Page 12 (1/2)

"If you and Mr MacRieve are married, then I&039;ll eat Schecter&039;s shorts"

"Now that was just unnecessary And ould you think that about us?"

"When you&039;re not looking, MacRieve reaches for you and pulls back his hand in a fist, like he&039;s dying to touch you" He does? "Married people aren&039;t like that!"

"Then I&039;ll be honest with you, Izabel We&039;re not married, but he&039;s old fashioned He didn&039;t want my reputation to be hurt when I shacked up with hi else?"

"MacRieve keeps giving Travis cash, and we keep going off the planned route"

This was true The Scot had told Lucia that he&039;d been steering Travis, paying the captain to take them directly by Rio Labyrinto "MacRieve has been here before and knows pro research areas" The ship would arrive in the vicinity in a week or so, probably right after the full moon She and MacRieve had decided not to lose the mortals; instead, they planned to sneak out on the Contessa&039;s auxiliaryTravis Anything else?"

"That&039;s all I&039;ve got on you two For now But the others are just as strange"

"Tell me"

"Why should I?"

"Travis said to drop him a dime if you screwed up Do you think he&039;d fire you for spying on his passengers? Maybe sack your brother as well, after all Charlie&039;s been putting up with?" Every day, the captain barked at the youngon board too well Charlie was a good sport, quietly enduring each outburst "Now tell ood-bye"

With another glare, Izabel said, "Fine Take Damiãno He&039;s definitely louco"

Lucia had to agree that so was off about the man, nointensity about him, much like MacRieve&039;s Except that when Damiãno smiled, it never quite reached his eyes - and his eyes followed her constantly

"He speaks Portuguese, right?" Izabel said "So Charlie and I try to talk to hiuese"

"How do you uese like the conquistadors spoke" That is strange "And then he&039;ll see we&039;re frowning at hihed "Muito bonito"

"Damiãno is hot," Lucia murmured, then realized she&039;d spoken aloud "And by that, I mean, I respect his mind"

Izabel tapped her chin "And Schecter?"

"Not so much with the hot"

"Well, he - "

"Shh," Lucia hissed "He&039;s co"

With an aluway - out of sight of theat the platform His case was a Halliburton - the kindmissile codes inside Lucia rolled her eyes

After glancing both ways, he took out his "revolutionary" lure, which looked like an airplane&039;s black box attached to a rope When he turned it on, a blinking red light on the top beeped sonic frequencies They made her ears twitch until he dipped the device into the water

Under her breath, Lucia said, "Hey, Iz - now&039;s your chance to eat his shorts"

Izabel&039;s eyes widened, as if she were shocked Lucia was teasing her Then she whispered, "Hold me back That cowlick? Muito rin

When Schecter moved on to other parts of the ship, Izabel said, "That one&039;s keeping snakes, lizards, and all kinds of amphibians in his roo? I&039;m not a scientist, but co, you better be able to handle its arrival" Sether by prayers, duct tape, and Charlie - and it couldn&039;t take the visit of a &039; So Schecter&039;s either very foolish or very selfish"

Agreed "What about Rossiter?"

"Now hi Never sleeps And I think he&039;s obsessed with flowers, always drawing them - "

Lucia&039;s phone vibrated then with yet another text e She twisted around in the craRad: Got 2 level 9/ ice wrld U always do ice wrlds 4 in like crazy - another e from her arrived Got thru it anywy SO SUCK IT RAW!

"Who keeps texting you?" Izabel asked "A twelve-year-old yourink?"

"How do you say &039;har-har&039; in Portuguese?" Lucia asked innocently, then she added, "It&039;s just one ofaway this long

"How many sisters do you have?"

Hundreds All over the world "Enough," Lucia answered

"I wish I had a sister"

"A twin brother isn&039;t enough?"

"I guess," Izabel answered with a shrug

Now that Lucia thought about it, she&039;d never seen the two display affection Likely because they were so different Izabel was brazen, confident Charlie seemed unsure and aard

"Hey, do you feel that?" Izabel said "They got the ship loose"

Lucia glanced down just as MacRieve hauled himself from the water onto the platforly When he stood, shaking his wet hair in that wolfy way, his sodden jeans hung even lower on his sculpted torso

Lucia&039;s claws curled for hi, Gods, he&039;s fine, Izabel whispered, "I&039;d lock that one dohile you can Espl��ndido"

The Scot was splendid And sexy and funny He kne to string a recurve bow Here was a man who treated her well, who&039;d proved he was understanding about her limitations

"Chuck!" the captain suddenly called "Get your ass up here!"

Izabel juo!" Wide-eyed, she shio?"

"To wake up Charlie"

Travis yelled, "Izabel! Where the hell is Chuck?"

"See?"

Lucia couldn&039;t believe this girl had fallen for that querulous captain To be stuck on this bucket, with no future, no prospects She was so young "Izabel, you know there are other ships out there for you to work on Ships that will treat you aze "I&039;ll never want another ship as long as I live" And then she was gone, leaving Lucia to her thoughts Which almost always centered on MacRieve

In the last three days, Lucia had begun to fear that she was settling in with him too easily She&039;d been fooled once before, and even after all these years, she was still deeply asha to Cruach&039;s trickery Her sisters would have sensed he was evil

Regin had She&039;d taken one look at the fair-haired odparents Who&039;d ht into Cruach&039;s clutches, trusting in him so completely that she&039;d broken those vows

A with the Scot? As if to re every night Only now, for the first ti a bed with another, ato knohat she dreamed of -

"Lousha?" he called then, and she too hit her head As she crawled froway, then to the cabin below

Just before she&039;d reached the steps, he bounded up the blue

"Right up here You couldn&039;t scentfrom his broad shoulders "It&039;s difficult to find you aboard a ship like this" At her nonplussed look, he said, "I scent your bathing suit top drying on the clothesline by the galley" He twined a lock of her hair around his finger "I smell a strand from these curls up by the wheel-house All around, I detect your scent It&039;d almost be easier for me to find you from thirty or forty miles away"

"I told you I wouldn&039;t leave Don&039;t you trust me?"

"Aye, but I chased you for the better part of a year Old habits die hard It actually feels odd no&039; to be running after you Welcome, but odd"

She tilted her head at hiiving up?"

"Never"

"Not once?"

His voice was so deep as he said, "Lousha, you&039;re ed, as if he spoke an irrevocable truth

If I&039;ht

Chapter 30

"You doona expect to catch dinner with that setup?"

Iht For the last ten days, the twopoint, unable to pass each other on the narrow gangithout sla shoulders

"You think you could do better?" Damiãno snapped

"Oh, aye"

"Wager on it"

Lucia sank down on the weathered lounge chair Elbows to her knees and her chin in her hands, she settled in for the duration - because neither le fish the entire trip And now she could tell that neither would budge until they did

For each of these ten days, as the Contessa had headed deeper down the San Miguel into a prie He paced constantly, palpably restless He couldn&039;t run, and it weighed on him Lucia knew the Lykae needed to run Especially with the full ht

And then tomorrow they planned to arrive in the vicinity of Rio Labyrinto - another source of unease for him He&039;d said to her, "I doona suppose there&039;s any way I could talk you out of going to the labyrinth?" At her look, he&039;d added, "Dinna think so"

Yet as much as Garreth hated it here, she&039;d enjoyed it She recalled that explorers used to talk about the jungle as if she were aoff civility She finally understood what they&039;d meant

And she liked it

Levelheaded Lucia was losing it Her façade of control, her tenuous rationality Everything about this place was sensual - the colors, the warmth, the evocative scents She felt more alive than she had into the hose bed she shared? MacRieve earing her down every day - and night As if she needed anything to erode her control Her house of cards was in the midst of adown

Over these days, life aboard the Contessa had taken on a routine Dah she sensed the male could be a threat, Lucia couldn&039;t ht have been of the Lore, but no species could th

As for Rossiter, when he wasn&039;t pacing in his cabin, the doctor got Charlie to teach hiether, they did everything froine filters

Lucia didn&039;t think Rossiter had been asleep for an hour since they&039;d left He was growing paler, his tall body rangier, and solint in his dark blue eyes, like ain How could it not? Like her, Rossiter was running out of time

Schecter continually crept about at all hours of the night, dipping his sonic lure into the water, and just as continually, Izabel gave Travis long looks

When Travis didn&039;t think anyone was around, he&039;d checked her out a couple of times, then had appeared furious with hiiving hi looks as well

Despite the fact that the Texan wasn&039;t particularly kind to either twin, both of the for him

Lucia actually liked Izabel For a irl was affable and no-nonsense, and reh Lucia could never shake the feeling that so friendship And Izabel had confided secrets, explaining things about the captain that had puzzled Lucia, like his anger whenever Charlie made improvements to the boat - or his irritation at any re woman

It turned out that Travis was a er of eight years His wife had apparently been a paragon, running tours with hi hi all the maps and quaint lists that remained to this day The embroidered tablecloths and curtains had all been done by her hand

In Iquitos, it was rumored that Travis remained true to his dead wife, and the Contessa was a de facto shrine to her

Lucia had asked Izabel, "Why don&039;t you just tell Travis you want hihost of his perfect wife He hates anything thatfaithful to her memory And then there&039;s Charlie Doesn&039;t matter Capitão will never want ood as you and Mr MacRieve"

Lucia had been startled by her stateh he was a rough-and-tumble olf, he could be remarkably patient As they walked the decks, he would teach her Gaelic phrases He&039;d chuckled a couple of times at her early atte when he realized how quickly she was learning

And he was thoughtful A few days ago, she&039;d heard MacRieve arguing with Schecter about taking "scientific credit" for a "previously uncataloged find" Curious, she&039;d sidled to the corner, peeking around

In his big paws, the Scot was painstakingly cradling a delicate cocoon Just e with opalescence She&039;d never seen anything like it

"Schecter, what in the hell do I want scientific credit for?" MacRieve gave a grunt "Just want to name it"

"Well, if you don&039;t care about credit, then ould it hurt to allow nation? Honestly, Mr MacRieve - "

"Schecter, go fook your science I&039; this after et this butterfly all ular blood"

The professor gaped, speechless for long moments Finally he cleared his throat and said, "Uh, well, yes, of course What will you call it?"

"Lucia Incantata," MacRieve murmured Her toes had curled when he&039;d absently added, "Rehed whenever she recalled the look on his face

That night, he&039;d "surprised" her with the butterfly, setting up a mosquito net in the cabin to keep it in