i screamed. the pain was incredible. just that one drop had burned through my flesh nearly to the bone.

"where is he?" miller's voice was right behind and above me now. i turned my head, craning my neck upward, and was rewarded with a close-up view of his suit trousers: lightweight wool, gray, with a light pinstripe. but past him i saw something that heartened me. the other bad guy stood silent, empty hands at his sides, bubba's .38 tucked firmly under his chin. creede stood behind miller, gun at the ready.

"i'm right here."

miller actually jumped a little. with his loss of concentration, the imp lunged forward, but not at me-at him. i pulled the one shot, rolling out of the way of a clawed foot, shooting holy water into the demon's open mouth.

i was too late. the creature's clawed arm swung forward, punching completely through miller just below his breastbone. he screamed, though his lungs had to have been damaged, his left hand clawing weakly at the pocket of his jacket.

the demon was screaming, too. each, painful, earsplitting shriek was accompanied by a belch of flame as the holy water burned it from the inside out. throwing miller aside with a vicious swing of its arm, it turned. without eyes, i wouldn't have thought it could find me. but it knew precisely where i was and that i was the one who'd injured it.

it stalked forward, claws extended, following me as i backed away. i was in trouble. the man who had summoned it was dead or dying. there were no priests here to banish it and my little shot of holy water had injured the monster just enough to really piss it off. if that wasn't enough, even if by some miracle ren popped in and saved my butt, it could follow me. anywhere, anytime, with just a taste of my blood, or a hair from my head.

exactly the way it had been used to trail creede.

i was on the far side of the boat now, and even using vampire speed i was barely keeping ahead of those swinging claws. every time it missed, the imp became more enraged. and while its bellows no longer belched flame, they did send ichor spraying. it burned through whatever it touched, be it fiberglass, metal, wood, or skin.

i was on the farthest side of the boat, my path blocked by rubble and fallen bodies. i could dive into the water, but then everybody else on board would be toast. there was no way i was strong enough to beat it hand-to-hand, and i didn't dare risk closing with it enough to try out my fangs. it stalked toward me and i had nowhere to go.

the gulls wheeled and dived overhead, drawn by the scent of blood on the wind. they squawked and squalled above me. i screamed up at them, "if you want to do something useful, attack that damned demon!" i pointed at the imp and, i shit you not, they actually did it. the imp screamed as a hundred talons grabbed at it. birds were thrown to the side, hopefully not wounded beyond repair. but they were actually beating the demon back.

holy shit.

creede's voice shouted something incomprehensible and a whirlwind formed around him. magic flared so hard it made my skin hurt. there was something amazing about seeing creede on the deck of the boat, arms outstretched, eyes glowing with fire, wind whipping at his clothes, looking for all the world like a pirate mage from a history book. all he needed was a red cape and sword to complete the image.

he advanced, words spewing from his mouth in a jumble of incomprehensible syllables. though i didn't understand the sounds, the demon did. it froze in its tracks, howling in frustrated fury as the birds continued to tear at it. again creede called out and this time i felt a wave of magic accompany the words. the beast shuddered and seemed to waver, as if it were a heat shimmer or a mirage. a third call and with it the crack of ceramic breaking. the air pressure changed as our dimension opened just enough. the birds scattered frantically and i grabbed onto a railing as my feet rose into the air as a sudden vacuum tore at me. though it fought and clawed with every ounce of its being, the imp was sucked back into hell.

i collapsed onto the deck, my heart pounding so loud that i couldn't hear anything else.

16

i was going to have to buy bubba new sheets for this bed. oh, hell, who was i kidding? i was going to have to buy him a new boat.

mona's rival was still afloat-just. but the deck and cabin were riddled with bullet holes and demon claw marks. and one of the magical explosions had taken out a wall.

of course, this fight had really been because of creede. but bubba would blame me.

speaking of the attack, who were we supposed to report it to? did serenity count as a country? they did have their own law enforcement. but were they internationally recognized? if the siren government couldn't, or wouldn't, handle the whole thing aboveboard, bubba couldn't claim on his insurance. and miller and the others would simply disappear, which wasn't really fair to their families, if they had them.

as i was thinking all of this, i lay on the sheets in intense pain. i'd been too busy to notice what was happening, what with avoiding the imp and all, but the battle had taken place in full daylight. i had been nearly butt naked and hadn't sunscreened anything other than my face. between the fight with adriana and the one with the demon, i had second-degree burns over most of my body. third-degree burns where the acid had splattered. i had all kinds of nasty little injuries and there was that remaining embedded piece of baby food jar that needed to be dug out. so to try to distract myself from the pain, which wasn't being eased all that much by the wimpy little aspirin tablets that were all bubba had on board, i was trying to think of anything and everything else. one thing was certain. if i was going to keep running into the demonic, i was going to need to take precautions.

a light tap on the door distracted me. i pulled the lightweight cotton sheet over me for modesty's sake. a little late for it, all things considered. but hey, we were just going to pretend i hadn't flashed creede, dahlmar, and the entire siren navy as they'd come to the rescue. apparently, i'd leapt right out of my bra when i went over the demon. creede swears he didn't notice.

not even when he was handing me a towel to cover myself with.

"come in."

i rolled over to see who it was and immediately wished that i hadn't. the burns were healing. but it was slow going. i'd had the last two shakes, to take the edge off of my hunger and make sure the humans didn't look tasty, but my body apparently needed more. less food, slower healing. but there wasn't anything else on the boat i could digest unless i decided to go fully vampire. so until they finished hauling the boat into the harbor and found something i could drink, i was pretty much screwed.

"how are you doing?" queen lopaka stuck her head through the doorway. she wasn't wearing anything ceremonial, just a pair of faded jeans and a white cotton button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. she wore boat shoes, probably a good thing considering the splinters and worse that littered the deck.

"been better," i admitted. i probably still looked like one of the lower rungs of hell. when i'd gone into the bathroom to take the aspirin i'd scared myself. second-degree burns on the face were not pretty. i was just glad i hadn't burned my eyeballs. i didn't even want to think how much that would have hurt. "be sure to thank ren for me. i appreciate her calling in the cavalry."

lopaka smiled and i swear it lit up the room. straight white teeth and dimples to die for. "yes, well, better late than never. you apparently did well enough all on your own. although at some cost." she sighed and lowered herself onto the edge of the bed. "you must be in pain. and my condolences on the loss of-"

i dipped my head and sighed. "ivan. he was king dahlmar's bodyguard." the king was beside himself, though he wasn't showing it much. there's a point at which a bodyguard becomes a member of the family.

"and he died in the line of duty." she sighed again. "how do you want to handle this?"

"i don't know," i admitted. "it's a complete clusterfu-" i stopped in mid-syllable, horrified at myself. you don't use language like that in front of a queen, no matter how appropriate or how casual the situation.

she laughed, hard enough to shake the bed. wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, she said, "yes, it is." she looked thoughtful for a moment. "all right. if you don't mind, i'll have my people handle the questioning of the remaining pirate. i'm also going to have them investigate king dahlmar's allegations of political tampering in rusland. we have very stringent laws forbidding political machinations of that type. if indeed that is what's happening."

"you don't think it is?"

she gave me a long look. "it's a landlocked country."

i put two and two together. sirens need oceans. need them. but just because they couldn't live in rusland, that didn't mean they wouldn't want to control the power and the gas. i started to open my mouth to say as much, but i didn't have to. she'd been listening to my thoughts. which i hated. i tried to stifle that thought before it got me in trouble.

"we have hospital facilities on the island. your injuries can be tended there."

i shook my head no. hospitals had bleeding people. the smell of blood could make me very dangerous-particularly when i was hungry and injured. "i appreciate the offer, but i can't." i didn't explain further, but i didn't have to. either she was still eavesdropping on my thoughts or she was bright enough to figure it out on her own. she reached the right conclusion and quickly.

she gave me a horrified look. "it really is that much of a problem? i saw you looking at adriana's neck and you left so swiftly, but-"

"oh, it's a problem. so far, i've been able to deal with it. it's better, easier, if i have some broth or baby food with meat. or something with protein that's run through the blender. but no hospital. that would just be a bad idea right now."

"i understand." she gave me a speculative look. "i can arrange for the food. and if you'll let me, i can help with the pain and let you rest until it's ready."