by LJ Andrews
The Djinn Kingdom
Island of Bones
LJ Andrews
For Derek
Other books by LJ Andrews
The Lost Relics Series
Rise of a Guardian (book one)
Trinity Rises (book two)
Rise of the Black Dawn (book three)
Fire and Ice
The Gateway
Box Sets
Rise of a Guardian/Gateway
Fire and Ice/Trinity Rises
The Lost Relics Trilogy
Short Story Set
The Djinn Kingdom Series
Pirate’s Vengeance
Pirate’s Atlas
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Return Home
Chapter 2: Hidden Past
Chapter 3: Family of Pirates
Chapter 4: The Underbelly
Chapter 5: The Three Brothers
Chapter 6: A Promise Kept
Chapter 7: Reunited
Chapter 8: The Shipwreck
Chapter 9: Finding the Beholder
Chapter 10: The Eye
Chapter 11: Winds of Change
Chapter 12: House of Djinn
Chapter 13: Search for Truth
Chapter 14: The Ledger
Chapter 15: Mark of Phoenix
Chapter 16: Island of Bones
Chapter 17: Island Trials
Chapter 18: Battle of the Dead
Chapter 19: The Two Djinn
Chapter 20: A New Crew
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Copyright © 2017 LJ Andrews
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion cannot be used without express or written permission by the publisher/author except for brief quotations in a book review
This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real life situations or individuals is coincidence.
Chapter 1
Return Home
Her eyes were crystal clear, so bright they seemed to have diamond flames blazing in their depths. Her hair was silver, and the whiteness of her robe was strikingly bright against the gold throne.
She smiled—not a reassuring smile, but a smile as if to say she was in control. As the woman’s image sharpened, red blood slowly spilled out from underneath her magnificent throne like a terrifying stream of death. As the blood soaked her white robe, she threw her head back, laughing in such a way it would frighten even the most bloodthirsty pirate.
Nova snapped awake, beads of sweat carving rivers down her neck. The dream was so vivid, and the woman’s beautiful yet frightening face haunted her mind. Glancing around, she took in every drip of moisture, every mud and sludge filled corner of her lonely prison. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, staring at the same rusty bars keeping her caged in the dreary Star’s Vengeance brig.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the cold wooden wall, feeling the condensation soak her shirt. The hatch leading from the upper decks creaked open and heavy footsteps stomped down the stairs.
Kale nodded curtly in her direction as he passed her a plate of old cheese. The once white cube had changed to a light gray, but Nova’s rumbling stomach forced her to eat it anyway. She leaned against the bars to return her plate, but pulled back her hand. Black fingernails and hands dusted in a film of dirt and grime painted her once fair skin. Embarrassed, Nova ran her palm along her bony thigh trying to wipe away the shame of the ship. A stringy, greasy curl flopped onto her forehead. It was pointless; day after day in the brig had done nothing for her appearance. She flushed, mortified to be seen in such a state—not that it mattered to Kale. They both tolerated one another after hatching the near impossible plan of escaping the Vengeance and finding the temple before Captain Smythe, but it was still hard to be at the mercy of his service for her daily needs.
“Sleep well?” Kale asked, a hint of sarcasm embedded in his tone.
She glared at him, quickly swallowing the dry cheese before she could taste too much. “Fine thanks.”
Kale chuckled and ladled fresh water into her drinking bucket. Despite his annoying personality traits, Nova had to admit he was handsome when he smiled.
“Yes, you look like you’re sleeping well,” he said, his shoulders bobbing up and down, exaggerating his words.
“Are you staying down here to continue to insult me?”
Kale rolled his eyes. “No. I’m actually here to warn you. I heard Smythe saying he was going to bring you out. I’m not sure why. I know you want to murder the man, but try not to, all right? We need to get to that spyglass first.”
Nova clenched her teeth. The idea of seeing Smythe again left a bad taste in her mouth. She’d been locked in the brig for nearly two weeks, at least that was how long Kale said it had been. Since being betrayed, she’d lost track of days and nights; it was always night in the brig.
“Thank you for the warning,” she said quietly.
He nodded and ladled some extra water into her pail. “I thought you might want to get cleaned up.”
“The smelly pirate look is too much for you?” she said sarcastically.
Kale smirked but said nothing as he turned and left her alone in the brig. She knew she should be kinder to Kale, but since Atlas had sat back while Smythe tried to kill her, it was hard to trust anyone. Once she was certain Kale was gone, she rushed toward the clean water and splashed it all over her hands and face, rinsing the dirt and watching the grimy water drip along the deck. She lifted the bucket over her head once her skin was clean and let the water splash along her greasy hair. Nova smiled, feeling refreshed and ready to stand before the weasel of a captain.
After several hours the hatch opened again, turning her stomach as she anxiously listened to heavy boots tromp down into the brig. Nova grimaced when Kane, the vicious first mate, stood next to her cell.
“Cap’n wants to see ye, and I specifically asked if I could have the honor of escortin’ ye,” he snarled, showing his black, rotting gums.
Kane rubbed his thumb over the hammer of his flared blunderbuss pistol and puffed up his bare chest. His crusty skin was littered with skull tattoos and cross bones, with scars carved deep into his ribs and back from violent confrontations.
“Well, I don’t care to see him,” she said with snark while Kane unlocked the cell.
In one step he was next to her, grabbing her long, damp curls at the base of her neck. “I don’t care what ye want. Yer as good as dead, wench. Count yer blessings yer still alive. I can’t wait to toss ye over to the Below,” he said close to her face, so she breathed in rotting onions and meat on his breath.
Nova’s lip quivered and her head pulled back, but her shoulders squared up to Kane, trying to stay strong under his seething glare. He pulled hard on her hair, tugging out several strands, and forced her up the stairs.
It was early morning. When the bright white sun hit Nova’s eyes she felt as if they were burning out of her skull. Two weeks in constant darkness had taken its toll. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she looked around deck and saw the crew bustling about their duties, occasionally glancing at her, or calling out insults. The ship was cutting through thick clouds that engulfed the deck with wispy tendrils of fog. The sunlight hid behind a mountain of gray storm clouds near the horizon, giving her eyes needed relief. Her legs wobbled from all the free movement and as Kane tugged her toward the quarterdeck, she stumbled like a child learning to walk. Her scalp burned painfully, as Kane gripped harder against her hair when she fell.
“Get up, ye worthless woman,” he snarled. Surrounding men laughed and pointed, mocking her in every way.
Smythe stood at the top of the four steps leading up to the quarte
rdeck, smiling subtly as she passed through her walk of torment. Gold-tooth Taylor stood near the captain’s quarters on the main deck and looked upon her with sympathy. His arm, bent at the elbow, was wrapped loosely in a dirty piece of fabric slung over his shoulder. Nova winced, remembering the night Smythe shot him because of her insolence. She’d done everything the captain had asked in order to spare Taylor more pain. The old man was the only pirate who’d tried to get Smythe to reconsider her fate, and she promised she’d save him from the wretched captain someday.
As the helm came into view, Nova’s stomach seemed to drop to her feet. Atlas held tight to the spokes, the skin covering his knuckles pulled white as his hands gripped the spokes as if he wanted to crush the wood into powder. As she came closer, his bright blue eyes looked sideways at her though his head stayed straight. Atlas’s dark hair seemed longer with it tied loosely behind his neck; with it being pulled back, the small scar on his face was clear. She frowned. He had so many secrets and the scar was one of them. Though she’d asked, he refused to share how he’d gotten it. Nova frowned when his weapon belt came into sight. His white shirt was clad in leather straps with three pistols of varied sizes strewn along his chest. And around his hip, he’d tied a new cutlass with a glimmering brass handle.
It would seem Smythe was showering Atlas in gifts for his loyalty. The new sword, the pistols, the gold chain hanging from his ear, and the Star’s Vengeance seal tattooed on his wrist made him look the part. He was a true pirate.
Her heart broke into tiny pieces once again when she locked eyes with him. She could’ve loved him, she could’ve gotten them both off the Vengeance, and they could’ve been together. But his twisted desire to be wanted by a crew overpowered him. She felt tears threaten to fill her eyes as she thought of Atlas’s betrayal, but Nova turned her small shoulders against him, hiding the deep hurt from his wandering eyes. Atlas stepped to the side as if trying to get further from her as she stepped on the small upper quarterdeck. The satisfaction of his notable discomfort gave her a small consolation for her suffering.
“Pleasure to see ye on deck, Miss Nova,” Smythe said once Kane released her hair and shoved her between the shoulders, forcing her to her knees. Smythe’s gaze crept along her smudged face, and hot bile leapt into her throat as his lips curled wickedly.
“What do you want?” she snarled, her eyes narrowing.
“Ah, feeling a tinge snappy I see,” he mocked her. “But yer disrespect won’t get ye far, miss. By the way, have ye said hello to Master Atlas? He made second mate while ye have been absent. ‘Course Ticker, the old second mate, wasn’t happy with the demotion, but I reward me crew when they be loyal to me.” Smythe bent low and narrowed his black eyes. She saw nothing but hatred for her in their soulless depths.
Atlas shifted as Smythe drew attention to him, and she glared in his direction. “I’m sure you two will be very happy together.” Her eyebrows pulled together as a shadow matched the tone of her voice along her fair features.
Smythe chuckled, but there was no playfulness in his dark eyes. They peered at her like black windows to his dark soul and seemed to devour her like the night swallowed the day. He lifted his chapped fingers and gripped her jaw tight, pulling her face next to his. “I want so badly to toss ye over, girl, but I plan to use ye to do me biddin’ until there be no more breath in yer lungs.”
Nova shook her face free from his grip, feeling shaky as her insides curled like chains around her heart. She hadn’t felt the inner darkness since she’d been in the brig, but then no one was threatening her life in her cell. Splinters of wood dug into her knees as she leaned against the rail. Instead of the typical powerful adrenaline, her body faltered beneath the billowing rage inside her chest. Angry, invisible fingers seemed to tug at her very soul, as if something inside her was yearning to be anywhere but on the Vengeance.
“What do you want?” she asked again.
Smythe’s wicked smiled shifted to an annoyed frown. “Yer father took the Djinn from me and there be somethin’ he had that will ease the burden of our search for Mount Dia.”
“You keep talking about this Djinn. My Father never had such a being. It was only my parents and myself,” she said through clenched teeth.
On the main deck, the bustling crew stopped to listen in on the tense conversation.
“Who said ye could stop workin’?” Smythe shouted below. Instantly, the men launched into action and tended to their chores again. “Varick had secrets, miss, whether ye choose to believe them or not, and ye’ll be goin’ home to get those secrets for me.”
“Going home?”
Smythe’s black teeth stood out in the bright sunlight as he pointed to the hazy coastline ahead. “Mollem Island, Miss Nova. Ready for our plunder.”
The sun glared against her wide, diamond eyes as she looked upon the familiar waterfalls trailing over the edges of the floating island like veils on a bride’s head. Palm trees poked out along the mountains and the bright orange and pink flowers dotted all along the vast mango tree orchards.
“Mollem,” she said wistfully. Nova breathed deep, filling her lungs with the fresh humid air and the tropical scents. Far in the distance, the white sun pushed through the peachy clouds and the island nearly shimmered like an oasis in the sky.
“That’s right.” Smythe’s snarl interrupted her daydream of better days. His expression was dark enough to cast petrifying terror into anyone’s heart, but all Nova saw was the sickening control he had over her. “Time for ye to go on home, girl. I want ye to bring me Varick’s pirate ledger or we’ll burn the town.”
“I don’t know what this ledger is. I…don’t know how to find it. Don’t hurt these people. They’ve done nothing to you.” Nova was desperate as she searched Smythe’s face for any inclination he had a semblance of a conscience.
He scoffed and tossed her old leather hat at her face. “We didn’t become pirates, Miss Nova, for bein’ open to the feelings of others. Now, get yerself ready, ye’ll be joinin’ us ashore.”
Chapter 2
Hidden Past
Nova paced along the rail of the ship while the crew prepared to load the jolly boats. The Vengeance bobbed out of sight behind a large cluster of clouds around the topmost peak of Mollem.
“Looks like I’m heading ashore with the crew,” Kale said, tapping her elbow.
She stopped her endless steps and glanced at him. His light eyes were burdened with a cloud of concern as he watched the streets below. Nova imagined he had the same worries as she; the people of Mollem had no idea what was about to happen. The pirates would take and destroy what they wanted without regret.
“This was my home, Kale. How can I let these dogs pillage the streets?” she snarled, turning back toward the rail.
“Just try and find whatever Smythe wants as fast as you can. The sooner he gets what he’s after, the sooner we’ll leave. Do you…you don’t think now…” Kale trailed off, but Nova rolled her eyes.
“Now isn’t the time to run. Where would we hide? We need to see this through, Kale,” she said glancing over her shoulder. “Unless you’d rather not fight back against Smythe. Maybe you’re starting to like it here, too.”
Kale sucked in a deep breath. She could almost hear the piercing of her words as if they were a dagger to his soul. Nova bit her lip, letting her long, golden curls hide her face from his glare. She didn’t want him to know how she regretted what she’d said. Kale hated the Vengeance more than anyone else, yet her trust in anyone on the ship faded more every day—even her trust in Kale.
“I’m not the same as Atlas,” he hissed at her back, before stomping away.
Was she so transparent? He knew the underlying truth behind her cruel words. Nova turned and watched him tie off one of the boats. The torment within her pulled against her chest, and the frustrated anger fought relentlessly against the part of her that once cared for others. But slowly, day by day, she was losing sight of the girl who’d run away chasing a dream she feared would
never come to pass. Nova’s head spun, suddenly forcing her to grip the rail to steady herself.
“Get in the boats, wench,” Kane’s crackle broke through her fog.
He shoved her shoulder, forcing her toward the tied boat over the rail. Nova turned and glared at the first mate, wishing she had the jeweled dagger. She’d show Kane who had the real power. Smythe had the weapon tied to his belt instead of his captain’s sword. The weapon taunted her as it gleamed in the peach sunlight. Nova had to get the dagger back; something told her it would be more valuable than anything else.
Once she was positioned between two dim-eyed pirates, the boats cast off. The small jollies pitched in altitude, sinking down until they moved stealthily along Mollem’s coast, well below the hovering ship above.
“Remember what the cap’n said, girl,” one of the pirates whispered. His eyes stared out on the island, never looking at her, and he slouched as if he was bored with the idea of another plunder. “Git ta yer old house and git what he wants.”
“I understood just fine on my own, thank you,” Nova said with as much propriety as she could muster.
The pirate sniffed and spit off the side of the boat without acknowledging her. A pistol fired from another nearby boat and its crew cheered and shouted as they leapt onto the beautiful island, darting toward the unsuspecting town.
In the distance, Nova heard shouts as more of the crew docked and rushed the streets. Women crying and men blasting muskets in defense filled the peaceful sky. Covering her ears, Nova curled over her knees trying to block out the terror masking Mollem Island.
“Get out,” the bored man demanded suddenly. The boat slapped against the side of the floating island, knocking her off the small bench in the center.
Nova took a deep breath and stepped out of the boat into a small trickling stream spilling over the side of the island.
“I need a weapon,” she said, turning toward the pirates.
“Whatcha need a weapon fer?” one asked in a squeaky voice.