Cursed of moon

Chapter 19

The nighttime sky loomed above us as Barnabas’s ship sailed through open water. We’d sailed so far out to sea that I could no longer see land, which meant the night sky dominated the view.

During the day, the fae lands’ sky was a pale green with white and pastel-colored clouds, but at night it was a sea of black with luminous stars, three moons, distant planets, and a strip of the cloudy galaxy. It was even more beautiful than earth’s night sky.

Barnabas stood at the helm of his ship, singing quite boisterously, while Kaillen had planted himself at the bow. My mate’s shoulders were tensed as he conducted whatever sorcerer mojo he used while hunting.

“Southwest!” Kaillen called over his shoulder to the vamp. “Angle us slightly to the south.” He closed his eyes, his nose lifting again.

“Aye-aye, matey!” Barnabas veered the ship to the portside, and the sleek vessel cut through the water like a shark.

I approached Kaillen tentatively. His brow was furrowed, his eyes closed. A part of me wondered if I should disturb him or not, but I was so intrigued by his hunting skills that my feet moved of their own accord.

Even though I approached him silently, my wolf’s skills coming in handy as the ship rocked beneath my feet, he still reached out a hand for me while his eyes stayed closed.

My fingers threaded through his, my wolf rumbling in contentment at the contact. A low answering vibration came from Kaillen through our bond, as though his wolf had a similar response.

I sighed. Even though our wolves had thoroughly taken over in that way, I was coming to accept it.

“Am I bothering you?” I asked quietly. “I don’t want to mess up whatever you’re doing to find Jakub.”

Kaillen squeezed my hand, his palm warm and rough. “You could never bother me.”

Smothering the warm feeling that statement provoked, I stood silently at his side as he continued cha

The wind flapped the sails as the vessel rolled beneath my feet. While I’d never spent much time on the open water, despite living on Lake Michigan, I was coming to realize I enjoyed it.

A heaving sound came from the back.

“Poor Fallon,” I murmured, glancing over my shoulder to see the fairy leaning over the railing. My own stomach became queasy listening to him. It was the fourth time he’d retched. I’d tried to help him earlier, but he’d been so stoic and had dismissed my concerns. Now, though? I had a feeling maybe he’d changed his mind.

“Be right back.” I squeezed Kaillen’s hand as my mate’s brow furrowed again.

“South more,” he called to Barnabas over the singing.

The vamp winked at me when I passed, his baritone song pouring from his lips like he’d been made to sing at the Sydney Opera House.

I ventured toward Fallon, as the ship dipped. Salty wind caressed my cheeks, and the night sky shone like a dome above us.

When I reached the fairy’s side, I extracted a potion from my belt. “This will help. You should really take it.”

The fairy wiped at his mouth, his complexion ashen in the starlight. He eyed the potion warily. “What is it?”

“A potion I try not to leave home without. It’s one of my own remedies to be used when any sickness prevails. It won’t make you immune to the sea forever, but it should help for the next forty-eight hours.”

His eyebrow quirked, and I could tell he was trying to look nonchalant and tough, but he totally just looked sick and miserable, and judging from the green tint that had entered his complexion, he was also about to hurl his guts out for the fifth time.

“You don’t have to take it, but I’d advise you to.” Especially since we had no idea what lay ahead if we caught up to Jakub.

He took the potion and uncorked it before sniffing. “Is there pallfenroot in here?”

“Yep, it’s one of a few fae ingredients along with a few from earth, but it also has a hefty dose of magic added into it that does the trick.”

He gave me a side-eye. “And this won’t make me sicker?”

“No. It’ll make you better. Promise.”

He let out a breath when another wave rocked the boat hard, then downed the contents in one swallow while holding onto the railing. He made a face, as if he were going to throw up again.

“Sorry.” I twisted my hands. “Did I forget to mention that the taste isn’t pleasant?”

He gave me a weighted look. “It’s repugnant.”

“You’ll still thank me in a few minutes.”

I turned before the fairy could respond, knowing he probably wanted to compose himself as the potion took hold.

I made my way back to the helm where Barnabas was in his glory days as Kaillen had called it.

The vamp’s animated singing hadn’t abated. If anything, he was singing louder. I swallowed a laugh when I actually listened to the words.

Oh, the earth we sail, and the waves we tide.

She’s got big tits on those swells we ride.

We thrust and pull o’re the water’s tithe.

And dream of our lovelies as they writhe.

“Is that a song from your sailing days?” I tried to keep a straight face when I reached him.

Barnabas gri

But if the vamp heard him, he didn’t let on. Facing me fully, his hands stayed on the ship’s wheel as he gri

“Barnabas, enough already.” Kaillen pinched the bridge of his nose, and I swallowed another laugh.

“Are your songs always that perverted?” I asked when the ship dipped into another swell.

“Oh, most usually. I do fantasize regularly about women’s breas—”

Kaillen slapped a hand over the vamp’s mouth. “My mate doesn’t need to hear about your wet dream material.”

Barnabas side-stepped, expelling Kaillen’s palm. “Oh, I think she would enjoy it. In fact, I think that’s why she asked.” He smiled broadly and waggled his eyebrows.

Kaillen’s eyes rolled skyward just as Fallon came lumbering over from the back of the boat.

“Feeling better?” I asked. The pea-green hue had left his face, and he stood straighter, not looking at death’s door anymore or like he was going to curl over and spew his stomach contents onto the bone-white deck.

“Much.” He joined his friends at the helm, then eyed me again. “You really made up that potion?”

“I did. I own a magic shop in Chicago, and I craft all of our spells, hexes, brews, potions, and everything else we sell. It’s kind of my specialty.” I jolted the second that comment left my lips. I’d just declared to someone I barely knew the strength of my power. And to think only a month ago I was still hiding it and would have given all of the credit to Tessa.

Fallon lifted his brows just as Barnabas hissed, “And I believe we’ve caught him at last.”

All of us straightened, our gazes cutting to the horizon where Barnabas had his eyes trained.

In the distance, something glinted off the waves, like a diamond reflecting moonlight.

“Is that really him?” My heart picked up a staccato beat as my wolf got to her feet, hackles rising.

Fire glittered in Kaillen’s irises. “That’s him.”

A stone settled in my stomach, as Barnabas launched into a new song about sex-deprived sailors and sirens who lured them to their deaths.

We grew closer to Jakub’s ship glittering on the horizon. I assumed once we were in hearing distance of Jakub and his minions, that the vamp would curb his obvious enthusiasm about being on the open sea, but I couldn’t be sure.

Kaillen lifted his hand, a spell shooting from his fingertips. His illusion magic descended over us, a veil glimmering over the ship like a dark shroud.

A deadly burn of satisfaction coursed through me that we were closing in on Jakub’s tail, and he probably had no idea. Because for the first time since my life had been thrown into upheaval, I was no longer the hunted.

Now, I was the hunter, and I was coming to collect my prey.

∞     ∞     ∞

“How are we going to play this?” Fallon asked as he sharpened a blade with a stone. His weapon was long and lean, with a curve at the end. A slight mist wafted over the blade every time it slid over the rock, making me think it was spelled.

“We do it like in the glory days,” Barnabas replied. “We slam into his vessel, jump aboard, and then battle every last one of his crew until we claim victory and the spoils of their riches.”

“What are their riches?” I asked.

Barnabas stroked his chin. “Well, that I ca

Fallon shook his head. “Seriously, all he needs is a parrot on his shoulder and an eyepatch.”

“That could be arranged,” Kaillen replied dryly.

We were fast approaching Jakub’s ship. The vessel Jakub-Dipshit traveled on was larger than The Only Lady I’ve Ever Loved, but it was clunky, which had allowed Barnabas’s sleeker boat to catch up with him easily.

Surprisingly, Jakub’s ship wasn’t veiled under a spell, leading me to think that he knew the SF hadn’t been able to pursue him. Or perhaps he was so incredibly arrogant that he didn’t think anyone could stop him.

My blood boiled just thinking about that insufferable ass. If the man who’d tried to capture me in Philadelphia was indeed Jakub, then he had another thing coming if he thought he could escape.

“How many do you think are on board?” Fallon sheathed his blade, the slice of his knife ringing through the night.

“Valahan said that he traveled with a group of supernaturals.” Kaillen cinched down the straps on his harness, then checked his cargo pant pockets. The man was a literal walking nightmare. He had so many blades, potions, and magical devices strapped to him that I wondered if he even knew where all of them were.

“Even though there are only four of us, we have the element of surprise. I daresay that this shall be an easy capture.” Barnabas turned the wheel again, and the ship’s sails billowed in the night wind.

“When do you think we’ll reach them?” I inched closer to Kaillen, and his hand automatically went to my lower back. I melted into the feel of him, loving his warmth and the strength that radiated from him.

His strong fingers massaged my muscles, and the scent of musk and iron rose from him.

“We shall be ramming their ship within the hour,” Barnabas replied. “I still enjoy seeing The Only Lady I’ve Ever Loved utilized in the way in which she was designed.”

“Meaning what?” I asked.