Chapter 23
Winn stared out the porthole at Frobisher's dirigible. “That bastard's sure persistent,” he muttered.
He glanced at Alexa, clothed in nothing but a white sheet, her hair a mussed, delectable dark cloud about her head. Danger was at their door, and the cabin was still saturated with the scent of her and their lovemaking. He would have liked time to stand still, returning to the point an hour ago when nothing but the two of them existed in the world. But that wasn't going to happen. Not now.
“If you were working for Queen Victoria, you'd likely be persistent as well,” Alexa said dryly, smoothing back her tangled hair.
“I got bigger fish to gut than Frobisher.” Winn gritted his teeth as a memory of Rathe's yellow eyes and mocking slash of a smile stabbed at him. Frobisher was a gnat on his ass. It was Rathe that posed the danger. “Get dressed.”
She raised one dark brow. “You're not seriously thinking of going with him?”
How could the woman look both regal and shocked when she was bare naked? “You got a better plan to keep these people from being scuttled at five thousand feet?” He was the only man onboard, and while Winn presumed they knew what they were about, every male fiber of his being resisted standing back to find out what they knew about defending themselves.
The smell of gunpowder and burning wood wafted through the cracks of the walls. High-pitched screams were mingled with the thump of running feet on the upper deck and the squeal of cannons being rolled into place.
“I could come up with something if I had more time.”
“Time is the one thing we don't got,” Winn said as he looked for his clothes. His fuzzy brain actually remembered that what she hadn't shredded of his clothing, she'd vanished into a cloud of particles. “Where'd you put my pants?”
A deafening explosion rattled the ship and was immediately followed by the high shrill whistle of a cannonball. The ship jolted with the hit, knocking them back on the bed. Winn tried his best to brace himself so he didn't crush her.
“I see he don't play fair either,” he growled as he stood, pulling her to her feet and admiring her naked body and hating that they had no more time. They needed to dress quickly.
“Or give time for a lady to properly don a corset, so I'm afraid this shall have to do.” Alexa snapped her fingers and materialized them both fresh clothes.
Winn looked at his familiar duster, the clean black pants, crisp white shirt, and blue and black paisley vest complete with gold pocket watch. It was nicer than anything he could have pulled on out of a tangled pile of clothing from the floor. “And my hat.” His Stetson appeared on the bed beside him, and Winn snatched it up and shoved it on his head. “Thanks.” He grabbed his weapons and the pack with the Book and Marley's note. “Ready?”
Alexa sat up, her long, silky limbs now swathed in rust bombazine, her hair coiled back into the familiar intricate twist at her nape, just above the high, black lace-trimmed collar of the gown. She adjusted her bustle and nodded. They hurried out of the cabin, and, just as they reached the deck, more explosions sounded from the direction of the dirigible.
The shots fired across the deck, shattering the aft mast. With a great, creaking groan the wood splintered like a falling tree. A tangle of rigging and sails began to topple toward the deck, causing the crew to scatter and scream. Winn shoved Alexa up against the wall of the ship's forecastle, shielding her from the falling debris.
“Return fire!” Le Renaud yelled over the chaos. Rifle fire from the
Circe
was punctuated by two chuffs from atop both the forecastle and the aftcastle. Winn watched two deadly metal-tipped harpoons arc over the airspace between the two ships. But his heart sank as he saw them both come short of piercing the dirigible's balloon.
He grabbed Alexa's hand and kept low, avoiding getting shot as they skirted the debris on deck and headed straight up the stairs of the aftcastle to the captain. Winn gripped the captain's shoulder. “I thought you said this ship was fast.”
Le Renaud glared at him, but her eyes were troubled. “It is when they haven't just shot our engine out from underneath us! Our engineer is working on it now.”
“Use whatever steam's in the pipes to run the propellers and jettison your hydrogen!” Alexa urged. “I know the capabilities of a class A dirigible. They're quick, but difficult to maneuver quickly. This vessel is more nimble. We might escape them if we can descend fast enough.”
Le Renaud nodded her head once, her eyes growing bright again. “It might just work.” She leaned over the railing of the aftcastle and shouted down at her crew. “Raise the sails! Dive!”
Winn was astounded by the pace of the crew. They fairly flew over the decks and hauled on ropes to roll up the sails. “You'd better hold on!” the captain said as she gripped the railing with white-knuckled hands.
He pulled Alexa close, took off his hat and stuffed it in his shirt, and wrapped his arm around the railing. The
Circe
creaked and let out a tremendous belch of hydrogen, then began to tip precariously. The entire deck shifted as the nose of the ship dipped downward, and they began to plunge through the air.
A funny swooping sensation hit Winn in the groin as they went into a free fall. Air whistled by, and the clouds became streaks of white as they dove. Winn held onto the railing by one hand with a death grip, and Alexa with the other. They broke through the cloud cover to see an iron gray sheet of sea churning below them. Alexa cried out, and he held her tighter.
“Hold on the air bladder! Release the sails!” Le Renaud yelled. The crew released the sails, and for a moment they flapped wildly before they swelled upward, catching the wind like wings. The ship jerked upward, sending them all sprawling to the deck. It wasn't rising, but its descent was instantly slowed.
They gradually leveled out, coming to rest with a splash on the water. Alexa grabbed hold of Winn hard around the middle. “Easy there, Tessa. We made it,” he said softly, rubbing his hand in soothing circles over her back.
She pulled back and looked up at him with terrified eyes, her skin looking a little greenish. “Yes, but now we're stranded at sea, which is even worse.”
“Ship incoming, Captain!” One of the crew pointed to the silver bullet breaking through the clouds and headed in their direction, and damned if they weren't sitting ducks.
“It can't be.” Alexa bit her lip in frustration and thought.
Winchester wrapped his arm around her. “It was a good plan.”
“Just not good enough,” she retorted. Winn realized that far from being frightened she was angry.
“Captain Le Renaud, isn't there any way we can get this ship underway?” Her tone was short and irritated.
The captain shook her head. “We've used all our steam reserves. Until Octavia can patch our water basin, our engines can't run. We're at the mercy of the winds to reach land.”
The shadow of the dirigible grew larger over the water, making it look like a giant monster awaited them in the deep waters, when really the threat was from above them.
“Get me something white,” Winn said harshly. “I don't want him sinking this ship before you can get to land.” Everything in him hated to surrender, but there was no choice. With the exception of him, the ship was populated by women. Frobisher was single-minded in his pursuit and had already proven he didn't give a damn about the ship or its crew as long as he got what he wanted. A crew member handed him a white bit of sheeting.
“Do what you must, and I'll be by your side,” Alexa said.
Winn glared at her. “I'm not letting him get his hands on you again. You'll stay here.”
Alexa glared back. “No, I won't.” Her face began to warp, brows protruding slightly; her eyes turned a glaring red as her fangs appeared. “I'm just as capable of fighting him as you are.”
Winn couldn't deny that she was absolutely right. As a fighting vampire she could be formidable. “If it were only you, I'd agree”âhe glanced back at the crew of the shipâ“but ask yourself, do you want the rest of them risking their lives for us?”
“We could defend them,” she retorted.
“We could get them accidently killed,” he volleyed back. Alexa let out a growl of frustration, her brows and fangs receding but her eyes remaining crimson. “Fine. We'll go with him. Together.”
“Captain Le Renaud, we will give ourselves up for you and for the sake of your crew. Flee if you are able.”
The captain nodded, her pixie face serious and brows drawn tightly together as she stared at Alexa's fangs. “Wave the flag,” she said, her tone somber.
Winn waved the white cloth and hoped the lieutenant was a reasonable enough man to know they meant to go willingly, before he took it out on Le Renaud's ship.
The dirigible, far more enormous than the ship, hovered over them like a bird of prey, not more than twenty feet above the ship's remaining standing mast.
“Prepare to be boarded,” a booming voice called down to them. They must have used an amplification device similar to Alexa's invention, because after having met Frobisher, Winn sincerely doubted the man was capable of such imposing volume.
A rope ladder unfurled down the edge of the dirigible's gondola and landed with a smack on the
Circe
's deck. Two men, accompanied by the lieutenant, lowered themselves. They stood at attention as their commander stepped forward, his face almost nose to nose with Winn's. The invasion of his personal space didn't sit well with Winn, but unlike his little brother Colt, he'd mastered his temper enough to know how to hold it back when need be.
“We meet again, Mr. Jackson. I understand you evaded my men in Paris. But you'd be amazed how easily a little torture can induce people to loosen their tongues. The priest and barman were most cooperative once we broke through the glamour the contessa placed on them. I can assume you are aboard this ship because you have located the Book?”
Winn ground his teeth and ignored the urge to punch him in the gut. It was a damn shame the same rules that applied to American Hunters didn't apply to the Brits as well. He would have beat a fellow Hunter to a pulp for things Frobisher had already done.
“You seem to have forgotten our engagement with Her Majesty. Her Highness Queen Victoria doesn't appreciate being kept waiting.”
The lieutenant's goggles caught the light, glinting as he stood with his hands behind his back, chest and chin lifted, master of the ship. An Amanarath crossbow was held by each of his men. “Well, it seems the Slayer and the contessa aren't nearly as clever as they believed.” His voice had an odd resonance to it, as if there were an echo, slightly deeper, right beneath his regular voice. “You should have known you couldn't evade me.”
“It was worth the try.” Winn glanced at the dirigible hanging overhead. “You know your queen is not capable of closing the Gates of Nyx.”
“Bind him.” Frobisher's mouth screwed into a wry smile as one of his men put his crossbow aside and did his bidding. Winn didn't fight, knowing what was at stake. “Where is the Book, Slayer?”
Winn jerked his head toward the pack on his back. “I got it.” The truth was, other than when he'd made love to Alexa, he'd never had the Book out of reach.
Alexa stepped up beside him, her chin lifted and her eyes fierce. “And there is no reason we should give it to you, Hunter. You're out of your jurisdiction, and if you try to take it, I assure you I'll bring a full diplomatic redress directly from one queen to another.”
The English Hunter raised his hand as if to slap Alexa, and she glared at him defiantly and hissed, her fangs bared. Some of the crew gasped in surprise. He stood his ground. “You're not a queen, yet. If you don't mind your manners,
Contessa
Drossenburg, you'll end up satisfying my curiosity about whether vampires can fly when I toss you over the side of my ship.”
That damn bastard.
Winchester strained so hard against his bonds, the ropes cut into the flesh of his wrists, making them burn.
“How dare you threaten her. You're nothing more than a fancy errand boy. She's nobility.”
Frobisher turned, his mouth twisted with malicious satisfaction. “I'm disappointed in you, Mr. Jackson. I wasn't aware that Slayers were so softhearted toward Darkin. Clearly another failing of your countrymen.”
Unable to rip him apart, Winn settled for spitting at him. The lieutenant pulled a pristine white handkerchief from his breast pocket and swiped away the glistening trail of spittle on his cheek. “Why Her Majesty cares whether you live or die is quite beyond me. You're no better than they are, Slayer.” He jerked his head in Alexa's direction. He spun on the heel of his highly polished boots and stomped back toward the ladder.
Without warning the
Circe
suddenly jerked, her propellers beginning to whop loudly as she started moving faster over the water. A fine spray of seawater began to course up along the ship's sides, and their speed steadily increased.