Nightbred(79)

“You’re breaking my heart.” Despite the harsh tone she used, some of the pressure of her hold eased. “You said there were others. Did he buy them, or did he let you out the cage to grab them for him?”

“In the beginning he did not know how I had been changed. He dragged me out of the cage to service him and the crew.” She didn’t care to think on those wretched years of her existence. “When I fought them—and I did fight, lady, every time—he would punish me until I blacked out. The master’s punishments were terrible, but no matter what he did, I never died again.”

Samantha shook her head. “He had to know you were Kyn.”

“He did not know what he was,” Werren pointed out. “None of us did. And so I would wake up tied to a cot with some grunting, sweating sailor atop me, my wounds healed. When the men were satisfied, the master put me back in the cage. I was left there to starve for weeks, sometimes months.”

“So you saved your own ass by becoming his partner and getting other women for him?” Samantha shook her. “You think that makes it okay?”

“I am not his partner. I am his possession.” Werren touched her snarled hair. “This is my latest punishment for speaking out of turn. I’m not permitted to wash myself or comb my hair until the master says I may again. If he is pleased when he returns, he may allow me a bucket of water and a sliver of soap. That will be my reward for capturing you, my lady: permission to bathe.”

A powerful stream of seawater blasted down into the cage, knocking Samantha off her feet and freeing Werren from her hold. She staggered back to see the fire hose Clemens was using on the detective.

She wanted to shout at him to stop, but that would only make him angrier, so she went to the cage and released the shackles around the detective’s wrists.

“Let me out of here,” Samantha shouted, only to be knocked to the floor of the cage.

“Keep your head down, and your mouth shut,” Werren called above the sound of the water.

The first mate hosed the detective for another minute before he shut off the spray. “Take her to the others and have them school her,” he shouted down in a tight, ugly voice. “We leave in ten minutes.”

She nodded, and waited until he disappeared from sight before she went to the cage and crouched down. Reaching in, she helped Samantha into a sitting position.

Seawater dripped from the hair hanging in the detective’s furious eyes. “Is that how you take a bath?”

“Only when they are angry.” She propped her shoulder against the bars and studied her hands, which looked cleaner than they had for days. “I’d rather have the bucket. The salt makes me itch.”

“Stop talking to me like we’re friends.” The other woman checked the raw, torn wounds circling her wrists, watching the edges shrinking before she eyed Werren. “He said you’re leaving. He meant you with him.”

“Yes.” Only one more trip, and it would be finished. “It will not take long.”

“I don’t care,” Samantha said. “How many humans will he leave behind to guard me?”

“Twenty. Each of them knows what you are, and how to hurt you,” she warned. “If you approach any of them, they will kill you.”

She wiped the water from her eyes. “Then why bother to kidnap me?” Before Werren could answer, she sat up with a jerk. “Lucan. He did this to get to him. Does he have any idea what Lucan will do to him when he finds out?”

“Of course he does.” Werren stood up. “But he will not allow it. Nothing and no one can harm Dutch. He can make anyone do as he pleases. When he finds the treasure that was stolen from him, he says he will become the most powerful man in the world.”

“That’s what every sick, twisted jackass thinks.” The detective got to her feet and scanned their surroundings. “Where are these other women?”

“I’m taking you to them now. They will try to help you understand.” She took the key from the peg on the wall. As she unlocked the cage, she added, “I was not jesting about the men. They are armed and they will shoot you. They use only copper bullets.”

Once Werren opened the door, Sam shoved her aside and ran for the stairs. It would be simpler, and more merciful, to let the detective get herself killed. Yet Werren followed, climbing up on deck to see Samantha standing by the mainmast and staring at the sea that surrounded them.

“Where am I?”

“The ship is called the Golden Horde.” Werren joined her and pushed back the tangled hair the wind blew into her eyes. “Welcome to hell, my lady.”