Grimacing, he placed his hand over hers and groaned deep in his throat. “I don’t know.” He swallowed, then stared hard at her face as if seeking truth in her eyes. “Areyouall right?”
She nodded and tucked her wings in. “You?”
His gaze went from her to the shadow that was now falling over both of them. “What bugger pissed in your waves, Sav?”
“I’m going to wager his name is Kalder Dupree. What happened to your eyes, man? You look like shit shat you out and left you for dead… again.”
Before Kalder could answer, the skies above them turned black as thick storm clouds rolled over the sun. Thunder clapped heavily.
“Ah, hell, this can’t be good.” Savitar cursed. “Duel… tell me this is from the gate falling, and that you haven’t pissed off something worse.”
“I’ll say it. Won’t make it true. But if it cheers your mood, I’ll tell you whatever lie you want me to.”
Cameron pulled away from Kalder. They rose slowly to their feet as the sky darkened and growled dangerously. As a black owl with glowing red eyes, Strixa landed near Mara, and transformed into her human body. That single action said it all about how dangerous this storm was, as the water witch hated being human.
And it left her much weaker to fight whatever was coming for them, and that Strixa never did lightly, as her primary motto was to strike fast and fatally.
Whatever was there was bad, indeed.
Savitar curled his lip as he cast a menacing glare at Captain Bane. “Go, raise the dead, I said. Put together a crew of evil to fight evil. What could possibly go wrong with that scenario? Good gets a chance to redeem themselves. Shouldn’t the wicked? What the devil was I thinking?”
“That you wanted to save mankind?” Belle asked.
Savitar passed her a droll stare as lightning struck the beach not far from them. “Don’t need a lippy minion at the moment. Mess with me, woman, and I’ll feed you to the lightning and the beast that’s coming with it.”
As the weather worsened, the tattoos on Savitar’s body began to peel off his skin and transform into winged, colorful demons the likes of which Cameron had never seen before. Muscular and beautiful, they were glorious.
When Paden stepped forward to unsheathe his sword so that he could engage them for battle, the captain stayed his hand. “Those be Charonte, boy. And they belong to Savitar. If you value your life and that of your sister’s, you’ll cut them all a wide berth and leave them be. Believe me. If Savitar doesn’t kill you over glancing askance at them, they’ll feast on your bones and entrails, and laugh while they do it.”
Cameron scowled at the word she’d never heard before. “What are Charonte?”
The captain grinned. “You’re about to find out. And be glad they’re not coming forus. Their favored menu is varied and nonspecific. Basically, anything that’s flavored meat over bones. Believe me when I say ’tis best to remain off their menu and out of their predatory sight, if you can.”
As the Charonte flew toward the dark, dismal sky, Savitar turned toward them. The moment he did so, a black, cowled cloak appeared over his body, shielding him from head to foot.
Now the only part of him that could be seen were those eerie eyes that glowed an unholy purple hue from beneath the dark depths of his hood. He held his hand out. The sands of the beach swirled up in a small sandstorm to form a long, twisted staff that was about afoot and a half taller than even the massive mountain known as Savitar.
When the parts of the staff finally came together, it was magically topped off by a piece of vibrant round silver that held a golden sun in its center. One that radiated from an inner source Cameron couldn’t even fathom.
An echoing shriek rang out.
Muerig, again in the form of a sea serpent, rose from the black, turgid waves. “Chthonian! I know who you are!Whatyou are!”
Savitar froze. The shrill winds tore at his cloak, but he made no move whatsoever. Indeed, he was as still as the grave.
“Give me the Cyphnian and I won’t tell the Malachai where to find you.”
Breaking his stillness, Savitar laughed. “I have no fear of the Malachai.”
“Then why do you hide on your island?”
Now it was the captain’s turn to laugh. “Who says he’s hiding?”
Muerig sent a blast of fire that hit Savitar in the center of his chest.
The moment it did, his cloak disintegrated and Cameron saw why he’d shielded himself so quickly.
Gasping, she met Kalder’s gaze, but unlike her, he didn’t seem the least bit surprised by their host’s alternate body.
