Bane winced again in sympathetic pain. Most of them did, point of fact, as loyalty was something every Deadman understood and respected. That was what made them a family—their willingness to sacrifice their souls for each other. “I take it that Rafe is going after Anne.”
Barnet nodded. “He feels he owes it to St. Noir, and I offered to help. But it’s more than the two of us can do on our own. Since you’re such good friends with Santiago, and I knew you frequented the waters here, I thought I’d ask for a sword to help him. Last thing I want to do is send another man to the Locker.”
Before the captain could answer, something roared out from far below. Deep and guttural, it shook the boards beneath Valynda’s feet. Nibo grabbed her arm and pulled her against his body as the ship tipped sharply to its side. Will went skidding across the deck, as did Cameron until her brother caught her. Both of them transformed from their human bodies into Seraphs—their angel-like state that allowed them to fight demons in a stronger-than-human body. Cameron’s white wings exploded out from her back, as did Paden’s.
“What is that?” Valynda gasped.
Nibo used his staff to pin them to the deck. “You don’t want to know,chère. Suffice it to say, it’s not something you want to make angry. Rather, it’ll come for us and make us a little nubby treat, eh?”
“Not amused.”
He grinned, and charmed her in spite of her protestations. Damn, why did he have to be so alluring?
Black clouds rolled in overhead like billowing smoke from a massive fire. Screams rang out from Barnet’s ship. As a human crew, they had no idea what was happening. Indeed, Barnet was pale and shaken by the sight of the changes in the men and women around him.
“What are you people?”
Bane didn’t answer as he raised his flintlock and took aim for a demon rising up and over Barnet. Barnet barely ducked out of the way before Bane shot it in the head and caused it to explode all over the deck in a grisly, besmirched stain that befouled the air she attempted to breathe. More came up from the sea, flying in wave after angry wave to attack with claws and fangs.
Nibo shielded her, batting them away with his crook. “Get below!”
Valynda hesitated.
The demons grabbed on to the sides of the ship in an attempt to pry off boards. Something that made it hard to blast them, since any blow could go through the demons and damage the hull that was part of Mara’s body.
This was terrible. They were about to go down and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
“If we sink, it’s a bad idea to be below.”
“You’re not going down.”
She started to ask him what he meant, but before she could, lightning flashed, dividing the dark clouds. The sky turned a sickly green. Around them, the sea began to churn. Kalder was thrown from the waves up to the deck, where he landed near Cameron. Disoriented and obviously confused, he glanced about at them.
Valynda was as confounded as he was while the ship continued to pitch and roll. The wood shrieked in protest as it seemed determined to splinter and leave them to drown.
At least until a tidal wave rose straight up before them.
Nibo raised his crook. The moment he did, the wave exploded into a thousand skeletons and bodies that rained down upon the demons.
The human crew screamed out as the Deadmen scrambled to get out of the way.
Nibo’s eyes turned bright orange. He used his crook to control the souls of those he’d just summoned from the bowels of the sea to go after the demons and protect her and her friends. With stunned expressions, Thorn and Bane turned to gape at him.
Nibo ignored them while his army of the dead engaged the demons and fought them down. Valynda scurried to stand beside him as one of the demons came toward her, intent on biting her. She’d fight them, but she’d learned the hard way that these were coated with a thick, tar-like membrane that would infect any who touched them. Even her.
And it burned like the dickens.
More than that, it bonded to the skin and caused it to rot and smell for eternity. Even straw bodies. So rather than fight, the best course of action was to flee and let someone else risk that kind of infection.
Nibo caught the demon and kicked it back into the arms of a partially decomposed corpse that wrapped itself around the demon, then carried the screaming ugly thing overboard and plunged them both into the turgid sea.
Within a few minutes, the demons were gone and the sea calmed down. The clouds above rolled away and parted to reveal a perfect blue sky.
Barnet opened and closed his mouth like a carp that had been hauled to land. He was even bug-eyed. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “You are a crew of the damned, aren’t you?”
Will Death gave him a bedeviled grin. “More like the undamned, if you will.”
“Pardon?”
