“Seriously, I’m amazed you’re willing to come on board at all. You are either insane or you utterly lack a sense of self preservation.”
“A bit of both,” I replied, cracking a grin for Zachary’s benefit.
~~*~~
Armed with the
Wave Dream
’s blueprints, I examined the ship’s layout, wondering how I was going cross the entirety of the vessel, working my way down multiple floors, all without being seen. There weren’t any elevators; the
Wave Dream
was simply too old for such a luxury. From what I could tell, a single lift connected the cargo bay to the kitchens, and if my reading of the layout was correct, there was no way Evelyn would fit inside, let alone me.
The most direct route would take me through the most populous areas of the ship. While Evelyn could likely sneak her way to the cargo bay disguised as crew, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Inquisitors jumped at shadows and looked for ghosts, and my twin was too observant for his own good. It was tempting to call him just so I could erase his worries and grief, but I couldn’t.
If I revealed myself, I’d put Evelyn at risk. I had chosen to save her, and that meant I couldn’t just hand her over to the Inquisition. Before I could deal with the problem of my twin, I had to make certain Evelyn made it to Canada and was under the protection of a Fenerec pack outside of the Inquisition’s control.
Until then, I had to leave my brother to his grief and continue to bear my guilt, which gnawed away at my chest and left me fighting for breath. If my twin hadn’t come, if he had remained safe in Atlanta, things would have been much easier. With him on board, I didn’t want to even smoke out the
Wave Dream
. I didn’t want to hurt him, not any more than I already had.
My crimes against him knew no end. First, I had forced him into becoming the Shadow Pope, a burden I should have carried. But the leader of the Inquisition was a null; my powers as a witch rendered me tainted, ineligible to remain part of the Anderson family, let alone someone worthy of ruling the supernatural’s policing force.
There were many who likely rejoiced at the idea of my demise, as my death solved a lot of problems, especially for my mother and father.
Their shame wouldn’t haunt them any longer.
I groaned, rubbing my face. Maybe Zachary had been right; normal drunks got depressed while still under the influence. Me? I wallowed in self-pity and loathing during the hangover. No matter what he had said about Suzanne, he’d been wrong about one thing. My wife had always been right to insist I leave alcohol alone. Nothing good came of it.
I felt myself flush at the blurred memory of Evelyn in the hotel room we had shared. She deserved better than a drunk’s primitive lust.
“What a fucking mess,” I muttered, running my hands through my hair, struggling to force my attention back to the blueprints and all of my problems. I had to give the designer credit; the
Wave Dream
was no
Titanic
, lacking an obvious flaw spelling the ship’s doom.
I almost wished for an iceberg, a large one lurking beneath the surface, waiting for its chance to punch a hole through the hull. Even if an iceberg caught Zachary unawares—an impossibility where we were sailing—the
Wave Dream
had been built to last. Safety had been the top consideration in the ship’s construction.
If I wanted to sink her or smoke her out, I would need to put a lot of effort into it. To produce enough smoke to warrant an evacuation, I’d have to ignite every section of the ship’s lowest level, which was properly compartmentalized, unlike the doomed
Titanic
. A hole in the hull capable of sinking her while giving everyone enough time to evacuate was much harder for a fire or water witch to counter.
The thought of hurting anyone in my efforts to avoid the Inquisition left me nauseous. No matter what, I couldn’t allow anyone to die, not because of me. I stared helplessly at the blueprints, wondering if it might have been better if I hadn’t made it out of Oconee National Forest. Grimacing, I shook my head.
If I hadn’t been around to take out the bullet, Evelyn would have died from silver poisoning. I couldn’t accept that. The jade-eyed Fenerec deserved a chance to live, no matter how much I hated myself for my reckless plan and lack of consideration of the consequences.
Once again, my guilt surged. Zachary had been right about too many things, including my inability to let Suzanne go. I was insane to ignore everything Evelyn was offering, but it was for the best.
Once my twin realized I lived, if Evelyn remained with me, she’d be as doomed as those on the
Titanic
, and I couldn’t allow myself to be the ship that drowned her. I swallowed, clenched my teeth, and glared at the blueprints in search of answers.
No matter what, I had to find a way to make things right.
~~*~~
If I ever found out who had coined the idea that all problems could be solved with fire, I was going to hunt them down and hit them as hard as I could. With my luck, the responsible individual was already dead, leaving me to do something stupid, like dance naked on their grave. It didn’t feel like a very potent threat. For a moment, I considered asking Evelyn if she’d do it.
I thought better of it. I had no doubts she’d be happy to shed her clothes, but she wouldn’t be interested in dancing on a
grave.
My amusement at the thought didn’t last long before reality came crashing down once more in the form of a headache, reminding me about the consequences of my idiocy. Turning my attention back to the blueprints, I sighed and once again went over the quickest paths across the ship. The only viable plan I had involved my taking several jet skis, Evelyn, and Zachary’s witches and bailing from the ship as quickly as possible. We could find another way to Canada, somehow. If I wore scuba gear or a life vest, maybe I wouldn’t drown—or sink—when I ended up in the ocean. I wondered how close to shore Zachary could take the
Wave Dream
in the middle of the night.
“How’s your hangover?” Zachary said from right behind me. With an undignified squeak, I whirled around. He looked about as tired as I felt.
“Mostly gone.” Compared to the morning, I felt much better, although I was convinced the headache would never leave.
After flopping onto the couch next to me, he lifted the lid from the silver plate. “You didn’t eat.”
“You should thank me for not puking all over your floor, which is what would have happened,” I countered.
“Boss, it’s bacon. Bacon cures all ills. I should know. I have my PhD in the preparation and consumption of bacon.”
“You need to have your doctorate revoked. Its curative powers do not apply to my hangovers. Are you off shift?” I picked up one of the sheets of the blueprint, glaring at it for its lack of cooperation in my plan making. “I’ve decided I’ll walk the plank. I’ll even let you poke me with a sword. You do have a sword, don’t you? How about a pirate hat? Where’s Evelyn?”
Zachary chuckled, popping one of the slices of bacon into his mouth before replying, “She is testing a theory. It involves her, a very skimpy bikini, and one of the ship’s pools. So far, we have confirmed that the average man is too busy staring at her breasts to give more than a passing glance at her face.”
I set the blueprint down on the coffee table, turning to glare at my friend, who reached out for a second slice of bacon. I beat him to it, snatching it and biting it in half before saying, “Is that so.”
“It is so. You’re missing quite the show. You’re going to have to carry a club to keep the competition away from her. You should let me marry you two so you won’t have to protect your territory.”
“That isn’t funny, Zach.”
“Sure it is; you’re just a stick in the mud. I do have some good news for you, though.”
“What?” I snatched the other two pieces of bacon before Zachary could steal them. If he wanted the eggs, he was welcome to them. Maybe he was right about the powers of bacon, because my headache didn’t seem quite so bad after I took out my frustration on it.
“Your brother decided to come pay me a little visit while I was working, so I took him to a quiet part of the ship for a heart to heart. I informed him that I had one or two people who had been attacked on board, and that I wasn’t going to tolerate the Inquisition’s interference with my ship. They were welcome on board, but they weren’t to harass any of my passengers—not a single one of them—or my crew without clearing it with me first and providing proof they’re the ones the Inquisition is looking for. He agreed. He knows there’s at least one woman on board under my guard. He asked if she was involved with his brother’s death. I told him she absolutely was not and that she was just as much of a victim. He bought it hook, line, and sinker. If they discover Evelyn, which I doubt, they’ll leave her alone while she’s on board.”
I shook my head, “Once she disembarks, all bets are off. They won’t let one of their targets go, not that easily.”
“You’re right, but it’s better than nothing—and when the Shadow Pope says something, it’s law. We both know that. She’ll be safe enough for now. I told her to enjoy the cruise while she could. She’s more interested in seeing you, but if the Inquisition does spot her…”
“She’d end up leading them right to me, which would really make things awkward, especially when they piece together I was on the team sent to kill her. Still, Evelyn’s the one at real risk.”
“Which is exactly why I’ll be getting both of you off the ship tonight. I’ve charted our course as close to shore as I can. Once most everyone has gone to sleep, I’ll launch a jet ski for you two. Evelyn can swim, and she’s assured me she’s strong enough to handle you if you run into trouble.”
I shivered at the thought of ending up in the ocean, with or without help, scuba gear, or a life jacket. “Beats sinking the ship with my brother on board.”
Zachary chuckled. “Knowing you, you’ve been beating your head against the coffee table for the past few hours trying to avoid any plan that might involve any risk to him whatsoever. I know you. You protect what you think is yours, and he’s your twin, for all you have a couple of inches on him.”
“Identical in all ways except that,” I muttered.
“All right. Here’s what we’ll do,” Zachary said, smoothing out one of the blueprints on the table. He pointed at the cargo bay. “It’s not on here, but there’s a launch rig in there not too far over the water line. The trick will be getting you down there unnoticed, but I have an idea on how to handle that. I brought one of Max’s uniforms. So long as it sort of fits, once dinner starts in about thirty minutes, you’ll make your way down to the cargo bay. A lot of people will be moving around, and it’s easy for a crew member to get lost in the crowd. I brought a set of keys so you can access the lower floors.”
“That might work,” I replied, considering the best way to get to the cargo bay. “All right. Got one of those nice caps the other crew gets to wear for me?”
“You better believe I do. Keep your brim down and your head ducked and you’ll be fine. Look busy and in a hurry, and you’ll match the rest of the staff. After things settle down, I’ll send Evelyn along with something for you to eat so you don’t starve to death while waiting for your ride out of here. I’ll be along sometime between one and two in the morning. There’ll be a concert on the other end of the ship, which should prove enough of a distraction to prevent anyone from noticing you leaving.”
“That’s a much better plan than what I had. Did I mention that mine involved walking the plank?” Despite everything, including the lingering remnants of my headache, I laughed.
“I’m fairly certain Evelyn would kill me if I made you walk the plank. To answer your question, yes, I do have a sword. Yes, I do have a pirate’s hat. Maybe I’ll wear them tonight for the fun of it. I dress up as a pirate at least once every voyage. The passengers love it.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
Zachary grinned at me. “You’re a lucky man, Boss. She’s a territorial woman, and she’s decided you’re hers. She’s going to give you lots of trouble.”
I scowled at how pleased my friend sounded about that. “Is that so.”
“It is so. Once things settle down, send word to me, and I’ll marry you two as I said.”
“You’re making assumptions again,” I grumbled before I sat straighter. “What about your witches? What are they going to do with so many Inquisitors on board?”
Getting to his feet, Zachary bumped my shoulder with his fist. “They’ll be fine. They’re all assigned to the night shift and will work in off-limit parts of the ship. I’ll take good care of them, don’t you worry. Look, I need to shower before the crew has to fumigate the whole place to get rid of my stench. Holler if the uniform doesn’t fit.”
Chapter Six
For such an old ship, the
Wave Dream
boasted a surprising amount of modern decor and amenities, upgrades from when I’d last been on board. Perhaps the saddest of the changes was the removal of the original curved staircases leading from the captain’s stateroom to the next level where many of the ship’s prized cabins were located. I kept my cap’s brim low to mask my scowl as I took the escalator.
Maybe I was old fashioned, but the addition of technology to the cruise liner took away from its sweeping elegance, bowing to the inevitable march of time. Armed with one of Zachary’s clipboards in one hand and a marker in the other, I stepped out of the flow of the crowds heading to dinner to examine the sitting area. I chewed on the marker’s cap as I referenced the clipboard, went down the list, and checked off everything that was in order. Once I finished my inspection, the list would go back to Zachary and what didn’t pass muster with me would be dealt with.
While avoiding notice was my goal, I had learned from past experience that the best way to go about it was to look busy. Someone hard at work was less likely to be interrupted by a passenger. Even if someone had a question, I knew almost as much about the cruise liner as the crew. I’d manage, one way or another. All I had to do was walk from one end of the ship to the other, checking over my list as I went.
How hard could it be?