Dragon Soul(26)

"It'll be helpful," Mrs. P told me, snagging a pair of stretch fabric  slippers with curly toes. "You'll need a weapon to guard me. There are  slave bracelets, too."

I looked at the arm bracelets she held out, along with a pair of  gauntlets. "I don't think they call them that anymore. But I do admit  they might cover any untoward upper arm pudginess." I eyed my reflection  again and decided to the throw caution to the wind. It might be a silly  costume, but at least it wasn't overly revealing, no more so than a  knee-length sleeveless dress would be.

Mrs. P took the chakram, a circular weapon that accompanied the outfit,  and plopped it on her head with satisfaction, tipping it at a rakish  angle, and tying it in place with yet another feather boa. "I'll take  the hat."

"I'm not sure that's a …  never mind. You can wear it as a weird sort of hat if it makes you happy."

Twenty minutes later, the passengers on the upper deck of the Wepwawet  ceased their pleasant chattering, gossiping, laughing, and in one case,  singing along to the tinny song emerging from an aging boom box. All of  the passengers, as well as the crew members present, turned to watch  with silent amazement as Mrs. P and I stepped out onto the deck.

The captain, a drink frozen halfway to his mouth, stared with unblinking eyes.

"Good evening," I greeted everyone with what I hoped appeared to be good  humor and not a desperate attempt to pretend nothing out of the  ordinary was happening. "I'm sorry we're late. Mrs. P was having some  trouble with one of her curled slippers not fitting right."

The eyes of the twenty or so tourists moved from me to Mrs. P's feet, then returned.

"You are aware," Captain Kherty said in a deep voice, "that the costume party is the final night of the cruise."

It was a statement, but I waved such concern away with  leather-braceleted arm. "Yes, and I'm sure we'll be able to pick up  something a little less showy when we stop at a town, but until then,  we're forced by circumstances beyond our control into these little  ensembles."

"My sisters!" Mrs. P squealed with delight, and hurried over to the far  end of the ship where a group of six women was laughing and chatting and  clinking glasses with one another. They greeted the newcomer with cries  of happiness.

"She has sisters?" I asked aloud, noting that all the women were  apparently in their twenties, and probably all had jobs as underwear  models.

"That is very interesting," the captain said, and with a dark look cast  at the group of women, murmured something and toddled off.

"There you are. What a very unique ensemble," said a familiar voice. A  small clutch of about four people nearest me parted, and May came  through with a smile, Gabriel following her. "We heard about what  happened at your hotel. I'd offer you some of my clothes, but I'm afraid  they wouldn't fit you. Perhaps Mrs. P, though …  where is she?"

"Chatting with some friends, evidently."

By now the other people on the deck had gotten over their shock from our costumes and continued their previous activities.

"I'm sorry," I said, aware my confusion was showing. "Why are you here?  Are you stalking us?" After the events of the evening, I wasn't about to  trust anyone, not even people who seemed like they had our best  interests in mind.

"Stalking?" May's eyebrows rose a good inch. "Not in the least. We're here to help you."         

     



 

"By following us?" I asked suspiciously. "Look, I know that you're Rowan's friends, but that doesn't mean-"

"Friends?" Gabriel looked appalled at that thought. "With the Dragon Breaker?"

"We said we were going to put that behind us while we had to work together," May pointed out.

"That does not mean that we need think of Rowan as a friend."

"Did I hear my name being invoked?" Rowan suddenly appeared at my side,  wearing an unrumpled linen shirt, brown khakis, and a pair of sunglasses  pushed up into his hair. He looked like the personification of a  wealthy, sophisticated man on his yacht, as coolly collected and in  control as anyone could be.

A familiar faint lemony smell teased my nose, instantly making me want to romp all over him.

No, I told my libido. Not until we get a few things straight, like  whether he had anything to do with the room or if he misled me into  thinking he was interested in me.

His lips curled into a little smile at me, sending a hot wave of emotion  that no doubt manifested itself in pink cheeks. I couldn't tell if I  was angry, aroused, or annoyed. Possibly all three. Definitely all  three.

He examined me from head to lace-up sandals. "Interesting choice of cruise wear. I didn't know you were a fan of Xena."

"Isn't every woman? She was a warrior princess," I said as nonchalantly  as I could. With a move I had practiced in the bathroom while changing, I  pulled the sword from my back and made a couple of movements with it.  "All the better to protect my employer from nefarious brigands who would  do her harm."

Rowan glanced around. "Where is our light-fingered friend?"

"Gel," Mrs. P said, right on cue, leading her herd of models to us. "My sisters are here."

"Er … " I said, eyeing them. "Sisters?"

"We are all priestesses of Heka," one of the models said, a brunette with a flawless complexion. "As is our sister Aset."

"Pleasure to meet you, but …  sisters?"

"Sisters," Mrs. P insisted. "The one next to you is Ahset-she has an H  in her name, whereas I do not-then there's Ipy, Khenut, Henit, Dedyet,  Bunefer, and the tipsy one is Gilukhipa."

"I love champagne, don't you?" Gilukhipa said with a happy little hiccup.

"Wow. That's …  that's some sisterhood you have there." I tried not to  look like someone who needed to lose twenty pounds. "And how lucky for  you that they're on the same cruise."

"We came to help our sister," the one named Ipy said. She seemed to be  the ringleader, since the other ladies just murmured in response. "We  knew she would have need of us to guard her secret from those who would  discover it, and thus we are here."

"My sisters will let no harm come to me while you are handling the challenges," Mrs. P said to me.

"No, we will not, although I think we should get Gilly to our room," Ipy  said, giving her priestess sister a gimlet eye. "Lest she succumb to  the lure of more champagne."

"Give her our room key, gel," Mrs. P told me.

"Huh?"

"The sisters are staying with us, naturally."

"But … " I glanced at Rowan, who looked as surprised as I felt. "But don't you have your own rooms?"

Ipy shrugged. "We cannot guard our sister if we do not sleep at her  side. Come, we shall make the accommodations ready for our dearest one  while the champion is guarding her."

I didn't see any way out of it. Mrs. P was paying for the trip, and I  had no right to keep her friends from our cabin if that's what she  wanted. Reluctantly, I handed Ipy the key, and the ladies all took off.

Except Mrs. P, who told Rowan, "The shop has men's costumes. Tiny ones. You might want to perk up your romantic life with one."

"I don't need to wear a costume, tiny or otherwise, thank you," Rowan  said stiffly as she cackled and snagged another glass of champagne  before sitting down in a chair next to where May and Gabriel were now  talking in low voices.

I gave Rowan a look that told him he should know better. "If you are  implying that we're doing this for the hell of it, we aren't. We  literally have nothing else to wear. And speaking of that, how is it you  knew about our room being trashed? You wouldn't happen to have been  there, would you?"

"Yes, I was there," he answered, taking me completely off guard. "That's  why I called the hotel's front desk-so that they'd send someone up to  find out what happened before you returned to see it."         

     



 

I took a step closer to him, and immediately was aware once again of the  scent of him, part citrus and part something that made me think of  leather-bound chairs in a private library. "And just why were you  there?" I asked in a soft tone, making sure to meet his gaze. His eyes,  now more gray than green, were wary, but as I took another step closer,  the interest in them turned molten. "You wouldn't be trying to steal  Mrs. P's jewels, would you?"

"As a matter of fact, I was, but someone beat me to the job."

The words pierced me as if they had been arrows. It took me a minute to  be able to answer him, but I was proud that when I did so, my voice was  steady. "You're a thief? You really do want to steal from Mrs. P?  That's …  that's …  that's just infuriating, Rowan!"

"There's a reason for what I'm doing-"