Cape Storm Page 0,66

pretty much everybody else followed the bartender's lead and got the hell out of Dodge.

My back didn't hurt anymore. It also wasn't numb. It felt normal, natural... and as I angled around to get a look in the still-intact bar mirror, I saw the shadow of a black form under the new skin.

A torch, embedded instead of tattooed.

Much, much larger.

One or two of the ship's staff hadn't fled with the rest. One stern-looking woman poured me a second vodka tonic without being asked. "On the house," she said. "If you can get us out of this and home, you're welcome to drink the place dry." I drank it all in a gulp, and said, "Two things. First, if I want to drink this place dry, you definitely haven't got a thing on board this floating sewage plant that can stop me. Second, you're not going home. Get used to the idea."

Then I tossed a twenty on the bar and resumed my stroll. I paused at the big, flat stern of the ship to gaze out over our churning gray wake. Nothing in sight, not on any side, but open water and storm.

I leaned on the railing and opened myself up through the darkness, searching. It didn't take me long to find the wellspring of that black flood. It was directly to starboard, and close.

Maybe a day away, if that.

"I'm coming," I whispered into the dark. "You're getting what you wanted, you evil old bastard."

I felt Bad Bob's chuckle inside me like lips against skin. "Knew you wouldn't let me down, little girl," he said. When I shut my eyes I could see him standing beside me in ghostly outlines. "You bring me the ship and the Wardens. That's a good start to our work. From then on, no limits. No limits at all."

"On my way," I said, and broke the connection with him. I used my Earth powers to lock out the computer controls of the ship and put in the destination.

Then I went in search of more vodka.

* * *

By early morning, the black torch mark was a bold swirl beneath my skin, stretching from the flame at the nape of my neck to the elaborate scrolled cap, just below the flare of my hips. The flames at its top weren't just black ink anymore. They were real fire, moving silently beneath the translucent covering of my flesh. It was the ultimate tribal stamp, declaring who and what I was to anyone with the courage to look.

It should have frightened me, I guess. Instead, I admired it for a moment, then picked up the hair dryer and began to make myself presentable for the day.

An hour later, I strode out from the cabin - perfectly put together. My hair was curly and tumbling glossy black down toward my waist. I wore a skimpy aqua-blue top with cap sleeves that bared most of my midriff, and low-rise jeans that hugged every curve. David had stocked the closets with anything I might want, for any conceivable mood or occasion.

I decided today was Seduction Day.

I ran into Cherise and Kevin in the hallway. They were talking with that suppressed urgency of two people trying to keep a secret, and they stopped when they saw me.

"What?" I put my hands on my hips and raised my eyebrows. "Not enjoying the three-hour tour, Mary Ann? Of course, that makes him Gilligan. It fits." Cherise didn't smile. I'd never seen her not-smile at a Gilligan's Island joke before. "We should talk," she said. There was a faint quiver in her voice, and I saw her take Kevin's hand for support. "Maybe back in the room?"

"Maybe you should get out of my way and stop bothering me," I said. I let it lie there for a few seconds, then lightened it up with a grin that felt strange on my lips. "I mean, you're between me and breakfast. You know how dangerous that is."

"Don't," Kevin said.

"Don't what?"

"Don't you fucking dare threaten her. She's trying to save your life." Kevin stepped in front of her, or tried to. Cherise hauled him back and gave him a look that would have frozen Lake Michigan. "Sorry." Insignificant as she might be, Cherise wanted to fight her own battles. Well, I could have told him that.

"I just want to talk," Cherise said, returning her attention to me. "Please." She didn't demand anything, and I knew that if I pushed it, she'd back down. And I was tempted to push, very