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Camila and Marisa walked up the path and reached the first challenge. The door in the small gatehouse blocking access to the dock. Luckily this one seemed to be guarded by a single man wearing a white uniform. Marisa smiled at her mother and stepped closer to the gate.
“Hello,” she said with a sultry tone.
The man looked at them through the mesh on the door. He nodded cautiously but took a step closer.
Marisa glanced at the ship at the end of the dock. Another security guard was watching them. She locked her eyes on the guard at the door and smiled.
His lips immediately matched her smile. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, I think you can. We were asked to join our good friend Oletha for a little fun.”
The man’s eyes were beginning to show a glassy aspect that indicated her influence was overcoming his will. Much quicker than normal, Marisa noted. He’d experienced this treatment before and potentially often.
“Maybe we could have a little fun too?” Marisa said, setting the hook.
“On… on a list…” he muttered.
“She just called us. She was very insistent. I’d hate to make her wait.” Marisa said with a pout, and the guard’s resistance crumbled.
“Sure, right.” He reached out and opened the door for them.
“Do you need to tell your friend back there everything is good?” Camila suggested with a little push.
“Of course,” he replied and touched his shoulder.
Camila and Marisa walked past, and each gave him a little kiss on the cheek, blanking his mind. “Open the door for our friends who will be coming shortly, alright?” the brunette said, and he just nodded.
That taken care of they walked towards the end of the dock, eyes scanning the boats lining each side. They counted twenty-four boats in total with the larger yacht at the end. There wasn’t one light showing in any of the boats and glancing over at the docks on either side they saw no lights there either.
“Did you notice something off about his compliance?” Marisa whispered to Camila, maintaining her smile.
“Something wrong there. I’ll take the next one,” the brunette responded then slid a brilliant smile on her lips as they reached the guard at the gangway for the yacht.
“May I help you?” the guard said, glancing beyond them in annoyance at his counterpart back at the gate.
Camila moved forward slightly to catch his eye. She decided to convince this one with the least amount of push as he also showed small signs of abuse.
“Hello, I’m Camila Villamor. I’m here to speak with Marquise Oletha Thanemark. She’ll want to speak to us. It’s in regards to our mutual acquaintance, Nathan Walker.”
The man opened his mouth, most likely to deny she was onboard but stopped short when Camila and Marisa both gave him a look. With another scowl at the guard by the gate, he turned and walked up the gangway and stepped into a doorway.
Marisa looked to her mother. “That was bold. What if she wasn’t here?” she whispered
Camila smiled slightly and spoke equally quiet. “She’s here. I can smell her on these two. She’s leaned on them heavily. Besides, she traveled all this way for a precious cargo she’s tried so often to acquire; she’s not going to leave it unguarded until she gets it home.”
There was a deep rumble as the yacht’s motors throbbed to life. They shared another look. The Marquise was going to run.
There was a terrible grinding screech noise then the motors went silent. Camila smiled at her daughter.
The door on the cabin above them flew open, and a tall, slim raven-haired woman stormed out and down the gangway.
She stopped at the bottom and glared at them. Hostility was rolling off her in waves. “What have you done to my ship?” she said with a glacial tone.
“What have you done with our friend?” Camila asked calmly.
Eyes locked and the air between Oletha and Camila crackled with energy as each tested the other’s will. Camila felt the pressure the Succubus had abused the Human crew with but fed her energies into pushing back.
“You two don’t have any idea who you’re dealing with. You’re infants compared to me,” Oletha said contemptuously as she completely ignored Marisa, concentrating her effort on Camila who refused to crack under strain.
“You’re Marquise Oletha Thanemark. From England. A visitor to our home,” Marisa said.
“You need to turn around… and walk away,” Oletha said slowly and crisply, death implied in each word.
Camila held the woman’s eyes. “That isn’t going to happen.”
“She doesn’t know who he belongs to, does she?” Marisa asked her mother, her eyes never leaving the Marquise.
“He’s mine, and I’ll kill you both before you set foot on this ship!” Oletha spat, frustrated by Camila’s unnatural ability to hold her at bay.
“You know when he came from, don’t you?” Marisa continued.
Oletha heard the emphasis, and her expression froze just a little. She wasn’t aware anyone else knew.
“Do you know anyone powerful enough to pull someone from the past? It’s not us.” Marisa admitted freely.
Oletha’s dark eyes were beginning to show doubt, and she hated that feeling. If she couldn’t overpower the bitch’s will, she had other weapons at her disposal. She’d ensured privacy by convincing all of the owners of the surrounding boat they should go home for the week. The crew was currently under her thrall, and she’d clear their memories after the trip, so she wasn’t worried about them.
“She’s not going to listen to reason,” Marisa sighed as she tried to loosen her grip on her seer sight just a little to read the Marquise. Her mind suddenly filled with flashes of blood and pain, death, slavery, and mad laughter. She staggered back under the assault and landed on her ass.
Camila’s attention shifted for a split second and Oletha launched herself forward with a savage grin. Claws extended and a lightning fast slash would open that throat-
Except she wasn’t there. The swipe missed Camila by a foot at least. She shouldn’t be able to react and move that fast! Snarling, Oletha fed her rage into her strength and launched another attack.
From the outside, they looked like a blur with an occasional grunt or brief cry of pain.
When they stopped, they were halfway back to the gatehouse. They were both breathing hard, and both were sporting blood from a number of shallow cuts.
Oletha saw her opponent was tiring while she still had the energy to spare. With age came capacity and she’d been feeding off the crew during the trip over. She knew she’d mentally break them by the time they returned home, but she didn’t care about the fate of a few useless Humans. Not when she had a new race of powerful Succubi and Incubi to create with Nate’s assistance. Willing or not.
The bitch she faced now wasn’t going to interfere with her plans.
She was going to die.
-=-
Sigrid watched from a distance away in the shadows. She was waiting for Camila to capture the woman’s attention completely. When they blurred into hazy shapes, Sigrid launched herself skyward and spread her wings as she forced back the light. That was extremely difficult to concentrate on while attempting to stay in the air. It took way too much energy, but she beat her shadowy wings until she was shooting forward towards the stern of the yacht. There was one crew member there looking down into the waters behind the ship.
At the last second, she swooped upwards, tucked her wings away, and dropped in a ballistic arc right onto the crewman whose face slammed against the railing as she drove him to the deck. Sigrid confirmed he was still breathing, but he was unconscious. She hustled forward and made it inside. She quickly rushed through the passageways on her way to the front of the ship, pausing only to glance inside each room as she went. She took out two more crew, slamming them against bulkheads and doorways. Finally, she entered a bedroom with a man chained to the bed. This had to be him. Then again, the woman was a Succubus. She might have a few men chained to beds.
“Nate? Nate Walker? I’m Sigrid, a friend of Camila Villamor’s.” she said to the sleeping man.
Eyes popped open as he’d been faking his sleep. “Thank god! Do you have the keys to these cuffs?”
“No, close your eyes, tight. Don’t open them until I say and DON’T MOVE,” she instructed.
He looked at her cautiously but did as she asked.
Sigrid pulled her sword, and it flashed brilliantly as she struck the chains, severing them like brittle plastic. She put the sword away throwing the room into darkness. “Ok, you’re loose.”
Nate opened his eyes again. “What was that bright light?” he asked.
“A mistake. It’s given away my presence. We have to go now to get you off the ship!” Sigrid growled.
One of the guards suddenly burst into the room with a gun in his hand. Before he’d completed his step, Sigrid had her shield up and leapt across the room to slam him against the wall. As he collapsed, the gun bounced loose and fell at Nate’s feet.This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.
Blinking away the spots he was seeing from the flash of her shield, Nate bent to pick up the gun.
“Have you used one before?” Sigrid asked sternly.