“This is a merchant ship,” Captain Ren called out as I opened the door and peered outside. “State your business and leave.”
“You have someone who belongs with me, Ren,” Storm shot back. He was above the captain’s cabin on the upper deck. “Hand her over, and I’ll make your death a quick one.”
I couldn’t see him or the others, but the sailors in their fake regular clothes were armed and ready for battle. I pushed the door wider and stepped onto the lower deck. The captain’s head whipped toward me, and energy drained from my core.
What the hell? Darkness clawed at my senses, and my legs turned to noodles. Captain Asshole was doing this to me. I refused to be knocked out again. I fought back, focusing on staying awake, but he was stronger.
A surge of energy followed, and I staggered as my senses shot from zero to holy shit. My hearing became magnified, sounds carrying from afar and mixing to make a jarring noise. Sailors asked each other if they could see the attackers. Water hit the hull in arrhythmic pattern. Swishing sounds from things slithering through the water and their cries or calls.
And the feelings. Holy mother of the gods. Fear from the terrified sailors. Rage from Captain Ren. And the unadulterated love from Storm. I was riding on our connection and could feel everything he felt. No wonder he often knew about the islanders. He felt and heard them.
“Lexi!” he bellowed.
“I’m okay,” I called, laughing. “I’m fine.”
“I’m coming.”
Screams filled the air, mixing with the clang of swords. I jumped back as bodies came crashing down, two of them decapitated.
“Get him!” Captain Ren commanded, and his men rushed toward the upper deck. He and two of his people moved toward me.
Where was the rest of my rescue team? I expected them to swarm the ship and decimate Tullius’s men. Even as the thought drifted into my mind, a giant scaled head lifted from the sea, opened his massive jaws, and spewed fire across the deck, engulfing the masts along with the men going after Storm. The men jumped into the sea, yowls of pain following their wake. The rigging caught fire.
Yes, Levi! Give them hell.
A screech filled the air, and something long and sleek flew over the ship and slammed into Levi. It moved so fast all I saw were streaks of red.
They crashed into the water, causing the ship to rock. I lost my footing and almost fell. I gripped the doorway and stared in horror as a second and a third one joined them.
Water dragons.
The three ganged up on Levi, their thrashing bodies causing waves, their screeches cringeworthy. I covered my ears. Magnified hearing and dragon screeches didn’t go together. Where the heck did they find dragons? Levi was the only one in the Atlantic.
The clang of metal-on-metal and more cries came from above. But there was no way Storm could fight all these men alone. More were coming up from the lower decks, and Ren and his men weren’t moving from their position by the door, neatly boxing me in. I couldn’t tell whether Storm was okay, but I didn’t dare call out and distract him.
Refusing to stand there and act like a damned damsel in distress, I stepped back into the room, my eyes darting around for a solution. A dagger belt was hanging on a peg. I grabbed it and tried to tie it around my waist like Ryun had taught me, but it was too big. I grabbed the two daggers instead, then headed for the window and tugged until it opened.
Wounded Kelpies and Selkies writhed in the water. There were so many of them. More joined them, shifting before they hit the surface. Then I noticed the ones using axes and hooks to climb up and reboard the ship.
Did shifting help them heal faster, or was it the water?
Dropping into the ocean would not guarantee my escape. The healed ones would drag my ass back to the ship. Time for Plan B.
My grip tightened on the two daggers as I marched to the door. Captain Ren had left for the upper deck, leaving two men to guard me. Two, I could take down. I had the element of surprise on my side.
They looked over their shoulders at me and frowned. Damn it. They were supposed to make this easy for me. Like the ones who’d died in the basement at the Great Hall, they couldn’t be that much older than I was.
“Go back inside, Tuh’ren,” one of them said.
“You don’t want to see this,” the second one piped in, smirking.
“See what?”
“The death of the pirate,” he said, and blood drained from my head.
I became aware of several things simultaneously. The link between Storm and me was gone, there were no more sounds from the upper deck, and the sea was calm. Too calm. I tried to find the link, but I still didn’t know how the connection worked. Rage washed over me, and I switched to offensive mode without hesitation.
I plunged the daggers into the backs of the two men, pulled them out, and did it again as they tried to turn and evade. While they screamed and staggered forward, I ran past them and the decapitated bodies littering the deck and turned, my eyes going to the upper deck. My stomach dropped at the scene.
No.
Ren and at least a dozen men had Storm surrounded. He was weaponless and shirtless, his bridle and the tattered remains of his pants bloodied. Gushing wounds covered his body, and his face was hardly recognizable under the full moon. Bodies were littered around him, but the ones who’d shifted in the water were coming back up. He swayed on his feet, confirming my suspicions. He was seriously injured and was barely hanging on. He couldn’t fight them all over again.
He reached for the sword from one of the fallen, but one of Ren’s men pressed his sword to his chest and fresh blood gushed out. Storm didn’t stop. One drove a dagger into his back. A hiss escaped Storm’s lips. They were going to kill him.
“No-oooo!” I screamed, blinking quickly to see clearly through the tears. “Stop, and step away from him.”
The men gathered around Storm didn’t move. Ren marched to the edge of the deck and looked down at the two men he’d left to guard me.
“Yes, I killed them, and I will end all this now if you don’t let Storm go.” I lifted one of the daggers to my throat. “Without me, you have nothing, Ren.”
“No,” Storm croaked, and anguish washed over me. The link was back, but it was weak.
“Yes, Storm. I will not allow you to be killed because of me. I’m not worth your life.”
“You are everything,” he bellowed, forcing more blood to flow from his wounds. Piercing silver eyes met mine.
“Your people need you,” I urged, grief closing my throat. “Please. Go back to them.”
“Not without…” The rest of his words were garbled because he coughed and blood spewed from his mouth, but I knew he meant to say not without me.
“Must fight. Need you.”
He could barely stand, let alone fight. The only way he could survive this was if he shifted. Something about shifting or the water helped them.
My eyes met Ren’s. “Let him go.”
“No. That’s not going to happen. He will be tried in public and executed in front of the people for his plundering and murdering ways.”
“Have it your way.” I pressed the knife into my skin, wincing as it nicked me. Warm blood drifted down my throat and into the shirt I’d borrowed.
“No!” Ren’s voice mingled with Storm’s.
Storm started toward me, but the men blocked him with their swords. More cuts. My heart bled for him.
“One more wound on him and I’m finishing this, assholes,” I yelled. “Let. Him. Go.”
Captain Ren’s eyes volleyed between Storm and me. I moved the blade, widening my wound. The captain cursed and raised his hand. His men lowered their blades. He barked orders, but I wasn’t listening. My eyes stayed on Storm as two men shoved him. He fought back, starting to shift, but he was too weak. I ran up the steps.
Two men grabbed my arms, stopping me from going to Storm. I sunk my teeth into a hand and kicked at the leg of another. They cursed and wrestled the knives from my hands. Another tied a cloth around my neck to stop the bleeding from my self-inflicted wound. I almost got him with the back of my head. I didn’t want anything from them.
I stopped struggling when glazed silver eyes met mine.
“Lexi,” Storm whispered. “Tá tú mo chroí, m'anam, mo gach rud.”
I’d never heard the words before, but they were heartfelt. “Find me, Storm. I’ll be waiting.”
They pushed him overboard, and he landed with a splash. Rage, raw and unfiltered, flowed through me. It wasn’t just mine, which told me he was alive. This way he had a chance. If he shifted. Only his Kelpie could save him now. He sunk and didn’t resurface, and none of Ren’s people in the water went after him. Anguish slammed through me.
Please, come find me.
Even as the thought crossed my mind, the flow of emotions grew weaker then disappeared altogether. Panicking, I searched the water and mentally reached for him, wanting to feel anything from him. I didn’t care whether it was despair or hope. Anything to indicate he was still alive would have been better than the emptiness.
The dark rippling surface stayed calm as though the gods were sated. Storm was gone. And the ribbons of blue didn’t appear either. Levi hadn’t made it. Both fatally wounded because of me.
“Lower the ladders to help anyone alive on board, ready the dead for the gods, and start fixing the rigging and the sails,” Ren’s voice came to me as though from afar. “I want to be out of these accursed waters.”
“You heard the captain,” his quartermaster yelled. “Lower the ladders and help the wounded. The rest of you know what to do. We’ll send our brothers to rest with the gods. Anyone seen Bos’un Atwater?”
“He didn’t make it,” someone yelled.
“Rigging Monkey Darragh.”
“Here, sir.”
“Hop on the bos’un’s chair, and let’s start on that sail.”
Listening to them, a sob escaped me. Then another. They were back to normal, doing what they often did when a ship had been attacked, while I was fighting to adjust to the horrors I’d just witnessed. I covered my mouth to stop the sounds from escaping.
I felt a presence behind me but didn’t turn around. I continued to search the water for Storm’s Kelpie or Levi’s blue lights. If Levi survived, there was hope he’d find Storm and the two could make it home.
“That was a stupid thing you did,” Captain Ren snapped.
“Screw you.”
“I expected you to value your life and that of your brother, more than that of a marauding miscreant.”
A cry rose in the air as my rage spilled. I raised my hands and went for his neck, wanting to make him bleed the way Storm had, but he caught my wrists.
“Calm down, she’lahn,” he said.
“Don’t tell me to calm down, you piece of shit. That miscreant is a better man than you could ever be. If you hadn’t ganged up on him, he would have finished you. I hope you die a slow and agonizing death.”
I spat in Captain Ren’s face, and he pushed me away in disgust. I started to tip over the rim and didn’t try to break my momentum until I saw something long and black break the water surface in the distance.
I wiped my tears to see better, hope returning. The dark thing moved closer. Instead of blue, yellow and red lines wiggled under its scales. Disappointment sank deep in my gut.
The dragon leaped and grabbed the rim of the ship with his front paws, rocking the ship. I would have fallen overboard and welcomed it if Captain Ren hadn’t caught me. The dragon carried two naked men in his massive mouth. It deposited them on the deck before slithering back into the dark sea. Both men didn’t seem alive. The bite marks on their torsos said Levi had turned them into chew toys.
Levi had taken down two dragons. Had he made it? Please, let him be okay.
Anger and helplessness chewed my insides as I searched the surface of the water again. The only turbulence came from the dragon as it writhed and shifted into a man. Naked like the two bodies he’d brought back, he started up the ladder.
He stomped past the wrapped-up bodies being piled at the corner of the deck and looked around until he found Captain Ren. He started yelling in his native language.
I didn’t know Chinese, but I understood rage, and he was having a hissy fit. Wanting to have mine in the privacy of the captain’s cabin, I started toward the steps.
“No, don’t confront him,” Captain Ren snapped, stepping in front of me. “Go to my cabin, and stay there while we repair—”
I kneed him hard, putting all my pain and anger behind the attack. He groaned and curled into himself, hands covering his balls.
“That’s for the cuts and his pain, asshole. And so you know, I’m just beginning with you. I saw the bridle on your back and know what it means, you fraud. You’re going to get me out of this mess, or I’m going to expose you to the highest authority on your island.”
When I straightened, everyone on deck was watching us. Even the dragon man had stopped his ranting. From his wounds, he hadn’t escape unscathed. He stared at me as though it was my fault.
“You chose the wrong side, pal,” I snarled. “Shame on you for turning against one of your own.”
He sneered back, telling me he’d understood. I kept walking. When I entered the cabin, the fight left me and the tears returned. I curled up on the bed and let them flow.
~*~
I was falling asleep when the door opened. I didn’t move. Didn’t give a shit enough to show interest in anything or anyone.
“I’m not abandoning my ship and crew, Lord Conyngham,” Captain Ren said.
“Be reasonable, Blayney,” a condescending voice said. “Your ship is adrift at sea, which means the marauders can come back and finish you off any second. Half of your crew is injured or decapitated. Your ship has a crack and is taking in water. And you are missing aft sails. If I had some, I’d loan them to you, but I don’t. I can offer passage for you and the gift you’re taking to the prince.”
“Your vessel is large enough to carry my crew, my lord.”
“Do I get credit for defeating the pirates and stealing the lass? Where is she?”
I stiffened as the voices moved closer to the bed. Part of me wanted to pretend I was asleep, but the other part couldn’t stand being talked about as if I was some inanimate object.
“What’s that smell?” Lord Conyngham asked.
“It comes from her,” Captain Ren said.
“Kraken’s breath. So it’s true about lack of hygiene on the pirate islands.” He sounded nasal as though he was covering his nose.
I sat up, fist balling. What did he mean by lack of hygiene?
“Their indoor plumbing is very primitive,” Captain Ren said.
“Primitive? I heard they don’t have privies. They go where they eat and sleep.”
I bristled at the insult. Who in the hell tells them these lies?
“The girl is feral, my lord. She stabbed two of my men and bit another. You may want to be careful around her,” Captain Ren warned.
Feral? Seriously?
“I’ve been around feral animals, so I know how to handle one.”
Now I was an animal?
The curtain moved, and I kicked out my right leg, aiming for Lord Snooty’s manly parts, but he was clever. He stood at the foot of the bed, his nose covered with a handkerchief. He studied me with bright blue eyes like Levi’s.
My throat thickened. Levi better have made it.
“Feral? I kneed you in the nuts, which is more than what you deserve, you two-faced asshat. The very first chance I get, I will pay you back for every cut and nick. Why don’t you tell Lord Dimwit here why I stink instead of slandering the islanders? Vaarda has a functioning sanitation system.”
“What does she mean by every cut and nick, Blayney?” The lord peered at me and frowned. “Is that blood on her neck? Is she hurt?”
Was that concern for me? I didn’t need his pity.
“She did that to herself when the islanders attempted a rescue and failed.”
“The islanders?” I laughed. “Two islanders were all it took, and they decimated your crew. You would not be alive if four of them had come.”
The lord shuddered delicately. “She talks a lot, too?”
“Aye, my lord,” Captain Ren muttered. “I knocked her out before the dragons brought us to the ship. I can knock her out for the rest of the journey.”
“I’ll think about it. I can’t stand hysterical females, even Tuh’rens. And you are right. She is feral. Also, I cannot have her in my cabin smelling like that. They’ll never wash off the stench. She’ll have to sleep in the lower deck with the crew. Those are my terms.”
“That’s unacceptable, my lord,” Captain Ren said. “The prince said she must be treated with utmost respect. She cannot sleep with the crew.”
The lord gave me one last look and let the curtain drop. “But Tully is not here, my dear Captain Bayney, and this is my ship. If I hadn’t heard your distress calls, you would be swimming home for the next two days with a crew who’d drown after a few hours because they don’t shift regularly.”
“Surely, you must have a cot in your cabin she could use.”
“She smells, Bayney.”
The door opened and closed behind them, and I curled up on the bed. I didn’t care where I slept. The nightmare was the same. I was a prisoner of a mad king and his psychopath grandson, and Storm and Levi were fighting for their lives in the middle of the ocean somewhere. Or worse. The gods might confuse them with the dead and collect them, too.
Sleep eluded me as I tried to reconnect with Storm. Captain Ren came back for me. I couldn’t look at him without seeing Storm’s bloodied face and wounded body. I threw Captain Ren a look filled with loathing.
“You are going to help me escape,” I reminded him, and he snorted, pissing me off even more.
“The prince charged me with finding you, lass, and I never fail to complete a mission. Come on. Lord Conyngham has agreed to let you use his cabin. Try not to kill him while he sleeps.”
If I didn’t need him to escape, I’d stab him in his sleep for what he’d done to Storm. “You’re not knocking me out?”
“No. I’m indulging our host. Like most noble families, everything is fun and games with him,” Captain Ren ground out. “He is a very close friend of Prince Tullius, so watch what you say to him.”
“As long as we have an understanding, I’ll kiss the king’s royal ring, and you’ll find a way to get me the hell off your island.”
He gave me a brittle smile. “I will not be blackmailed by a Tuh’ren.”
The images of Storm flashed through my head.
“Too bad, pal. This Tuh’ren is doing it.” I walked past him, expecting him to say something, but he remained quiet. Probably fuming.
A plank bridged the decks of the two ships, and we appeared to be the last to leave his ship. Lord What’s His Name’s ship was bigger and newer. And from the crew watching me, they were dressed better than Storm’s swordsmen.
I walked past them to the doorway, where Lord Conyngham stood. He stepped back, blue eyes studying me warily.
“What’s your name, she’lahn?”
Was that pity in his eyes and voice? Had the captain told him how they’d finished off Storm? I wanted to say “Miss Greendale,” but I was exhausted and my eyes hurt from crying. And the gentleness in his voice soothed my exposed, raw nerves.
“Lexi,” I said.
“Welcome to my ship, Lexi.” He waved toward the bed. It dominated one side of the room. “The wardrobe is through that door. If you need something to eat or drink, let me know.”
His cabin was bigger and more lavishly decorated than Storm’s. The table at the other end was also huge with a couple of lounges, leather chairs, and a bookshelf. The presence of a bottle and two goblets said they’d been drinking—and probably discussing Captain Ren’s slaughter of the islanders.
“Use the bed,” Lord Conyngham said. “We won’t be home for two more days or longer, depending on the gods, and you need your rest. A bath would have been nicer, I’m sure, but the gods are coming for the dead and we don’t want them mistaking you for one, or I’d personally throw you overboard and insist you wash off the stench. You won’t be disturbed in here, except at meal times. I give you my word. The captain and I will be here in case you need something else.”
Why was he being nice to me? Maybe he was sorry.
“Lord…?”
“Conyngham,” he said.
“Thank you for the bed, Lord Conyngham, but I don’t need your pity or your food.”
His eyes narrowed. “Pity is not an emotion I bother with, she’lahn. Let’s just say I’m feeling charitable, so take the bed before I change my mind. And whether you eat or not is really up to you.”
I stared at him, then the captain, who’d followed me inside and was pouring a sizable amount of rum in his cup. I hated them both.
Without saying a word, I walked to the bed and curled up on top. I tossed and turned, not finding a comfortable spot. Or maybe it was the constant drone of voices from the other end of the cabin bugging me, or the motion of the ship. The waves were rough, probably the gods coming to the surface to collect the dead. Whatever the case, sleep eluded me.
Just when I resigned to staying awake for the rest of the time, my body went limp and I knew one of them had knocked me out.
Damn Hy’Brasilians. I really, really hated them all.