At least one of them might survive this night.
Chapter 17
Rainier had told Catheryn to stay out of his fight with Mathis, so she hung back, away from the crowd. The fight was intense, so after a moment, it seemed as if everyone had forgotten Catheryn was there.
She moved further away from the crowd until she was against the railing on the other side. She looked out, and all she could see was open sea. If she could just get a glimpse of land, she would be brave enough to try to swim away. But out here, she had no idea which way to go and would surely drown before she got very far. More than that, a storm was brewing. The wind had picked up and drops of rain were starting to fall. The ship was gently rocking as the sky darkened.
Her only hope was for Rainier to win the battle and get his crew and ship back. She looked at the battle just as Rainier sliced through Mathis’s neck. She put her hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp as Mathis’s head slipped from his body. Then she watched as the crew began to advance on Rainier. One of them shouted something about still returning to the Hoodoo Queen. Even Rainier looked nervous.
As two of the pirates moved in on Rainier, she could see that he was weak. He had mentioned to her that since he had been feeding on her, he had felt weaker, but the fight with Mathis must have sapped a lot of his strength. As he struggled to defend himself, Catheryn felt a rumbling inside her, deep in the pit of her stomach. Pirate business or no, Rainier needed her help.
The book had said that her hoodoo powers should be innate. And she could feel the power coursing through her, as though an energy long asleep within her had awakened. As the ship began to rock more violently in the growing storm, Catheryn raised her arms, and a wave crashed over the deck, knocking many of the pirates off their feet and drenching them.
Everyone looked in the direction the wave had come from and saw Catheryn, standing tall and proud, a look of determination on her face. Lightning cracked behind her as the storm grew.
“Stop the witch!” someone yelled.
The whole crew jumped to action, scrambling to their feet on the wet deck to move toward her. Rainier ran down the deck toward the lifeboats.
Catheryn caused another wave to crash over the deck. This time, some of the crew were washed overboard.
“She means to sink us!” someone yelled.
“Stop her!” another screamed. Up above them, the crow cawed anxiously.
“Catheryn!” Rainier yelled. Catheryn looked to him and saw he was in the lifeboat, waving her over.
Catheryn seemed to call upon the wind itself, which pushed the crewmen back, not allowing them to advance toward her. She ran toward Rainier and jumped into the lifeboat. Rainier worked the pulley to lower the craft into the water, but it was going much too slowly. The crew had managed to make their way to the side of the ship and were looking down at Rainier and Catheryn. The pirates worked against Rainier to raise the boat back up.
After a moment of struggling, Rainier had had enough. He used his sword to cut the ropes and free the boat. Catheryn looked over the side and saw that they were still more than halfway up the ship.
“Are you crazy?” she screamed through the howling wind. “The boat will shatter!”
“We don’t have a choice!” he yelled back. “Hold on!”
Stupid man! Catheryn thought to herself. She hooked her leg around one of the seats, but raised her arms once again. As Rainier cut the last rope and they started to fall, a strong gust of wind came up from below, slowing their descent. They still hit the water hard, but not hard enough to damage the integrity of their little escape vessel.
Rainier nodded his thanks to Catheryn. Then he pulled out the oars and started to row them away from the ship.
The pirates were not through yet, though. The Cursed Storm slowly began to turn toward them, and the men were readying the cannons.
Rainier’s face dropped. It appeared to Catheryn that he hadn’t really considered just how foolish his heroic plan was. They could not outrun a ship like The Cursed Storm. The ship would either run them down, crushing their lifeboat, or the crew would blow them out of the water with a cannon ball. Rainier had no way to fight back or defend them. In his current weakened state, he did not have the strength to row them away quickly enough.
Catheryn stood in the lifeboat and turned to face The Cursed Storm. She would revel in the fact she was saving Rainier’s life twice in a matter of minutes later.
For the first time, she had no trouble calling forth and controlling her powers. The ocean seemed to be at her command. She waved her arms back and forth, churning the sea. Out of a small vortex in the water, a mighty stream of water sprouted forth and stabbed into the side of the ship, creating a huge hole.
The pirates on board ran about in a panic as the ship started taking on water and lilting to the side. Instantly, Catheryn and Rainier were forgotten as the pirates focused on keeping their ship from sinking.
Catheryn turned back to Rainier and sat down, saying nothing, though she assumed the smirk on her face said more than enough. Rainier was not smiling, but was focused on rowing their little boat as far away from The Cursed Storm as possible.
The rain was still falling, in larger and more frequent drops now, and the wind was still blowing. Catheryn’s sense of satisfaction waned as she watched the billowing clouds grow darker and larger. There was still no land in sight. They would not be able to escape the storm.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the queen?” Rainier finally asked. “How long has she been in contact with you?”
“While you were gone getting us food was the first time she contacted me,” Catheryn said. “I had gone on deck to find you and tell you.”
“What did she say?” he asked.
Catheryn shrugged. “She wanted me to come back. She somehow found out about my powers and wanted me to return so we could rule NOLA together.”
Rainier looked pained at the words and shook his head. “So that was your plan? To go back?”
“How can you think that of me?” Catheryn said. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to trust the Hoodoo Queen? After all I suffered in her house? After all I have learned about my history? Myself?” She shook her head, disgusted.
“So what was your plan?” Rainier asked.
“I didn’t have one,” Catheryn said. “I was trying to find you so we could figure out what to do together.”
Rainier nodded, sufficiently chastised. They were in this together, even more so now that they were trapped on this little boat in a growing storm.
“We won’t get far in this little dingy,” Catheryn said. “We should go back to the ship. Fight and take over The Cursed Storm.”
“I’m not going back,” Rainier said. “I’ve been deposed as captain. I can’t go back.”
“You’re giving up?” Catheryn asked. “Just like that?”
“It…it’s not a matter of giving up,” Rainier said, annoyed. “It’s a matter of honor. I lost the battle for my crew, for my ship. I can’t go back. Besides, the ship is damaged. You and I wouldn’t be able to repair it or steer it alone.”
“But what about the other blood slaves?” Catheryn said. “The people who were kidnapped from the village? We can’t just leave them. We could release them and they could help us.”
Rainier shook his head. “They are probably already dead,” Rainier said. “Do you remember what I told you before about me being the only thing keeping the crew from devouring the food rations?” Catheryn felt her face blanch as she slowly nodded. “I wasn’t lying to you.”
Catheryn felt sick to her stomach. All those poor people. She had completely forgotten about them in the heat of battle, and now they were most likely dead. Or they would be if the ship sank. Even if the pirates used the other lifeboats to escape, they probably wouldn’t consider the humans they had below deck until it was too late. She needed to learn to keep her head when she was fighting. Keep every aspect of the situation in mind so she could make the best decisions.
“Catheryn,” Rainier said, breaking into her thoughts. “Catheryn, you need to keep your wits about you. We have more pressing issues.”
Catheryn looked at him, but he pointed behind her.
The storm had grown in ferocity, the clouds now black and churning nearly on top of them. The wind blew so hard Catheryn thought she would be blown away.
They were alone on the high sea in a tiny lifeboat with a storm barreling toward them and no land in sight.
Chapter 18
The lifeboat had a small sail, so Rainier did his best to hoist the rigging, hoping to catch the storm winds just right to blow them ahead of the storm.
The storm had started while he was on the deck. He had been a fool to jump into the lifeboat. They had a better chance of fighting off a hundred pirates than facing down a raging storm at sea in such a small boat.
Well, they had no choice but to face the storm now. Since Catheryn had disabled The Cursed Storm, they probably wouldn’t fare much better on the ship even if they could make it back.
As Rainier squinted through the rain, even The Cursed Storm wasn’t in his sights. He tightened the sail, and the little boat did pick up speed, skipping along the water in the storm’s winds. Catheryn had her back to him, intently watching the storm with her long hair blowing in the breeze.
All of a sudden, she seemed in such control of her powers. On the deck of the ship, she just waved her arms and whatever she wanted to happen, happened. What gave her such a surge? Such control all of a sudden? Was it because of her contact with the Hoodoo Queen, or something else?
A crow cawed, and he looked up to see the Hoodoo Queen’s pet flying overhead. It must have been trying to outfly the storm and get back home to its master. Maybe that meant he was sailing in the right direction—toward land. Any land.
The Hoodoo Queen was more powerful than he had given her credit for. He’d always known her power was not one to try and rival in NOLA itself, but he didn’t think she could have any influence out here. How did she even contact Catheryn? Through that same bird? Was the Hoodoo Queen behind this storm? It seemed to billow up out of nowhere.
Rainier was getting paranoid. The world was no longer the way he thought. Everything was topsy-turvy. He needed to rest. He needed sustenance. He needed to recuperate. But first, they had to survive this storm. He needed to keep it together and summon the last of his strength. This storm would not defeat him. Not today.
“Catheryn!” he ordered. “Be sure to secure yourself to the boat. Use that rope there,” he said, pointing to a rope that was tied to her seat. “Good. Now help me with this rigging!”
She came over to his side and held the ropes to the sail just so.
“Don’t let go,” he said. “And don’t let her wobble. I need to be able to rely on which way the wind is going to blow the ship.”
“Okay,” she said as she tightly gripped the rope.
He leaned over the side of the boat to get a better look at the water beneath them. It was dark. The storm was a bad one. Even on a ship that was in prime form, they would be in for trouble.
Up ahead, rolling waves built toward them. He sat back by the oars and steered them toward the waves.
“What are you doing?” Catheryn screamed.
“We can’t fight the sea, Catheryn,” he said. “We have to roll with the waves or they’ll bowl us over.”
They both held their breath as they rode up and up the first wave. The boat softly descended on the other side.
Perfect, Rainier thought. But more were coming. He had to stay focused.
He positioned the boat to ride the next wave, and then the next. Between riding the waves and the wind blowing their sail, they were moving at a quick pace. Rainier started to think that they just might make it out of the storm when a monster wave—one that made his heart freeze in his chest—started cresting before them.
“Rainier…” Catheryn said softly. “We…we’ll be able to ride that one like the others…right?”
Rainier couldn’t lie to her, and he couldn’t give her false hope.
Catheryn nodded and looked back at the wave. She stood and let go of the rigging.
“Catheryn!” Rainier called, gripping hold of the rope. As the sail flapped wildly, he yelled, “What are you doing? Have you gone mad?”
“Hold on,” she said.
Rainier wanted to protest with every fiber of his being. This was not the way his years—decades—of pirating and steering a ship in a storm told him to act. But his pirating skills didn’t matter here. He couldn’t save them. If they had any hope, any chance, it would be in Catheryn’s hands.
Catheryn faced the coming wave. She held her hands aloft, palms together, and then slowly separated them as the wave approached.
And just like that, the wave split apart.
Their little boat sailed right between the now two monster waves, and Rainier nearly laughed as he watched the water rise up around them.
“You did it!” he shouted over the rain as they cleared the wave. “Woohoo!”
What a thrill! He hadn’t felt that way since…well, since he was human.
Tamping down his excitement, he pulled on the sail and steered them over the next wave.
Catheryn smiled at him as they worked together, him sailing them over the waves that were manageable, and her using her powers to help them go through the waves that weren’t.
It was almost fun the way they were gliding through the storm.
“Look!” Catheryn said, pointing over Rainier’s shoulder. “Is that…?”
“Land ho!” he shouted.
It was still several nautical miles away, and they had no way of knowing what the landform was or where they were, but it was better than being adrift at sea.
Rainier started to turn toward it, but then a wave came up suddenly next to them and crashed over them.
Catheryn screamed as she gripped her seat.
“Hold on!” Rainier said. “As we get closer to land, the waves get more dangerous.”
Even though the waves were smaller, they rushed toward the land faster and harder, breaking as they crested. Rainier had a much more difficult time riding them than before.
“Catheryn,” Rainier called out. “Forget about the land for now. We still have to steer through the waves.”
She nodded and turned back to the sea, then waved her arms to try and separate them as before. But these waves were far less predictable. They seemed to come from nowhere. It was hard to tell what they were going to do.
When another one of the waves swooped up and crashed over the little boat, it knocked Catheryn off her feet. She slammed to the floor, hitting her chin.
“Catheryn,” Rainier called, but he couldn’t go to her side without letting go of the rigging.
Catheryn waved her hand. “I’m all right,” she said, but her voice was winded. She must have been getting tired, which could also be why she was having difficulty controlling the waves.
“Hold on,” Rainier said. “We will sail this out the old fashioned way.” He tried to give her a reassuring wink.
Catheryn nodded, but her eyelids were heavy.
Rainier didn’t have a good feeling about sailing through this, but he had no choice. He tried to turn the little ship into the waves as he had before, but they were rising so sharply, they nearly capsized. A wave fell over them again, filling the boat. They were going to sink.
Catheryn stood on wobbly legs.
“No, Catheryn,” Rainier said. “Don’t.”
“I’m fine,” she yelled back, her voice strained.
She held her hands up and groaned as she tried to part a way for them through the water, but it wasn’t enough. The wave smashed onto the ship. Rainier shielded his face and held on tight. When he opened his eyes, Catheryn was gone.
Rainier stood. “Catheryn!”
His eyes frantically darted around the dark sea. Finally, he caught a glimpse of something. Her hand! But it was only there for a moment before it san
k beneath the waves.
Rainier dove into the water and swam hard. The ocean under the surface was just as turbulent as it was up above. There were bubbles, seaweed, bits of wood, and other detritus being tossed to and fro beneath the waves. And it was still so dark. He could hardly see anything.
Rainier went back to the surface and took a deep breath. Then he dove back down again, swimming as deep as he could and looking left and right. As his eyes adjusted to the blackness of the water… There! There she was, sinking away from him.
He swam toward her, summoning the last of his vampiric strength. He reached, and finally he felt the tip of her fingers. He grasped hold and pulled her toward him. He was so weak, he could barely swim back to the top. He kicked and slowly they floated back toward the surface.
When they crested, he looked around. Their little boat was gone, but the water was littered with bits of wood. He grabbed onto a plank of wood to buoy himself. He looked the other way and saw that the land they had seen before was much closer.
“Look, Catheryn. Land,” he said. But she didn’t respond.
Panic rose in his chest more violent than the worst of waves in any sea under any storm. He needed to get her to land.
With furious kicks, he propelled them toward shore. The sun was rising now, and the storm was abating. There was only a gentle shower falling on them. But the storm in his mind was even more furious than before.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of kicking but was probably only a few minutes, Rainier felt sand beneath his feet. He groggily walked toward the beach, the water getting more and more shallow.
“Catheryn, we made it,” he said, a sinking feeling in his stomach when again she did not respond.
As he picked her up and carried her to the shore, she draped across his arms like dead weight.
Finally, he made it to dry land. He placed Catheryn down and patted her face. “Catheryn,” he said gently. “Catheryn, wake up. We are here. We are safe now.” He tapped her cheek. “Catheryn?”
Pirate's Curse: Division 1: The Berkano Vampire Collection Page 12