Blood Moon (Blood Rain Book 2)

by Nancy Gray

  Erebus whispered silently into Mercy’s ear, “I know, Mercy. He was a good man to try to warn you. We all should have listened.”

  The captain continued, “Ailfrius never got to see the Northern shores, and that’s why I’ve chosen to have this burial at sea tonight. The tides will carry his body to the North. We all grieve knowing that we won’t know his company again, but know this; his spirit will always be here, following us, soaring through the air as an ash gull or cavorting in the waves as a porpoise. He will soon be among the Merfolk that he loved so dearly. May he be reborn as one of the Merfolk to know their secrets at last.”

  Mirilee said in a soft whisper, “And may the Spirit of the Stars grant him the peace he didn’t have in death.”

  Lavirin nodded at Mirilee in approval and put a hand on her shoulder. Kylas glanced jealously for a moment, but then sighed and put his hand on Mirilee’s other shoulder as well. The three of them bowed their heads and said a silent prayer. Their religion was a bond that clearly all of them shared and now wasn’t the time to be petty. They finished the prayer with the phrase, “May he rest.” And the crew around them echoed the words solemnly.

  The captain and Lavirin picked up the body and began pulling it towards the hole that remained in the railing from the battle. Just as they were about to toss the body overboard, a beautiful haunting melody began to grow louder and louder. It seemed to be coming from the ocean itself.

  Tolbert said in a horrified shout, “Sirens! Sirens are trying to pull us off course! This ship is cursed!”

  Erebus rolled his eyes. “Tolbert, you fool, it’s the Merfolk. Look in the water. They’re singing.”

  Mercy gasped at the sight. There had to have been nearly fifty Mermen and Mermaids surrounding the ship, and all of them were singing the same song. It was difficult to see many details, but she could tell all of them had hair that complemented their long, lovely tails. The scales from their fish tails caught the moonlight, making the surface of the water around them look as though it was frothing with diamonds.

  Even though Mercy didn’t recognize the language, she recognized Ailfrius’ name. She heard the sound of a loud splash. Then a hand caught the railing on the side of the boat, and to her surprise, it was Beryl, struggling to pull himself onboard with his good arm. He still looked very pale and weak, but there was a satisfied smile on his face.

  The captain motioned to Lavirin and they lowered down Ailfrius’ body and helped Beryl onboard.

  Lavirin pulled a pair of pants from the bag on the side of his belt, tossing them to Beryl and mouthing playfully, “Cover your shame.”

  He clapped Beryl on the shoulder and whispered something to him. Beryl whispered something back. The captain nodded as something silent passed between the two of them, and then everyone on the crew turned to talk to Beryl. Mercy didn’t have to sense their emotions to know that they were thanking them. Their gratitude and awe were almost a physical force that cut through the depressing evening like warm sunlight shining onto a winter garden.

  Mercy pushed forward as well, and instead of the captain and Lavirin throwing the body into the sea, everyone on the crew placed one of their hands beneath the body, lifting it gently over their heads and hoisting it overboard. The body didn’t make a splash. The Merfolk were carrying it above their heads in the direction of the North, and Mercy realized they were going to convey it there themselves - an amazing and beautiful escort for a remarkable man.

  Mercy smiled at Beryl. “I thought you were resting.”

  “Well, it turned out I had the strength after all.” Beryl stumbled slightly and Mirilee and Kylas caught him. “Or, at least, I did have the strength. Could you please help me back to my room?”

  They chuckled and walked him back downstairs. Mercy looked around and realized that the entire crew was exchanging stories about Ailfrius. She wanted to stay and hear them, but something about it made her feel like an outsider. She didn’t want to interrupt them, so she went back down to her quarters to rest and to think. Even though it was a lovely funeral and it should’ve made her feel less suspicious of the crew, especially since all of them acted as though they were grieving for Ailfrius, something still didn’t feel right. Her instincts were screaming at her that she should be on her guard, but her mind was too full from the events of the day to process any of it. Instead, she lay down on her hammock and rested her eyes. She needed her sleep as well.

  Before she could even get comfortable, she heard Mirilee getting into the hammock next to hers. “Mercy, are you awake?”

  “I am now. What is it?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that I feel like there’s something wrong, but I just can’t place it.”

  Mercy frowned and looked at her. “Did you have another dream?”

  Mirilee shook her head. “No, but it feels like it sometimes does before there’s a huge dust storm. I don’t know how to describe it.”

  “I know exactly what you mean. Don’t tell anyone, but Pyron thinks there’s a traitor in the group. Keep your eyes open tonight. Maybe we should even take turns sleeping.”

  Mirilee chuckled and said. “I love him to death, but Pyron always thinks there’s some sort of conspiracy going on.”

  “Well, this time I think he’s right. We interrogated Nicomedes. He’s a little too happy for someone whose been taken prisoner. Just be careful, okay?”

  Mercy felt Mirilee’s apprehension as she said, “Probably a good idea. Thanks, Mercy. Should I tell the others?”

  “Probably. It couldn’t hurt if Kylas watched over Beryl while he sleeps. If I was trying to help Nicomedes, I’d probably try to take out the people who were weakest first.”

  Mercy frowned, realizing that she was also part of that group.

  Mirilee nodded. “I’ll go and tell them to be on their guard right now. What about Pyron? I think he’s still by himself with the prisoner.”

  “Make sure that the captain sends someone down to relieve him. He said he wants two random people to watch the prisoners.”

  “Okay, leave it to me.”

  For a moment, Mercy wished that she hadn’t sent Mirilee, but she somehow managed to stay awake until she got back. She was glad that she didn’t fall asleep before someone she trusted was there with her. Only after Mercy watched Mirilee settle into her hammock making patterns with her string, did she finally manage to fall asleep. It was the sort of sleep she only had on nights when her people expected a raid on the village from the Blood Wings.

  21

  Mercy woke up with a start, halfway finished with a disturbing dream about running away from the village on the night of the blood rain and the very first time she saw Erebus, perched on the railing of the vitula stables.

  As though summoned by the thought, Mercy noticed Erebus stumbling into the room. There was a bottle of blood in his hand and a little was trickling down his chin. He looked as though he had too much wine from the way he was trying to hold on to everything from the doorframe to the hammocks. Even though Mercy was drowsy, she could tell something was very wrong with him, and it wasn’t that he had too much to drink. Mirilee was already getting out of bed to help him. He looked from Mercy to Mirilee for a moment and then stumbled and fell down. Mercy rolled out of the hammock and rushed over to him. Mirilee grabbed him before he could fall down past his knee, but the bottle of blood fell from his hands and spilled all over the floor.

  He managed to say in a broken voice, “My blood was drugged. The prisoners, they’re gone. You have to…”

  Erebus’ eyes rolled up in his head a moment, and then he was silent. The only sounds he made where his slow, gentle gasps for breath. Mercy felt for a pulse, but found she didn’t have to search at all. Her powers kicked in without her even trying and she could hear his heart beating, steady and strong. He was in a deep sleep. Mercy slapped him gently on the cheek, but he just moaned softly and didn’t wake up. She shook him hard, but his head just lolled back and forth on his shoulders.

  Mirilee whispered,
“Do you think the traitor did this?”

  Mercy nodded but didn’t say anything. She closed her eyes and then concentrated, trying to listen to the other rooms through the shadows around them. Even though she couldn’t see many, the one patch of darkness in the hallway amplified every muffled sound. Mercy heard a gentle groaning coming from below deck, and she could hear the sound of someone sneaking around on the upper levels. From the direction of the groaning sound, she could smell blood and she heard a gentle keening sound, a woman crying.

  The woman managed to stammer two distinct words, “Help me!”

  “Someone is hurt. Mirilee, stay with Erebus and keep him safe. I have a feeling that someone might try to finish him off while he’s asleep, especially if they thought he was enough of a threat to drug his blood.”

  Mirilee nodded. “I’ll watch him, don’t worry. Mercy, be careful!”

  Mercy gave her what she hoped looked like a confident smile, then went through her belongings and grabbed both of her knives and her bow and arrows. Just in case there weren’t enough in the cargo hold she grabbed another roll of vitula silk bandages.

  Mercy could hear her own blood thrumming in her ears as she walked in the direction of the cargo hold. The scent of blood was thick in the air, like a mist before a rain, and it awakened a sense within her that made her uncomfortable. Once again she felt a certain longing for blood, but she decided not to concentrate on it, instead using her senses to pierce through the darkness. The world around her became black and white and the blood seemed to light up the area like a beacon, and Mercy saw Incenda’s prone form curled up in the corner of the room next to the barrel of gunpowder.

  Mercy rushed over to her and felt for her pulse. It was weak.

  She looked up at Mercy, “I don’t want to die. Please, help me.”

  Mercy nodded and ran over to the barrel of medical supplies. She had bandages, but she needed medical herbs, something to ease Incenda’s pain. As she started examining Incenda’s wounds, she cringed inwardly. There was a very deep puncture in Incenda’s lower back. It was central enough that there was no way that it hadn’t hit something vital. Mercy put pressure on it to stop the bleeding and gave her the herb to chew on. She helped Incenda into a sitting position to secure the bandages around her waist. Incenda was crying. Mercy could feel her terror, pain, and confusion.

  Mercy whispered gently to her, “Don’t worry. You’re not going to die. I’ve treated injuries like this before. I don’t know if I told you, but I trained with the medicine woman of my tribe. You’ll be okay. You just need to lie still and rest, okay?”

  She stammered again, “I’m going to die. It hurts so much.”

  “I know it hurts, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to die. It isn’t as deep as it looks. You need to be strong. Just concentrate on trying to breathe and relax. Do you know who did this to you?”

  Incenda was shivering, and it was clearly a strain for her to talk. Mercy hoped that talking about her attack would give her motivation to live on, if nothing more than to make whoever it was pay for what they did to her. Even though she didn’t want to tell Incenda, she wasn’t sure if she was going to survive. The bleeding had stopped, but the wound was serious. Still, Mercy knew from experience that the will to live was the most important factor. She needed to make sure that Incenda was feeling confident before she left her side.

  “I didn’t see the face, but it was definitely a woman. While she was stabbing me she covered my mouth so no one would hear me scream. The hand was small and was barely able to cover my mouth, so I bit her. She cried out and it sounded like Garnet. Why would she…” Incenda began to cry.

  Mercy felt her hands balling into fists. “I don’t know. Do you remember anything else?”

  Incenda’s words came between gasps of breath. “I heard people whispering in the galley. They sounded angry. I think it’s a mutiny.”

  Mercy’s mouth gaped open in shock for a moment. The pieces of the puzzle immediately fell into place. There wasn’t one traitor in the group, there were several. The crew was angry. Things seemed to be going from bad to worse - first with Erebus’ attack and then they lost Ailfrius. Despite the fact the captain didn’t mean to, by telling them that Ailfrius was the person who trained him, he undermined his own authority.

  The question remained who were the mutineers? Tolbert was superstitious and probably thought that it was bad luck to be traveling with Erebus in the first place. Pyron and Beryl suspected that he was the one that sabotaged Erebus’ barrel. He had even blurted out during the funeral that he believed the ship was “cursed.”

  Even though Mercy wasn’t sure why Garnet would betray the others, she thought she could guess. From the beginning of the trip, Garnet was hiding something. She had some sort of secret that Erebus promised to keep if she would keep his. The only secret that Mercy could think of that might be dangerous for her would be if someone found out she was one of the beast people herself.

  It would be an equal exchange; she wouldn’t tell Erebus’ secret if he wouldn’t tell hers. If that was true, she could swim or fly to the enemy ship whenever she chose, and it would explain why she didn’t frenzy when the whale carcass washed up. If she was the informant, she knew about it ahead of time. Garnet set Nicomedes free because she was working with him all along, and the others probably thought they could use the extra muscle. There was no way to know who else would mutiny with her, though. Mercy would have to be very careful.

  Mercy cautiously went downstairs towards the brig trying to imagine being one with the shadows. Her footfalls immediately became more silent. As soon as she reached the bottommost step, she immediately saw that Erebus was right. All three cages were open, and it appeared that the doors had simply been broken down. Mercy remembered the way that Nicomedes had fought against Pyron. He used the speed and brute strength that came from drinking blood. With more blood in his system, he could easily break the door down. She looked towards a table in the corner and saw Lavirin sprawled out on the floor. The cook was tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth, but he was conscious.

  Mercy checked on Lavirin first. He was still holding a bottle of wine that was about half empty. She sniffed it. Mercy nearly coughed as she the smell of night mint overpowered her nostrils. It was a type of herb that was used to help injured patients sleep. It had a sweet taste, and to someone who didn’t know what to look for, the drink probably would’ve tasted like very sweet wine. She felt his pulse. It was strong, so at least that meant he wasn’t poisoned as well.

  She turned to Jonas. She noticed that he had a large gash near his collarbone and had clearly been fed on by one of the beast men, but the wound didn’t seem life threatening. She pulled the gag from his mouth.

  “Don’t worry about me. The captain is in danger. They went to the upper deck. If you hurry you can save the captain and Pyron.”

  “Who did this?”

  “Garnet, Tolbert, and the cabin boy, Scrap. Now they’ve got the three prisoners, too.”

  Mercy took one of her knives and slashed the ropes binding Jonas to the chair. “Come with me.”

  “You go on ahead. I need to get my weapons. Is Incenda okay? She was taking inventory in the cargo hold. They had to go through her to get here.”

  Mercy cringed. “I did what I could to help her, but she’s wounded badly.”

  Mercy felt his anguish as a force so strong that it threatened to drown her. She felt horrible that she had broken the news to him so callously. She should’ve felt his emotions more clearly at the funeral. He loved Incenda, and the news was enough to plunge him into despair.

  Mercy quickly stammered. “Now, that doesn’t mean she won’t make it.”

  He sighed miserably. “No time, dear. I told you not to worry about me. Get up there and help your friends. It’s too late to take the bastards by surprise now.”

  Mercy heard what he meant an instant later. There were shouts of shock and pain above her. She also heard the sound of the doors to the women’
s and men’s quarters slamming shut at the same time. On the upper deck, she just barely heard the clang of steel against steel and knew that Pyron and Nicomedes must be fighting again. She glanced back at Jonas one more time and then quickly ran up the stairs.

  She tried the handles of both doors to the sleeping quarters, but they were locked or barricaded from within and she could hear the sound of fighting behind both doors. She wanted to kick them down to protect her injured friends, but she knew she wasn’t strong enough and even if she could, she wouldn’t be able to help both of them at once. It was up to Mirilee and Kylas now to watch after Erebus and Beryl, but she could still help Captain Morrissey and Pyron.

  22

  Mercy ran upstairs and into chaos. Nicomedes and Pyron were fighting once again on the forecastle. Pyron had no choice but to concentrate on the battle. Nicomedes was no longer playing with him. Each blow was aimed at Pyron’s head or chest, and it seemed he really did mean to kill him as quickly as possible, but Pyron wasn’t making it easy for him. She had never seen such a focused and determined look on his face before. Despite his promises to the dictator, Mercy could tell that he was aiming for any sort of crippling blow that he could accomplish. He didn’t appear to need any help yet, but Morrissey didn’t seem so lucky.

  Captain Morrissey was backing slowly towards the edge of the railing, brandishing his sword at the three people surrounding him. Tolbert scowled at the captain, pushing Morrissey aggressively towards the edge of the railing with his sword. Scrap held a dagger in Morrissey’s direction, smiling at him with his cynical little grin. The sight of him made Mercy sick. Garnet held her sword more defensively but seemed to be murmuring something under her breath. Mercy wondered if she was offering the captain a chance to surrender. She didn’t think it was likely.

  Mercy readied her bow, but she had trouble even imagining killing the three people in front of her. Even though she didn’t like Garnet and she didn’t care for Tolbert, these used to be her crewmates. She trusted them; everyone who worked on the ship trusted them. They worked as a team and if they didn’t, it could mean disaster for the entire ship. They had willingly betrayed that trust, and they were going to kill their fellow mates to get what they wanted.