Chapter 22: Power

Tina came very close to crying out in frustration when she opened the door and Ozera wasn't anywhere in sight.

They found themselves in another fantastically decorated room. This one, however, was the captain's dining area. It was smaller than the study length wise and, besides the ornate decorations, the only thing inside was the table and four chairs around it.

Sitting in the chair furthest from the door they had walked through, in front of the door that led to the next room, was a deadly looking blonde who was filing her nails.

“Dorina.” Dallas sighed. “This is just not my day.”

“How many people do you have beef with exactly? I don't want to be here all day.” Tina said to him dryly.

“My name,” the woman spoke up with a Romanian accent, “is Dora now. I would appreciate you using it.”

“I'll be happy to have them carve it on your grave.” Tina smiled back at her. Before she could take a step forward to take her on, she felt another halting hand on her shoulder. She turned back to snap at Dallas but it wasn't him who stopped her.

Crispin shook his head. His eyes burned with an anger that matched only his passion. She had never seen him look like that, never seen that fire burn so hotly, for something other than desire.

“Crispin?” she asked, surprised.

“This is the woman who had me kidnapped and brought to the Atlantic base.” he signed.

And suddenly that darkness made sense.

“And I'm guessing that you want revenge, too?” she asked him with a grin. “And here you were preaching to me about white whales.”

“I didn't expect to see her here.” Crispin signed, not getting into her playful mood.

He could still hear Dora's sultry purr ordering him put in the sub, could still see her coming at him with a knife flashing in her throat. Sometimes, he could still feel the electric dog collar they had put around his neck to silence him.

And always, always, he could see the face of the Ashley and the two other girls he had been brought aboard this very sub with. They haunted him at times. They had both died. He had been able to do nothing to prevent their slaughter.

At least, he thought with a sad grin, he could avenge them.

“Is the siren going to fight me?” Dora asked with a grin. She reached up and tapped her ears, turning her head just slightly so that they could see. “You'll have to do it fairly this time. No tricks.”

In her ears, a little big and bulky, was a pair of shinning silver ear buds. Tina didn't recognize them but Crispin did.

“They're earplugs that Dr. Fontane invented.” he explained to Tina and Dallas. “They filter out the hypnotic power of a siren's voice.”

Dr. Fontane, once an MCRC scientist now dead by Ozera's order, had been quite eager at the end of his life to invent those headphones. He had barely finished them before he was killed. If nothing else, Crispin knew they worked against his voice because it had been him that provided the recording that the doctor used to create them.

That Dora was wearing them didn't bother him at all.

The last time they met, Crispin had been nothing but a normal guy off the street. He hadn't been able to even throw a punch properly. The only way he had escaped her was to use the power of his voice while the shock collar zapped at him.

However, that had been over a year ago now and a great deal had changed. He had been under Jack's instruction, he knew how to fight. He knew how to survive.

Tina looked over to Dallas and asked sardonically, “And what's your connection to her?”

“Ex-girlfriend.”

“Amicable break up?”

“She shot me in the back.”

“Will you be wanting revenge too then?” she smiled sweetly.

Dallas spared a glance over to Crispin. He had never seen such a look on the siren's face. To be honest, it was more than a little disconcerting. The face that normally smiled so peacefully, the man himself being so easygoing, looked even more disturbing with such a scowl.

“I think I'll leave this one to Crispin.” he told her. “I don't really feel anything for Dorina anymore anyway.”

He clapped Crispin on the shoulder and turned to leave the room. He didn't want to be around when Crispin started speaking.

The three of them waited until they heard not only the door behind them close but the door beyond that one close as well.

“Two on one, hardly fair odds.” Dora spoke first, pouting just a bit.

“Don't worry.” Tina smiled at her, already hating this woman. She was like a worse version of Ilia because at least Ilia had morals. “I'll not be fighting. I'm just here to make sure you don't try to turn coward and run like your buddy out there did. He didn't get away either.”

As if to prove her point, she leaned back against the door and crossed her arms. Being the one who had been so focused on attaining revenge, she had forgotten that she wasn't the only one with hatred for Intrebari and its members.

Dora grinned. “So you killed Alin? I owe you thanks then. He was insufferable.”

“One question before I let Crispin kill you,” Tina grinned back, “Is Ozera in the next room or not?”

Dora nodded, twirling a strand or hair around her finger, “Dragul meu is indeed just beyond. You won't be getting to see him though.”

“That's all I need to know. Crispin, she's all yours.”

“How are you going to fight me without your voice?” she asked him sweetly.

“I'm sure I'll be fine.” he responded coldly.

At the sound of his voice, Dora flinched ever so slightly. But she didn't fall into his thrall. Whatever else, the earplugs were working. They were, however, not perfect. Dora could still feel the power coming from him. It was strong, even through her protection. She did not, however, feel any part of her mind beginning to bow to him.

“Have you ever killed before?” she asked him, her muscles clenching in preparation to strike. “Have you ever felt the warm blood of your victims pouring over you? Have you ever looked into someone's eyes and watched the life leave them? It's fantastic. I don't think you can handle it.”

“Don't worry about me.” Crispin smiled evilly at her. “I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to break you. I'm going to destroy you so thoroughly you won't even be able to think to wish you were dead.”

Dora frowned. She didn't know if it was the power of his voice that slipped past the earplugs or the dark, uncompromising look in his eyes, but she believed him.

And a hint of fear niggled at the back of her mind and shocked her. That this pretty boy siren could make her, her, feel fear? It was ridiculous. It was infuriating. She had her ears covered now, he had no power. He was weak. She knew that already. What reason did she had to fear him?

Screaming out her frustration, she leapt from her chair and over the table.

Crispin didn't dodge her, he grabbed her outstretched arms easily and held her fast. His strength surprised her. She had only ever seen him bound and gagged, she didn't think of him as strong.

He might not have been then but he was now.

Crispin threw her and she flew off to the side.

Dora rolled with it was back up on her feet in a moment.

She grabbed for the chair she had come up beside and tossed it towards him.

Crispin dodged it easily. He heard the wooden legs shatter against the steel wall as her fist came forward.

He moved swiftly out of her reach, grabbed her arm as he did so, and threw her after the chair.

Dora hit the wall but bounced right off and charged at him again.

Crispin was the faster. He grabbed her incoming first and twisted her around so that he was pulling her arm up behind her back in a painful hold.

Dora kicked out and struck Crispin's shins with the heels of her boots. They weren't long but they were sharp and he flinched back from the pain.

She slipped from his grasp and turned on him. She jumped and sent them both crashing into the table and remaining chairs.

Crispin heard wood crack as his back slammed onto the table and the force of it echoed up his body painfully. Dora was on top of him, trying to reach for the knife she had at her belt.

With one hard push, Crispin flipped them off of the table and onto the floor.

The wind was knocked from Dora as Crispin fell on top of her.

He took a second to grab her knife and throw it away. That lost him the advantage and she slammed her fist up the underside of his chin.

Crispin rolled away and they both came up on their feet. They were breathing hard and staring each other down.

“You're good.” Dora admitted reluctantly as her eyes darted to the side to spot her knife. It had slid under the first chair she had thrown backwards. Getting to it would be awkward and time consuming.

Instead, she jumped for him.

Tina didn't move as blows were exchanged between the two. From what she could see, Crispin was faster and stronger but Dora had more skill. For every two hits he dodged, Dora managed to get one in.

Meanwhile, he hadn't got a real hit on her yet. Tina wasn't sure if it was from reluctance to hit a girl or from him being just unable to work his way in.

Either way, from where Tina stood, Dora was winning.

She had to fight off the urge to interfere. She hadn't needed to at all when Dallas had fought Alin. It was only now seeing Crispin potentially losing that she wanted to step forward and save him. The longer she watched Dora hurting her man, the more she hated the blonde bitch. It took a greater and greater strength of will not to get between them and deal with Dora herself.

Still, she did. She had to trust Crispin in this.

Just as she had that thought, Crispin caught first Dora's left wrist then her right in his hands.

Dora snarled and tried to jerk out of his grasp.

As if it meant nothing to him, Crispin gathered her up and threw her over the table. The momentum rolled her off of it and sent her crashing to the floor.

Crispin licked his lip of the tiny drop of blood that appeared as a result of Dora's attack as she stood up from the floor. Her hair was mussed, her clothes out of place, and she looked furious.

She brushed her hair out of her eyes and forced a grin. “Why are you holding back? Afraid to hit a girl?”

“Not so long as it's you.” Crispin smiled back.

Tina couldn't help but notice that, every time Crispin spoke, Dora would flinch ever so slightly. The earplugs were filtering out most of the power of his voice but there was still just enough coming through to effect her.

And it was the anger and coldness in his voice that would be the most influential. It would spark a fear response in her. Even to Tina, his voice was becoming a bit overwhelming. It made her wonder just how strong those earplugs were and exactly how much they would filter out and for how long?

Crispin made to go around one side of the table, Dora moved opposite him so that the table stayed between them.

Crispin frowned and turned, as did Dora. She was playing a childish game with him. Every time he made to go one way, she went the other.

They danced around the table like that for a few moments. Just as Crispin was getting annoyed and was about to knock the table out of the way, he realized he had let Dora far too close to her knife.

In a rush to keep her from doing exactly what he knew she was thinking, Crispin jumped up onto the table and reached for her.

He knew he was too slow even as he moved. He couldn't stop himself.

Dora ducked down, scooped the knife from the ground and turned to face him.

He heard Tina call out a warning but it was too late.

Crispin felt the knife bury itself to the hilt in his left arm, just under the shoulder. The odd sensation of muscles ripping and tearing came first.

Then came the pain.

Dora tore the knife from his flesh and the bright red blood immediately gushed forth.

Crispin took a step back, his hand going to the wound to apply pressure in an instinctive movement. He was grimacing in pain that he knew would only get worse once the adrenaline faded from his system.

Tina took a step forward to come to him but he stopped her with a stare.

She froze unwillingly as the message passed between the two of them: I can handle this.

She shook her head but his stare only increased.

Balling her hands into fists, she took a reluctant step backwards and pressed herself against the wall of the submarine.

Seeing the blood rushing forth from him infuriated her. She wanted to take that knife and bury it into Dora herself.

Crispin, sure that Tina would listen for now, looked back to Dora. She was grinning wickedly, her eyes gleaming with excitement at the sight of the blood oozing through his fingers.

“Does it hurt?” she asked sweetly. “Tell me it hurts.”

“Tina.” Crispin spoke up, keeping his eyes on Dora. “I want you to leave.”

Tina looked insulted. “Why?”

“Will you not argue this once and just go?” he asked. There wasn't impatience in his voice, just a firmness that told her that he meant it.

Tina rolled her eyes, trying to hide her fear under bravado. “Fine. But I'm coming back in thirty minutes. If you're dead when I do, I'll be furious.”

The corner of Crispin's mouth lifted in a half smile. It was just the sort of thing for Tina to say.

Crispin and Dora waited until the door had closed behind her before either of them spoke.

“Don't want her to see you die?” Dora asked happily. The stab wound had raised her confidence considerably.

“I don't want her to see me destroy you.” he corrected.

She glared at him. “As if you could.”

Crispin just smiled.

Seeing it just mad her madder. She jumped forward, bringing the knife around in a large arc that Crispin swiftly dodged.

He fell back into his old pattern. He ducked easily staying just out of her reach so that it was infuriating every time she missed.

A few times, the blade came a little too close for his comfort, his movements slowed by the aching wound on his arm, but she didn't land another strike with her knife.

Crispin was determined that she wouldn't.

After a sloppy downward slash, Crispin reached out and grabbed hold of her hair. He yanked it cruelly and sent her to her knees.

Then he released her.

She was up in a flash, coming after him even more determinedly than before. Crispin just smiled. His smile, as he learned from Tina, was his greatest weapon.

It made Dora faster in her determination to get to him and slice it off of his face, but it also made her just slightly more careless.

At his next opportunity, he spun around her and slapped her hard on the ass. The demeaning action had her spitting in rage.

Crispin continued to smile as she chased after him again.

“No man but by dragul meu is allowed to touch me!” she screeched.

“Sloppy.” he admonished as he got behind her again and grabbed a fistful of her hair. He yanked back and reached for her ears.

When Dora spun away it was with the horrifying realization that Crispin had taken the earplugs off of her.

She couldn't allow him to speak. She cried out desperately and jumped forward, intending to slice through his neck.

Crispin smiled and sidestepped, sending her crashing into the table.

She flipped over, the fear clearly written across her face.

“Shall I show you,” Crispin said deliberately, “the power of my people?”

A strange, glazed look came over Dora's eyes at the sound of his voice. Her hand went limp around the hilt of the knife and it went crashing to the floor with a clang that echoed all around them.

She hung there in limbo. He had given no order, but his voice had washed over her. She was helpless to him now. He could order her to do anything he desired. He could easily have her walk up to the dock and pass out along with the others.

She didn't deserve such kindness from him. Crispin had set out to destroy her and he meant to do just that.

“You are an evil woman, Dora.” he told her unhappily. The sadness in his voice affected her causing tears to well up in her eyes.

They didn't mean anything, she was simply reacting. There was no true regret over her actions in this person. Which was why Crispin felt no guilt for what he was about to do.

He opened his mouth and began to sing.

There weren't words. It was purely a musical melody. It echoed inside the small room, falling onto Dora's helpless ears with all the force of his power.

There was nothing and no one who could fight off a siren's singing voice, especially not Crispin's.

Dora began shaking, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and she began mumbling gibberish.

Whereas Tina had developed a dangerous obsession, Dora's mind was breaking. Tina hadn't heard him sing this loudly and her will was a match for his. Dora was not and Crispin gave her no mercy.

He only stopped when Dora fell to the floor, hyperventilating and trembling helplessly. She was drooling down onto the floor, staring at nothing as she mumbled under her breath.

It had taken two weeks for Tina to recover from his singing, he couldn't imagine that Dora would ever be able to.

He stayed there, looking over her without an expression on his face until Tina returned.

He heard the door open but didn't turn around. It was silent but for the nonsense coming from Dora until she spoke.

“You sang to her. Didn't you?”

“She'll probably be like this for the rest of her life.” he answered. At the sound of his regular speaking voice, Dora flinched. At the time time, her hands reached out weakly, searching for him. To hear a voice so beautiful that it melted your mind but you still sought it out was a horrible thing.

Tina came to his side and put her hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

Crispin took a deep breath and tore his gaze from Dora. He smiled weakly at Tina. “I'll be fine.”

She frowned. “I've told you before not to smile at me when you don't mean it.”

“I always mean to smile when I look at you.” Crispin told her, sweeping a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You should probably get up top.” Tina told him.

“You're allowed to watch us fight but we can't watch you?” he asked her. “You think I can't handle it?”

“It's not that.” Tina rolled her eyes. “All I meant was that you should get that looked at.”

Crispin followed her gaze to the stab wound on his arm. He had forgotten about it. Now that she reminded him, the pain made itself known and he reached up his hand to cover the wound again.

“Alright.” he said. “But you be careful.”

Tina smirked. “I can handle him.”

She waited until Crispin was out of the room, joining up with Dallas, before she turned her attention to the final door between her and Ozera. She had to move a chair out of her way to get to it but when her hand landed on the knob, she was only half surprised to find that it was unlocked.

She grinned. Ozera wasn't such a coward as to hide behind a locked door.

She pushed it open and stepped eagerly inside.