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I felt a cry burn up my throat when a hand clasped over my mouth, yanking me behind a wagon.

“Gods dammit, Katrina,” Croygen muttered in my ear. “Take a breath.” He commanded my body to listen. “Calm down, or you’re gonna get yourself killed. And me with you… and I am too sexy to die.” He held me tight, getting me to breathe with him, and my heart slowed a bit. He took his hand off my mouth. “I’m figuring those two men are part of your crew?”

“Yes.” I nodded, swallowing. “Ty and Cane.” Guilt knotted up in my esophagus as I watched the twins reach the deck. Dressed in lightweight dark clothes, I could see their cheeks were sunken in, thinner and paler than they used to be, but other than that, they appeared fine. At least from here. The most important thing was they were alive. “Batara must be using them as labor.”

“Makes sense. They know your ship and how to sail it.” He held me against his chest for another beat. “You going to behave?”

I nodded.

“Such a liar.” He nipped at my ear, letting me go.

“Hey, was that the last of it?” a familiar woman’s voice yelled from the bottom of the plank at the twins.

It was as if another arrow shot through my ribs, penetrating my lungs. Zuri. She strolled up the gangplank, conversing with Ty. Her usually thin frame was smaller, her curly hair tied up with fabric, and she carried maps and folders in her arms.

Seeing her billowed emotion in my chest. Were they the only ones, or were the rest alive too? I hadn’t seen Gage or Moses, but Zuri and the twins were okay. They were who I had to save before my ship departed and I lost them on the sea.

It wasn’t a choice for me.

“Fuck, Kitten, I really wish I didn’t know you so well.” Croygen peered at the ship, then back at me.

“I have to. They’re my crew.”

“I know.” He blew out, pulling a gun from his belt. Scot supplied us with weapons before we took off, though I knew Croygen still was hung up on losing his sword. Especially knowing Killian had it. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“Nothing ever is with us.” I cocked my gun, holding it to my side.

“This is a fun circle back. This is the pier you boarded my ship from almost two months ago, flipping my world upside down.”

“What goes around, comes around.”

He huffed, patting his jacket pocket, making sure Sprig was safe in there. He had fallen asleep about two steps down from the observation deck.

“Come on.” I rolled back my shoulders and snuck toward my ship. The morning light was inching higher every moment, stealing away our shield. As we crept up, my ears were tuned in, listening for any movement near the gangplank. All the voices were strewn together, sounding further on the ship as they loaded the galley below.

Keeping low, we slunk up the plank almost on our bellies, my body twitching with the need to shift to become almost invisible. Croygen was right beside me. I felt his presence not just physically, but coiling through me, the bond between us sharp and evident.

Peeking over to the deck, my senses absorbed everything, not seeing many moving around, most probably below stocking the hull.

Click. Click.A gun cocked into the back of my head, another at the back of Croygen’s from behind us.

“Get up,” a man’s voice snarled behind me. His voice made me recall him as one of Batara’s men, one who had sailed out with me on that fateful night. He pushed the barrel harder into my skull. “Now!”

“You too,” the other man ordered Croygen.

Do what he says, Kitten. I sensed more than heard Croygen, his worry for me pumping into my chest.

We stood slowly, our hands up, and they urged us farther onto the deck while one man stripped us of our weapons. Everything in me wanted to fight, to slam my elbow back into his face, but the thought of Croygen getting shot and killed kept me obedient.

I was twisted around, the guard’s dark, beady eyes rolling over me, recognition sinking in. I could see deep scars and burn marks marring his face and arms, almost disfiguring him.

“Well, well.” He curled his lip. “Look what the cat dragged in. A dead body.” Anger sparked through his eyes, as if I was to blame for the explosion on the ship. “This is going to be fun.” Slamming the gun into my head, he shoved me forward, my feet stumbling to stay upright.

Croygen’s aura coiled around me protectively, wanting to lash out at that man like a snake.

“Chief?” the man called out. It was the title many used for the first mate. Chief master. “Look what crawled up to shore.”

A few men on deck stepped out of the way, directing my attention to a figure behind, the one they all focused on.