Chapter 2
I stumbled back and fumbled in my pocket for my pepper spray.
The person leaped at me with the fluid motion of a snake and grabbed my wrist, yanking my hand from my pocket.
I cried out, but not from his harsh hold.
Something in his hand had pierced my skin, and I felt the barb sink deep into my flesh.
That gave me an idea. I swung down and sank my teeth into his arm. His skin was rubbery and dry, but my chompers did the trick. He cried out and released me. I stumbled back, and he clutched his wounded arm.
“You damn wench!” he snapped as his eyes seemed to glow a bright yellow in the dim light. “I’ll get you for that!”
The man blocked the way back into the pub, so I swung toward the mouth of the alley. The way was open. I darted toward those hope-filled streetlights, my feet pounding across the broken concrete.
I’d only made it a couple of yards when my head began to swim. The world around me lost focus, blurring into dull shades of grays and blacks. My feet tripped over the uneven ground and I fell forward, catching myself with my hands. I heard a crunch of the debris and raised my eyes.
A tall shadow stood over me, but it wasn’t the slithery man who had grabbed me.
This man knelt on the balls of his heels, so we were nearly face to face.
His handsome features didn’t match the cold darkness in his eyes.
The man was attired in a plain leather coat, a white blouse, and slimming black pants.
He sported slicked-back black hair and a winning smile that had a strange, eerie darkness at the corners.
“That weakening sensation you are feeling is the poison of my friend here running through your veins.” My heart skipped a beat, and the man chuckled. “Panicking will only increase the spread. You may as well give in to the effects. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
I’ve always hated it when someone told me I couldn’t do anything. I gritted my teeth and swiped my hand at the man, intending to connect a slap on his cute cheek. He leaned back out of my reach and I lost my balance, tumbling forward onto my side.
The man stood, and the hulking shadow of his friend came up behind me. The world began to fade into black as I heard their voices echo in my ears.
“You sure this is the one?” The deep, gravely baritone voice made me shudder.
“Has the witch’s magic led us astray yet?”
“No, but I don’t trust her. She’s not one of us.”
“Whether she is or isn’t, she knows the punishment for failure. Now pick up the girl and let’s go.”
The burly man’s arms wrapped around me, and I was hefted over his shoulder. The pair strolled deeper into the alley, and I watched the glow of the streetlamps fade with my hope. My consciousness failed along with it, and I slumped over his back, heeding nothing but the vague shadows of dreams.
Dreams, and the strong scent of saltwater. The odor was so strong that my nose tingled. I woke up just in time to let loose a powerful sneeze. My head whipped back and struck a hard wooden surface.
“Ow!” I hissed as a sharp pain ran down my head. I gritted my teeth and peeked open one eye.
My jaw dropped open as I beheld not the familiar clutter of my city, but the curved interior of the belly of a wooden vessel. The hold was filled with crates and boxes, all stacked and lashed to the wall. A wide set of stairs started about ten feet from my position and led up to a large hatch.
Footsteps above me forced my attention to the boards over my head. Gaps between the wood allowed me to see a sparkling sun, and garbled voices floated down. I tried to stand to get a better listen, but discovered my wrists and ankles were tied by a thick rope with an intricate knot.
Noises at the hatch made me freeze. The gate opened and sunlight streamed into the hold, illuminating all the dust and bits of barnacles that surrounded me. The familiar figure of the lithe man strolled down the steps and stopped at the bottom to examine me.
“So you’re finally awake,” he mused as he strolled over to me. I shrank away from him, but I couldn’t get very far bound as I was. The man knelt in front of me with that bone-chilling grin. “How did you sleep?”
“Where am I?” I shot back as I swept my eyes over the hold. “What is this place?”
He chuckled. “This is the interior of my ship, the Huracan, and I am Inigo Encina, the captain of this fine vessel.”
I stared blankly at him. “A ship? Who owns a ship like this?”
He puffed out his chest a little. “I do, miss, a spoil from one of my more daring adventures.”
This guy was nuts. He had to be. I had to get away from him as soon as possible.
I fidgeted in my bindings. “I don’t want to know who you are, I just want you to take me home.”
The man draped one arm over his bent knee and sighed. “That is one wish I cannot grant you, miss. You see, someone has paid me very handsomely to transport you to them, and I cannot go back on my word.”
I blinked at him. “Somebody paid you to kidnap me? Who would want to do that? I’m nobody!”
He grasped my chin between his fingers and examined my face. There was a glint in his eyes that made my blood run cold. “I could think of more than one man who would be willing to pay a gold piece or two for your pretty little head.”
Tears popped into my eyes as my body began to shiver. “Please. Please just let me go. I swear I won’t tell anyone about this-”
My pleas were interrupted by another loud laugh from my captor. He pushed my chin away and stood, casting his shadow over me. “You’re stuck with us, miss, and I’ll take you to your buyers as fast as the winds can take us.”
My words just burst out of my mouth. “But why? Why are you doing this? What would anyone want with me?”
“I don’t ask questions, I only make deliveries, and you’ll be delivered tomorrow if the gods favor us.”
“Captain!” The shout came from the hatch, and a man popped his head in the hold a moment later. “There’s a ship coming from the stern!”
Encina glared at him. “What of it?”
“It’s coming faster than the wind! It’ll be on top of us in a few minutes!”
Encina narrowed his eyes and a hissed word escaped his lips. “Torvus.” He raced up the stairs and shoved the man out of the way. His voice cut through the rest of the noise on the deck. “Hoist the sails! Make for the nearest island!”
“Aye, aye, captain!” came the shouts of many men, followed by their furious footsteps.
The hatch was slammed shut and the shadows flew back in place. My heart pounded in my chest as I fidgeted with my wrist bindings. They were as tight as iron manacles, and all I succeeded in doing was cutting deep gashes into my wrists.
Shouts from above me turned my attention back to the deck. Encina’s voice yelled above all the others. “Hold your positions and ready your swords!”
“A wave is coming!” someone else screamed.
A huge shadow fell over the ship, blotting out the sunlight between the boards. I tensed as the vessel was struck, violently shifting it several yards. The crates and boxes rattled around me, and the ropes that held the cargo groaned under the strain.
“It’s coming around again, Captain!”
“Brace yourselves and keep your weapons with you!” Encina commanded the invisible men.
Another shadow loomed overhead, and this one was fiercer than the first. The boat lurched to one side and water spilled onto the deck.
The ferocity ripped the hatch open and left it askew.
A heavy dose of seawater poured down the steps and through the cracks, wetting the floor beneath me and raining down on top of me.
I was left drenched, my soggy hair framing my pale face.
I sputtered and coughed on the heavy dose of ocean.
“The hatch, Captain!”
“Guard it with your lives! Don’t let anything pass you!”
A half dozen hulking figures took up guard posts at the hatch. The ship rocked to and fro on heavy waves. Men screamed and shouted.
A strange gnawing sound caught my ear. That’s when I felt something move my ropes. I twisted my head around, and my eyes bulged out of my head.
A small lizard stood behind me, munching on the ropes with razor-sharp teeth. The creature resembled an iguana in shape and scaly tan color, but two long canines protruded from its mouth, and flaps of leather hung from its sides. The thing was using those teeth to gnaw through my ropes.
I did what anyone in my predicament would do: I screamed my head off.
The lizard ceased its biting and glared at me. “Quiet!” The tenor voice shocked me into silence. The lizard set a paw on my arm and nodded at the rope. “I’m going to get you out of free, and then you’re going to follow my instructions exactly. Got it?”
I bobbed my head. The creature resumed its gnawing, and soon the ropes broke.
I jerked my hands away from the creature, but it skittered over me with all the speed of its reptilian heritage and began work on my feet.
Shouts from above made me look up. Many feet now pounded the planks, sending droplets of water raining down on us.
The iguana paused long enough to glare at the deck. “Could you fools be a little softer? I’m trying to work here!”
Someone poked their head into the hold, and their eyes widened. “Captain! There’s something down here with the woman!”
“Oh crap,” the iguana muttered before he resumed his biting.
A half dozen men stampeded down the stairs. They were dressed in fine leather and vests, and wielded swords and daggers. Their eyes blazed with anger and disgust at the small creature.
The iguana broke through the last of the rope and puffed out his chest. “You are now-hey!”
I had snatched it up and jumped to my feet. The men approached, weapons pointed at the iguana, whom I hugged to my chest with both arms. I backed up as they came nearer.
The iguana’s long face drooped at the murderous look in their eyes. He managed a choked laugh. “Hello, fellas. What are you doing down here?”
“Hand over that thing, woman,” one of them snapped as he stretched out his tanned hand to me. “We’re going to make ourselves a nice belt.”
The iguana bristled at the demand, both physically and figuratively. “Nobody’s going to make anything out of me! Not least of which, a couple of ugly mercenaries!”
The man curled his lips back and revealed two rows of rotten teeth. “Who you calling ugly!”
The creature wrinkled his nose. “You’re right, that’s insulting ugly.”
“Gimme that thing!” the man barked as he stalked toward me, his hand outstretched.
I gripped the iguana tighter against myself and scurried backward. My back struck a crate, and I curled my body around my new little friend.
That’s when the torrential flood poured down the hatch.