Wake of the Bloody Angel Read Online Free Page B

we’d be away. Neither he, she, nor I harbored any delusions about what he’d be up to in her absence. When he was out of sight, Jane asked, “Since I’m working
    for you now, trying to find a long-lost pirate and his treasure, shouldn’t you tell me who our client is?”
    “Not the treasure, just the pirate,” I repeated. “And the client is—” I hesitated because I knew what her reaction would be. “—Angelina.”
    Her eyes opened wide. “Angie?” Jane barked, laughing loud enough to startle birds from the nearby trees. My horse, Baxter, tossed his head, annoyed by the sharp, shrill noise. “The great ice queen Angelina hired you to find her old pirate boyfriend?”
    “Yes.”
    “That’s crazy! I’ve been passing through Neceda and stopping at her tavern for years, and I’ve never seen her interested in a man. Or a woman. Or anyone .”
    “Yeah, she’s been the reigning Miss Anthropy as long as I’ve known her. But I think this guy Edward Tew is the reason.”
    Jane giggled like a princess with a secret. “Crazy. That’s the only word. Angelina in love. That’s like imagining me cooking dinner. So where did they meet?”
    “Watchorn Harbor in Cotovatry.”
    “I know it. Fairly big port. What do you think we’ll find there after all this time?”
    “Nothing, probably. But maybe somebody remembers them, and knows what happened to Tew. It’s one end of the string that’s tied to our man.”
    “And his treasure,” she added.
    I glared at her. “Stop that. Seriously.”
    She threw up her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, you win. But you know, pirates don’t generally last twenty years. It’s a tough trade. If he’s not dead, he’s probably changed his name and started a whole new life.”
    “Are you going to be such a beacon of optimism on the whole trip?”
    “Just so we’re clear, I get paid whether we find him or not, right?”
    “That’s the deal.”
    She sighed and shook her head. “That soft heart of yours is going to be the death of you one day, Eddie, you know that?”
    I said nothing. My heart had once hardened beyond recognition, and I hated the man I became then. If being softhearted took a few years off my life, it seemed a fair trade for being human again.
     
     
    FIVE days later, we stopped our horses on the ridge overlooking Cotovatry’s coastal plain. Mine stomped around, refusing to stop until he’d reminded me yet again why I disliked all horses except the late, lamented Lola.
    “I hope you handle that redhead of yours better than that,” Jane said.
    “Yeah, well, maybe you should consider gelding your husband, it might calm him down,” I snapped back. She laughed. Mile after mile of sand and scrub stretched away in either direction. Here and there, trees grew in tight-packed spots where the sand gave way to actual soil. Behind us stretched a vast woods crisscrossed with trails and roads.
    In the middle of the vista before us lay Watchorn Harbor.
    The town’s buildings clustered along the water’s edge and spread inland from a central point like a lady’s fan. A forest of masts and canvas filled the harbor, backlit by the afternoon sun that glinted blindingly off the water. The first gusts of eve ning wind brought the distinctive odors of salt and dead fish.
    “How many ships do you think are out there?” I asked.
    “About a hundred,” Jane said. “See those two far out at anchor? Those are naval ships stationed to protect the harbor. And those little ones all in a row there? A fishing fleet.”
    “Any pirate ships?”
    “Not in this harbor.” She snorted. “Unless they’re on the bottom. Those naval ships aren’t just for show.”
    It was sundown by the time we reached the town, and people packed the thoroughfares, mostly men with the distinctive leathery look and rolling gait of sailors. On the dreary streets, the odors were much more vivid and considerably less pleasant, but like anything, we eventually got used to them. Languages both known