“Wouldn’t he, Werren?” Sam suggested. “You’ve just said that you’ve never seen him demonstrate this power over more than one person. Neither has anyone else. If he really had it, why wouldn’t he show it off? It’s not like the guy is modest.”
Chris joined in. “For that matter, why does he need to keep guards watching over you and the other ladies? He should just be able to think you into doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants.”
Werren shook her head. “You are mortal. You do not understand his power over us.”
“Actually, I think I do.” Something occurred to her. “If every woman on this ship is Darkyn, then they also have abilities like yours. What are they?”
Sam watched Werren, who remained silent. “Either you tell us now, or I go out and start asking.”
“Analise can make herself appear as young as a girl, or as old as a crone,” Werren said. “Naomi can erase small wounds from the flesh with a caress. Bethana summons unbearable longing in men and women. Sayda stills their minds so they may remember nothing.”
As Werren continued describing her ladies’ abilities, Chris’s heart sank. From the way it sounded, none of the women on the ship had a violent or dangerous talent that might help them overpower the crew. Dutch had also spent the last four centuries terrorizing them, and had done such an excellent job that they were all as scared as a herd of bunnies caught in the middle of a biker run. It had never even occurred to them to remove the medallions that he used to keep them enslaved.
“You should go back to your ladies,” Sam said once Werren had finished. “We’ll join you in a minute.”
Chris watched the woman leave. “We’re really screwed.”
“Vander wants Alenfar,” Sam told her. “He thinks Lucan will trade his rule for me. If he doesn’t, he’s going to torch us and a couple hundred gamblers on the casino boat.”
The thought of being burned alive made Chris shudder. “I could jump over the side, steal one of the boats.”
Sam shook her head. “Too many guards with guns.”
“I’m a fast swimmer, and it’s my job. Besides, I owe you a life,” she argued. “Let me save yours.”
“You can do that by staying here and helping me spring all those people locked in the casino.” Sam glanced at the door. “We have to get the women to work with us, too.”
“How?” Chris asked. “They’re so scared of Vander and the guards they’re practically robots.”
Her friend nodded. “Then it’s high time we deprogram them.”
* * *
Jamys took his leave of Lucan as the suzerain finished issuing orders to the garrison. “I will meet you and the men at the rendezvous once I have retrieved the gems.”
“I hesitate to suggest you pursue a fool’s errand,” Lucan said, “but I doubt you will find anything of value in this secret cache. Samantha told me the extent to which Coburn was tortured before he was killed. Had the man truly been in possession of the emeralds, under such duress he surely would have revealed their location.”
“Unless that memory was taken from him, as Gifford’s were.” Jamys bowed. “Until sunset, my lord.”
Lucan clasped his hand to Jamys’s forearm. “Come prepared to fight, my friend.”
Ernesto Garcia stood outside the stronghold, and handed Jamys a pair of dark shades before he opened the door of the car waiting for them. “I have sent men ahead to secure the scene, but we will have to do this quickly to avoid drawing any attention from the surrounding merchants.”
Jamys nodded and, once inside the car, picked up the courtesy phone. As Garcia drove to the jeweler’s shop, he debated on how much to say before he dialed the number for his father’s private chamber.
“The sun is still up, assassin,” Thierry answered, his voice almost a snarl. “So unless you have found my son, or Florida has been invaded and has been put to the torch—”
“I am here, Father,” Jamys said. “I have been at Alenfar since I left your house.”
Silence answered him, and then Thierry said, “The very next time I see that damned Englishman, I will chop off his hands and stuff them down his gullet.”
“I never told Lucan I had left Baucent without your permission.” Jamys closed his eyes against the burning glare of the sun. “Father, when I was a small boy, and you were preparing to go into battle, do you remember what you would say to me?”
“Of course I do.” Thierry’s tone gentled. “I would say ‘Protect the women, defend the household, and know that here or in heaven, I will see you again.’ And never once did you shed a tear.”