by ML Guida
Angelica sucked in her breath. Isabella! The little fool. She couldn’t hide her power from Zuto. He was too powerful. She wanted to tell her sister to leave, but she wasn’t in the water and couldn’t communicate.
He focused on Angelica, holding out his hand. “Come with me, undine.”
“Leave her alone.” Ronan stepped in front of Angelica, using his body as a shield, but he was no match for the demon.
They’d need an army to defeat him.
“I can’t do that, vampire.” His voice was surprisingly sorrowful. “Nothing has changed.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, demon. Thanks to my brother, my woman is safe aboard the Soaring Phoenix,” a familiar voice said.
Angelica couldn’t help but tilt her head in victory at what was better than His Majesty’s Navy. Kane, Mariah, and his crew stood on the beach, weapons drawn. Blood covered Kane’s mouth and soaked his naked chest. He was a deadly monster, but Angelica didn’t care. He was the captain of the Phoenix and had just bested a demon.
Suspicion flickered in Zuto’s eyes. “I see you’ve made a full recovery, Captain, but I fail to see how.”
Kane flashed him a lopsided grin. “Dragon’s blood.”
“Yes, of course.”
Kane’s eyes darkened. “Now, release Ronan and Angelica.”
“You’ve forgotten some old friends.”
Something shrieked loudly within the jungle, turning Angelica’s spine yellow. The Earth rumbled and groaned. Palm trees trembled. Birds flew into the air squawking. Long spindly legs knocked over palms, squashing lush vegetation. Two of the biggest, blackest, spiders Angelica had ever seen crept out onto the beach. Hate reflected in their eight beady eyes and drool dripped from their fangs. The fierce crew of the Soaring Phoenix stepped back, their faces pale, including Kane’s.
Palmer and his crew watched the spiders warily. These had to be the dreadful creatures Mariah had said kidnapped her brother. How could they even be alive? The creatures clamping jaws could bite a man in two.
“Ah, Captain, I see you remember my pets.” Zuto looked at Ronan. “Seize the undine.”
It happened so fast, Angelica didn’t have to move. Sticky web flung out of a spider’s mouth, wrapping around her leg, cutting into her flesh. She slammed to the ground, knocking the sail out of her lungs. She clawed at the sand, breaking her nails as she was dragged over the rough beach, bits of shells cutting into her skin. “Ronan!”
Ronan raced after and sliced the web with his sword. He yanked Angelica up and tossed her behind him. “Damn you, Zuto! You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”
Breathing hard, she clutched his arms, too scared to move.
“I gave you a chance, Macmillan,” Zuto said. “If you’d have drawn out your child’s soul like I asked you to, I’d not have to release my pets.”
Angelica shuddered. Either way, Zuto had planned to kill her by Ronan or the foul beasts.
William faced the beasts, smoke puffing out of his nostrils. He crouched down, unfurling his wings, his tail twitching behind him.
A spider spit out a web, lashing his wing, leaving a bloody welt. William hissed.
“No!” Mariah cried out. She ran toward the dragon. “William!”
Ewan grabbed her arm, yanking her back. “Stop, the beasties will kill you.”
William spit out a ball of crackling fire, consuming the beast. It shrieked and scampered around the beach, knocking down trees, forcing the crew of the Soaring Phoenix to scatter. Angelica shielded her eyes from the heat and shuddered from the agonizing cries. The screaming spider fell over onto its side, legs curling toward its bulbous abdomen. The eerie fire lit up the beach.
The stench turned Angelica’s stomach, and she covered her mouth to keep from spewing onto the beach.
The other spider ventured close to William, the tip of its spindly leg digging deeper into the sand. William flew toward the jungle, drawing the beast away from them. The creature spat out more web, cutting off tree tops.
Ronan glanced over his shoulder. “Angelica, go into the sea. Leave this cursed place. Go now while you have the chance.”
Angelica glanced at the sea. Isabella bobbed in the foam, her brown hair gleaming around her. She waved her arm, beaconing Angelica to come join her. She was still here, watching, trying to help, putting herself in danger.
Suddenly, it happened during all the chaos. Her baby fluttered in her tummy, not weak, but strong. ’Twas a boy. It was as if it was a baby eagle stretching out its wings for the first time. Power gushed through her veins, and her skin tingled. She’d never felt this way before. Her thundering heart swelled, and warmth spread through her, blocking out any fear. Her son possessed the fierceness of a vampire, the endurance of a selkie, and the transformation of an undine. No wonder Zuto wanted to possess his soul. He’d grow to be more powerful than both his parents. She could see him. He had Ronan’s eyes.
A shot rang out. Angelica fell onto her back, blinding pain boring into her shoulder, stealing her breath.
“Angelica!” Ronan cried, as he dropped to his knees. He cradled her close to his chest.
Dizziness swept over her, Ronan’s handsome face turned blurry. But the power didn’t leave her. Her son wanted to live and sent all of his abilities to fight the burning sensation in her shoulder.
Zuto lowered a smoking pistol. “Now, let’s see if you can resist her sweet blood, vampire.”
***
Ronan wiped Angelica’s hair away from her pale face. “Damn you, Zuto!” He could barely breathe. He tried to remember everything Mariah told him about undines, but he couldn’t remember if she said they were immortal. They had to be. He couldn’t lose her now.
The scent of her blood on his shaking hand tempted the hunger he tried desperately to deny. He stared at the blood dripping from her shoulder, unable to take his eyes off it. Unable to stop himself, he leaned over, curling his lips, revealing his fangs.
Angelica looked up at him without fear in her eyes. “I love you. Save our son.” Her low voice faltered, and her eyes closed. Her beautiful tanned color turned ashen.
The trance broken, he shook his head. She said they were going to have a son. She must have felt the babe move. Terror stabbed his heart. “Angelica, Angelica.”
“In case you were wondering, Macmillan,” Zuto said. “The ball was laced with poison, straight from Coaybay. If you want her to live, you must suck it out, along with your son’s soul, or she’ll die.”
Ronan clutched Angelica tighter. “Mariah, help me.”
“I don’t think so,” Zuto said. He tilted the pistol at Palmer. “Time to stop hiding like weasels in the bushes, gentlemen.”
The Fiery Damsel’s crew stepped out of their hiding places, pistols and swords drawn, their eyes burning red. Palmer looked at his men and nodded. “Charge!”
Pirates streamed out of the jungle, waving their swords and blunderbusses over their head. They aimed their pistols and fired. Ewan spun around, blood dripping from his shoulder. Doc slammed into a tree, blood soaking his gut. Sean fired his pistol at close range but didn’t even nick his looming target. Shock shimmering in his eyes, he drew his sword to engage in battle. Ronan frowned. ’Twas as if Palmer’s men couldn’t miss and Kane’s men couldn’t shoot.
Zuto smiled, stroking his flintlock. Black magic had to be involved. Ronan wanted to grab Zuto’s pistol and shoot the bastard in the heart.
As fallen men struggled to move, the crew of the Fiery Damsel rushed in with one swift stroke, severing their heads.
Blinded by smoke and confusion, Kane, Ewan, and Doc fought their way over the beach littered with their own dead. Two, three, four shots ripped into Kane’s chest, his belly, and his shoulder, and he staggered, but the captain wouldn’t give up. He charged toward Palmer, hacking the hands and the sword off the man who confronted him, cleaving off the skull of the next, making his way to his nemesis.
Ronan hugged Angelica to his chest. He wanted to help the crew, but he wouldn’t
abandon Angelica.
Smoke prowled through the beach, making Ronan’s eyes water, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was protecting Angelica. He peered through the battle of clashing swords to find Doc or Mariah.
Ewan was on the other side of the captain. He cried out a loud cry that stunned the Fiery Damsel crew, a deadly mistake. He slashed his sword with such savage power that two of them lost their heads and a third saw his entrails spill onto the sand.
Ronan hunted for Doc and saw Sean Mallory. Sean pressed forward and roared. He charged and cut down five pirates, decapitating four of them. Before he could cut down the last one, the man grabbed his harquebus and shot him in the temple. Sean spun around and collapsed. Doc rushed to Sean, who lay unconscious on the beach. The head wound bleeding onto the sand and turning Sean’s blond hair dark red. If he’d been mortal, he’d have been dead. Doc defended him, protecting the capt’n’s boatswain and best friend.
Mariah was behind the fighting lines. The wind blew her hair around her face, sand twirling into the air. She moved her arms, and a tornado of sand whooshed over the crew of the Fiery Damsel, blinding them, giving Kane and his men a chance.
She was Ronan’s only hope.
“Mariah, help Angelica!”
Mariah didn’t even look toward him. Ronan doubted she could hear him. He had to bring Angelica to him. He lifted Angelica into his arms to make a run to bring her to Mariah.
Zuto easily walked past the fighting pirates. He smiled, and his red eyes shone with anticipation. “The Undine will be dead before you reach the witch, Macmillan. ’Tis up to you.”
The scent of Angelica’s blood grew stronger. He panted harder and harder, his body shuddering. He clamped his jaw tight, drawing on every ounce of determination to keep from sinking his fangs into her slender neck.
“Ronan,” she whispered. “Call...for...Isabella.”
He’d never heard of the lass. Was she delirious? “Who the hell is Isabella? Donna you mean Mariah?”
“My...sister,” she said, as her eyes fluttered shut and her body went limp.
He shook her, choking on panic rising up from his throat. “Angelica, Angelica!”
But she didn’t move. Her chest barely rose up and down. Ronan looked over at Mariah. She was busy casting spells, trying to save the crew. She seemed so far away. He’d have to rush through the fray, fighting his way to get to her.
Zuto moved his palm in a half circle. “Drink from her. I command you.”
The hunger burned inside him, growing stronger and stronger. His dry throat closed as if he’d swallowed sand, and he couldn’t breathe. A rush of liquid heat flushed through his veins, sending anticipating tingles of hunger through him. His will crumpled. Hating himself, he lowered his head and licked the succulent blood on her neck. The tiny droplets tasted like honey. He wanted more so much more.
“Drink from her, fool!”
Not able to resist, he peeled back his upper lip, lengthening his incisors.
Suddenly, a song hummed through the battle. It was louder than the clashing swords, grunting men, and firing pistols.
The hunger racing through him waned.
“A siren.” Zuto narrowed his eyes. “No, ’tis another undine.”
Down the beach away from the battle, a dark haired beauty emerged from the water. When she walked, her blue and green gown shimmered like the foamy sea, lighting up the dark beach. Her glistening hair tumbled down to her waist. Ronan blinked, thinking it was a spell, but the woman was still there.
The woman smiled, clasping a seashell around her neck. Was this Isabella, Angelica’s sister?
Ronan had never heard such a sweet song. It awakened something deep inside him, something he’d long denied. His heart thundering, he jerked his head up. Pain punched in his gut, but he ignored it. “No, I’ll not kill Angelica. I love her.”
The three simple words set a wave of flurries fluttering in his gut. The intensity of the feeling swelled inside him, exploding like a cannon, dissipating the hunger. Drawing on his vampire strength, he lifted her into his arms, fighting the lust to sink his fangs into her throat. His legs trembling, he stumbled to a nearby rock and sat. He cradled her close and pushed her wet hair out of her face.
His brows bunched together tight, Zuto walked toward him. “Yes, you will.”
Ignoring Zuto’s angry command, Ronan inhaled Angelica’s sweet breath. He leaned down and instead of biting her throat and drawing out their son’s soul, he exhaled his breath into her parted lips. “I love you with my whole heart, Angelica.”
He kissed her, desperately wanting her to know how much he loved her. The song grew louder in his ears, and love like he’d never known surged through him. Angelica lay motionless. He kissed her harder. Her tongue tangled with his, and he grinned.
Don’t Stop.
Ronan didn’t know where the voice came from, but decided to obey. He poured everything he had into his kiss. His love, his desire, his dreams. Most of all, he wanted her to know how much he needed her.
Something foul and acidic passed through his lips. He gagged and broke off, spitting onto the sand.
Keep drinking.
Not caring if he died, Ronan kissed Angelica, swallowing the nasty, bitter bile, taking it into his gut. His stomach and lips burned, and he wanted to stop, but refused. Angelica was worth losing his life.
The song grew stronger, blocking out Zuto’s curses. Ronan threw his head back and roared. Foul, black, scalding liquid burst out of his throat, burning his lips, spilling into the air and bursting into tiny flames falling onto the ground like volcanic ash. He panted, trying to breathe.
“Ronan?”
Wiping his mouth, he looked down at Angelica. Her golden hue had returned. Her lips were no longer drawn and pinched, but pink and lush.
“You’re alive?” His voice croaked, and hope seared into his heart.
“Thanks to our son and you.”
She stared into his eyes before she kissed him. ’Twas tender and passionate, a blending of lips and breaths, that sent a ripple of pleasure through Ronan. The poison was gone, and all he tasted was her sweet essence.
“You listened to the love song, didn’t you?”
Her voice was breathless, her lips bruised.
“Aye.”
“The poison’s gone. I felt our son fighting the poison. He’s a warrior like his father.” She snuggled her head against his shoulder. “You listened to Isabella’s song.”
He kissed the top of her brow. “’Twas not the song. ’Twas you. You have my heart.”
Zuto’s eyes narrowed like two shards of red glass, and his brows drew together into a fierce scowl that only grew deeper and deeper as he absorbed what Ronan had said. “You’ll pay for disobeying me, Macmillan. Prepare to die.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Men fired muskets, and the sound rang in Ronan’s ear. He inhaled the smell of sulfur, and his eyes watered from the smoke swirling around the battle. The clash of steel and the cry of men surrounded them. Through the foray, Zuto walked past the battling men. He cut a wide deliberate circle around Angelica and Ronan. He was a ghostly apparition untouched by swords or powder shot. Fear pumped into Angelica’s heart, and she clutched Ronan’s neck tight. The demon was plotting, his attention focused on them, prolonging the tension. He was about to do something bad, really bad.
Sweat plastered Ronan’s hair to his face and dripped into his eyes. “You need to be strong.” Ronan clenched his jaw, and the muscle in his cheek trembled. His arm shaking, he lifted her onto her feet. Angelica swayed but forced herself to stand by his side.
He brushed his mouth over her ear. “Run to the sea.”
She met Zuto’s perspective gaze. “No. I’ll not leave you.” She wouldn’t lose Ronan, not after he’d finally admitted he loved her.
William flew into the battle. He had strings of web dangling from a cut wing and one of his talons was broken. A loud shriek and the tumbling of trees announced the approach of the drea
ded spider.
The dragon blew a stream of fire into the lush forest, and the beast screamed, crashing and rolling through the trees like a flaming ball.
Ronan smiled, triumphant glimmered in his eyes. “You’ve failed, Zuto. Your spiders are gone.”
Despite the strain in voice, her brave and foolish pirate still had fight.
“Yes, I suppose it does seem like I’m beaten.” Zuto glanced at the flames flickering on the dying spider. He faced them; something glittered in his eyes. “You forget, Macmillan, I’m immortal and a demon. I’ve had centuries to perfect my abilities.”
His grin fading, he took his place next to Angelica. She pretended not to notice his labored breath, and he leaned his weight against her forearm, forcing her to widen her stance to keep both of them from tumbling into the sand. Zuto cast his gaze over him, not missing the wobbliness. Angelica grabbed Ronan’s arm and pressed him against her.
The demon stopped pacing. “Your first punishment will be that you remain a cripple.”
Ronan’s hand magically appeared and floated in front of Zuto. Angelica held her breath, afraid Ronan would beg for his hand. He stared at his stubbed arm and gave her a reassuring smile. He kissed the top of her head. “I choose Angelica.”
She clutched him tighter, admiring his determination. Despite the dried blood on his face and his glowing red eyes, love burst inside her for this man. He defeated his temptation.
Zuto raised his head. “Feel pain, fool.”
A vein throbbed in Ronan’s temple. He tensed, and she could feel the shudder rippling through him. Angelica wrapped her arm around his waist, wishing she’d the power to stop the demon.
Zuto spread his arms wide and clapped his hands, squashing Ronan’s hand with a loud boom. Blood spurted, and bits of bone burst into the air.
Angelica was too stunned to move.
Ronan fell onto his knees, holding his arm, screaming. His face paled, and he collapsed onto his side.
“Ronan!” Angelica cradled his head in her lap. She pushed his wet hair out of his face. He gasped for breath; his eyes fluttering. He was going to pass out.