father could hear the merrymaking a hundred yards away as they rowed back to the
Coral
. The crew greeted them with cheers and whistles. Not only did they have their captain back, but Luísa as well. Save for their beloved shaman, the
Coral
was whole again. They were a family once more.

Every man aboard shook the captain’s hand and Black Barbosa went so far as to give him a hug. They’d endured so much, and no one was immune to the sense of relief that soon they’d be going home.

Papa was retiring from the pirate’s life, and soon he’d marry her off to some rich governor so he could live out the rest of his days as a gentleman farmer.

The men were drunk with merriment, toasting one another for a life preserved. Luísa slipped away from the festivities and walked to the other end of the ship where only the moonlight lit her way.

She stepped lightly on those heavy planks, soaked with blood and seawater. Papa was right. Their days aboard ship were over. But she had one last task to do. One more chance to heal a wound.

The moonstone would remain whole for a few minutes more. She slipped it off her neck, both chains still attached to each half of the stone. A curse atop a curse, Shadrach’d said. Was there such a thing? And would it be just?

The noise from the crew at the other end of the ship seemed to fade away. She was alone with the moon and the dark of her heart. For the first time since she was a child, she fell to her knees and prayed.

“Paqua, if you’re still with me, give me a sign. Let me know I’m doing the right thing.”

The stone warmed in her grasp and called to her in Spanish.
Querida
.

She squeezed her eyes tight.
Gracias a Díos
.