I’m sorry, Eva, she thought to herself.
Catheryn tried to fight back. She struggled in his arms and screamed for help.
“Stop! Stop! Freeze!” she yelled in a panic, but nothing happened, and no one could come to her aid.
“Captain!” someone called out. One of his men running toward him. “Captain, we found her! Come quick! She’s trapped!”
The captain smiled and turned back to the rest of his men who were still chasing and abusing the slaves in the yard. “Round them up and bring them inside!” he yelled. Then he turned back to Catheryn. “You’re coming with me, troublemaker.”
Then Catheryn felt a sharp pain in the side of her head. She didn’t pass out, but she stumbled, and her vision blurred out of focus, leaving her with no choice but to let the vampire drag her back toward the Hoodoo House.
Whatever he planned to do, she was not sure, but likely, she would wish she hadn’t lived to see it.
Chapter 2
Earlier that day…
Captain Rainier watched as his first mate Mathis kicked the last dried up husk of a former human being over the side of the ship.
“That’s the last of our food supply, captain,” Mathis said. “We have no choice but to go on a raid.”
The captain clenched his teeth and blew a thin breath between them. “What’s the nearest port?” he asked, but he already knew the unwanted answer.
“NOLA,” the mate said. “Under witch control.”
“The second nearest port, then?” Rainier asked.
“Too far,” the mate replied. “The men will be starving by then. Some of them already are. The most feral I’ve already clapped in irons below deck, but their numbers will only grow.”
Rainier grumbled to himself. He knew it was true, but sailing right into witch territory was about the worst scenario he could think of.
“It will be high tide just before dusk,” Rainier said. “How high is the tide now?”
“Pretty damn high, sir,” Mathis said. “Reports say the waters have risen so high in NOLA you can practically sail right up to the front door of the Hoodoo House.”
Rainer turned to the ship’s medic. “How many men are in fighting form?”
“I’d say about a hundred and fifty.”
“There are only about fifty witches in the Hoodoo House coven, correct?” the captain asked no one in particular.
“Aye,” Mathis said. “But fifty of the most powerful witches in NOLA, or any Division for that matter. It would be a fierce battle.”
“Can’t eat witches, sir,” one of the other pirates piped up.
“I know that, you fool,” the captain said with more calm than the idiot deserved. “But the witches of NOLA keep humans as slaves. The Hoodoo House is said to have a rather large passel of them. She uses them for labor and to trade as goods.”
The first mate nodded, standing at attention. “What are your orders, captain?”
Rainier sighed. He would certainly lose some men, but far fewer than if they stayed out to sea and starved.
“Rally the men,” he said. “We attack the Hoodoo House at dusk.”
As the woman sprawled at his feet looked up at him, it was as if someone had struck him. He was captivated by her. Her eyes were deep and dark, and he wanted nothing more than to swim in them. Her lovely face was framed with curling black hair. As he took in her whole face, though, he realized her gaze was not one of equal admiration, but of fear.
As it should be, he thought, clearing his throat and refocusing on the task at hand.
He was ransacking the house looking for women and men like her to take back to the ship and feast upon. He shook his head and recalled his purpose.
“Put her with the others,” he ordered. But the woman fought back. She was quick and nimble, and his worthless deckhands let her slip away.
“Find her, you mangy dogs!” he ordered.
Captain Rainier marched through the house, fighting powerful witches and desperate humans along the way. He, being a vampire, did not possess magic the way the witches did, but he was strong and fast. He needed to find the Hoodoo Queen. If he could take her down, the whole house would fall. But she would not be easy prey.
His men seemed to be gaining the upper hand against the witches. Their surprise attack and sheer numbers overwhelmed the witches, just as he had planned. He made his way to the slave barracks behind the house. He needed to find the humans and drag them back to the ship. Even if he didn’t defeat the Hoodoo Queen, if he could just grab the booty, that would be enough.
The human chattel had barricaded themselves inside their quarters, which was not much more than a shed in the backyard of the house. Some of the men circled the barracks with torches, planning to smoke the humans out. Rainier ordered them to fall back. He couldn’t risk the humans dying; they couldn’t eat dead blood. And even if they just used smoke and didn’t burn the barracks down, the humans might still refuse to come out. Most humans would rather die of smoke inhalation than as a vampire’s dinner.
He motioned for a man with a torch to come near. He reached to his belt and pulled out a small grenade, then lit the fuse with the torch and rolled it toward the door of the barracks.
The door exploded, sending several pirates and humans flying. A couple of the humans had been killed in the explosion, but there were still plenty more—more than he expected. Dozens of humans poured out of the barracks screaming.
But one human approached him with a steady gaze. The woman who had dropped from the sky at his feet.
“There you are,” he said. “I was wondering where you ran off to.”
He had to admire the woman’s spunk. He was stronger, faster, and deadlier than this girl. Yet here she stood, brandishing a silly chair leg as if she stood a chance. It would be almost comical if she wasn’t fighting for her life.
She then picked up a piece of wood from the shattered door and held it and the chair leg like a cross in front of her. He smirked. So many humans still believed such silly nonsense about vampires. Oh well. The vampires encouraged such misinformation. It often gave them the upper hand in a battle, like right now.
He disarmed her left hand of the shard of wood and could have disarmed her of the chair leg in her right hand as well…but he was enjoying the game. The smell of fear that pulsed through her veins was intoxicating. He licked his lips as he stepped forward and slashed at her chair leg. She blocked his attack, and he struck again. Again she deflected. Had she been a vampire, he could have trained her to be a very good pirate. But he had no more time for this. He needed to round up the bloodbags and go.
Time to stop playing around. He would take this woman for himself. As the captain, he could have his own blood slave and wouldn’t have to share her. He lunged for her, ready to disarm her and end the farce.
“Freeze!” she yelled.
The sudden surge of strength in her voice, even though she was clearly losing the fight, gave him pause. He should have known better. Never let your guard down, he chided himself. He could hardly believe it when she managed to get a whack in on his arm. He actually cried out in pain and dropped his sword. Him! The fiercest vampire pirate captain of the dark seas! He turned just as she whacked him again, this time across the shoulder.
Oh, how she would pay.
He mustered his strength, and as she reeled back, getting ready to strike again, he turned and grabbed the chair leg with one hand and her neck with the other. She dropped the chair leg, and her eyes went wide, the pheromones of fear rolling off of her in tantalizing waves.
“I am going to make sure you live to regret that,” he said with a growl.
As he pulled her close, the woman screamed and struggled in his grasp. He opened his mouth. Just a quick drink would subdue her until he got her to the ship. He was just about to bite when one of his men called out.
“Captain, we found her! Come quick! She’s trapped!”
He smiled and looked at the men who were working on collecting and tying up
the humans they had been able to capture so far. “Round them up and bring them inside!” he yelled. Then he turned back to the girl. “You’re coming with me, troublemaker.”
He took his backhand to the side of her head. He didn’t hit her hard enough to knock her out, but she stumbled. He motioned for one of the men to drag her into the house, along with the rest of the booty.
Captain Rainier followed his men back inside the Hoodoo House. The house was huge, with many floors, rooms, and winding passages. He suspected the house itself was enchanted, and a person could get lost inside of it forever if they weren’t careful.
He finally came to a large room. On one side stood the witches, led by the Hoodoo Queen. On the other were the vampires, just waiting on the signal from Rainier to attack. The queen was protecting not just her fellow witches, but many of her human property as well. The pirates were licking their chops just staring at the delicious mortals.
“Your Majesty,” Rainier said in a mocking tone with an exaggerated bow. “It has been a long time.”
“Not long enough,” she said. The queen stood defiant. Her skin was dark as night but painted with sacred symbols in green and yellow. Her hair was pulled back from her face but hung in long tendrils around her shoulders, undisturbed aside from the large black crow sitting on one side.
“You have been defeated,” Rainier stated. “Give us what we need and we will let you live.”
“I have not been defeated yet,” she said. When she moved, her layered clothes jingled with bells. “You think I don’t still have a few tricks up my sleeve?”
The Hoodoo Queen then raised her arms, and the whole house groaned and shook. The pirates murmured and back away.
“You would bring your whole house down on us?” Rainier asked. “You would die, too.”
“It would be worth it,” she said, “to rid what little we have left of the world of the likes of you.”
Rainier was much faster than she was. He could zip across the room and slice through her neck in the blink of an eye. But he couldn’t take out the others. If he was focused only on the queen, one of the others could take him out. She also might have the house booby-trapped. She could have it protected with a spell that would destroy it if she died. But he couldn’t leave without food. He could let the queen live and take out more of her acolytes, weaken her further. But that would give her the upper hand to attack him. There really were no good options here.
Without the need to speak, both Captain Rainier and the Hoodoo Queen knew they were at an impasse.
“We are civilized people,” Rainier said. “Surely we can come to some sort of arrangement.”
“Like what?” the queen asked.
“You know what we need,” he said.
She arched her eyebrow. “Do I?”
“We need blood. We need a supply of food to take with us.”
“These humans are my property,” she said. “I also have need of them.”
“I’m not asking for all of them,” he said. “Just enough to tide us over until we can move on to a…more desirable hunting location.”
The queen stood quiet. One of the witches standing near her squeezed her arm, as if to tell her not to trust the vampires. The humans who had run to the queen’s side also began to fidget as they suddenly began to doubt her ability, or willingness, to save them.
“I will give you five humans,” she finally said. Several of the humans around her gasped and began to beg her not to do this, she she silenced them with a quick movement of her arm and a sharp hush.
“I have a ship of hundreds of men,” Rainier said. “I would need at least twenty slaves.”
“How many did you already kill?” the queen asked through gritted teeth. “I can feel the heartbeat of every person, witch or human, who lives in my city. Do you know how many stilled this night?”
Rainier was silent. He had no idea how many had been killed or fed from during the fighting.
“You will take ten humans,” she said. “And not one more.”
Rainier nodded. “It is acceptable.” He turned to his men. “See how many the other men have already captured, then…”
“But,” the Hoodoo Queen interrupted. Rainier turned back to her. “If you ever return to the Hoodoo House, if you ever step foot again in NOLA, I will kill you, and all of your men. You know I can do this.”
Rainier nodded. He couldn’t really promise he would never return to NOLA. It was a valuable trade port. But he would give the queen his word…for now.
“It is agreed,” Rainier said with a sharp bow. He then turned to Mathis. “See how many slaves the men have already rounded up. Choose nine slaves for sharing.”
“Nine?” Mathis asked. “But she said…”
“I know what she said,” he replied. “As captain, I will take one as my personal devotee.”
He looked around the room for one woman in particular. The one who had dared to fight him earlier. The one with dark eyes and the fighting spirit.
He saw her, on the floor, pressed up against the wall. Their eyes met, and a surge of electricity coursed through him. It was as if nothing else mattered and no one else was present. He wanted this woman, needed her. And soon, he would possess her.
“This one,” he said, pointing to the woman. “This one is mine.”
Chapter 3
Catheryn’s breath hitched in her throat. “How could you?” she asked accusingly of the Hoodoo Queen. Catheryn scrambled to her feet and approached the queen. “We trusted you. Believed in you!”
“Step back, child,” the queen said. “This is just business. Nothing personal.”
“Nothing personal?” Catheryn demanded. “This…this is my life we are talking about. It doesn’t get any more personal than that! You know this is a death sentence! Vampires are monsters. They can only survive by drinking us dry!”
“That is enough, girl,” the captain said, gripping her arm and turning him to her. “I’ll take good care of you.”
“Until you don’t,” Catheryn spat.
She’d thought she would be safe here, hidden among the throng of humans who served the Hoodoo Queen. The queen was supposedly the most powerful woman in NOLA, yet she couldn’t even defend her own property?
Maybe this was magic at work, Catheryn thought. A sort of karma for what she did earlier, before the pirates attacked. The real reason she had been hiding in the hovel under the stairs. This was her punishment.
Or was it her redemption? If the Hoodoo Queen found out what Catheryn had done, her vengeance would be wrathful indeed. Maybe this was her saving grace. If the pirate took her away, maybe Catheryn could escape. She could escape from both the vampires and the witches. She just needed a plan…
Unfortunately, she didn’t have one. At least not yet.
The pirate captain pulled at her arm, trying to drag her away, and she looked him full in the face. There was a hunger in his eyes. A hunger that made Catheryn recoil in fear.
Typically, a vampire could subsist on a single human for weeks, or even months. If a vampire drank from his devotee in moderation, and allowed the human’s natural supply of blood to replenish, the human could survive several feedings.
But most vampires didn’t practice moderation. Especially if they were already starving when they found their prey. Catheryn feared for the humans who were going to be shared by the rest of the ship’s crew. How could they survive even one night of feeding hundreds of hungry pirates?
No, Catheryn doubted she would survive long enough to escape if she willingly went with the pirate captain.
“Let me go!” she screamed, struggling to pull her arm from the vampire’s grasp.
The vampire laughed. Even if he had been a human, he would have been stronger than her. He was bigger, and life at sea made a man strong and hard. But vampires were preternaturally strong. As she struggled, she didn’t feel him move an inch. It was as if her arm was encased in concrete.
“Come, girl,” he said. “Your new home awaits.”
He looked deep into her eyes. She felt a warmth wash over her, but she still held back.
The vampire looked at her, confused. “I said, come,” he repeated.
Again, she refused to move.
The vampire looked at another human still hiding in the room. “You, come here,” he said.
The woman hesitated, but then she did as she was told.
The vampire nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied. “Return to your seat,” he said.
Catheryn realized that the vampire had been testing his power. Some very old, very strong vampires possessed a form of hypnotism. It was said to work on humans and witches. He must have been trying to hypnotize her to get her to go with him more easily. But it didn’t work. It worked on the other slave, but not Catheryn. She had no idea why, but the vampire didn’t seem too concerned by it because he shrugged and resumed trying to get Catheryn to go with him.
As he pulled her toward the door, Catheryn reached out with her free arm for something, anything she could use to free herself. As he dragged her past a small end table, she grabbed a candelabra and struck him over the back of the head with it.
The vampire froze. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their collective breath, waiting to see what he would do. Even Catheryn.
The vampire turned back to her slowly. His eyes were nearly black whereas before they had been a blue the color of the calm sea. While before he had a nearly human shade of skin, he was now sickly pale. Catheryn could verily see the black veins beneath his skin.
He took a menacing step toward her, and she stepped back. He stepped toward her again, and again she retreated, not taking her eyes off him for a moment. Not even blinking. Blink and you’re dead, she thought.
“Please,” she said softly, though she had no idea who she was pleading with.
The vampire took another step, and the floorboard under his foot gave way. He stumbled as he crashed through.
“What the devil?” he asked as he caught himself and pulled his foot back up. He looked at the Hoodoo Queen. “Termites?”
Pirate's Curse: Division 1: The Berkano Vampire Collection Page 2