Page 35

Katrina

Bellamy abandoned the helm, charging forward to where I stood on the boat’s edge.

“Hold fire! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He yanked me down with a tug of my arm.

I stared at him in surprise, though it only made sense that he would ask me what I was doing. I wasn’t even sure myself.

“Why did you leave the helm? I thought we have to outrun them.” I glanced back at the ship in the distance behind us.

“We do. But I’m the captain. I give the orders. You don’t even know how to keep from falling overboard.”

“I didn’t fall overboard.” The words rushed out of my mouth faster than I could stop them. But I immediately knew I’d said too much.

Bellamy’s eyes narrowed at me. “So, what then? You jumped?” He said sarcastically.

I cursed silently to myself. Why did I say it?

“Damn…You jumped.” Grazing his hand across the back of his neck, he glanced down at the wooden deck below, then back up at me. “Why?”

Thankfully, the ship behind us quickly recaptured his attention again before I could think of a response. He whipped around, racing back to the helm. I followed.

“At least now I know why you were stupid enough to come up here. You’ve got a death wish.” Bellamy spoke over the sound of the ship tearing through the foaming seawater below as the sails above us billowed in the wind.

“It’s not like that,” I said. “Just trust me.”

“Trust you? I don’t even know you.”

Something about his words stung and I didn’t know why. It shouldn’t bother me that Bellamy didn’t recognize me. There was nothing between us. There never had been. So why did it bother me so much to feel like I’d lost something I never had?

When the explosion of cannon fire rang out overhead, I ducked behind a mast and braced. But the impact never came. Instead, great splashes of water sputtered in the distance, just barely missing the back of our ship. I glanced up to see Bellamy grinning, a sly look set in those ice blue eyes and perfect teeth.

“We’ve sailed out of their range, and I've turned us into the wind, which will slow a galleon of that size down. That was their last attempt to stop us, and they missed. We’re too far for them to bother catching up now. If we aren’t easy prey, we’re not worth the chase. We hold this speed till they’re out of sight,” he said.

I watched as the crew emerged from their spots beneath the ship’s deck, cautious at first, but then eager and celebratory. Bellamy stood firm, still standing firm with his hand on the ship’s wheel.

“Inspect her for damage. She took a few nicks on the starboard side,” he ordered the men on board.

The crewmen scurried away, scanning the sides of the boat in a hurry. Some of them called out to Bellamy in a way that didn’t sound positive. Bellamy shouldered past me, as though I was more of an obstacle in his path than another body aboard his ship. “Take the wheel and don’t turn it even the slightest,” he muttered.

“What? Really?” I stuttered, slowly and hesitantly reaching for the wheel. But Bellamy ignored me and walked off to further inspect the section of the ship that had been hit. When he came back, he wore a scowl that told me the damage must’ve been serious.

“That bad?” I asked.

“She’ll make it a good few leagues just fine. But I can’t risk her getting in another scrapple like that again like this.” He paused, taking in a deep breath of sea air as he reclaimed his position at the helm. “We’ll have to stop at the nearest port for repairs. It’ll slow us down a bit, but don’t worry, we’ll get to Kingston soon enough.”

“The next port,” I muttered. “And where is that?”

Bellamy ruffled his hair, focusing his eyes on the glassy blue surface below us. “Nassau. Fortunately, it’s not too far off our path. We should be there tomorrow afternoon if we can hold this speed and the wind stays on our side.”

“Nassau?” I repeated, remembering what Milo had long ago told me about the pirate colony.

“Nassau. Paradise. One in the same,” Bellamy confirmed with a grin.

Nassau. Milo had told me so much about it. And…and if Bellamy was here…did that mean Milo might be there? My shoulders straightened and I lifted my chin. It was foolish hope. But it was hope, nonetheless. I knew it was ludicrous to expect it. But I had to hold onto something. Because up until then, I was truly starting to fear I’d never see Milo again.

“Listen to me,” Bellamy growled, his voice suddenly like gravel. “Don’t ever disrespect me in front of my crew like that again. You’re starting to make me regret saving you. Both times.” And with that, he stormed off back to the helm.

If only he knew I didn’t understand what had come over me then either. When I stood at the bow and yelled into the open sky, I hardly recognized myself. But I’d felt powerful with the sea in front of me and below me and behind me. I’d almost been tempted to dive in as I stood there overlooking the depths. And something in my head had told me I could command every soul on this ship if I tried. And I don’t know why I wanted to.