Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

boat.
    Lucia’s eyes narrowed as a suspicion arose, and she clambered around the pitching decks toward him. Once she’d reached the side, her jaw slackened at the scene.
    Schecter. Hanging on for his life to a splintering railing. Directly beneath his dangling body, an immense caiman peered up, about to strike.
    Her lips parted around a shocked breath. The creature was
colossal
, with red eyes the size of basketballs. And it wasn’t alone. The water all around the boat churned with eddies.
    MacRieve had told her that there were in fact giant caimans—but that they lived in Rio Labyrinto, not anywhere else!
    Wait… the ship was only a few hours from there. Dear gods, was Schecter’s lure actually working, drawing them here from the hidden tributary?
    Lucia readied her bow, stringing two arrows. The creature’s hide would be plated thick, so she aimed for the red eyes—big enough targets.
    When she nailed the caiman in both sockets, it thrashed twice, sending up copious waves of water and mud that splattered the side of the boat. Then it disappeared.
    Lucia strapped her bow across her body, then dove across the deck for Schecter, snagging his wrist. “What have you done?” she demanded. “What is this?”
    He replied in hysterical gibberish—so she feinted like she was dropping him. “What was that, Schecter?”
    “Lure. Worked!”
    “Where is it?” She couldn’t hear the contraption, which meant it was still underwater.
    “I don’t know! Got jostled, caught in the anchor line,” he answered, looking so petrified that she believed him.
    She’d just swung him back on solid footing when Travis and Izabel stumbled out onto the deck.
    “What the hell’s going on, doc?” Travis snapped. The big Texan was wielding his shotgun.
    Izabel herself had a machete. “Wh-what could do this?” she cried over the rain.
    “Ask Schecter!” Lucia turned, but he’d already disappeared.
    Rossiter staggered out from the cabin area. “Somebody want to tell me what’s happening?”
    “Schecter’s lure worked. We’re surrounded by giant caimans,” Lucia said, but no one believed her—they couldn’t see in the dark.
    When lightning flashed, illuminating the creatures swarming the boat, Rossiter’s jaw slackened. “Schecter did…
this
?”
    Travis’s eyes went wide. “I’m going to kick his worthless ass.”
    “Can that wait?” Rossiter gazed around uneasily. “We need to get under way, stat!”
    “Might help if I could find my fucking deckhand!” Travis said with a scowl. “We’re taking on water—we’ve got to get the pumps going before I can crank the engines.”
    “I’m on the pumps!” Rossiter yelled, running at once for the engine room.
    Gazing toward the bow, Lucia said, “The lure’s still working. I’ll try to find it, get rid of it.”
    “Wait, Lucia,” Izabel said, “where’s Mr. MacRieve—”
    Another lurching hit to the ship sent Lucia tumbling across the deck, her claws like grappling hooks over the wood. From a distance she saw Travis and Izabel launched into the galley wall; Travis hit head-first, the blow knocking him out cold. Looking dazed but unharmed, Izabel dropped her machete to tend to him.
    The next rock of the boat loosed a weighty beam above the two. It plummeted toward the captain’s motionless body, but little Izabel
caught it
, straining to hold it over her head.
    Lucia dashed up to help, but before she could reach Izabel, the woman…
changed
.
    Involuntarily backing up a step, Lucia gaped. She’d lived a long time. Never had she seen this. Giant caimans could be explained, but this…
    Clearly, Izabel needed no help. Right before Lucia’s eyes, she’d just morphed.
    Into…
Charlie
. And… and
he
was managing the beam handily.
Can’t think about this right now—
    “Lousha!” Dimly, she heard MacRieve yelling for her. She whirled around, hurrying to the platform to warn him away. He’d just run out onto the stern of the
Barão
.
    “MacRieve, something’s in the water!” she yelled as the boat rose up once more. “Stay there!”
    “Fook that!”
sounded back.
    Then he dove in.
    “Damn him!” She had to clear a way back for him. With the help of her new quiver, she shot repeatedly, aiming for the caimans’ eyes, arrows flying as if she were flanked by a hundred archers.
    She killed several of the creatures, but something was still rippling the water behind MacRieve. It was just below the surface but making a sizeable wake.
    “Swim