THE QUESTERS, PART XIV

Alexander - who seemed capable of mastering anything seaworthy - finally had the mastless ship moving westward. However, the wind had picked up and was in our face. The spray at our prow seemed to glow slightly in the moonlight as the temperature steadily dropped.

A woman and a boy were sitting with the other prisoners. I sat next to them and pulled off my mask. The other prisoners shifted uneasily. My armor looks frightening to many.

"Hello, Cali," I said to the woman.

The woman was a Wilder brunette with light brown skin and dark hair, who wasn't young but wasn't old. There were shackle marks on her wrists and ankles, and she was clad in a dress that had once been respectable but was now filthy, oil-stained, and torn. She was sitting cross-legged on the deck. The other prisoner's head was resting in her lap while she gently stroked his hair. He was young and the vampires had been feeding on him. The boy was unconscious and looked disturbingly pale in the moonlight.

I took the boy's wrist in my hand and checked his pulse. It was weak but seemed steady.

The First Spider whispered to me as I touched the boy. I knew what that meant. I'd hoped that we wouldn't have to kill him. Perhaps that trick with Rahne's blood might help?

At the moment, Rahne was sitting at the prow of the mastless ship. She was staring off into the distance, the cold spray apparently not bothering her. Faye stood next to Rahne, obviously concerned about her friend. Beck had taken off her blue uniform jacket and put it around Rahne's shoulders.

Rose had earlier warned me to stay away from Rahne. She was deep into the strange world of the Seekers - a place of signs, monsters, spirits, and gods. She was talking to the ghosts of the mastless ship, and it would be unwise to disturb her.

I looked up at Rose. She was watching us. Then she shook her head.

I drew my swords and put them crosswise in my lap, their hilts exposed for a quick grab.

Cali looked at me wanly. She seemed remarkably calm considering what she had experienced. And she didn't react when I drew my weapons.

"You're Jonah, right?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes. It's been a while since we met."

"Back at the caravan," Cali recalled. "Just after we were attacked by those lizard monsters. We ended up riding in the same carriage. We spent the rest of the trip talking, but without really saying much of anything. We both had secrets to hide."

I nodded as her eyes trailed over the armor I was wearing. My quadrant arms had been retracted and mostly out of the way. But now they were uneasily slithering out of my armor. They were reacting to how I felt.

"Is that armor what was in your pack?" Cali asked tiredly. "The pack you wouldn't let out of your sight?"

I nodded again. "It's on loan. The wife of the man who made it - he's dead - is allowing me to use it. Now, why don't you tell me who you really are and how you ended up here?"

She took a deep and shaky breath, and then let it out. "My name really is Cali. Cali Wing. I'm a field agent for the Dragon's Daughters."

That surprised me. The Daughters is an ancient organization that's based out of N'Yack. They are often described as mercenary spies, but the truth is more complex. What they actually do is perform investigations - any kind of investigation - for anyone who has the money to hire their services.

"Are you a psychic?" I asked. It's rumored that the Daughters have Wilder psychics in their employ.

Cali shook her head. "No. I'm a computer."

That also surprised me. Computers are an uncommon form of mentalist. They have perfect memory and can do mathematical operations in their heads that ordinary people can't even begin to attempt. Many serve with the Starkian cult.

"That's not a talent I'd associate with the Daughters," I said with a shake of my head.

Cali's lips quirked mirthlessly. "I spend a lot of time checking the account books of untrustworthy businessmen and family agents, looking for signs of fraud or theft. Actually, my services are usually in demand."

I cocked my head at Cali. "So how did an accountant-investigator find herself aboard a vampire vessel?"

Cali's facade of imperturbability cracked slightly. "I checked the wrong books," she said with a quaver in her voice. "They were for a shipping concern owned by a wealthy Provd family. The family had become suspicious of their manager. I was sent to investigate - I was on my way when we first met - and I ran right into the Hand. I assume they're better at killing people than they are at faking their books. I wish I'd been better at hiding that I'd found irregularities in their book-keeping."

"Cali," I said slowly, "if you know anything about what's going on here, we need to hear it."

She took a deep breath and then let it out. "The Hand and the vampires are working together. I assume people are being kidnapped and transported to become blood sources for vampires."

That was nothing new, of course, but I nodded.

The boy twitched. At the same time, the First Spider sent a strong ripple of warning throughout my body and soul.

I leaned over and touched the boy's forehead. It was becoming hot. Prying his upper lip back, I could see that he had a full set of fangs.

"Dammit," I whispered.

"No," Cali whispered. She had one hand on the boy's forehead and the other on his bare chest, trying to hold him in place.

"Rose!" I called over my shoulder, trying to keep my voice level.

"Oh, no, no, no. Goddesses, please no," Cali wept.

I turned my attention back to Cali. "Let him go and get back," I ordered. My quadrant arms were now completely deployed. Restless and deadly, they scratched and skittered against the ship's hull as they surrounded the boy. The lower-left arm coiled around one of Cali's arms. The upper-right arm pressed down against the boy's chest, the spike at its end indenting the flesh just above the boy's heart. The remaining limbs reached out and trapped the boy's wrists.

I hefted my swords in my hands.

The other prisoners realized what was happening and began panicking. Stumbling and scrabbling, they clumsily moved away.

Rose drifted down to just above Cali and me. Her face was grim in the moonlight and her nail-studded stakes were hovering next to her. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Smit hurrying towards us. His claws were out. Perhaps it was just the moonlight, but I thought I could see a glimmer of Creed-like yellow in his eyes.

I took a chance and looked up at Rose. "Can we..." I began.

Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too late to save the boy. Rose seemed to know many secrets.

Gazing past me and down at the boy, Rose shook her head.

I yanked Cali away. The boy's upper-body, which had been supported by Cali, thudded to the steel deck. The boy rolled onto his side as his eyes opened. They were insane, furious, and hungry.

There was a ferocious howl behind me as Smit leaped towards us.

We couldn't be subtle - we just didn't have the time. In a spasm of furious violence, Smit, Rose, and I tore the boy apart.

Smit kicked the various parts of the vampire's body overboard. Rose found a bucket somewhere and sluiced us off with cold sea-water. We were soaked to the bone but Rose apparently thought that too much contact with vampiric blood was a problem. I was more than willing to accept her opinion.

My spider amulet was dangling from my hand. Cali was mumbling a funeral prayer to the Fire Lady under her breath. A Folk wise-woman knelt next to where the vampire had ended and whispered words of the Old Faith - there was something about a valley and death and not fearing evil. It struck me as appropriate although I know little about the Old Faith. While I hoped that our prayers would help that boy's spirit in its journey beyond, the question of what happens to the once-human spirit of a vampire is a matter of debate. Some say that such souls are lost forever and even the goddesses and great spirits cannot save them.

I hoped that wasn't true.

Cali was laying half-collapsed on the deck where I'd thrown her. She was still weeping. I carefully helped her to her feet and moved her away.

Together, we leaned against the tower of the mastless ship. Cali clung to me desperately as I put my human arms around her.

"The vampires would come for him," Cali whispered to me. "Every few hours, one or two of them would feed on him. I was chained next to the boy and I could hear what they were doing to him. We were so close that they brushed up against me. Touched me. One liked to lick my face and whisper in my ear. He told me that when they were done with the boy, they would start on me next."

I couldn't think of anything to say.

"I would pray to the goddesses," Cali continued. "Pray that the boy would live just a little longer. Another day. Another hour. Anything so that the vampires would leave me alone."

I took a deep breath before replying. "The goddesses will not hold that against you."

Frankly, I didn't know if that was true.

"They might forgive me. But I'll never forgive myself," Cali told me hopelessly.

Alexander, who'd appeared atop the tower after the fight began, vanished under-deck again. Then he reappeared and tossed me a large rag. I used it to wipe the cold sea-water from Cali's body. After such a long time chained up inside the mastless ship, she didn't have much mobility. Exposure was a real danger to her since she couldn't walk it off.

The rag was the torn remains of a child's dress. There was no need to wonder what had happened to the girl who'd once worn it.

"Do you know anything else?" I asked Cali - as much hoping to distract her as gain useful intelligence. "What do you know about this ship?"

Cali's eyes were closed. "This vessel is a copy of a Kreigsmarine type VII U-Boat. They were used during one of the Great Wars of the Folk. It was built as a curiosity by a wealthy Atlantean, but after he passed away, his heirs sold it. They didn't know that they were selling it to a ghoul."

I shook my head - I really didn't understand much of what she'd just said.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

Cali almost smiled. "Even vampires have to train new crew. I heard two vampires talking to each other. I suppose they were so careless because they thought the only people who could overhear them would be dead soon."

"Do you know what cities this ship visits?"

"Bost, N'yack, and Delphi. You attacked before we got to Delphi. Our final destination - the base for this ship - is someplace they called Hook Island."

That name meant nothing to me.

"Do you know where that is?" I asked.

Cali just shook her head.

"Alex!" I called out.

After a pause, Alex poked his head out of the tower and looked down at us.

"Hook island. Ever heard of it?" I yelled up at him.

Alex nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, but I've never been there. Hell, I don't know anyone who's ever been there. It's in the middle of nowhere and well off the usual lanes. It's not even on any charts that I've seen. I hear it's a pile of rocks surrounded by some bad reefs - and not much else. No fresh water, no fisheries, and nothing you can farm. So nobody lives there and a lot of sailors will tell you that the place is accursed."

I was willing to bet that 'a lot of sailors' were more correct than they knew.

"Can you get us there?"

Alex looked doubtful. "I can probably get us within a hundred miles. After that, actually finding it will be a matter of luck. And did I mention the reefs? And that I really don't know what the blazes I'm doing with this metal monstrosity of a ship?"

"We're going somewhere else first," Rahne said quietly. She sounded tired.

I looked up. Rahne was standing nearby.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"South Marland. Not far from Washton."

That surprised me, but apparently Rahne's communication with the ghosts of the mastless ship had been useful.

I shook my head. "Ever since you, Faye, and Rose killed the old Lord of Washton, that place has been a madhouse."

That was true. Faye, looming behind Rahne, actually winced. Rose landed next to her two friends. She also had a less than happy look on her face.

Lord Washton had been a particularly horrible Blood Lord - a brutal tyrant. Nobody mourned his end, but this loss had unleashed chaos as ambitious Lordlings fought for every stray scrap of territory that the old Lord had once controlled.

"Why are we going there?" Faye asked.

Rahne looked at me. "Have you ever heard of the Darkhold?" she asked.

Rose actually recoiled in surprise. Faye still looked puzzled. None of the others reacted.

"It's a book of magic," I replied slowly. "An ancient, vast, and evil book."

"We need it," Rahne said softly.