by Diana Paz
Kaitlyn snapped her fan shut with a red-lipped grin, her scar making her look dangerous and bold. “I’m getting some answers from that girl,” she said as she left the alley, gazing out at onlookers as if daring them to say anything to her. “Follow me or wait here. It’s up to you.”
Angie watched as Kaitlyn followed the girl into the tavern. She only hesitated a moment before doing the same, with Julia right at her side. But while the men at the door had paid no attention to the redhead, and did little more than glance at Kaitlyn as she waltzed inside, they stared with open curiosity at Julia and Angie, both in their high collared Spanish day gowns and enormous headdresses, complete with lace veils that fell down their backs.
“Now, what be a pair of sweet Spanish lasses like yourselves be doin’ in a place like this?”
Angie swallowed noticeably, but her eyes remained steady. “I’m looking for my cousin. She went inside just now. Excuse me, please.”
The men rose, curiosity glittering in their eyes, but they made no move to block them. Angie and Julia entered the room. The dank surroundings caused her a moment’s pause as the smell of unwashed bodies hit her like a wall.
Julia covered her mouth. “Oh, gross.”
“Blend in,” Angie whispered.
They moved past tables that had layers of grime so thick they looked painted black. In the midst of the gloomy, crowded space, the redheaded girl shone like wildfire in a dark forest. She sat with Kaitlyn at a table, laughing outright at something Kaitlyn said.
“Oh no,” Angie moaned. “She’s talking to her.”
“So?”
“History changing, the timeline being affected by our presence, remember?”
“I don’t see how just talking to someone can change the course of history,” she muttered. “We talked to people in France and the world didn’t go bonkers.”
Angie didn’t answer, having already gone over that issue countless times with Julia. They had been forced to interact in France, and in all honesty, there was no way to know if the things they had said and done had impacted people’s lives in ways they couldn’t understand. At the moment, however, they needed to minimize their effect on the past as much as possible.
Yet, she couldn’t help wonder what Kaitlyn was learning from this girl, who looked to be around their age. When she and Julia reached the table, the redheaded girl gave them a cursory glance before turning back to Kaitlyn. “These be yer relations, then?”
Kaitlyn shrugged a single shoulder. “Something like that.” Her eyes sparkled as she looked from Julia to Angie. “Julia, Angie, this is Anne Bonny.”
Julia’s eyes widened, but before she could blurt anything out, Angie took her arm. Quiet. Whatever you were going to say, just don’t say it.
But… she’s Anne Bonny! The pirate chick!
Anne Bonny sat up a little straighter, her eyes brightening as she smiled, but Angie didn’t miss the sharp scrutiny in her gaze. Anne took a long swig from a mug in her hand before saying, “Pleased to make yer acquaintance, to be sure.”
Angie schooled her features, revealing nothing in her expression as she catalogued the time period, taking into account Anne’s existence and demeanor. She wore an off the shoulder dress in a pretty pale green that complimented her complexion and brought out her eyes, but she sat with the hem of her skirts hiked to the knees. The laces running up her bodice were undone, allowing the exposure of what was undoubtedly underwear.
“Fine ladies ye be, just as I once was,” she said, laughing without reservation. “But runnin’ away from a convent, it sounds like we have some things in common, eh? We mean to have a bit o’ adventurin’ before we join the devil.”
Angie just blinked, abruptly remembering one book referring to Anne Bonny as New Providence’s most infamous harlot.
“Ah, thar be my beau.” She finished her drink and said, “Ladies, yer company’s surely a pleasure, but I won’t be missin’ time with my Jack.” She stood, tossing back her hair, which fell in loose, messy waves. Abruptly her eyes narrowed and she looked hard at the three of them. Angie held herself erect against her suddenly venomous green gaze. “If any of ye think of takin’ a fancy to Jack Rackham, ye best be thinking again. I’ve set me cap for him, and I won’t be losin’ him to ne squallin’ she-brats escaped from a convent.”
Julia shook her head. “I have enough trouble with boys as it is.”
Anne Bonny’s expression changed again, and she burst into raucous laughter. “You and me both, lass.” She laughed again before sauntering over to the man who had entered the room. Several other men whistled appreciatively at the sultry movements of her hips as she approached Jack Rackham.
“Shut yer gullets,” she called out. “Not half of ye would know what to do with me if ye had me.” Her throaty chuckle elicited more laughter, which swiftly turned to whoops and whistles as she sat on Jack Rackham’s lap and gave him an open-mouthed kiss.
There was certainly no doubt that it was Calico Jack Rackham. He wore a colorful, calico vest over a white, billowy shirt that laced up the middle, but he left it untied on top, exposing the tanned skin of his chest and neck. His face was peppered with dark stubble, and his dark eyes remained fixed on Anne Bonny.
Angie felt warmth creep up her cheeks at the way he touched her.
Kaitlyn watched them with a small smile on her lips. “Anne Bonny and Calico Jack,” she murmured. “I thought I liked Paris better, but the Caribbean is turning out to be pretty fun.”
Angie cleared her throat, turning away from the couple before she saw exactly where Calico Jack’s hands would go. “Good job finding out our time period,” she said brightly. “Anne Bonny and Calico Jack were only together for two years before he died. Then she disappeared from history.”
“How sad,” Julia said.
“She’s only like, seventeen years old,” Kaitlyn added.
“Our age,” Julia murmured.
“And she’s already been married to someone else,” Kaitlyn said. “She’s about to ditch the other guy and set sail with Jack Rackham to have herself a life of murder and pirating.”
“She’s divorced from the other guy?”
“Not exactly yet,” Angie said.
“Not exactly at all, you mean,” Kaitlyn laughed. “She didn’t give a crap about whether she was married or not. She wanted Jack and she told her old husband to go screw himself.”
“Gosh, how old was she when she married him if she’s already—”
Julia was cut off by a desperate male voice outside. Chairs scraped and men rushed to the doorway and tiny windows.
“Anne!” a man cried out in a high-pitched voice. He burst into the tavern. His chest heaved as he stared at Anne in Jack Rackam’s lap. “How dare you make your traitorous heart so publicly known. Have you no shame, woman?”
“Let’s go,” Angie said under her breath. “There’s no reason for us to be here.”
“Hold on,” Kaitlyn said. “I want to watch this.”
Angie tapped her fingers together. She couldn’t leave Kaitlyn alone in here. There was no telling what she might do.
“I am your rightful husband,” the man said, “and I’ll see you whipped for adultery.”
Jack Rackam stood. The man took a stumbling step back.
“F-f-forty lashes at the post,” Anne’s husband continued. He swallowed and took out a handkerchief, blotting his brow before adding, “‘Tis what Governor Rogers stated.”
Jack rested his hand lightly on Anne’s shoulder. “I told you, James. I’ll buy a divorce by purchase. ‘Tis all straight and legal, and old Rogers said ‘twould matter not whether Anne were whipped or divorced, so long as fees were paid one way or another.” Anne rose to her feet and his hand slid to her hip. “The lass doesn’t want to be with ye. Best accept it and make some gold for yourself to nurse your wounded heart.”
Anne turned slowly to face Jack, a venomous smile growing like a serpent along her lips. With a flash of barred teeth she shoved Jack away with both
hands. “And I told you, Mister Rackham,” she yelled, her cheeks bright and her livid eyes burning, “that I’ll na be sold like an animal. If ye want to make me yer wife, you’ll do it like a man ought, or not at all.”
A hush fell over the tavern. Calico Jack watched her for a moment, his dark eyes assessing her, even as admiration crept over his gaze. “Like a man ought, ye say,” he murmured, a smile curving up his stubbled face.
James Bonny pressed his handkerchief to his forehead again, his eyes darting from Calico Jack to Anne. “I’ll not mind the words of a pirate. C-come along, then,” James Bonny said, hesitating on his next word, his pale cheeks flushed as he took her by the arm. “Wife.”
“Don’t call me yer wife, ye white-livered sack of hog slop.” She wrenched her arm free as a guard appeared at the doorway.
“Governor Rogers’ men are outside,” James Bonny said, standing straighter now that there was a man with a gun behind him. “You’ll have the law to answer to, and you’ll make me a proper wife yet.”
More men came into the tavern and Anne Bonny gave Jack a final, seething glare as she was forced outside. “I’ll go with ye,” she said, elbowing a guard that tried to take her arm. “But ye won’t be touching me, not without my say-so.”
Angie kept still as the tavern erupted in noise and confusion. Jack’s eyes remained narrowed on the doorway after the guard took Anne away.
“Holy crap,” Julia murmured.
Angie’s mind wouldn’t slow down, absorbing every moment with a fiercely beating heart.
“That was the most bad ass thing I’ve ever seen,” Kaitlyn said.
Angie swallowed, releasing a pent-up breath. “Indeed.”
~ Chapter 21 ~
Julia
“Does Jack Rackham look a little like Ethan to you?” Julia asked as they walked along the street toward the coast.
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. “You’re so obsessed with Ethan that you’re seeing him in a famous pirate?”
Julia laughed a little, trying to make it seem like she had just been joking. “I’m not obsessed with him.”
“I go into your head every time we touch,” Kaitlyn said. “You miss him. You think of him all the time. That sounds like obsession.”
“Sounds like love,” Angie said softly.
“It can’t be love. I don’t know him well enough to love him.”
“Maybe… or maybe your souls know each other,” Angie said. “Maybe you’re meant to be. Like, fate.”
“We choose our own fates,” Julia murmured.
“Love is a crock, anyway,” Kaitlyn said, her scar puckering as her mouth turned down.
Julia bit her lip, letting her eyes fall shut as they walked. She didn’t want to summon Ethan, she only wanted to check how things were going with Brian. She nearly stumbled as Ethan’s form took shape in her mind. A wave of warmth and appreciation flowed from Ethan’s connection, but the moment was cut short by a deep, raspy voice. Her lids fly open.
“Where are ye goin’ now, lasses?”
Julia halted, her heart in her throat. Two men appeared from around a corner, blocking their path.
“To our ship,” Kaitlyn said, and without missing a beat she strode right past them.
Julia hurried after her, but it was obvious they weren’t going to lose them that easily. She tried to keep her eyes lowered the way Angie did, but nervousness always made her do the wrong thing. She found herself lifting her gaze to the men as she passed by, and as she did, she caught the man’s eyes shifting from black to red as he watched her.
“Oh no,” she whispered. Without realizing it, she stood frozen in place.
Angie tugged at her hand, urging her forward, but Julia shook her head. Those guys… aren’t guys.
Creatures, Kaitlyn said as the men… or rather, non-men… advanced.
Stay together, Angie said.
Julia pulled them toward the alley, but Kaitlyn held them back. What are you doing? Let’s kill them now. Two less creatures to worry about.
Angie hiked up her skirts and broke into a run. Julia followed, almost tripping in her gown. “Don’t leave me behind,” she cried as the other girls flew ahead.
“Then run faster,” Kaitlyn yelled.
Grunts echoed through the alley. Julia’s lungs burned. She forced her legs to pump faster. She heard snarls and snuffling noises. “I can summon Ethan,” she said, sure that the creatures were inches from her neck.
“No! We can do this,” Kaitlyn said. She spun around with her hands held in front of her, wrists together and fingers splayed apart.
Angie followed suit, hands held out as power formed in her palms. If they had goggles and top hats, they could be steampunk superheroes in their ruffled, lacey gowns.
“Hurry up,” Kaitlyn yelled. “I’ve got left.”
Julia hobble-ran to take her place beside them in time to see the creatures storming at them.
“I’ll take the one on the right,” Angie said as the creatures’ eyes glowed red. “Julia, blast one if we miss, otherwise be prepared to Journey us.”
Julia gathered her magic as fast as she could. The mark on her hands sent a pulse of satisfying heat through her body. Images of white-eyed beings with serene, otherworldly faces drifted through her mind.
Fulfill your destiny, Daughters, came a whisper through time.
The creatures lunged, horns bursting from their skulls as they took on full minotaur forms.
Kaitlyn’s magic shot first, with Angie’s following quickly after, but the creatures anticipated the bolts. Wood splintered as Kaitlyn’s magic hit a beam, causing an awning to come crashing down.
Angie screamed, tumbling to the ground as she dodged the minotaur’s fist.
Julia blasted it. The minotaur roared and reared as Julia’s magic pierced its back.
“Kaitlyn,” Julia yelled, hearing her strangled grunts.
Kaitlyn attacked the other on her own. Julia aimed her power at the monster as Kaitlyn sliced at the creature’s arm with her dagger. It released her and she quickly sent it a beam of energy.
“I’ve got this one,” she yelled. “Just keep blasting the other.”
Julia nodded, turning in time to see the minotaur take Angie by the face and slam her head against the ground.
“No,” Julia cried, blasting and nearly missing the creature. She sent it more power, adjusting her aim. It roared and arched in pain. Angie, on the ground, rolled onto her back and lifted her hand. A ball of light shot at the creature’s chest.
The creature drew a rasping breath and fell forward. Angie scrambled backward, trying to escape, but it landed on her lower body.
“Help,” she said, her small body twisting and writhing to free herself from the slumped creature.
Kaitlyn walked behind the minotaur, taking its shoulder with both hands and rolling it onto its side. Angie wriggled free. Kaitlyn’s chest heaved. Her flushed cheeks gleamed with dark, dripping blood.
“Oh my gosh,” Julia said.
“It’s not my blood,” she said. Her fevered eyes looked almost eager as she glanced down at the slumped minotaur. “I wounded the other minotaur when it was choking me, but I dropped my dagger.”
Angie stood and carefully approached the other minotaur. “We don’t know how long they’ll stay stunned.” She picked up Kaitlyn’s dagger. As calmly as she had the first time, she made quick work of the beast, pulling its head back and slicing its throat.
“Wait,” Kaitlyn said as Angie returned to the other. “Julia and I should learn to kill them, too.”
The inky fluid on her body began dissipating. Julia looked to where the other creature lay, its body disappearing in time to the blood on Kaitlyn’s body, until all of it vanished in a black, sulfurous mist.
“They have to die,” Kaitlyn said in a low voice. Julia’s heart hammered against her ribcage as Kaitlyn took the dagger from Angie. She grabbed one of the demon’s horns, tugging its head back as her dagger came to its throat. “If Angie can do it, so can I.�
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Before Julia could form another thought, the blade entered the unconscious creature’s neck.
The creature’s crimson eyes flew open.
“Holy crap,” Julia said.
“It’s not fully stunned,” Angie yelled, lifting her palms.
The minotaur roared, tossing Kaitlyn like a rag doll across the alley. Angie blasted the creature again as blood poured from its neck. Wildly, with teeth-bared, it swung its head back and forth. It raised its massive, fur-covered fists to the sky. Bolts of pure black energy rose behind it.
“The creature is forming a time rift,” Angie said. “It’s going to escape.”
“Not if we follow it,” Kaitlyn said.
Behind the creature, the time rift swirled like a black whirlpool. The darkness already began swallowing it.
“Hold hands,” Angie cried. “Kaitlyn, take hold of the creature. When we’re in the rift, whatever you do, don’t let go.”
“We’re going after it?” Julia tried to pull back. Angie had almost been killed!
“We can’t separate through time,” Angie said forcefully, tightening her grip on Julia’s hand. “Do you understand?”
Kaitlyn grabbed the creature. The moment she did, everything ceased to exist.
Silence.
Utter noiselessness. Sightlessness. Julia remembered clearly the time she had been sucked into the echidna’s time rift. Now, just as before, her body sailed on a sea of fear. Dark energy in its purest form flowed through her being, making her a part of it. It was as though she were no longer a person at all, but a mass of disconnected fragments at the mercy of a maelstrom of evil.
The strange paralysis stretched beyond the bounds of time. No air. No light. No sensation. Nothing except terror and the need to fill her soul with anything she could find in order to eliminate this vast emptiness.
Almost as quickly, the world burst forth in an explosion of sensation. Her entire body felt as though it had been torn apart at its very core only to be thrown back together at hyper speed, sending shards of needle-like pain through her. Too much noise and sensation. Too many colors and shapes. Julia wanted to scream. Bile rose in her throat. She fell to her knees.