Storm (The Storm Chronicles Book 6) (18 page)

“Give it a rest, will you? You aren’t Du Guerre. You had me going, there. But you couldn’t resist getting in my head. Mistake,” Raven said.

She bent and picked up her pistol while Du Guerre pushed his jaw back into place and smiled.

“You are very clever, Ravenel Tempeste. Very clever.”

Raven sighted down the barrel, her gaze focused on the bridge of his nose. “You’ll find I’m full of surprises, pal.”

The thing began to morph to another shape and Raven squeezed the trigger. His head vanished in a cloud of blood and gore and the body fell noiselessly into the water. A moment later the ship shuddered and the water level began to rise.

“Swell. What a sore loser,” Raven muttered.

She turned to the door behind her and spun the wheel, which squealed in protest. She yanked the door open and stepped through as the water below rose over her ankles and slammed it behind her. She found herself in a narrow chamber with a series of ballast relief valves and a flight of metal stairs leading back up into the ship. Raven smiled grimly at the valves and began to turn them, opening them all as far as they would go. She heard the rush of water in the chamber behind her and started up the stairs at a run. She spun the next door open and closed it behind her, then took stock of her surroundings.

She’d made it to the corridor outside the main engine room. To her right, a door-lined corridor of stained white walls and blue-flecked tile stretched forward, accommodations for crewmembers. Ahead was another narrow corridor that included staff offices and restrooms while to her left was the door that would lead into the engine room. It stood open, its face covered in bloody handprints. Raven drew her pistol and pushed the door open with two fingers. It opened with a screech of rust on rust to reveal a shadowy chamber. From somewhere within came the steady thrum of engines pushed beyond their limits and the hush of the bilge pumps sucking in tons of seawater.

Raven stepped over the threshold and moved into the dark room. She’d only gone a few steps when a series of torches flickered to life and she found herself in a wide room that, much like the soul-collector below, didn’t belong on any cruise ship. Whatever machinery had once been in this room was now long gone, as was the deck-plating and walls; everything had been taken down to the bare steel ribs of the ship and Raven could see the outer hull beneath. The steel beams met overhead to form a pentagram that reflected the one etched into the floor and all around were effigies of pain and torture. Dismembered bodies hung on hooked chains that descended from the distant ceiling, blood ran from the walls in blackened webs and the flickering torches were held in the gaping mouths of polished skulls.

In the very center of the chamber was a sort of throne made from polished bones, likely taken from the doomed crew. A woman dressed in a tattered black gown that did more to accentuate than cover her body lay upside down in the throne, her painted toes toying with the skull that formed the headpiece of the throne while her dark violet hair spilled across the body on the floor, the recumbent form of Agent Solomon Kane.

Aspen slipped from the throne and crawled sensuously across the floor to Raven’s feet, where she knelt, her blue eyes pulsing with Magik. “Welcome home, Raven my love.”

Raven stepped back, a mix of worry and disgust on her face. “You’re really desperate now, aren’t you?”

Aspen licked her lips, making them glisten in the torchlight. “If you mean I’m horny as fuck from all this blood, yes. I am desperate for you, lover.”

Raven rolled her eyes and stepped over Aspen. “Because that’s something my Aspen would ever say. Neither of us gets off on blood.”

Aspen stood and wrapped her arms around Raven from behind. But it wasn’t an attack; it was pleasant, a hug as if between lovers.

“You’re testing me, trying to see if I’m really me. Honey, I know you hate blood, hate the blood-play associated with your family. I didn’t want to disgust you or scare you away,” she said.

She turned Raven around and stood on her toes, one thigh rubbing between Raven’s. “The truth is, I love it. How do you think Xavier caught me in the first place?”

Raven pulled herself from Aspen’s grip. “Stop! Just stop!”

“I was at Club Purgatory looking for a fix. I was letting them feed on me and suddenly…
there he was.
I rarely have any interest in males, but I took a chance with him,” Aspen said.

She laughed and skipped away, violet hair trailing behind her. “Had I known he was going to make me his bitch, I wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic. But it was worth it, in the end.”

Raven watched her move and for the first time felt the shadow of doubt. Was this really Aspen?

“Was it?” she asked.

Aspen stopped skipping and turned back to Raven. “Worth it? Yes. Raven, my heart, I am in love with you. I have been since that night. You strode into Club Purgatory like a lioness searching for her pride, all leather and fire. I saw you and wanted you that instant. When you killed Xavier and offered to make me yours, it was heavenly.”

She strode forward and looked up at Raven with disappointment in her eyes. “But then I found out you weren’t much into being, well, you. I still love you, more than blood-play, but a girl has to have her fun. And you know I will never cheat on you.”

She licked Raven’s neck and Raven recoiled as if a snake had tried to bite her. “What made you decide to hang out in Satan’s throne room and spill your guts?”

Aspen chewed her thumbnail and smiled coyly. “This ship… Raven, this ship! You can’t imagine how it feels. We can be free here!”

“You sound like Strohm. Free on a leaky boat full of corpses? Your idea of fun has changed dramatically, Asp,” Raven said.

Aspen waved Raven’s comment away. “I can dispose of them. I can even make this ship as beautiful as it was when it first left port, if you wish. My magik has grown and continues to grow, as long as we are here.”

She tiptoed closer and brushed her lips over Raven’s. “Me and you, love. Away from it all just like you said back in Boston.”

Aspen kissed Raven, a hard, passionate kiss that made Raven’s body tingle. She felt herself falling into Aspen’s eyes and pulled away.

“No! Aspen, no! We can’t! I won’t, not at the expense of innocents.”

She backed away from Aspen, who shook her head sadly and clicked her tongue. “Aww, baby, I know you don’t mean that. You’re just scared. Scared to step out of Daddy’s shadow and do what you want. You don’t have to be scared, not with me.”

Raven raised her pistol. “I’m not scared, Aspen. I’m not in anyone’s shadow, I stepped out of it long ago.”

Aspen cocked her head. “Are you going to shoot me, Raven? Shoot your own fiancé for a bunch of people who don’t even know you exist?” She shook her head and took another step. “You won’t. You can’t. You could barely shoot Daddy and he was trying to kill you. I’m just standing here, loving you, begging you to stay with me.”

Raven lowered her pistol and looked at the floor, her hands shaking. Aspen was right, she couldn’t shoot her. She felt Aspen’s gentle fingers on her hands and dropped her pistol. It fell to the deck with a clatter and she let herself be pulled into Aspen’s embrace.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Chicago, Illinois: 3401 W. Foster Avenue: 4:45 a.m.

Levac saw Sable’s blood splash across the snow and drew his pistol. It was the fastest draw of his life, and still it was too slow. The soulbourn raked her claws across Sable’s back, spraying more blood on the street, then backhanded Levac with enough force to send him flying head over heels into the street, where he crashed into a parked Ford sedan. He slumped to the ground and spat blood, thinking,
Now I know how Raven feels
.

He reached for his pistol and the creature was upon him again. Cold, vicelike fingers wrapped around his throat and started to lift. His fingers closed around his pistol a moment before he was jerked into the air to dangle a foot above the ground. The soulbourn pulled him close and glared at him with solid yellow eyes that glowed in the darkness.

“You killed Pace. I was so close to going home and you had to kill Pace!” she said.

Levac tried to shrug. “It seemed like the thing to do, ma’am.”

He raised his hand and squeezed his Sig’s trigger. The weapon bucked in his hand and the bullet hit the soulbourn. He saw it, yet the bullet passed through as if she were smoke.

“That was rude, Agent Levac.”

“Sorry…”

The soulbourn opened her mouth and Levac stared in horror down into a pit of shadow deeper than the blackest of space. Silver fangs glistened in that maw, and he just knew this was going to hurt.

Then Thad was there, sword in hand. “Excuse me, Madame. That familiar belongs to my sister, kindly put him down and adjourn to the nearest convenient dimension. Thank you.”

Levac looked at him incredulously. “Seriously? Just kill it before it bites my face off!”

Thad arched an eyebrow. “It is a she, Rupert, and there is no reason to be rude. Madame, will you release him?”

The soulbourn looked at Thad and smiled. “As you wish, vampire.”

Levac realized, too late, how she intended to release him. She raised him higher and he choked, “Can we talk about this?” a moment before she slammed him bodily into the car he’d landed on a few seconds before. The breath whooshed out of his lungs and he heard the cracking of bones before he felt it. The pain in his chest and shoulder came a moment later, like tiny creatures were chewing on the nerves in his shoulder and chest. He slid to the ground and gasped in pain.

In the street, Thad and the soulbourn were facing off. Thad had drawn a line in the snow with his blade and was staring up at the creature, which was a least two feet taller than he was.

“May I have your name, Madame,” he asked.

“I am Hantu,” she replied.

“You may call me Thad. I am honored to meet you.”

“It will be a pleasure to kill you,” Hantu replied.

Thad looked genuinely puzzled. “Me? Why would you kill me?”

Hantu frowned.

“I’m not much of a fighter, if I’m honest. I’m quick with a blade, I admit, but dueling has quite gone out of style,” Thad continued.

He glanced at Levac, who realized Thad was trying to tell him something.

“No, truly, I am just the distraction. I am hoping that my friend there will get a clue and pick up the weapon beside him before you realize what I’m doing and cut me into vampire hors d’oeuvres.”

Levac blinked and looked in the snow beside him, where Sable’s nickel revolver lay in the snow. He scooped it up and sighted down the long barrel.

“Hantu, you’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you. You have the right to an attorney. If you eat him, another will not be provided for you—”

“Die, sub-creature!” Hantu screamed.

“You first.”

Levac squeezed the trigger. The recoil was like being kicked by a mule, but his aim was true. The heavy .454 bullet hit Hantu square between the eyes and this time the ‘specials did their work. Hantu shuddered and looked as if she was breaking apart. Bits of her shadowy flesh drained into the ground and vanished, leaving nothing but a puddle of black goo in the middle of the street and a single silver ring. Thad picked up the ring, looked at it with a critical eye and tossed it into the nearby sewer.

“Good riddance,” he said with a sniff.

Levac pulled himself to his feet, once again grateful that his connection with Raven aided him in healing. He still felt like hell, but he was alive. He staggered across the street and knelt to examine Sable. She had deep cuts in her back, wounds that were already healing, and a huge lump on the back of her head.

“She’s okay,” Thad said. “She doesn’t heal as fast as Raven, but she will heal nonetheless.”

Levac rolled her over and Sable groaned. She blinked awake and her eyes found his.

“Rupert?”

He smiled at her. “Yup. You missed it, partner. Hantu kicked your ass and I had to save you.”

Sable made a face and sat up. “How long until I live that down?”

Levac handed her the revolver. “Ask Raven. Did you ever get through to King?”

“No…”

Sable felt around in the snow for her phone. She found it and shook the snow off then Levac helped her to her feet.

“Call him, we have to get Raven and Aspen off that thing before it reaches the nexus.”

Sable started dialing and held the phone to her ear while Levac looked at the police lights looming on the hill. Explaining this to Mauser was not going to be much fun.

“King, it’s Sable,” Sable said behind him. “We have to get Raven and her team off that ship.”

King said something Levac couldn’t understand and he saw Sable’s eyes shift to what he thought of as vampire-mode.

“Abraham, you’re wrong. You’re wrong about that ship. Rupert figured it out, the ship isn’t going to New York, there is no hellgate unleashing the apocalypse. It’s going to the nexus and it is taking my sister and her fiancé with it! Get them off the fucking ship!” she yelled.

Levac took the phone from her. “Agent King? It’s Levac. What Sable is trying to tell you is that the ship isn’t a hellgate. Portable hellgates are impossible, as any expert can attest. The ship is a collector, a soul collector, like a massive solar panel for human souls.”

“How do you know this?” King asked.

“I’ll tell you later. Just trust me. If we don’t get them off there, we are condemning them to a fate worse than death,” Levac said.

“You don’t even know if they are alive, Agent Levac.”

Levac closed his eyes. “I do. I am Raven’s familiar and I would know if she was dead.”

King sighed. “Rupert, that is hardly conclusive—”

Levac gripped the phone in frustration and fought to keep his voice down. “Just listen, dammit! A soulbourn, a shadow-creature thing, just broke my arm and at least two ribs. Yet I am talking to you and healing. How would that be possible if she was dead? Don’t familiar powers go away when the Master dies?”

Thad nodded sagely. “Yes. Many familiars have died within moments of their Masters for that reason.”

“I’d be dead if she were, King. She’s alive and if I were a betting man I would say Aspen is too. Get them off that ship!” Levac thundered.

II

The Atlantic, Aboard Crescent Star, False Dawn

Aspen’s kiss tasted delicious, like the sweetest of honey, the most delicate of strawberries. Raven returned it with passion, loving the way she felt against her. Aspen’s fingers tugged at her vest and she let her pull it off and toss it away, leaving her standing there in her tank-top and charred pants.

“Make love to me,” Aspen breathed.

Raven opened her eyes and looked at Aspen, whose eyes were glowing with magik. She was so beautiful. “What?” Raven asked.

Aspen licked her lips and leaned in closer, her breath sweet in Raven’s ear. “Make love to me,” she repeated.

That felt wrong, sounded ridiculous. Raven tried to pull away, but Aspen kissed her again and she moaned softly into her mouth. She tasted
so
good. Like blood and wine.

With effort, Raven roused herself again and tried to pull away. “Asp, no. We still have to stop this ship and get off of it, King already ordered an airstrike at dawn.”

Anger darkened Aspen’s face and she slapped Raven with enough force that she fell to the deck with blood dripping from her nose. “We are not leaving! This ship, this crew, it is mine. You are mine, Raven Storm.”

Raven wiped the blood from her nose and tried to stand, but Aspen was upon her with a fury like nothing Raven had ever seen. Magik crackled from her fingertips and coursed over Raven’s skin like tentacles of fire. Where it touched, Raven’s skin burned and melted away into ash, leaving charred flesh and smoking muscles. Raven screamed and writhed, trying to crawl away as the flames licked viciously at her exposed skin.

As quickly as it came, the fire stopped and Aspen’s gentle fingers were there, helping her up.

“I’m sorry, Raven, I didn’t mean to do that, I’m stronger than I used to be,” Aspen said. “Forgive me, I just want you to stay here, to stay with me.”

“Get away from my wife, bitch!” another voice snarled.

Raven blinked and looked at the figure in the doorway. It was Aspen, still clad in military BDU’s and tactical vest. Blood streamed down the left side of her face from a cut in her forehead and she looked pale, but determined.

“I said get away from her!” Aspen said.

Raven looked at the woman looming over her. She, too was Aspen. Same perfect violet hair, same sweet smile, the only difference was the lack of blood and the hardness in her eyes.

“Don’t believe her, Raven, she’s not real. It’s one of the ship’s tricks!”

“Oh, the hell with this.”

The Aspen in the doorway raised her hand and threw a ball of fire about the size of a softball. It struck the second Aspen in the chest and knocked her sprawling. Raven scrambled to her feet and backed away. The first Aspen stood and for the first time Raven saw the skeletal thing for what it was. It had once been First Officer Reynolds, but it was now an emaciated skeleton of a woman, with long, scraggly hair, clawed fingers and webbed feet dressed in the remnants of a ballgown. It leered at Raven and said, “Kiss me, my love!”

“Over my dead body,” Aspen said.

She threw another ball of fire and sagged against the doorframe. Raven crossed the room and helped her to stand.

“Did you kiss that thing?” Aspen asked.

Raven wiped her lips in disgust. “I thought it was you.”

“That’s gross, Ray,” Aspen said.

“We can talk about it later, is the spell ready?” Raven asked.

Aspen shook her head. “They were waiting for us, dozens of those walking dead things and her. We fought them off, or Kane did, and she left me for dead.”

“I should have made sure you were dead, faerie,” Reynolds said.

Raven caught side of the skeletal woman from the corner of her eye. She was fast, blindingly so, and she barely had time to push Aspen out of the way before fiery tentacles lashed across her back. She cried out in agony and rolled, trying to quench the flames and put some distance between her and Reynolds.

“I can’t believe I kissed you,” Raven said through grit teeth.

“Tut tut,” Reynolds cackled. “I could feel your desire, Raven. You wanted me.”

Raven dove and rolled out of the way of another cascade of fire. “I wanted Aspen. You had to put on the face of someone I loved and use your magik to fool me. I won’t be fooled again, I assure you.”

“Too bad. I thought we were magikal together,” Reynolds said.

Raven’s questing fingers found her vest and she picked it up before dodging away again. Flame dogged her heels and she jumped aside to roll behind the throne. It didn’t provide much protection, but it was enough.

“It was probably the longest relationship you ever had,” she said. “You need to get out more. Some sun and moisturizer would do you good.”

“I was in love once,” Reynolds said. “She was supposed meet me onboard, but she never came, she left me here all alone. I sold my soul for her and she left me. I’ve been so alone, Raven.”

Swell. A jilted mummy. Didn’t they make a movie out of this?

“I’d ask for a refund. Do demons give refunds?” Raven asked.

She rummaged in her vest and pulled out the second of Du Guerre’s grenades.

“I exchanged love for power, Raven. And my power will make you mine,” Reynolds said.

Raven slipped the grenade in her pocket and stood, hands over her head. “If I give myself to you, will you let Aspen and all those forgotten souls go?”

The flames in Reynolds’ eyes dimmed in what Raven assumed was a blink. “You would give yourself to me? Willingly?”

Raven walked forward. “Let Aspen and the souls go.”

The fires rose again and Reynolds raised a finger to her lips. “Prove to me it is not a trick.”

Raven spread her hands. “No tricks. Just me and you, honey. Let them go.”

“Ray, no…” Aspen said from the doorway.

“Shut up, faerie!” Raven snapped.

She saw the pain in Aspen’s face and hated herself for causing it, but she looked back at Reynolds with a smile. “What do you say, babe?”

Reynolds’ face creased into a hideous smile. “As you wish, beloved.”

She raised her hands over her head and the ship shuddered violently. There was a noise like voices crying out in surprise and pain, and then there was nothing, almost utter silence.