Once Upon a Midnight Sea (6 page)

BOOK: Once Upon a Midnight Sea
3.17Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

"Oh yes, now I remember." She gave him back his own devilish smile. "I already have."

The lines in his brow deepened. "Miss Montague."

"Yes, Mr. Nighthawk?"

He clenched his jaw and took a threatening step after her. Adriana used every ounce of her courage to keep her back straight and her expression passive.

"Perhaps you don't understand how serious I am."

She forced herself to match his cold glare, even though her insides trembled with fear. "I understand perfectly. I have merely taken a small precaution.
Your
necklace is securely stowed upon
your
ship. Burn her, and you burn Starry Night. Now if you'll excuse me, my breakfast is getting cold."

"Why you little vixen." He grabbed her arm and spun her back to face him. In one step, he had her pinned against the wall. She gasped, drawing in the decidedly masculine scent of him. He'd used her father's shaving cream this morning, but on him the mint and sandalwood lotion had taken an entirely new and more powerful aroma.

He held her arm firmly as he stared into her eyes for a long, silent moment. She stared back, mapping the silver flecks that made his eyes such a unique sea-foam green. It reminded her of the water off Jamaica she'd seen only once. It also reminded her that unless she did something to save herself, she'd be back in the Caribbean in mere weeks.

"You try my patience."

She smiled wickedly. "You are most welcome." Adriana tugged her arm away and his hand slowly released its grip.

"I thought ladies were supposed to be soft spoken, docile, and polite."

"And I thought gentlemen were supposed to be kind, accommodating, and affable."

The rakish grin returned, full of danger but oh, so enchanting. Laugh lines crinkled around his eyes and a shadow of a dimple appeared in one cheek.

"I never said I was a gentleman."

She looked away, refusing to acknowledge how truly handsome he was. "Nor does your behavior suggest you are."

Adriana slipped away and traveled quickly down the hall to the galley. She heard his footsteps behind her but didn't turn around to acknowledge him.

Mrs. Bailey sat in a heap at the galley table, still as green as ever. "Oh Adriana, thank goodness. I worried when I awoke this morning and you were gone."

"I didn't wish to wake you, you seemed finally to be at rest."

She groaned. "I did not sleep a wink last night. Why, this ship never stops rocking. Honestly, I do not understand how you can tolerate sailing." She stopped abruptly when she saw Christian enter the galley.

Mrs. Ling poured a steaming cup of sweet smelling brew. "Ginseng tea. Make you feel better."

"No thank you, I could not possibly swallow a drop." The elderly woman glared at Christian. "This is your fault, you devil. I hope you are satisfied."

"Why yes, thank you, Madame."

"Do not get fresh with me, you nasty piece of work."

"You drink," Mrs. Ling insisted. "Feel better." She placed a bowl of porridge in front of Adriana and hurried back to the stove for the cooked ham. "We not go to Baltimore today?"

Adriana gave her porridge a fine dusting of cinnamon and slathered a biscuit with butter. "I do not know. You will have to ask our host, Mr..." She glanced at the young man who'd seated himself across the table. He'd carried his tray back from her father's cabin. "What is your name, or do you prefer I merely call you Mr. Nighthawk?"

He shot a nervous glance at Mrs. Ling, but she had her back to them, busily flipping slices of ham in the pan at the stove. Adriana marked herself another invisible point in the battle of mischief she refused to lose.

He kept his anger in check, but she could see it, bubbling just below the surface. "I am Christian De la Croix."

Mrs. Ling spun around. In the doorway, Mr. Ling stopped so suddenly he spilled over a cup on the tray he carried. She looked up at him and uttered something in rapid Chinese that ended with "Croix."

"What did she say?" Christian demanded.

Adriana pursed her lips innocently. "I do not speak Chinese."

Mr. Ling smiled nervously. He stammered for a moment, then managed, "St. Croix is one leeward island."

Adriana recognized the tension in her long time friend's face.

"We go there to collect herbs?"

"We are going to South America," Christian declared. "You will know more when it becomes necessary."

Mrs. Bailey moaned and covered her mouth as her pallor went from green to gray.

"South America." Mrs. Ling nodded. "By way of Cuba?"

"Would you like to stop and visit your sister?" Adriana asked her.

"There will be no stopping," Christian interjected. "Please make her understand that."

Adriana mustered her most resentful stare. "Tell her yourself."

"On the way back, Mrs. Ling." Christian gave the old woman a smile that sent Adriana's heart leaping. She couldn't understand the strange power he held over her.
It is because he is my kidnapper, nothing more
. She threw down her napkin and stood, disgusted with herself.

"I shall return to my cabin. Mr. De la Croix, as the new owner of Lady Luck, you may take next watch. I am certain Mr. Dupree is ready to be relieved." She turned away, ignoring his furious glower.

"I don't sail."

Adriana froze and slowly turned back. Had she heard him correctly? "Surely you jest."

"No." He stood from the table, matching her height. "I do not sail."

Mrs. Bailey burst out with a shriek of outrage. "You mean to tell us you commandeered a ship that you do not know how to operate?"

"Had it been possible to walk there by myself, I'm certain the company would have been better," he growled in return.

"This is preposterous! You shall be the death of us all, young man."

Adriana crossed her arms over her chest. Had it not been so pathetic, the irony of the situation would have been funny. She hashed off another point in her favor. When she and Mrs. Bailey escaped, he would be in trouble deeper than he ever might have imagined. He and Henri would have no choice but to put into port for a crew, where the authorities would warmly greet them.

Adriana turned her attention away. The best thing she could do was ignore him. "Mrs. Ling, would you please prepare a tray for Henri? I will take it up to him."

Without looking at Christian again, Adriana went to the small cupboard containing Chauncy's food and scooped a bowl of nuggets for him. The only sound in the stretching silence was the tinkle of China as Mrs. Ling prepared Henri's breakfast.

A glorious sunny morning greeted Adriana as she stepped topside. Not a cloud marred the crystal clear sky. A brisk north-easterly breeze carried Lady Luck along at a leisurely pace across a placid sea.

"
Bonjour
," she said. "How is the sea this morning?"

"Like a coy mistress." Henri fastened a leather lanyard around the flywheel and sat beside her at the bench to eat. "The storm blew onto the shore in the night."

"As you said it would." She glanced at her old friend. He no longer looked like the same man. Was it because she no longer trusted him?

After her father had been shot last fall, it seemed he suddenly raced toward old age, leaving Henri behind. But today, with his sagging shoulders and tired eyes, Henri appeared to have caught up with Father.

"Are you really going to try and reach South America without a crew?"

"We've done it before," he reminded her. "We had only Ollie, your father and Mr. Hollingsworth when we sailed to Jamaica."

"You were a younger man then," Adriana reminded him back. "And you had willing hands in us."

"
Oui
, but I know you won't let us or the ship go down. And there is no one I'd rather have sailing her as I sleep than you,
chéri
."

Adriana's guilt sat like a stone in her stomach. "If we do indeed arrive safely, what becomes of us then?"

Henri stopped eating. "Christian will not harm you. I know that is not what he wants."

"You have a stake in this, or you wouldn't go along with him. Tell me what it is." As soon as she'd made the demand, she felt guilty for the harshness in her voice.

Adriana knew the old man must have an important reason for doing what he did, but it made her furious that he kept it from her. She stood and paced the forecastle when he remained silent. "This is madness. I cannot sail her alone and you know it." Adriana threw her hands in the air. "How is it you will risk your own wellbeing for this man? How are you so certain he is not the man who attacked Father?"

Henri's spoon dropped to the tray with a clatter. "He is not the man who shot your father. He was still in France at the time."

Adriana considered him carefully. "I want to believe you, Mr. Dupree, because I cannot bear that you would lie to me about such a thing." But try as she might, the trust would not come.

Henri regarded her levelly. "Christian does not want your father dead, Adriana. He wants him to suffer. For that, he needs him alive."

She closed her eyes as the cold northern wind slipped through her clothes and gripped her bones.

"And you are right, I have a stake in this. But what, I cannot tell you. Not yet."

"Do you too wish him to suffer?" she asked softly, almost afraid of his response. "Your recalcitrance is the same as a lie."

"No, never. Nor do I wish you to suffer. But this is Christian's quest, and I must do this for him."

"Why? Tell me how you know him, I demand it."

"I raised him when he lost his father. I have known him since he was a child, and I know he is not capable of murder."

"I have yet to see proof of that." She was even more confused. How could Henri have raised Christian from a child? He'd spent the last twenty-five years working for her father. Even Ollie knew Christian, and was comfortable around him as if he were family. Like she had been with Henri.

The old sea captain must have read the puzzlement in her face. "Do you not remember my many trips to France?"

Christian's words from the previous night echoed.
If your father ever returns to France, he'll be arrested the moment his feet touch the soil
.

"The story is not mine to tell," Henri stated. "Christian will tell you, when he is ready."

"What will I tell the lady?" He emerged on deck, his black hair glossy in the morning sunshine. "I take it she wishes to know more about why she finds herself in this particular situation."

In his newly appropriated finery, the morning's golden light transformed him into a dashing vision. The silk shirt rippled across his chest in the breeze and before she could shut it out, the vision of his muscles and that dark mat of chest hair filled her mind's eye.

"Adriana!" Ollie shouted from the crow's nest, alerting Adriana to his presence there. She looked up. Gilded by the sun, he waved an arm. "
Bonjour
, Christian!"

Christian waved back. "Ollie, hello." The bright smile he beamed at Ollie smile turned mischievous as he aimed it on her. He lowered his voice. "I, too, wish the answers to my questions. For example, where she has hidden Starry Night."

Henri bit out a curse in French. "Adriana–I told you to give it to him this morning."

"I hope she has thrown it overboard." Mrs. Bailey's voice carried through the hatch as she carefully negotiated the ladder behind him.

In her matriarch's presence, Adriana's confidence rose. She returned to her seat at the stern bench.

"But I have given it to him, Henri," she said in an innocent tone tinged with just a hint of wickedness. "It is safely tucked away on his ship."

A muscle in Christian's jaw tightened, but her captor remained silent.

Henri sat beside her and resumed his breakfast, grumbling under his breath between bites. "
Bon Dieu. Vous me donnez mal á la tête
."

"I'll wager she's hidden it in one of the shore boats, as she and Mrs. Bailey intend to make their escape this afternoon when we pass Charleston."

Henri's gaze snapped up.

Adriana leapt to her feet. "Why you incorrigible parasite! Your personal offenses against me have reached pinnacle. Have you no respect for a lady's privacy?"

Christian smiled, obviously pleased with himself. "Blame Lady Luck and her thin cabin doors. I was merely on my way to bed last night when I heard the two of you conspiring."

"You were eavesdropping. To claim otherwise is cowardly."

Henri stood and hitched his pants. "I cannot take any more of this." He faced her, an angry scowl furrowed in his brow that made her cringe. "Miss Montague, when I realized you were our accidental guest I believed you had the constitution to make good of this voyage. But you are different since returning from London, and not, I believe, in a good way."

Adriana gasped. Her captor chuffed as though triumphant. "That is what finishing school will do for the already spoiled."

"And you!" Henri turned his anger on Christian. "You behave like an unruly child. I understand where your anger stems from but not why you insist on making those around you miserable. Adriana is not to blame for the crimes you accuse of her father. Had I known you would be so grudging where she is concerned I never would have agreed to this journey."

BOOK: Once Upon a Midnight Sea
3.17Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

The Remedy by Michelle Lovric
Transcendent by Lesley Livingston
Bitch by Deja King
Desert Blade by Drake, Ella
Blood Price by Tunstall, Kit
Watch Me Go by Mark Wisniewski
Dark Sister by Joyce, Graham
Oppressed by Kira Saito