Storm (The Storm Chronicles Book 6)

by Skye Knizley

  Raven walked at the front of their skirmish line with Aspen and Ford behind. She’d been surprised that none of them had complained when she took charge, but chalked it up to the fact they knew King had intended her to run the team in the first place. She didn’t consider herself much of a leader, but she was the only one she trusted to keep Aspen safe.

  They moved through another block of second-class staterooms and through another door that led into a three-story tall shopping mall, of sorts. It had once been an ornate meeting of old and new designs, with huge crystal chandeliers over the central opening and a wide spiral promenade that led all the way down to the bowels of the ship. A variety of storefronts carrying everything from clothing and swimsuits to luggage and tobacco products were placed along the walkway. It would once have been full of vacation shoppers and crew on their breaks, but it was now nothing but broken windows, decaying merchandise and death.

  Raven turned to Ford. “Can we get to the engine room through here?”

  Ford consulted her wrist computer. “Yes, there should be an access way that leads into the maintenance corridors behind all this. But it is going to be cramped once we’re inside.”

  “Faster is better than comfortable.”

  She stepped onto the promenade and looked over the edge. She could see the three floors directly below, but any further was like looking into the yawning pit of a black hole. Even her vampire sight couldn’t penetrate the darkness.

  “Are you sure about this?” Aspen asked.

  Raven continued looking into the abyss. “Got a better idea?”

  Aspen shook her head. “Not really. We could try going around—”

  Raven cut her off. “It will take too long. We need to finish the job before King’s F-18’s start using this ship for target practice.”

  She started to turn away, but was stopped by Aspen’s hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at her.

  “Ray, are you okay? I mean, with your dad and everything? You weren’t supposed to be here.”

  Raven leaned against the railing and folded her arms. “I passed my psyche. Igor did some probing and got me to admit to myself what the problem was. He says I’m fine, if that is what you want to hear.”

  Aspen stepped closer. “I want to hear the truth, honey.”

  Raven smiled. “The truth is I am healing. I’ll get over it, eventually.”

  Aspen stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around Raven’s neck, putting her nose so close it was almost touching Raven’s.

  “That is what I wanted to hear.”

  She leaned in for a kiss and Raven obliged. Their lips touched, just brushing, at first, like shy teens. Then with more force and desire, like they hadn’t seen each other in years.

  “Excuse me, don’t let the haunted ship interrupt your romance or anything,” Ford said.

  Raven let go and glared at Ford. But she was right, they had work to do.

  “Let’s go. Ford, stay close. Kane—”

  Kane drew his sword. “Take the rear, I know, Raven.”

  Raven rolled her eyes and looked back at Aspen. “Stay behind me with Ford.”

  Aspen gave a mock salute. “Right, boss.”

  They separated and Raven started down the long, winding corridor. As the darkness deepened she lit some of the small flares she’d been carrying and tossed them to the side of the promenade for what light they would offer. The abandoned stores loomed ominously around them and gave Raven pause. Whatever had happened to the ship, it had happened quickly. At first glance Raven had thought the stores had been looted, but she found on closer inspection they had been touched only by the passage of time. This in itself made the hair stand on the back of her neck. Where the blood, skin and offal they’d encountered throughout the ship had been fresh, much of the items in the stores had rotted with age and disuse. Otherwise, they looked exactly as they had forty years ago. Mannequins still wore the fashion of the day, the suitcase displays stood unmolested and a candle display in a Wix store looked as if it had just been completed by a careful hand.

  She continued around to the next level and paused. She could hear something, a sound like a footfall on broken glass from one of the nearby storefronts, a shop that sold upscale swimwear for the fashion-challenged. Raven held up a hand and moved toward the entrance, shotgun at the ready. She was nearly there when the glass front of the store exploded outward, carrying with it a thing out of her worst nightmares. It had once been human and indeed still wore the remnants of a shipboard uniform, but there all resemblance to what it had been in life ended. It was skeletal, with a blackened skull and bones, hands that ended in claws and what looked like a pale, formless worm where its guts should have been. Raven tried to step out of the way, but the creature was incredibly fast. It’s claws raked across her throat and it knocked her sprawling to the floor. She heard the report of Ford’s pistol a scant moment before Aspen’s, but neither shot stopped the creature. It loomed over Raven, who kicked it in the face. The impact shattered its jaw and it recoiled, giving her a chance to leap to her feet. Aspen and Ford fired again, Raven heard the echo and felt the heat of the bullets as they passed her, but the creature didn’t slow. Raven scooped up her shotgun and fired point-blank into the thing’s chest. It staggered away again, but was not deterred. It charged again and Raven fired the last two rounds from her shotgun. The first hit home, doing no apparent damage, while the second went wide as the creature batted her weapon aside with one blackened hand. It crashed into her, breaking two of her ribs and carrying them both over the railing. Raven caught the edge of the floor with one hand and hung on as the skeletal thing fell past her, to vanish into the darkness.

  A beat later, Kane and Aspen pulled her back over the side, where she lay on the floor, gasping for breath. She could feel scratches on her face and neck where the creature’s claws had bitten deep into her skin, and it felt as if her jaw was dislocated. She probed it with one finger and groaned at the pain that lanced through her teeth.

  She sat up and pushed her jaw back into place, fighting not to cry out when it seated itself. A moment later she felt the bones begin to heal and leaned against the wall with Aspen until she felt able to talk. When she could move her jaw without wanting to scream, she stood and wiped her face on her sleeve.

  “Are you well to travel, Agent Storm?” Kane asked.

  Raven rearranged her gear, moving things from torn pockets to undamaged ones. “No, I thought I would see how far I could get before keeling over and dying. Let’s go.”

  “I meant, perhaps you should feed,” Kane said.

  Raven picked up her shotgun. It was empty and the barrel had been twisted in the impact, making it useless. She tossed it aside in disgust. “I knew what you meant, I will feed when I need to.”

  Kane’s brow knit. “I do not understand, you are wounded. Most vampires feed when they are wounded, no matter how minor.”

  Raven drew her pistol and started down the corridor. “I’m not a vampire nor am I most. Ford, you’re on rear guard, Kane, stick with Aspen.”

  “Don’t argue with her,” Aspen said. “My fiancé isn’t like any vamp you’ve ever met. For one, the taste of blood makes her feel sick.”

  “You’re joking!” Kane scoffed.

  Aspen shook her head. “Not in the least. She hates it more than anything.”

  Raven stopped and looked back at them in annoyance. “Are you coming or are you going to talk about my personality problems?”

  “Coming, love,” Aspen said with a laugh.

  Kane looked stunned. “Remarkable. A fae-kin who investigates crime scenes and a dhampyr who dislikes blood.”

  Raven had no idea what he was talking about. She looked at him blankly and asked, “A who?”

  Kane nodded at Aspen. “A fae-kin. Surely you know your familiar is part fae, do you not?”

  Aspen’s blush was visible, ev
en in the gloom.

  “Uh-oh, cat’s out of the bag,” Ford muttered.

  “No. She doesn’t,” Aspen said. “Didn’t.”

  Kane’s face fell. “Oh…oh. My apologies, Miss Kincaid—”

  “It’s okay, Kane. She was going to find out sooner or later,” Aspen said.

  “Find out what, Asp?”

  Aspen turned to face Raven and, for the first time, looked afraid. “That I’m part faerie, like you’re part vampire.”

  Raven shrugged. “So?”

  Aspen blinked at her. “You’re not mad I didn’t tell you?”

  Raven frowned. That was a stupid question. “Asp, you tell me what you need to when you need to. I didn’t make you my familiar or ask you to marry me because of what you are, I asked you because of who you are.”

  “Do you even know what a fae-kin is?” Ford asked.

  Raven turned away. “I know enough and I don’t really care. We’ve got work to do.”

  Aspen caught her a few moments later. “Did you mean that?”

  Raven made a face. “I don’t make a habit of lying to you, Asp.”

  “But, I mean, you thought I was human—”

  “I thought you were my familiar and partner. Why are we still having this conversation?” Raven stopped and looked at her. “Did it matter to you that I was part vampire?”

  Aspen shook her head. “Of course not! I love that part of you as much as the rest!”

  Raven arched an eyebrow. “So why would it matter to me you are part faerie or whatever?”

  Aspen spread her hands and shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe because people usually want to know if the person they’re going to bed with is everything they say they are?”

  Raven rolled her eyes and started walking again. “You’re you, right? I mean, you aren’t going to turn into Ms. Hyde next Tuesday or something, are you?”

  “Of course not! Aside from the glowy eyes and pointed ears, I’m just like everyone else,” Aspen replied.

  Raven turned around again. “Your ears are pointed?”

  Aspen blushed again and ran a finger over one ear. “Just a little.”

  “That’s not a point, it’s a bump. And it’s cute.”

  “Can we go now? Or are you two still having a couple moment?” Ford asked.

  Raven gave her a look and started down the promenade again. She really didn’t care that Aspen was part fae. It was part of who she was, and Raven loved her the way she was. She had never understood people who made a fuss over things others couldn’t change. It was like not loving someone because you found out they really had brown hair.

  They reached the next level of the promenade and spread into a skirmish line to cover more of the large chamber. The room they were in would, in modern times, have been called a food court, though this one was far more elaborate than the fast-food pits found across America. Two steakhouses, a buffet, a Chinese restaurant and an Italian place were the primary eateries, while a handful of smaller bars and indoor grills were situated throughout the park-like chamber. Unlike most of the ship, the food court was almost devoid of the blood and flesh that they’d found everywhere else. It was clean enough that their lights reflected off the polished floor and ceiling as they walked.

  “Which way to the maintenance corridors?” Raven asked.

  Ford consulted her map. “It looks like we need to go down one more floor, there should be a door that leads port and aft.”

  Raven looked over the railing. The ground below was still obscured by darkness and she couldn’t see the floor at the base of the promenade. She ignited a pair of flares and threw them over the side. They bounced several times, sending sparks in all directions, before they hit the ground. In their fitful light she could see what looked like a sort of atrium positioned below the open-air rotunda now far overhead. In the middle of the atrium was a statue of some kind, though in the darkness it was hard to pick out details.

  “What the hell is that?” she asked.

  Kane joined her. “It is supposed to be a statue of Poseidon, I believe. A sort of mascot for the cruise ship line.”

  Raven’s reply was interrupted by the ship’s sudden movement and a distant sound, like a deep, angry voice from somewhere below. She gripped the railing and held on until the shaking subsided.

  “Did you hear it?” Aspen asked once the movement had settled.

  “I heard something,” Raven replied. “I can’t comment on what it might have been.”

  Aspen’s face was gray. She hugged herself and her voice was distant when she said, “It’s a voice, I’ve been hearing it since we arrived. I think it is Latin, or a version of it, anyway.”

  “What’s it saying?”

  Aspen shrugged. “I don’t speak Latin, love. I have no idea.”

  Kane hefted his sword and looked over the rail. “Whatever it is, it’s not good. We are surrounded by great evil.”

  “You think? I never would have guessed,” Raven shot back.

  Kane straightened. “Take heed, Raven Storm, do not be flippant. Whatever is here destroyed near a thousand lives. We are ants, in comparison.”

  Raven faced him, her anger plain. “Which is why I tried to get us the hell off this thing and let King nuke it! But now we have to stop it before we get blown to hell ourselves, so unless you have something more than random fortune-cookie bullshit, shut up and watch our backs.”

  Kane’s face darkened, but he did not move. “I have no advice to give, Raven Storm. Other than we must be cautious. I sense there is more afoot than it seems.”

  He nodded at Aspen and walked away.

  “You didn’t have to snap at him,” Aspen said when he was gone.

  “I don’t need him being all doom and gloom, Asp. I know whatever we’re facing is bad, I have instincts of my own,” Raven replied.

  She turned to Ford, who was checking a nearby food stall. “Ford, you’re with Aspen, let’s get this done.”

  “One second, there’s something here, some kind of slime or something, it looks fresh,” Ford replied.

  “Most of this stuff looks fresh,” Raven said.

  Ford glanced at her. “Then fresh-er.”

  She picked up a piece of broken chair and probed the glistening mass on the counter. When she raised it, Raven could plainly see a partially dissolved hand; the finger bones glistened wetly within the goop.

  “Human remains,” Ford said.

  “Great, a snot monster. Leave it, Ford.”

  Ford nodded, but her attention was on something Raven couldn’t see. Ford tossed the remains aside and backed away, her MP5 ready. A moment later she yelled, “contact, I’ve got contact!”

  Her MP5 spat lead and cast flickering lights into the darkened chamber; in the strobing light Raven saw why this section of the ship was so clean; insectile creatures the size of raccoons charged out of hiding deep within the confines of the restaurants and stalls. They had oversized heads of black chiton, long narrow bodies with dozens of legs and pincers wide enough to remove a man’s head with a single blow. They moved forward in a swarm, their clawed feet clicking on the tile in a symphony of destruction that made the hair on Raven’s neck stand on end. She drew her pistol and fired into the swarm, trying to slow it down.

  “Ford! Get back! Asp, Kane, down the ramp, hurry!”

  Ford continued firing and backpedaling until her MP5 was nearly empty. She tossed aside the magazine and exchanged it for a fresh one as she moved. Raven shot two more of the creatures and moved sideways to allow Aspen and Kane to get past.

  “What about you and Ford? We can’t just—” Aspen asked.

  “Move!” Raven roared.

  Kane did as she asked and half dragged Aspen down the ramp. Raven switched the Automag to her left hand and pulled one of Du Guerre’s grenades from her vest pocket. The casing was dented, but Kane ha
d assured her it would still work as advertised.

  “Ford, dammit, get over here!” she yelled.

  Ford continued firing into the swarm, killing dozens of the creatures in a hail of bullets, but there were too many of the creatures and too little ammunition. Her weapon clicked empty and she switched to her sidearm, an M9 Beretta, as the creatures swarmed over her. She screamed and fell beneath them, her weapon firing. Raven ran forward, firing left-handed at the creatures. Three more fell away and Ford began to crawl away from them. Raven holstered her pistol and reached for Ford. Their fingers brushed and Ford opened her mouth in a soundless scream, then she was gone beneath the swirling mass of bodies. Raven growled in anger and pulled the grenade’s pin. She then bit the fleshy part of her palm and smeared her blood on the grenade before letting the spoon pin away and tossing the incendiary into the heart of the swarm. As it bounced away, she ran. As she’d hoped, the fresh, wet blood attracted the creatures to the grenade and, when it exploded, it destroyed most of the swarm in a hellstorm of flame. Raven felt the heat wash over her and ducked down the ramp ahead of the shockwave, which left burn marks on the wall above her.

  She found Aspen and Kane on the next floor, where they waited impatiently. Kane stepped forward when he saw her and the blood on her hands.

  “Are you well?” he asked.

  Raven nodded and reloaded the Automag to shoot a pair of the creatures making their way down the ramp.

  “We need to go.”

  Aspen hugged her then looked up the ramp. “Wait, what about Ford? Where’s Ford?”

  Raven couldn’t meet her eyes. “She didn’t make it and we’re running out of time. Which way?”

  Aspen looked away.. “I’m not sure. Ford had the map…”

  Raven stepped close and turned her around. “I know. But I know you saw it and you remember almost everything you see. Which way?”

  Aspen met her eyes, then stepped away to look around the chamber. They were at very bottom of this deck, barely above the water line in an atrium complete with a fountain of ceramic dolphins surrounding an effigy of Poseidon holding his trident aloft. Three bodies had been impaled on the staff and their blood now stained the statue making it look more Satanic than like a relic of ancient Greece.