She wanted them entirely.
As a result, a wave lifted the ship out of the water and sent it crashing down with a force that rattled their bones and sent them all to the deck. It was so fierce, it shattered the cage Mara had created to hold her.
“Mara?” Devyl shouted, terrified she might have been injured.
“I’m fine.” But her tone was stressed. “Don’t worry over me. You be careful.”
He pressed his cheek against the plank, wishing she was in her body. “Do not get harmed in this,” he breathed before pressing his lips to her wood. “Above all, do not risk yourself.”
The planks warmed beneath him. “Above all, Du, do not be harmed.”
Devyl caressed the boards before he pushed himself to his feet. “Strixa!” He shouted for the witch as he began to evoke her, chanting in the ancient language of his people in an effort to calm her fury and save his crew.
It didn’t work.
She came out of the sea like a phoenix on fire, trailing a stream of water in her wake. Her black wings flapped with the force of a hurricane, sending their ship plunging beneath the waves. Only Belle’s shield, Janice’s chant, and Mara’s determination kept them from being ripped apart and sunk.
The crew lashed themselves to whatever wood they could and many prayed as it seemed the ship was trying to buck them all off into the sea to be drowned.
“This was a stupendously bad idea,” William said as he wrapped rope around his waist and the mainmast.
Devyl growled as he pulled himself up and stood to the side. “No bitching, Mr. Death. I tried to get you to leave.”
“Deeth! And I regret me decision, Captain. Seriously. Should have done it when you told me to.”
Bart caught Zumari as he went skittering past and helped him to anchor himself to the deck. “Am thinking … she’s an owl. They like insects. I vote we feed her Roach and run for it.”
Roach let loose a long string of French obscenities.
Ignoring them, Devyl used his powers to summon Deruvian fire so that he could shoot it at the ancient being to get her attention off his men and onto him, where it belonged.
With a loud screech, she ducked his blast and came for him. He expected her to fight.
Especially as she angled her talons at him. Instead, she flapped her wings as the sea and storm settled down into an eerie, fog-laden stillness that was far more terrifying than the storm they’d just been in. It was so quiet now, he could hear his heartbeat and the creaking of the ship boards around him. The clanking of winches against wood and the slapping of ropes against the side.
A single cannon ball rolled across the deck.
In one bright flash, the great black owl turned into a woman dressed in a long, flowing ebony gown and a cloak covered with iridescent owl feathers. An ornate red crown held back her black hair from a face that was perfectly sculpted and beautiful beyond description. Features that could easily belong to a goddess. Her dark skin glistened from the drizzle as those red eyes focused on him while she held her cloak back from her body with graceful fingers that were tipped by the same red metal as her crown. Only these formed filigree talons for each of her phalanges, including her thumbs.
Nearing Devyl, she cocked her head in a very fowl-like manner as if she were studying him from one eye only. She reached to cup his chin with her taloned hand. The chains that connected each digit hung down, making her hand appear as a flower. “Well, well. You’re a fair one, aren’t you? Are you my offering?”
Before he could draw in a single breath to respond, Mara manifested beside her and socked her one. “Get your hands off my husband, she-bitch!”
Devyl wasn’t sure who was the most stunned by her unexpected declaration.
And explosion.
Basically, they were all gaping. So much for Mara not being born of violence. That had been a spectacular show of Aesiran anger that he’d have never attributed to a full-blooded Vanir.
Furious over Mara’s actions, Strixa came around to return the blow with her own.
Devyl quickly caught her arm before she could deliver it. “None of that, now. I promise you, you lay hands to my lady and you’ll be meeting a side of the devil you never want to.”
“You think not?” She leaned in to whisper in Devyl’s ear. “I know what you are, and I know who you serve. And you cannot cage me. Neither of you have those powers.”
He smiled at her. “Perhaps not, but there’s no blood here for you to feast upon. No souls for you to claim. Yet you’ve shown us your true form.…”
She gasped as she realized what she’d inadvertently done.
