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I pushed a hand roughly through my hair. Theos! She was maddening.

“There are twelve of us, no one greater or less.” The innermost workings of our organization slipped from my lips. “Atlas just gets off on bossing the rest of us around.”

Serena nodded. “There, that wasn’t so hard.” She stepped forward, walking her fingers up my sternum.

Heat sparked under her touch, and a rush of blood shot straight south.

“I come from a business world where the morals aren’t black and white. Men I know thrive in the grey.” She flattened her hand. “The mob makes deals with those willing to make sure the work gets done at all costs.”

The information vaulted through my mind. I shared a secret with this little creature, and in turn, she shared one of her own. Was that...how it worked? I narrowed my eyes. Perhaps I could repeat the tactic out on the water and see what else she was willing to share.

“So fishing?” I prompted.

“I’m not touching anything slimy,” she asserted and ducked under my arm to go to her room. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be ready for you to show me your world, pirate.”

I forgot how to breathe. That sweet sentiment reduced me to a shocked pillar of stone. Lost for words, unable to react, I simply stared after her. The princess completely bewitched me.

***

“Do you have any sunscreen?”

Serena’s voice startled me. I looked from the dot on the horizon where the prow was angled to the beautiful face beside me. “Sunscreen is full of toxic chemicals that make you burn.”

The withering look she gave me should have turned me to stone. “And a sunburn will cause skin cancer.”

“Technically not, but you’ve been brainwashed, prinkípissa.” I rustled around in the compartment below beside the captain’s chair. “Here!”

I tossed her a mason jar with salve.

The side of her nose crinkled in the most adorable way, and her eyes widened as she gingerly opened it. “What manner of voodoo is this?” she muttered, so soft, I barely heard her over the bluster of wind.

“It’s beef tallow and zinc oxide. Not only will it protect you from the UVs, but the tallow is ultra moisturizing—”

A war yell split the air in two. The explosive outcry shattered the peace, tearing through the wind-laden silence. The volatile blast of Greek condemned me to hell and the care of the devil. In an instant, the words registered as the fisherman’s curse. Instinct sent me ducking as shots fired overhead. Bullets whizzed past, splitting the fiberglass trim, sending shards flying like ricochets into the air. They were deafening, whipping past with the furious wind.

The sky spun above me, wild and bright, as I flung myself behind the shelter of the compartment door. The sun sat directly overhead, blistering and white, my shadow nearly indistinguishable beneath me. I heard the click of the chamber, the scrape of metal on metal as he reloaded. It wound me tight as a spring. I was on my feet then, lunging forward, firing back. I crouched as I moved, dodging his scattered, frantic shots. One bullet clipped his hand, sending his gun spinning wildly from his grasp, a flurried arc through the air. It clattered uselessly on the deck. His eyes widened, bewilderment cutting through his fury. The other took out a knee, which effectively dropped him.

The would-be assassin hit the deck in a heap with shocked, agonized disbelief.

They were hard shots to make, well-nigh impossible in the rocking boat. But I maneuvered better with the roiling sea under me than most men did on land. The world tilted around me, and I moved recklessly in its chaos. His cut-off yell echoed over the water. I stood over him, victorious, but then my throat closed on a cry I couldn’t contain.

Serena.

Serena!

Scanning the open deck, I looked past the sail and rigging where Serena had been moments ago.

She was...nowhere.

Nor was there any blood.

“Serena!” I roared her name to the winds.

Panic seized my chest. I scanned the deck frantically, my eyes darting to every hiding place, but she wasn’t there. The attacker was groaning on his boat, clutching his bleeding knee, but I couldn’t care less about him right now.

“SERENA!” I bellowed again, rushing to the port side.

I couldn’t lose her. I just...couldn’t!