Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Lucia dashed up to help, but before she could reach Izabel, the woman... changed.

Involuntarily backing up a step, Lucia gaped. She'd lived a long time. Never had she seen this. Giant caimans could be explained, but this...

Clearly, Izabel needed no help. Right before Lucia's eyes, she'd just morphed.

Into... Charlie. And... and he was managing the beam handily. Can't think about this right now -

"Lousha!" Dimly, she heard MacRieve yelling for her. She whirled around, hurrying to the platform to warn him away. He'd just run out onto the stern of the Barão.

"MacRieve, something's in the water!" she yelled as the boat rose up once more. "Stay there!"

"Fook that!" sounded back.

Then he dove in.

"Damn him!" She had to clear a way back for him. With the help of her new quiver, she shot repeatedly, aiming for the caimans' eyes, arrows flying as if she were flanked by a hundred archers.

She killed several of the creatures, but something was still rippling the water behind MacRieve. It was just below the surface but making a sizeable wake.

"Swim faster!" Had to be a caiman - but one as big as a freaking submarine. She couldn't see it through the muddy water and pouring rain. Though she shot it over and over, its rugged hide and the water buffer shielded it. She could do little to slow its advance.

And MacRieve kept pointing at her! Taking precious moments to yell.

"Just swim, Scot! There's something on your tail!" Why wasn't he swimming faster? The thing was right -

"Behind you!" he roared. Their eyes briefly met; his were filled with dread.

She whirled around just as lightning flashed. Damiãno had a machete raised above her head.

Chapter 35

Garreth watched as Lucia ducked from Damiãno with uncanny speed, kicking out at the man's knee. She'd bought a heartbeat's time, scrambling away to another deck as Damiãno limped after her.

Knowing she was safe for a moment, Garreth dug in, swimming even harder. Yet he could eke out no lead on whatever was pursuing him. Had to be a caiman, but his mind struggled to wrap around the size of it.

He felt the motion of water behind him as it propelled itself forward, gaining. And without Lucia's arrows whizzing past him in the air, more of the caimans were circling.

Almost to the boat! So close... Just then, the caiman began rising, sending a sharp wave of water fanning out, briefly lifting Garreth. How big was the fucking thing? When it breached the surface, Garreth felt its foul breath spraying water over his head and nape like a sprinkler.

Doona look back... doona look back. He could hear its ancient bones grinding and clicking as its jaws opened wide.

Garreth dove, dropping like a stone. When he reached the river bottom, he kicked against it with all his might and went hurtling to the surface, leaping for the boat. He landed on the platform, then sprang for the main deck just as teeth slammed down on the platform, biting out the middle.

With angry, almost sentient eyes, the caiman sank, disappearing into the black once more.

At once, Garreth lunged to his feet. "Lousha!" The storm boiled, lightning streaking the sky, thunder so loud it pained his ears.

"MacRieve?" She ran for him on the stern deck.

"Where's Damiãno?"

"I don't know - I lost him for a second." Twisting around, eyes wary, she strapped her bow across her body. "What is going on? And why did you get in the water?"

"Lousha, the Barão. It's a ghost ship."

"What?"

"Everyone on board has been killed. Hacked to pieces. I thought it was Charlie at first, until I saw Damiãno." Garreth grabbed her forearms. "I want you out of here!" The ship hurled up once more. "Goddamnit, why are those caimans attacking?"

"Schecter's lure. It worked! But I can't get to the front - "

"The creatures protect the Labyrinto," Damiãno intoned from where he'd crouched directly above them. "As will I."

The shifter leapt down with the machete, snagging Lucia by her neck, pressing the blade against her throat. "You're not to enter the Labyrinth."

Lucia dared a glance up at the male. His green eyes glowed with menace.

"Let her go!" MacRieve yelled. "Fight me!"

"You were never supposed to get this close. The tomb is forbidden to outsiders."

"You're the guardião?" Lucia demanded. The guardian Nïx had warned of.

Damiãno seemed unhearing. "You don't know what evil sleeps in the Labyrinth. The Gilded One will rise."

Her mind raced. The Gilded One? El Dorado was a man! An evil man?

"We're no' here to wake any evil!" MacRieve snapped.

Damiãno shook his head hard. "No one trespasses."

In as calm a tone as Lucia could manage, she said, "Listen, Damiãno, we're actually here to stop an evil from rising. Let's just talk about this. We're really on the same team."

Easing nearer, MacRieve added, "If we doona go to Rio Labyrinto, there's a god who'll take over the earth."

"There's no evil greater than the Gilded One!"

"Bullshite!"

Lucia made a sound of frustration. "You two are going to argue about this? My evil's bigger than your evil?"

"Damiãno, we're speakin' about a bluidy apocalypse!"

"As am I!" The male tightened his grip on her neck, pressing the blade into her skin.

MacRieve swallowed, still slipping closer. "Is that why you killed everyone on the other boat?"

Damiãno's gaze darted. "What are you saying?"

"They're all dead. All butchered. Likely with a machete."

The shifter stared down at the blade, muttering, "It's begun - "

Seizing the moment, Lucia went limp, dropping down, driving her elbow into his stomach. She ducked out of the way for MacRieve to strike.

The Scot did, tackling Damiãno. They crashed into a wall, cracking the wood supports, sending Damiãno's machete clattering across the deck into the water.

The shifter roared, heaving back, charging MacRieve.

She'd drawn her bow free and nocked an arrow but hesitated. Both battled for the upper hand, each grappling for a hold on the other. They were spinning so fast, it was a blur. If she shot MacRieve...

"Lousha, the lure. Cut it loose!"

MacRieve wanted her to leave him?

"Go, Valkyrie!"

The caimans were still circling. If Damiãno didn't get MacRieve, the caimans could get all of them. And Lucia believed the Scot could - and wanted to - defeat this foe.

So she forced herself away, dashing to the forward anchor. At the bow, she squinted down the length of the anchor chain, finally spotting the line for Schecter's lure - the line that was now tangled around the chain, pulled taut, and hanging five feet out of her reach. All around it, caimans clashed to reach a mad scientist's box of nothing.

Lying on her front, she hooked a foot around a railing post, suspending herself. Staring down into a tempest of snapping jaws, she stretched with her fingers splayed. Just out of reach. With a swallow, she relaxed her foot an inch... Almost... got it!

She hauled it up, shimmying her body back until she was safe on the deck. With no time to breathe a sigh of relief, she darted to her feet, swinging the line round and round like a bola, flinging it down the river. When the current began carrying it away, some of the smaller creatures turned to the signal. The big ones seemed to be committed, lurking - as if they expected a meal.

As she ran back to MacRieve, she passed Schecter huddled in a corner of the galley, babbling with a butcher knife in hand. His pants reeked of urine. Charlie must've taken the injured Travis back into his cabin. Can't think about that...

When she returned to the fight, Damiãno and MacRieve had both begun to turn, the beasts within them spurred to the fray. Their bodies grew, muscles expanding, rippling with power.

Damiãno's irises deepened to a fervent green. His fangs and claws elongated to wickedly sharp points. Patches of sleek black fur appeared.

MacRieve's own beast flickered over him, his eyes gone ice blue with rage, his onyx claws flaring, but he hadn't turned fully. Why not? This was no time for mercy!

Comprehension struck. Oh, Freya - MacRieve was prevented from turning by the cuff he wore!

With a chilling roar, Damiãno sank his canines into MacRieve's arm. Blood spurted. MacRieve bellowed in pain, slashing his claws over Damiãno's face, cleaving skin to the bone.

Gushing blood from his wounds, Damiãno barreled into MacRieve's chest, crashing them into the side railing. They splintered the wood to pieces, then plunged into the murky river below.

They didn't surface. Thirty seconds passed, then a minute. The longest of her entire life -

The pair shot up in the water, still in a fight to the death. She took aim at Damiãno, but they were too fast, sloshing water up with each blow. Might hit MacRieve.

So she took up her vigil, shooting as many caimans as she could, but the big one was returning. She could see her earlier arrows jutting from its plated tail and back, yet it wouldn't rise for her to take its eyes.

Though she shot continuously, it never slowed. "MacRieve!" she screamed. "It's coming back!" She took another bead on Damiãno -

The stern of the ship reared up; she flipped back, crashing into the auxiliary boat. By the time she staggered back to her feet, she could only watch in horror as the giant caiman's tail whipped through the air, knocking both men into the depths.

Chapter 36

Lucia's heart dropped to her stomach. I can't lose him.

I can't.... She scanned the water but saw nothing.

MacRieve can't be gone, can't be dead.

She'd just strapped her bow over her body and tensed to dive in after him, when she heard from behind her, "What the hell are you doing?"

She whirled around. "MacRieve!" He was on the other side of the boat, swimming fast for what was left of the platform. "How'd you get over there?"

"Caiman tail, I think," he said as he climbed aboard. "A mite foggy on the details."

Eyes watering with relief, she clutched him. "Look! It's going away." The giant caiman was following in the direction of the trap, along with the other hold-outs as well.

"You were divin' in for me? Does nothing scare you?" MacRieve wrapped his arms around her, cupping her head to his heaving chest.

The downpour was still so loud, she had to scream over it. "What happened?"

"When the creature got Damiãno, he tried to drag me down with him. Till the thing swallowed him whole."

"The shifter's... dead?"

"Aye. And if he's no', he's wishing he is. Let's no' speak of this. We've got to secure this ship..." He trailed off, because she'd stiffened against him.

"MacRieve, wh-where's your cuff?"

Their eyes met, his widening. "Oh, bluidy hell." Before she could stop him, he dove back in.

"Nooo!" She knew there was no way he could find it. Again and again, he swam down. Finally, he hauled his body up once more, looking utterly defeated.

Side by side, they stood on the remnants of the platform, both of them staring at the water and pelted with rain. Now the cuff was gone, and Lucia was trapped on a boat with a werewolf about to go crazy. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm just fine, Lousha, doona fash yerself over me."

"But it's gone!"

"Oh, aye, and we canna break your vows. Nothing's more important than that. Even the fact that I could've been killed!"

"You couldn't have bought a backup cuff?" she demanded in a yell. "Had a spare in your bag?"

He bellowed back, "It never crossed my mind that I'd be battling a shape-shifter in the Amazon" - with an angry jab, he pointed out Damiãno's deep bite on his arm - "and then wrestling with him underwater. Or that a giant caiman would drag him down, and he'd be snatching at me to take down with him. I barely got back to you! Maybe you're wishing I dinna?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" No matter how incensed she was at him for putting her in this position, she didn't want him hurt. And fighting with him was changing nothing - their situation wasn't altering. Think... think. This isn't happening tonight.

Fate has a way of getting what she wants, no matter how we try to avoid it.

Ah, gods, unless she could get off this boat, it would be happening.

"Damn it, lass, I will try to be gentle." Garreth reached for her shoulder. "Maybe if we started now, I could get you accustomed. I could make sure you were crazed with needing, too...."

But she flinched from him, clearly furious. Rightly furious with him. I'd promised her that she had nothing to fear. And Lucia had promised that she'd hate him forever if she broke her vows.

"It will no' be like your last time, Lousha."

"What do you know about my last time?"

"Does no' take a genius to realize you had a bad experience."

"Y-you have no idea." She shuddered, her wee ears peeking out from her soaked mane.

"The man hurt you?" Wanting to kill some faceless male, needing to... Keep it together, Garreth.

She nodded. And she hadn't had sex in a millennium because of it.

"I'm not ready, MacRieve. I'm just not. I don't want this." Her eyes were bleak.

Over the last ten days, Garreth hadn't eased her mind about sex. Or changed it. Either because of her vows or because she'd been scarred from the last time, Lucia wasn't ready for this night - couldn't endure a moon-crazed Lykae taking her untried body.

Without mercy.

"Listen, we can fix this."

"H-how? Nothing will stop you. No cage can hold you."

"You can put me out of commission, make it so I canna chase you," he said.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

Garreth answered, "Shoot me between the eyes."

"I-I can't do that!" Lucia cried.

"Then you'll do to me as my kinsmen did."

"What?"

"They beat me within an inch of my life, then tied me up in a dungeon," MacRieve said. "Broke a leg or two. Worked like a charm those times. We doona have a dungeon, but if you - "

"No, no, you had other women. I found condoms in your bag!"

He frowned. "I bought those for you, so I would no' get a babe on you too soon. Had no' found out your diet, or lack of one, would work just as well."

She was still shaking her head in disbelief.

"Lousha, I have no' been with another since I met you."

At that, the worst of her anger sieved from her, and she whispered, "You had them beat you?" Her heart seemed to twist in her chest. I'm falling for him.

Lucia had thought she'd been in love all those centuries ago with the fair-haired suitor from her dreams. She still remembered so vividly how it'd felt. Nice. Rainbows-and-kittens nice.

What she felt for MacRieve was raw and hurting, and she knew she'd never be the same.

"Dinna want to scare you off," he said, then added in a gruff tone, "Though it bluidy happened anyway."

Falling for you, MacRieve. "I can't... I can't hurt you."

"We doona have a choice."

She was shaking her head when the clouds briefly broke, circling the full moon. Like a spotlight upon them, silvery light shone down. To reveal what he was inside.

His eyes turned fully blue, the image of the beast wavering over him.

"Ah, gods, you're already turning!"

"Then you've got to hurry."

"No, damn it! I'll leave, try to get downriver. Help me put the skiff in the water."

"No' a chance. The caimans - "

"Are heading in the other direction. And they were only interested in the lure."

"And what about the vampire? There was a coffin aboard the Barão. I canna let you do this!"

"Listen to me, Scot. You and I both know that until the moon sets, you're more of a threat to me than a vampire."

"Nay, Lousha. I would never hurt you."

"I'm not asking you about this. I wouldn't be in this position if you'd let me go in the first place. You got us into this mess - now trust me to get myself out of it." Whatever he saw in her expression made him hesitate. "It's only a few hours till sunrise. We'll find each other then."

"Lass, if anything happened to you..."

"You have to let me go, MacRieve."

After long moments, he exhaled a deep breath. "I'm giving you a free rein, then." He hastened to the motor-boat, slashing the lines that secured it to the Contessa. He lifted the skiff as if it were a feather and dumped it in the water. "I'll try to get as far as I can in the other direction."

Chapter 37

While he got the little engine started, she grabbed her bow, quiver, and pack, then jumped into the boat.

"You know how to drive this?" he asked, brows drawn with worry.

"I live in bayou country, werewolf."

"You stay in the boat, doona make land." His eyes were growing bluer. "Lousha, go. Now."

"Be careful," she whispered, leaping up and daring a kiss good-bye before she put the boat in gear. The engine sputtered, then dug in.

Glancing over her shoulder, she peered back at MacRieve - who was clenching the railing, looking as though it took everything in him not to follow her. Just before she turned a bend, driving out of his sight, she saw him crush the railing with his grip.

How far could she possibly get before he succumbed to the moon's pull?

With each mile gained, the renewed downpour stymied her retreat, filling the boat with more rainwater. She bailed as she steered, blinking against the stinging drops as she maneuvered around debris in her way.

An hour passed like this, then two... And all the while, she began encountering more and more vegetation. The Victoria water lilies were everywhere, their pads bouncing off the bow of the boat, their lengthy stems trailing behind them. They usually lined the banks. So what were they doing out this far in the middle of the river?

She tried to steer around them but there were so many. Each time she ran over one, she held her breath as the engine sputtered. If enough stems tangled in the propeller, the motor could overheat -

With a series of smoking coughs, the engine quit.

She hauled it up, frantically tearing the knotted clumps from the propeller, then lowered it back into the water. Again and again, she yanked on the pull-start.

Nothing.

After several more futile tries, Lucia dropped down into the seat, releasing a stunned breath. Helpless to do anything but drift with the current, she raised her face to the sky. I'm doomed.

She knew MacRieve would find her. That's what his kind did. He would have to cross the river, then make up all the distance she'd gained by boat, but she had no doubt he could do it.

Part of her thought, If he does this, then it will be over. The responsibility, the pressure, the fear of pain from a missed shot - all finished.

The last tie to Skathi.

This chore of killing Cruach would fall to another, a stronger immortal. One who wasn't as tired as Lucia. Part of her wanted that so badly -

Something bumped the skiff. Then again. Gazing down with dread, she saw more of the caimans. They weren't as giant as those from before, but they streamed out of the jungle, following a swath cut through the riverside lily pads. Probably lured by the siren call of that bait trap.

All Schecter's fault. She could see where the larger creatures had torn out of some concealed tributary, ripping that new pathway through the vegetation, slashing free all the lilies that had eventually fouled Lucia's motor.

Congratulations, Schecter, you're a freaking genius. Can't hold your bladder worth a damn, but -

Then she frowned. The exodus of caimans came out of seemingly nowhere.

Her eyes widened. The swath through green led to... nothing. She couldn't see a tributary.

"Oh, Freya!" It was Rio Labyrinto!

But she was drifting past it! With a swallow, she peered at the water again. She was going to have to put her arm in and paddle.

She knew what would happen if a caiman got her. The same as had to Marcos Damiãno, who'd been eaten whole by one. She'd read about that species - the caimans had some of the strongest stomach acid of any creature on earth. Would it be enough to kill an immortal like Damiãno?

If the shifter woke trapped in the belly of some primordial monster, would he pray for death? Immortality could be a curse, if one wanted - or needed - to die.

Yes, Lucia knew what she risked. But I'm so close! If I can just reach the river. Before she'd been despairing, ready to give up. Now she wanted to fight. Damn it, she would win. She would kill Cruach. Once and for all.

I'm here, aren't I? She'd found Rio Labyrinto, which meant El Dorado had to be close. I can do this.

Skathi had said, You'll be my instrument.

Lucia was ready to be. My responsibility, my kill. Now I need my weapon. With that thought in mind, she gritted her teeth and dipped her arm in, paddling for a patch of shore just downriver from the portal entrance.

Once she was about five feet from land, she leapt into thigh-high water, grabbing the front rope. Trudging her way to the shore, she dragged the boat behind her, tying it to a limb.

After gearing up with her backpack and bow, strapping both on, she started into the jungle, following Rio Labyrinto. Yet soon she discovered it was aptly named - there wasn't a winding river but a maze of streams, intersecting and diverging.

Slogging through waist-high water. Onto solid ground. Vaulting fallen trees. Back in the water....

Her ears twitched. Things were moving all around her, creeping in the water. Were they the matora, giant anacondas? "Even an immortal could no' fight one off if it wrapped around the arms," MacRieve had told her.

And she'd read that once one coiled around its prey, the snake would constrict with each of the victim's exhalations, until the lungs were flattened.

Ignore them. Nothing was worse than Cruach, and damn it, a weapon to destroy him was within her reach! So close...

Then she froze when she heard a more chilling sound not far in the distance - an agonized roar. MacRieve's here. Already tracking her. She took off at a sprint. The rain had lightened to the merest drizzle. The better to scent me.

I am going to have to shoot him. Yes, to take an arrow from the quiver he'd gifted her with, then shoot him between the eyes. Earlier she hadn't been able to even consider it - yet that was before she'd gotten this close to her salvation... to the world's salvation!

Shooting MacRieve would buy her enough time until sunrise, possibly enough time to find the dieumort.

But then she'd be leaving him defenseless here. Just as the creatures of this place had left, they would return. Anything could attack him.

Despite her speed, MacRieve was gaining. She heard him crashing through the jungle, raking his claws on trees, and ran as if for her life.

Lucia was running for her life, for her future! You can always appease Cruach. The hell she would!

Faster, faster... As she scaled a rise, the brush thinned somewhat, allowing her to increase her already manic pace. When she heard him roar again, she dared a glance over her shoulder; her front foot landed on... air.

She pitched forward into nothing, her body plummeting to the ground.

Chapter 38

"Not here," Garreth muttered as he ran. "She dinna come here." Not to this treacherous place.

His mate had somehow found... the labyrinth.

Stalking headlong after her, he tore through the jungle, limbs abrading till blood ran. But he felt no pain.

If she could get to the necropolis, she'd be safe. The matora didn't come off the towering levee walls. Otherwise...

Can't even think of what they do to their victims. He somehow charged faster, hurdling rivulets and downed trees. And all the while he was turning more, the beast taking over.

Even if she hadn't been in danger, he couldn't have stopped chasing her, no matter how hard he fought it. Her scent was irresistible to him, like air. He needed to reach her as much as he needed to breathe.

Must be gentle with her. If he hurt her, he'd never forgive himself. Accept me, Lousha, surrender to me....

The terrain steepened. He knew this marked the beginning of the levees - a place he'd hoped never to see again. Capped with debris and growing brush, the walls teemed with anacondas.

As he ascended the rise, he peered around him. The jungle had fallen silent. Night insects, nocturnal birds, and the normally boisterous howler monkeys grew quiet. Because of a predator?

Or because they fear me?

He scented the air for Lucia again, realized he was almost upon her. Because she'd... stopped?

No! "Just get into the city, Lousha. Just hang on...."

Lucia snatched at vines as she fell. Hands flailing, grasping...

Caught one! Just above the ground, she jerked to a stop.

Dizzy, breathless, she lowered herself to her feet, then backed up several steps. "What have I found?" All around her, stone walls soared, shaped like a giant wishing well. The levees! They had to be eighty feet high and thirty feet across, all draped in those liana vines.