“Nay!” His shout spun her around. “She must have put something in my drink.”
Whether ’twas true or not, Emeline found her gaze traveling to the Ring again. “You’ve encountered naught but evil since you acquired that Ring—nightmares, demons, and now this unforeseen illness.” She would add to that the unnatural chill and oppression she’d felt earlier, but she knew he wouldn’t believe her.
Thunder rumbled, shaking the walls.
“I implore you, Blake, remove the Ring. Hide it away if you must and see if things do not improve.”
He stared at her for several minutes as if she’d asked him to dance a jig on the roof. “Never.” Struggling to rise, he gripped the bedpost to steady himself. “This Ring is the answer to all my dreams.”
“Only if your dreams are to die young.”
As if confirming her statement, a torrent of rain unleashed outside the window, pounding the roof and the garden below like the march of a thousand demons.
Emeline darted from the room.
b
“Toads and lizards!” Josephine plucked a book from her bag and slammed it on the desk in her chamber.
“Come now,ma très chère.” Maston’s sickly sweet tone caused nausea to gurgle in her belly. “We shall get the Ring, never fear.”
“We?” she quipped with a snort, then planted fists at her waist. This was not going to be as easy as she thought. Not only could she not remove the Ring, but the sleeping potion she’d put in Blake’s drink had not worked, for she’d seen the man as chipper as ever in the dining hall for the noonday meal. The pompous ninny!
If a storm had not enveloped the island, thatpompous ninnywould have set sail already, putting far too much distance between her and the Ring.
Now what to do? She bit her fingernail, cursing. “I forgot what the legends said—that the Ring cannot be removed from the finger of whoever wears it. Blake must take it off. But how to get him to do that?”
Opening the book of spells, she flipped through the pages, seeking anything—a hex, a spell, a potion that would force Blake to do whatever she asked of him.
“Why not get the girl to do it?” Maston adjusted his stained cravat.
Josephine swung to face him. “Don’t be a fool, Claude. She’s a simpleton, a daft twit.”
Maston quirked a brow. “She has more power than you think. Come, my sweet.” He gestured toward the bed. “Let me love you as you deserve. Perhaps it will clear our minds and help us discover a way forward.”
“You will not so much as touch me,mon cher, until I am in possession of the Ring.” She held up one of her hands and wiggled her fingers. “Comprendre? Therefore”—she turned and sashayed toward the window, gazing at the rain pouring from dark skies—“it would be in your best interest to aid me in whatever plan I decide upon.”
Which was the only reason she tolerated his slobbering presence.
“Of course. I am here to help.”
Moving back to the book, she continued to flip through it. “I must find a curse, a hex. The perfect one that will turn Blake into my slave.”
b
Standing on the portico outside the banquet hall, Emeline released a heavy sigh. It had rained for two days straight, and one look at the dark, roiling sky told her it had no intention of quitting any time soon. Movement snagged her gaze just in time to see Bandit barreling toward her. He leapt into her arms and proceeded to regale her with some tale of the wild. Which, no doubt, he’d been enjoying until the relentless storm had forced him inside.
“Now where have you been, little one? I’ve missed you.” Against all propriety, she leaned her face against his, inhaling his moist animal smell.
“You and that little beastie.” Charlie laughed as she approached. “He’s ne’er taken t’ anyone but Blake before.” The master gunner stared out over the gray, dripping scenery and shook her head. “Blast this storm. Like the rest o’ the crew, I’m anxious t’ be at sea again.”
“Truly? I would think you’d enjoy such a luxurious respite on land.”
“Aye, it has been nice, but I can’t make the fortune I need resting an’ reveling like some fat spoiled monarch, now, can I?”
Emeline nodded her understanding. The lady had a son and mother to support. “Seems I am stuck here as well,” she said.
Charlie gave her a knowing look. “I’m sorry, Em.”
