Patriot (A Jack Sigler Continuum Novella) by Jeremy Robinson, J. Kent Holloway Read Free Book Online Page A

smiled.
    Now, all that was left was to reach their destination. She would have one of the most powerful l’was ever conjured, and it would be fully tied to American soil. It was only a matter of time, and there was nothing Lanme Wa could do to prevent it.
    A sudden tap at the door startled her from her reverie.
    “ Oui ? ”
    “Sorry, ma’am,” came a quivering voice from the other side of the hold’s door. “The cap’n was wonderin’ how much longer it’ll be. Them pirates is keepin’ a tight path on our stern, and he’s thinkin’ their cap’n might be needed come night fall.”
    Asherah glanced back over at the crate, and rolled her eyes. As far as she was concerned, Lanme Wa could sleep til his heart’s content, but she knew Captain Reardon wasn’t going to allow her that luxury. On the other hand, she honestly did not know how to revive the pirate. It was a lesson never taught her by her grandmother.
    When it be time for Lanme Wa to awaken, her grandmother had always told her, Lanme Wa will awaken. Not a minute sooner .
    Asherah pulled the sheet around her once more, strode over to the door and opened it. The young cabin boy jumped back with a yelp, causing the mambo bokor to laugh. She cherished the power she had over these white men—both from fear, as well as from lust—and she savored every reminder of the awe they had for her.
    “Tell mon Capitaine I need eight strong hands to carry Lanme Wa to da upper deck.”
    With a curt salute, the boy scampered up the ladder and disappeared. Ten minutes later, four large sailors and Quartermaster Greer returned to the hold. The Englishman, whom Asherah could sense was not well-liked among his mostly Irish crew, directed the men to the wooden crate without so much as glancing at her. She then watched as the hatch above the hold was opened, and a crane hook was lowered down. The men carefully secured the crate, and with a series of shouted commands from Greer, it was lifted up to the deck.
    “Now, woman,” Greer said with a sneer. He refused to look her in the eye. “Please dress yourself in more civilized attire, and meet the Captain and Mr. Finkle topside, as soon as possible.”
    With that, he motioned to his men to follow him, and they left her alone in the hold to reflect on her own amusement.

 
     
    8
     
    After changing back into her linen shift, Asherah made her way up on deck to see Captain Reardon, Jim Brannan Finkle and a handful of crew standing over the opened crate. Greer was nowhere to be seen. Three sailors were vigilantly watching the sea from the bow of the ship, while their compatriots tended to various other duties.
    The ship rocked hard from side-to-side, as it was bombarded by choppy waves originating from dark skies to the west. She didn’t need to see the clouds beyond to know that a storm was approaching. She could taste it on the rush of wind brushing past her face, and she inhaled deeply, savoring the sweet tang of the rapidly cooling air.
    Turning her attention back to the captain, she strode over to them, and greeted Reardon with a slight nod of her head. “ Capitaine Reardon.”
    “The time for pleasantries is long past, lassie,” he said, pointing to the crate. “Though I’m mightily vexed as to how a pirate’s crew can still be sailing more than a hundred years after their captain’s death…or whatever you call it. The sad fact o’ the matter is, they are. Though they’ve intentionally slowed their pursuit since daybreak, they’re still trackin’ us from the southeast. On top of that, we’re fast approachin’ a hell of a storm to the west, and so far, you’ve not earned your keep aboard me ship.”
    “And how you think I should help, cher ? More important, how you think Lanme Wa can help? He be immortal. Not a god. He can’t turn da weather ’round to go de other way.”
    “But he may be able to call off his crew,” Finkle said. Of all the men she’d encountered so far on this expedition, he was the one