Page 23 of Escaping Pirates (Legends of Neverland #4)

I ’d never had a worse headache than the next time I woke up.

Nausea rippled through me as I groaned and rolled over, placing a hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose and wondering if my skull was going to split in two from the pain.

My stomach heaved when I regained consciousness, but there was nothing in it to resurface.

“Welcome back,” I heard Harlan say. I turned to look at him. He tried to smile, but his face was pinched and tight in the dim light of the brig. Was it…morning? Afternoon? What day was it?

“What…what happened?”

“We were drugged. They left Berkway yesterday morning.” There was a harsh, bitter edge to his voice.

“Left? But…” My brain seemed to be operating at half-speed. When I finally understood what Harlan was saying, I felt as though I’d been plunged straight into the iciest ocean. “We didn’t escape.”

He shook his head, anger blazing in his eyes. “I can’t believe I was so stupid,” he said, pounding a fist against his knee. “I drank the tea and didn’t even consider that it may have been tampered with.”

“That makes two of us. I should’ve been more suspicious; they never let me eat with them.” I let out a humorless laugh. “I thought they were being kind. That just goes to show how na?ve I am.”

“We were so close.” Harlan let out a foul oath under his breath. “If only I could, I would…” He scrunched his eyes shut. “I’ve never wanted to hurt anyone this badly before.”

“I know.” I rubbed my temples. “I wanted to put brine-glass nettle into their underpants and watch as they went mad from itching.”

Harlan gave a hollow laugh. “My imaginations were significantly darker and more violent than that.”

The brig door screeched open, followed by the sound of heavy footfalls coming our way, but my limbs felt like they’d been made of wet sand and I couldn’t work up the energy to be afraid. I barely managed to turn to look at the newcomers, wincing as the movement made my head throb harder than ever.

Captain Harsh stood in the walkway, feet splayed and arms crossed. In my lingering confusion from the drug, his beard made his chin look as though it were on fire. How I wished it were true.

“What?” Harlan spat, much more aggressively than I could have managed. Had I drunk more tea than Harlan, or did his larger body mean he wasn’t affected as strongly?

“I thought you might have that attitude about now,” the captain said, tugging on his beard’s ginger plaits. Behind his back, Steele cracked his meaty knuckles. “You both had a good, long nap, but now that you’re all rested, it’s back to schedule as normal.”

“I’d rather walk the plank. I’m done,” Harlan snarled .

Harsh laughed. “That’s cute.”

“I’m serious,” Harlan shot back. “I’m through with all these games. Do whatever you want to me. I’m finished with your repulsive daughters.”

Each sound of their argument felt like knives inside my head. I closed my eyes and covered my ears, but it wasn’t enough to block out their raised voices.

“Very well,” Harsh said. There was the metallic grinding sound of metal on metal as my cell door was unlocked. “Steele, whip the girl.”

My eyes shot open.

“No!” Harlan burst out, leaping to his feet. “Don’t!”

Steele entered my cell, wrenched me to my feet so hard that I let out a cry of pain.

“Stop! I’ll do it!” Harlan’s pitch became frenzied. “I’ll do what you want, but don’t hurt her.”

Steele looked to Harsh for orders, who was watching Harlan closely. “Release her.”

I retreated back into the meager safety my cell provided, rubbing my arm. Harlan’s chest was heaving, and the cords of muscle up and down his arms were tense and flexed.

“Let me make myself quite clear, boy,” Harsh told Harlan in a low, slow voice.

“I’m fully aware that you have no affection for my daughters.

But they, for whatever reason, are smitten with you.

Now, you will give them your utmost and undivided attention to keep them happy, or I will make you watch as I personally lash that girl, and I pride myself on parting flesh from the bone. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” A vein throbbed in Harlan’s neck, pulsing so hard I could see it from my cell.

“The same goes for you, girl,” Harsh told me. “Step one toe out of line, and it’s him who will suffer because of your actions. I really don’t care if either of you lives or dies, so as long as you keep my daughters content, you survive another day.”

“I understand,” I whispered.

“I’m meeting with someone soon, and you will attend my daughters with getting ready,” he instructed me. Then he turned his attention to Harlan. “And you will be scrubbing the deck.”

“My favorite job,” Harlan droned. If I’d been less frightened, I might have smiled.

“Get a move on. If you aren’t above deck and working in ten minutes, it’s a lash for every minute you delay.”

Harsh and Steele unlocked Harlan’s cell and left. I let out a long sigh of relief.

“Did he hurt you?” Harlan asked, coming over to inspect where Steele had grabbed me.

“Not much. Or else I can’t feel it because of my head right now. But I think this is a record. We’ve been drugged, blackmailed, and threatened all before breakfast. It’s been quite the stellar morning, hasn’t it?”

“I’m going to give them stellar mornings for the rest of their lives once we’re out of here,” Harlan growled.

I placed my hand on his forearm. “Hey, don’t give up hope. The bottle’s still out there. Someone might have already found it and could be planning a rescue right now.”

“I think the drugs made you too much of an optimist,” Harlan said with a rueful smile. “They found our weaknesses, and weakness emboldens criminals.”

“My head hurts too much to be philosophical. I’m still just hoping this was all some terrible nightmare and tomorrow we will wake up and arrive in Berkway and make a glorious escape. We’d probably burn the ship to the ground.”

Harlan began walking toward the exit. “Nah, we need to start a slow-burning fire way below deck just before they set out to sea. That gives the ship time to get out a good way, then it will burn and everyone will drown.”

“An excellent plan. I hereby dub you chief mastermind and enactor of all revenge plots.”

“I accept.”

When we left the brig, the daylight stung my eyes like descending needles and I shielded my eyes from the sun.

“This is the worst day of my life,” Harlan grumbled.

“I agree. But just look on the bright side,” I told him as we parted ways. “Things can’t possibly get any worse!”

How very wrong I was.