Page 150

But then he says, “Oh, stop being so dramatic,” just before he jerks me forward and cuts my bindings.

Together, Lochlan and I begin to cut the others free, with the exception of Bella. She’s just too much of a wild card, and I know she’d rather see the ship sink. But there’s something more dangerous about beinguntiedwith the ship this violent. I can’t keep my feet, so I have to crawl like Lochlan did. When I get to Tessa, my heartnearly stops when I see blood on her temple—but she’s breathing and dazed. Alive.

She grips tightly to my neck the instant her hands are free, and it reminds me of another night when I freed her of bindings and she grabbed me so desperately. Then, she wanted me to make everything all right. I couldn’t.

I can’t now either.

“They’re attacking,” she says. “We’re going to sink.”

“I’m hoping Rian is a better sailor than he is a king,” I say, just as another cannonball tears through one of the sails and screams erupt from somewhere. Another blast sounds, and the ship shudders, and for an instant, I think she’s right: we’re about to be ripped apart.

But then I see a brief explosion on the closer brigantine. TheDawn Chaserhas returned fire.

“Come on,” I say to Tessa. “We’re too exposed. Rocco!”

I struggle across the deck to get her into Rian’s stateroom, where maps and markers are scattered across the floor from the battle.

I unwind Tessa’s arms from around my neck. “Stay here,” I say to her, just as Rocco makes it to the doorway. He’s so pale, one hand clutching at his waist. “Help Rocco.”

She opens her mouth to protest, and I add, “This time,wait.”

Then I slam the door and try to determine where I can do more to help.

That ship keeps firing. So does this one. Many of the crew have gone below, but there are two men moving sails. I don’t see Gwyn or Sabloanywhere. There’s a part of me that’s hoping Rian was the one who went overboard, but I see him at the stern, gripping tight to the wheel.

“Tell me what to do!” I shout at him from the steps.

I expect him to tell me to jump overboard, but he doesn’t. Maybe he doesn’t care who helps as long as his ship is at risk. “Take hold,” he says. “Keep it straight. I need to help them.”

I take hold.

It’s like grabbing on to a bucking horse.

Rian grabs the wheel again before it can spin too much. “You have to keep it straight!” he snaps. “If you can’t do it, get off the helm.”

“I’ve got it,” I say, breathless, digging in my feet.

He points directly ahead. “Nothing else matters if you can keep it straight. The current will fight you. This is where other Kandalan ships have wrecked. This is wherethey’llwreck, if we’re lucky.”

“Who? The brigantines?”

But he’s gone, moving down to the main deck. Rian seems to have no trouble staying on his feet, and it seems almost preternatural when the ship tilts and sways. By some miracle, we haven’t started to sink—and it’s been a while since a cannon has fired.

Below me, Rian is shouting orders to the few men on deck, but I don’t know what he’s saying. They immediately move to opposite masts, unhooking chains and untying rigging. The ocean surges over and over again, water flowing over the sides. I grip tight to the wheel, not sure if I’m doing any good at all, but I do my best to dig my feet into the wet deck.

I take a chance and look up past the churning ocean to see the brigantines, and they’re farther away than I expected, but they’re rocking in the tumultuous sea just like we are. Somehow we’re gaining ground.

And then, while I watch, one of the ships seems to shudder. All at once, it begins to break apart.

Then the other.

Within minutes, both ships are in pieces in the ocean, and we’re sailing farther away.

I stare in shock.

But we’re still rocking hard, water everywhere, the wind so fierce it’s a never-ending scream in my ears. I feel a jolt in the wheel, and it almost steals my grip. The world seems to turn upside down, and theDawn Chasershudders just like those brigantines.

Somewhere over the wind, Rian shouts, “Hold that wheel!”