Immortal War

“Well, I may as well be the one to say this.” Stukeley broke the silence. “This plan stinks!” He turned to the others for support. “Come on, you guys. You saw what we were up against last night. Sid and Lola might fancy a suicide mission, but, tell you what, it’s a no from me.”

“Wait!” Mimma implored him. “I know you’ll say I’m biased, but I tend to agree with Lola when she says we’ve pushed them to their limits.”

Johnny stepped forward, nodding. “Me, too.”

Stukeley shook his head. “You’re like her puppets, all of you. And Sidorio’s the biggest puppet of all.” Exasperatedly, Stukeley shook his head. “Well, fine, if that’s the way you feel, you can deliver that message to the troops.” He strode to the door.

“Where are you going?” Mimma asked.

“I don’t know!” Stukeley said angrily as he pushed open the door. “Maybe I’ll have a long soak in a hot bath!”

Johnny started to go after him but Mimma reached out her hand. “Leave him,” she said. “He’ll come around. I’ll have a quiet word with him later if need be. I can be very persuasive, you know.”

Johnny grinned. “I’m sure you can.” His expression changed to one of anxiety. “Sidorio tasked all three of us to address the troops. He’ll be furious when he finds out Stukeley disobeyed his orders.”

Mimma smiled soothingly, shaking her head. “He doesn’t need to find out,” she said, reaching for the door. “Come on, Captain Desperado. You and I are perfectly capable of doing this ourselves. Sid and Lola clearly want us to step up to the plate. I’m ready. Aren’t you?”

Johnny hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed her out through the door.

“Here you are!” Nathalie said. “This should take the edge off.” She sauntered over to where Stukeley stood beside Hunter and Evil’s bassinets and handed him a glass.

“Thanks,” he said, swigging a gulp, then glancing down again at the two babies, making funny faces at them.

“So, what prompted this visit?” Nathalie asked. “Not that I’m complaining, but I’d never have predicted that you were inclined toward child care. You’re not thinking of applying to be their manny, are you?”

“Manny?” Stukeley looked blankly at her.

“Male nanny,” Nathalie explained with a grin.

“No!” Stukeley laughed and shook his head. “But after everything I’ve been through tonight, I just thought that spending time with these little guys might help restore some sense of sanity.”

Nathalie smiled. “I know exactly what you mean,” she said, gazing at the two little bodies wriggling in their cots. “Would you like kids some day?” she inquired. “With Mimma, perhaps?”

Stukeley shrugged—now wriggling himself, taken off guard by her question. “I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I never really thought it was an option for me.”

Nathalie nodded. “Me neither, but if it worked for Lola and Sidorio, why not for you guys, too? For what it’s worth, I think you and Mim would make delectable babies!” Smiling at the thought, she reached out her hand to little Evil. He squealed with delight and gripped hold of her finger with both his hands. “Ouch!” she exclaimed. “That’s a tight grip! Just wait until he gets a sword in his hand!”

“It won’t be long,” Stukeley said. “I’m sure Sid and Lola have big plans for these two.”

“Oh, yes.” Nathalie nodded. “The world is their oyster. These little guys will be running us ragged, you can bet on it. I wonder if they’ll even remember that Auntie Nat changed a thousand of their diapers when they’re running the empire.” She smiled and shook her head, rolling her eyes.

Stukeley’s smile froze upon his face. These two little kids might look innocent enough now, but Nathalie was right. They stood to take their place at Sidorio and Lola’s sides. He and Johnny would no longer be Sidorio’s deputies. It was bad enough being edged aside by Lola, let alone by two rug rats who couldn’t even control their own bowel movements. He made another face at Hunter, provoking a fresh burst of giggles.

“You’re really good with them,” Nathalie said. “You must visit us more often!”

Stukeley turned away from the babies for a moment and focused instead on his adult companion. “Are you their nanny?” he asked. “I get the impression you spend an awful lot of time with them.”

Nathalie shrugged. “I do what I can. I promised Lola that they wouldn’t be left alone at any point. Not after what she read in the cards last night!”

Greatly interested and keen to learn more, Stukeley leaned in closer. “Lola certainly does love the cards, doesn’t she?”

Nathalie nodded, pursing her lips. “But she was in quite a state after what we found out about little Hunter here.”

“What exactly did you find out?” Stukeley asked her casually, glancing back down and winking at the helpless brat.

Nathalie was tickling the baby’s tummy. “Lola turned the Death card and then three others—the Healer, the Lost Buccaneer, and Orion, also known as the Hunter.”

Stukeley quickly processed this latest information as Nathalie continued. “Lola’s got it into her head that death is coming for Hunter. It absolutely terrifies her.” Nathalie’s eyes were wide as she turned to Stukeley. “You know the babies have really changed Captain Lockwood. As strong as she is, if anything happened to Hunter or Evil, it would completely and utterly destroy her.”

There! There was the solace that Stukeley had been waiting for. He truly hadn’t expected to find it here, but wasn’t there some kind of saying about wisdom springing from the mouths of babes and fools? Well, Nathalie certainly wasn’t a fool, and the babes hadn’t exactly spoken to him, but… close enough. He heard Nathalie’s voice inside his head—and it had never sounded so sweet. If anything happened to Hunter or Evil, it would completely destroy her. Completely destroy her. Destroy her. Her. The thought of Lola Lockwood-Sidorio’s destruction was the most pleasing thing in the world to Stukeley. Already his brain was working overtime.

“We must take very good care of these little guys,” Nathalie said, in her soft, warm voice.

Stukeley nodded, reaching his own hand down into the crib.

“Yes indeed,” he said. “We mustn’t let the precious little devils out of our sights.”

“You were rather magnificent up there, Sid,” Lola said as they made their way along the corridor to the blood cellar. “Though I really do think you need to pull Stukeley into line.”

“I know,” Sidorio said. “And I will. Let’s just get through the next battle and then we’ll review our key personnel. Reshuffle the cards.” He glanced down at her. “Does that sound like a good plan?”

Lola nodded. “A very good plan indeed,” she said, dipping her hand into her pocket for the key to the cellar door.

“My only sadness,” Sidorio continued, “is that Grace and Connor won’t come back to our side. Then our family—our empire—would be complete.”

Lola nodded carefully, thinking of the last few cards she had turned. “I wouldn’t worry about it overmuch, darling.” Why worry when Jack Tar was stalking the Healer and the Lost Buccaneer? Soon Grace and Connor would be written out of the story for good. And about time, too! Death might also have Hunter in his sights, but the cards had given Lola notice of this, and she had heeded their warning. Nothing bad was going to befall little Hunter. Lola smiled. “I have a feeling everything is falling into place.”

“Do you really think so?” Sidorio asked her.

“I know so,” Lola said, key outstretched as they reached the door. Her tone faltered. “What’s this?”

The door was ajar and her boots appeared to be stepping not onto dry floorboards but into centimeters of liquid. With a sense of awful foreboding, Lola pushed open the door and strode into her beloved cellars. Sidorio heard her piercing scream and rushed inside to join her.

It was a terrible sight to behold. The cellars had been completely vandalized. Bottles lay emptied and