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I sliced one of the ropes from the pulley then jumped on the railing as he came for me. I jumped on top of him and pulled the rope hard against his neck to make his eyes pop out from the pressure.

He dropped his sword and reached for the rope that had already cut into him, made the blood pour out of his neck from his wound. “Give me a hand!” I didn’t drop my pressure, not even to give him a killing blow, knowing how hard his heart was pounding and how little time he had left before he lost consciousness.

Davin came to my aid and slammed his blade into the opening under the commander’s armpit, getting him in the chest through the side.

The commander’s knees went weak, and he dropped and hit the deck.

I released the rope and stepped away.

I looked up and swore I came face-to-face with the God of the Underworld, eyes the color of dark earth, the molten center burning in his eyes. But then I blinked, and he was gone…and I wasn’t sure if I imagined it.

Davin stared with wide eyes, like he couldn’t believe that had just happened.

“Let’s get the rest of them.” Their morale would be low with the death of their commander. They hadn’t feared us before, but they would fear us now. “Kill the rest, and we’ll take their ship.”

Still wide-eyed in shock, he just gave a nod.

I returned to the fight and helped the others. Several of my men were dead, and that pissed me off and gave me another edge. Theenemy understood what kind of threat I was and either avoided me or came at me like I’d single-handedly killed their entire family.

I cut one down after the next. The crew helped me, and soon, we were the majority. Until we were the last ones standing.

Their ship continued to sail next to ours—now a ghost ship without a crew.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s take their ship. The others may continue to focus on this one.” I ran to the wheel and released the rope before I tugged it hard to the right so it would veer off in another direction. “You’ve gotten us far, girl. But it’s time to say goodbye.” I ran to the starboard and jumped onto the golden ship before the distance had grown too great. The crew, having already boarded the golden ship, reached over the edge and helped me to the top until they pulled me on board with them.

“I can’t believe we’re still alive,” Davin blurted.

“For now,” I said. “We’ve still got to lose them. Continue north.” I grabbed the railing and stood up to watch our ship. She made her hard turn and then the wheel must have straightened out before she sailed in a straight line. The other ships followed, unable to see what had happened in the dark or too arrogant to believe that we’d killed all of their men.

“Captain!”

I turned to put out the next fire.

On the opposite side, I saw another golden ship directly next to ours, smart enough to figure out what had happened, unlike the rest. I thought I’d killed the commander of the fleet, but one look at this guy told me he was really the one in charge.

And he looked right at me, holding an axe instead of a sword, looking like an executioner rather than a captain. He was flanked by archers, arrows tight on the strings and aimed at all of us.

But mostly me.

The man stared at me like he somehow knew I was responsible for all of this.

Davin turned to me for instruction.

The others did the same.

But none of them wore armor, so those arrows would pierce their flesh and kill them instantly.

He wore a similar armor as the others, but he had a predatory air about him, like he killed for pleasure rather than obligation. He grabbed one of the ropes that hung overhead and swung over to our new ship, making the mast creak from his weight.

He landed with a thud directly before me, the shine of his axe bright in the torchlight. The blade alone was bigger than my head. It wasn’t a weapon for dueling or fighting but hacking and massacring.

I pushed out my mind again, an exercise in misguided hope.

But there was nothing.

My father was tall, and I’d inherited his height, but this man was still a behemoth by comparison. He walked right up to me, pressed his face so close to mine he practically pushed our noses together.

I didn’t flinch.