20. Yo-ho, Yo-ho, a Pirate’s Life for Me

TWENTY

yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me

The door opens, and Kragen enters, wearing a captain's uniform that rivals mine in age. Compared to the costume he wore to greet the French visitors, this one is authentic and perfect. The royal blue long coat looks to be made from velvet and is the perfect accent to the stark white linen shirt underneath. His normally dark hair is covered by a white wig with braids tied throughout. He looks like the iconic pirate I've seen depicted in movies and books throughout the years.

"You look quite lovely, my dear." He holds his hand toward me. "We will make a fine couple."

I have no idea how I'm getting out of this, but there's no way in hell I'm marrying Kragen. I smile, laying my hand on top of his, and allow him to lead me from the room onto the main deck. "Where is everyone?" I ask, looking around the empty ship.

"The wedding will take place on land. Shall we join them?" Together, we jump from the deck to the shore edge where a group of vampires is beginning to gather.

"Where is the treasure?" I ask, looking around.

"That is none of your concern."

I pull away from his hold. "That is my concern. Where is the treasure?"

"They're over there," Gordon answers, nodding his head toward a portable storage building that wasn't there earlier. He giggles as he nods. "This is going to be so much fun. A wedding and a hunt. All the makings of a perfect evening."

Several minutes pass before the remaining vampires join us. With the addition of the French crew, I count twenty-four. Shit. That's too many.

The moment I see Bertram, my heart stops. I'm willing to sacrifice my life for these humans, but I won't allow him to do the same.

"Oh, look. Your family's here," Kragen says, seeing Bert. "He's going to walk you down the aisle."

"There isn't an aisle."

"Semantics," he repeats my words from earlier.

"What a lovely bride," the shorter French vampire says. "A vision of beauty."

"I want to speak to my brother," I announce to the small group. "We need time to catch up."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." Kragen snaps his fingers, and three vampires I don't recognize come from the wooded area, carrying the bodies of three others. They throw the bodies in a heap not far away. " Are these the men you are hoping to speak to Bertram about?"

My eyes grow large at the understanding of who the bodies are. The three vampires Bert mentioned during our conversation. Bert's eyes close in recognition of what's happened. "What did you do?" I ask, staring at the two of them.

"I would think that is obvious." Kragen straightens the flowery cuffs of his shirt. "But since it's your wedding day, I will indulge you." He kicks the legs of one of the men. "I had them killed. The mere fact that your brother is still alive is due to his help in identifying these traitors."

"Bertram?"

"Aye," he answers.

"You told him?"

"I had no choice."

My mind reels through the information I shared with him. I told him about Thorne. Dammit. My brother betrayed me.

"You always have a choice," I spew. "After everything?"

"What everything? You're the reason I'm a vampire in the first place. If I hadn't gone looking for you, none of this would've ever happened. I would've married a voluptuous young American woman and had a brood of children. Now, what do I have to look forward to? Eating rodents, chasing terrified humans? What kind of life is that, Bethie?"

"You don't get to call me that," I spew, anger filling me. "I trusted you." I fight the tears from escaping.

"That was your fault," he answers. "I'm sorry I wasn't as good as the perfect Charles. I was never able to fill his shoes. Nothing I did was ever good enough for anyone."

"You did this because of some deep-seated childhood trauma? We all have fucking trauma, Bert. It's how we use that trauma that makes us into the people we are today. If you want to sit around and feel sorry for yourself for the rest of your life, then so be it. That's not me."

"I didn't do this to hurt you. It's me I want to hurt," he argues.

"What are you talking about?"

"I want to die, Elsie."

Kragen claps his hands loudly. "I can make that happen."

"No." I move between my brother and Kragen. "Leave him alone."

"Did you hear the same whining performance that I did? Yet you're still trying to protect him?" Kragen laughs. "Protect the brother who sold you out?"

"Aye," I answer.

"Very well." Kragen steps away from the two of us. "It's time for the ceremony."

He leads me to the makeshift altar, which in actuality is nothing more than branches from a live oak tree twisted together. He pulls away, leaving me alone, before motioning to the shorter French vampire.

The man steps in front of me and smiles deeply. "You look beautiful, wife."

Wife? What the hell? "What is he talking about?"

The French vampire slaps me across the face, the force pushing me into one of the trees behind me. "Don't speak to him," he warns. "You are mine, now."

Kragen smiles, showing the monstrous teeth I remember from years ago. "Did you think we were getting married?" He laughs deeply.

"No, my dear. You have been bought and very well paid for, I might say. What happens to you next is not my concern…nor has it ever been."

"You son of a bitch!" I turn toward my soon-to-be husband. "I will not marry you," I spew.

His face transforms into something from nightmares. "Perform the ceremony."

I turn, ripping the skirt from the dress, and hear an audible gasp from Gordon not far behind me. I continue ripping until reaching the pantaloons that all women wore underneath heavy dresses during that time period.

I turn away from the ensuing chaos with the intention of freeing as many humans as possible. Fuck the wedding, fuck Kragen, and fuck my future husband. I move vampire speed when an energy I'd recognize anywhere hits me square in the chest. I stop, turning toward the source, and hear a voice that brings tears to my eyes.

"I'm here, and I'm not alone," Thorne's voice whispers through my mind from somewhere out of sight. I don't know how he communicated through my mind, but I'm not questioning it.

Turning back toward the wedding party, I'm surprised to see no one has moved. In fact, my groom looks quite bored with the situation. "Are you finished?" Kragen asks.

"No." I laugh. "I'm just getting started." Seconds later, I'm standing in front of the treasure box full of terrified humans. Breaking open the lock, I open the doors wide. In front of me is an image that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Human children are huddled in the back of the unit. They're filthy and wearing nothing but rags. As soon as the door opens, they cower further against the walls. "It's okay, you're safe," I lie.

"It looks like your bride is starting the games early," Kragen announces.

"I'm out of the mood to marry that bitch now," my French friend adds. "I'll expect a full refund." The visitor raises his nose high in the air. "Does anyone else smell dog?"

Kragen and the crew of vampires behind him copy his movements, lifting their noses to the sky, smelling the same scent. I smile, knowingly.

"What have you done, my dear?" Kragen asks, a wide smile covering his face. "This just got more interesting."

"I've done nothing, my dear, but I'm excited to see the outcome."

I feel their energy before I see them. They're all around me. Not only do I feel Thorne, but an overwhelming amount of lycan energy fills the woods nearby. I wedge the door tight, hoping to keep the children safe for a while longer.

Thorne moves to my side seconds later, lacing his fingers through mine. "Hello, beautiful."

"God, I'm glad to see you."

"Sorry it took so long. We got lost a few times."

I turn, facing the man I love. He's wearing the same clothes as the day I left, and his hair is a disheveled mess. "Your timing is impeccable."

He smiles, looking me up and down. "It seems you've been busy."

"Captain Hawthorne Rex, I believe," Kragen greets Thorne. "I don't remember extending an invitation to the games, but who am I to argue?" He lifts his hands to the side. "The more, the merrier."

"Glad to hear it, Kragen. I brought a few of my friends."

As he speaks, three vampires I don't recognize step on the other side of Thorne. Two men who dwarf Thorne and a woman with coal black hair join our fight. "Elsie, this is Abram, Elias, and Samirah. "

"Hello," they greet in unison.

"Thank you for coming."

Samirah laughs. "Thorne wouldn't take no for an answer."

On cue, a symphony of howls echoes through the woods behind us. "Connor brought a few friends as well," Thorne adds.

"Free the treasure!" I yell toward Kragen.

"I'm growing bored with this," he answers. "It doesn't matter how many dogs or weak vampires you brought, you don't stand a chance."

"Bertram is with Kragen," I whisper to Thorne.

"Your brother, Bertram?"

"Aye. No one is to harm him."

"Understood," the vampires answer in unison again, making me wonder if they're some strange sort of triplets.

"You'll have to go through us to reach the treasure," I issue a threat to Kragen and the French boys.

"That sounds like fun," my French ex-future husband answers. "What do you think, Pierre?" he asks the taller of the two.

"Agreed, Jon Paul. It's been a few centuries since we've participated in such doings." The two men's, along with the vampires they brought with them, eyes turn solid black, as their faces contort.

"Here they come," Samirah whispers as the group begins moving.

Out of nowhere, a wolf appears on my other side. Without asking, I know that it's Micah. Large green eyes look into mine before he leaps on top of one of the younger French vampires, ripping its head from its torso without much effort.

A group of wolves moves from behind the wedding party. A smaller wolf makes the first move, jumping on Gordon, she copies Micah's movement from earlier, tearing his head from his body.

Grabbing a small branch from one of the oak trees, I run toward several of Kragen's younger vampires, piercing their hearts before they know what happened. Both collapse to the ground instantly.

The sounds of a war raging fill the air as lycan appear from seemingly nowhere, taking out the weaker vampires first. Kragen, Pierre, and Jon Paul watch in amusement as the fight ensues around them.

Setting my sights on the French guests first, I move vampire speed in front of them. Two younger vampires are standing in front of their makers, acting as their personal guards. I smirk at the irony. "You let your children protect you?"

"That's what they're for," Pierre answers.

"They're expendable," Jon Paul adds.

I move faster than eyes can track, jumping behind the young vampire guarding Pierre and ripping his head from his body. "One down, one to go," I tease. Pierre doesn't look fazed that I just killed his guard.

Copying my moves from earlier, I do the same to the one guarding Jon Paul, leaving the two French aristocrats unguarded and alone. "Well done," Jon Paul says with a yawn. "Now what?"

"Now, it's your turn."

Pierre steps in front of Jon Paul. "Dear girl, do you know how old we are? Even you with your pretentious puppy dog parade don't stand a chance against the likes of us. My name is Pierre Dubois, and I am over five hundred years old."

"Congratulations?"

"Imbecile," Jon Paul continues. Faster than my eyes can track movement happens behind both of the ancient vampires. In the blink of an eye, their heads are severed from their bodies and lying on the ground at their feet. What the hell just happened?

It takes a few minutes to connect the dots. Kragen is standing near them, his face covered in dark blood. "Those two were annoying," he says, wiping a dark stain on the crisp white shirt. "Besides, I offer no refunds." He straightens his coat and cuffs. "It's time for this to end. Call them off."

"No."

He looks up, completely confused by the word foreign to his vocabulary.

"Elsie, you're not going to survive this," Bert says from behind Kragen. "None of you will. Is it worth it?"

"I would rather die than be Kragen's slave any longer."

"Is it worth it to lose the captain?" he nods toward Thorne, who just killed two of Kragen's men .

"Thorne makes his own decisions," I retort.

In the time the three of us have been talking, the lycan and vampires with Thorne have destroyed all of the French vampires' men, along with Kragen's. All that's left are he and Bert.

"Your men are dead, Kragen. You're outnumbered and out manpowered. You're not going to survive this."

Kragen laughs. "I have been outnumbered before, my dear." He turns toward Bert, grabs my brother's arm, and jumps both of them to the deck of the ship. Seconds later, two explosions rock the shore, throwing the lycan and vampire to the ground.

Thorne is at my side instantly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I stand, brushing the sand mixture from my face. "He's got Bert." We stand in awe as the sails rise on the pirate ship, filling with wind, and taking the ship toward the Atlantic.

"This just got more interesting," Micah says from beside me. He's in human form and doesn't seem fazed by the fact that he's naked.

"Aye, it did," Thorne adds.

The next few hours are spent cleaning up any remnants of the fight and dealing with the human victims. When all is said and done, surprisingly only one lycan was injured. I don't know how or why everyone survived, but I'm not questioning it.

"That has to be the slowest escape in the history of escapes," Luna says, coming to my side. "We could stop them in minutes." The two of us stare at the disappearing sails of the ancient ship as it disappears into the ocean beyond. "It's not like he can outrun us or sneak away."

"No, but I don't doubt that anyone who tries to board that ship will die."

"Yeah, I figured." She reaches an arm around me, pulling me close. "You were amazing out there. You're pretty badass."

I smile, not used to receiving compliments. "Thank you. You're pretty badass yourself." I nod toward the now empty storage unit. "How are the kids?"

She shrugs. "Traumatized, but alive. I can't imagine what they've been through. They'll have a rough road ahead of them, but they're going to be okay. Brittney's on her way with several local police officials to help."

On cue, a white minivan pulls to a stop. "Oh, my God," Brittney exclaims, climbing out of her car. She runs to me, wrapping her thin arms behind my back. "I'm so glad you're alive."

"Brittney told me where you were," Thorne interrupts, coming to my side. "If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have gotten here in time."

I hug her a second time. "Thank you, Brittney."

"You're welcome, sugar. Now, where are those babies I need to look at?" Two ambulances and several police cars arrive, parking behind the minivan. "The calvary's here," she says, moving toward the huddled and terrified children.

"The lycan have fulfilled their end of our bargain," Connor says, moving beside our small group.

Thorne shakes the large man's hand. "Thank you, my friend. We couldn't have done it without you."

"I'd like to see this through," Micah says to his father. "This isn't over." He nods toward the ship that's nearly out of sight.

The Alpha nods, giving his son permission to stay. "Be careful."

"I'm staying, too," Luna adds. "That son of a bitch doesn't deserve to live."