Valynda cocked her head. “Are you sure about that?”
“Aye, and if I were you, I’d do what he says and summon the Ghede Nibo for him.”
She laughed at the pompousness of that statement. “One doesn’t evoke the Ghede, and especially not Nibo. You ask nicely, and if he wishes, he comes.”
“I defy you to say that to the Malachai.”
Valynda cut a glance to Mara. “Do you see the fear in our keeper’s eyes, mum?”
“Indeed.”
“Then perhaps I should invite the Nibo to our party and educate you all on what happens when you play with things best left alone.”
EPILOGUE
Kalder sat on the docks, staring out at the dark sea while the crew took on supplies for their voyage. They had yet to find the location of where Vine and Gadreyal had vanished off to with Mara and Valynda, but they weren’t daunted.
They would find them and there would be the Devyl’s hell to pay for it.
“Are you missing your swim, Mr. Dupree?”
He smiled at the sweet dulcet tone that left himharder than granite. “Aye, Miss Jack. But not as much as I be missing something else.”
“And that be?”
He reached up to take her hand and pull her down to sit next to him. “Me most precious angel.”
She smiled at him as she melted into his arms so that he could hold her. “The captain said he wanted us to stay behind and return to Williamsburg. Since you’re no longer bound by the Deadman’s mark and you’ve lost your powers from the Malachai, he doesn’t want to risk any harm to you or to me.”
“Is that what you want?”
She met his gaze in the darkness and smiled. “Me home is wherever you are, Kal. I’ll follow wherever you lead.”
“Even if it isn’t back to your tavern?”
She bit her lip as her gaze turned dark. That expression worried him.
“Cameron? What is it?”
“Just thinking… a tavern’s no place what to be raising a babe alone without its da. Especially when the babe might be mistaking its mum for its da.”
It took him a second to realize what it was she meant. When it finally dawned on him, he felt as if his stones had been hammered. “You’re pregnant?”
She nodded. “The Lady Belle confirmed what I suspected.”
“Flowers? Flowers for the lady?”
Kalder froze as an old woman shoved a wilted bouquet between them. Normally, he’d have sent her on her way, but…
“Aye. Thank you.” He pulled out his coin to pay her.
Smiling, the toothless crone handed over the bouquet. “Gardenias and violets for your boy to come. A beautiful future has he. Pull the string and see.”
“Pardon?” Kalder scowled as shock and fury tangled inside him. Was she a demon or some other creature sent to wreak havoc with them?
The old woman placed a kind hand against his cheek. “No parent should be forced to live without their babe. There is no greater pain. For a child is the heart that grows and beats outside the body. Time and distance makes no never mind to a such an organ, as it has no ability to judge either. Rather it just feels and it knows.” She squeezed his cheek. “It always knows.”
And with that, she vanished.
