Part 31 (1/2)

If either of them had possessed any control before, her words broke that control. He plunged into her with fierce, sure strokes. She met each of his thrusts, frenzied, lost to everything but the feeling of his hands at her waist, his mouth on her neck, him deep inside her, stretching her, suffusing her with his heat and desire.

She struggled to keep her eyes open to see the prow cut the waves. Wind stroked her heated face as they raced into the night, and it felt, with Bennett thrusting into her, as though they were flying, carried aloft by their lovemaking. The pitch of the deck as it rode the waves pushed him even deeper within her. They were elemental, creatures of water and wind.

”I love you, London,” he groaned. One hand glided from her waist to stroke her where she was most sensitive. ”No words to say...”

At once, climax seized her. She flung herself into it, into the pleasure and joy he gave her. She felt herself destroyed and reborn. A heartbeat later and his release followed hers.

They sank back together, panting, boneless, bound together in body and heart. And all around them was the sea, wine-dark and eternal.

Chapter 18.

The Black Temple A wail rose up and hovered over the deck of the steams.h.i.+p-mournful, enraged, helpless. The sound curled like acrid smoke, thick and terrible. Had anyone with compa.s.sion heard the cry, they would have fallen to their knees and wept. But no one aboard the steams.h.i.+p, from the captain to the men shoveling coal into the furnace, possessed an ounce of empathy. Such men had made the misery of others their occupation. To them, the sound of lamentation was ordinary and tedious, hardly worth a moment's reflection.

There were others, though, who found the cry to be stimulating.

Joseph Edgeworth and Thomas Fraser watched, one man disinterested, the other t.i.tillated as John Chernock crouched over the Nereid. The black blade in his hand gleamed with the nymph's blood. Long cuts ran down the lengths of her arms and legs, and her hair lay in clumps around the deck, bits of coral and pearl still woven into it. The Nereid, pinned under the weight of the restraining spell, could only sob and writhe, calling to her sisters ma.s.sing around the hull of the steams.h.i.+p, but even they could do nothing but listen to the suffering of their sister. Chernock's spell sheltered the steams.h.i.+p, protecting it from the Nereids' retribution.

”Have you told me everything?” Chernock asked the imprisoned sea nymph. He sounded detached, like a dentist inquiring about his patient's holiday plans.

”Yes,” the Nereid whimpered. ”You know where the Black Temple is now. Release me.”

”You had better not be lying to me,” Chernock warned, still quite impersonal. He ran the blade down her neck, between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, with the promise of more pain.

From the aft of the s.h.i.+p came a howl, the sound of the rakshasa rakshasa demon scenting blood and pain. It longed to feed. But the enchanted chains that bound the demon held it fast. Only a word from Chernock could free it. demon scenting blood and pain. It longed to feed. But the enchanted chains that bound the demon held it fast. Only a word from Chernock could free it.

”Our kind is incapable of falsehood,” the Nereid answered, flinching.

”Perhaps I can test that.”

”Enough, Chernock,” snapped Edgeworth. ”We have all we need from the trollop. The captain's plotted our course. We haven't time for your little games.”

The sorcerer's icy calm frayed with annoyance as he glanced over his shoulder. ”But I want to see how much suffering an immortal body can withstand.”

”Perform your experiments later.” Edgeworth pulled a pocket.w.a.tch from his waistcoat pocket and frowned at the hour. ”The delay with the s.h.i.+p's wheel already cost us time.”

”Let me keep her, then.”

”And have those d.a.m.ned sea b.i.t.c.hes trailing after us?” Edgeworth tipped his head to the side, indicating the Nereids helplessly gathered around the steams.h.i.+p. ”No. Throw her back.”

”Must he, sir?” asked Fraser, disappointed.

Edgeworth shot him a disapproving glare. ”Just do it. I'm going below to send a letter through the Transportive Fire. When I come back, that thing better be gone.” He strode away.

With an irritated sigh, Chernock rose to his feet. What a missed opportunity! Edgeworth hadn't a proper sense of proportion. All he cared about were missions. Especially now that the truth about his traitorous daughter had at last come to light, bursting his illusions like a blister. Edgeworth was mortified by the failure of his daughter, and pushed harder now to seize the Greek Fire Source as if to atone or prove himself. He chased it with a determination that bordered on obsession. But there was so much more to being an Heir-such as chances to study and broaden knowledge that few other men would ever experience.

When the Blookseeker Spell had been broken, the Heirs were adrift, without direction. It had been Chernock's idea to summon the Nereids-those salt.w.a.ter trollops knew this sea better than any being-and it was a wonderful stroke of luck that he could ascertain more, not only as to where the Blades were heading, but also about the nymphs' pain tolerances. Or lack of tolerance, as it turned out. Yet so much more could be learned!

Perhaps Fraser could be an ally. Chernock dismissed that idea quickly. Even though Fraser would welcome any occasion to cause something pain, the fool was even more concerned with currying favor and toadying, particularly now that the possibility of Fraser marrying Edgeworth's wh.o.r.e daughter was no longer an option.

Still, the younger man looked visibly sorry when Chernock released the restraining spell with a wave of his hand. The Nereid rolled over and crawled to the railing, trails of blood smearing on the metal deck. With the heel of his shoe, Chernock shoved the Nereid into the water. Immediately, the other nymphs gathered around their wounded sister.

One of the sea maidens, her brow topped by a sh.e.l.l-encrusted diadem, looked up at Chernock. ”We curse you, sorcerer!” she hissed. ”The daughter of daughters shall cleave you before the eyes of the sea.”

Chernock did not bother answering. Nereids were nothing, merely some sea G.o.d's over-numerous offspring. They held no real power.

He turned away with a dismissive shrug, then grabbed the arm of a pa.s.sing crewman. ”Clean that up,” he said, pointing to the Nereid's spilled blood. ”But don't touch it. The ichor makes it poisonous to mortals.”

The crewman nodded, then went to fetch a mop and bucket.

”Tough luck, Chernock,” said Fraser, his tone somewhere between regretful and pleased. There wasn't a drop of camaraderie between him and Chernock, especially where internal politics were concerned. Fraser was only sorry that his viewing entertainment had been cut short.

”No matter,” the sorcerer sighed. ”We'll catch the Blades tomorrow. I'm sure, once we have Day, the witch, and the s.l.u.t, even Edgeworth will not object to a little magical experimentation.”

Fraser grinned openly at the thought. ”I hope not.”

Athena, lying snug in Kallas's arms, shot upright with a gasp.

”What is it, magesa magesa?” the captain asked sleepily. He stroked her bare leg.

”The b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” Athena choked. ”I shall tear him apart!”

Fully awake now, Kallas sat up and took her hands in his. ”Who?”

Athena shook with rage and horror. ”Chernock. The Heirs' sorcerer. He has tortured a Nereid. I can feel the sorrow of the nymphs calling out for vengeance.”

Now the rage was echoed in Kallas. ”I'm responsible. I was the one who summoned the Nereids.” responsible. I was the one who summoned the Nereids.”

”No, not you. The burden isn't yours but his his. I will make him pay,” Athena vowed.

”Not if I don't kill him first.”

For some time, the witch and the captain sat in joined silence, both silently swearing revenge, both determined to protect the other from having blood on their hands. When at last their hearts stopped pounding, and sleep tugged at them, they lay down together, fitted as snug as two halves of a sh.e.l.l. But the peace they shared earlier had been shattered.

London never knew the Aegean could possess so many mysteries. Before setting off on her voyage to Greece, she had extensively studied maps, read accounts, in Greek and other languages. The sea itself was not so large. It surrounded where civilizations had been born, where learning and thought had reached their apotheosis. Sailors such as Kallas had navigated the deep azure waters for millennia. Everything there was to be known about the Aegean had been set down in writing and song. The human mind encompa.s.sed all.

She should have realized by now that the human mind, the constructs of man, barely brushed at the edges of worlds and ideas epic and limitless in scope. Even something as traversed as a merchant-crossed sea could hold secrets.

On no map and in no written account had London seen reference to what the Nereids and Colossus called the Black Temple. And yet, there it was, an island just off the portside bow. It grew larger as the caique approached, larger and undeniable.

”Have you ever seen such a place?” she asked Bennett, standing beside her at the rail.