Page 67

Grayson rushes to my side, watching the Bloody Bandit ’s hull sink beneath the rushing water at a rapid pace.

“Blessed stars,” he breathes, his gaze darting ahead of us, where the current has shifted us closer to the three stone isles he ordered his helmsman to avoid. “It’s the foremast. Its weight is pulling us left. We need to get it off our deck.”

As we turn around, the mast slowly starts to rise as the Bloody Bandit descends beneath the waves, but the angle still isn’t enough for it to slide off the edge of our ship without aide.

“It’s caught on the railing,” I say quickly. “We need to lift it off,”

Grayson follows me to the pillar of wood just above the sail. His men join us, forming a line down each side.

“Ready!” Grayson bellows and we all squat, securing our hands beneath the pillar. My heart races as I see the details of the stone isles becoming clearer. “Lift!”

Every muscle in my body screams at me to let go as I use all of my might to lift the pillar.

“Higher!” Grayson yells, and I lift with what little strength I have left, my shoulders feeling like I’m ripping them from their sockets—but relief comes swiftly, as the pillar becomes lighter with all of our effort.

We follow it off the edge of the ship and watch as it plummets under the water’s surface.

There’s no time to celebrate the small victory. Grayson and I rush back to the quarterdeck’s railing. “Starboard side! Pull hard!” he instructs his helmsman just in time, as we narrowly miss a brush against the stone isles.

My breath catches in my throat as I watch them pass us by and see Malihaim’s men behind us, floating dangerously close to the white-capped water that will surely drag them into the deadly rocks.

“Captain! Sails to the southeast!” The barrelman shouts and I see him pointing to our right. Grayson and I turn.

“Out of the frying pan,” I say.

“And into the fire,” Grayson finishes. “Lower the mainsails!”

“We’re going to navigate the isles at full speed?” I question.

Grayson’s gaze is hard as he looks down at me. “It’s the only chance I have of getting you out of here, Rowenya. We’ve taken too much damage. If he catches up to us, we won’t survive the fight. Not when we’re battling him and the isles. We need to get into open water.”

Tension coils in my stomach; I know he’s right. “Then it’s a race to the other side.”

The sunlight catches his eyes, those flecks of silver starlight ignite. I take the stunning sight of him in. Casting every detail of his beautiful face to memory in case this might be the last time I get to gaze upon him.

“Don’t do that.” He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, trailing his fingers down the side of my face.

“What?” I ask, breathlessly.

“Look at me as if these might be our last moments together.”

“They might?—”

Grayson presses a finger over my lips. “Do not say such things, Little Pearl. For you know what I would do to protect you.”

Reaching up, I grasp his hand and interlace my fingers with his. “I’m not the only soul on this ship that needs protecting, Grayson.”

He steps into me, his shadow clouding the sun’s light until all I can see is him. “I would damn my own soul and everyone else’s to the hells if it meant keeping you alive.”

My breath catches at his proclamation. “Then I would be left all alone in a world filled with despair.” I bring his hand up to my lips and kiss his knuckles. “That is a fate I would not wish on my worst enemy. So, do not make it mine.”

A muscle feathers along his jaw and I can see the argument reflect in his eyes, but he says nothing. Instead, he slips his other hand behind my back, pulls me in close and brushes a tender kiss across my lips.

“This is not the end,” he promises and I feel my heart breaking because I cannot vow the same to him. Too much doubt roams in my mind, so I kiss his cheek and blink back the burning tears in my eyes.

When we part, I stand at his side and ready myself for the battle ahead.

“He’s gaining on us,” Zaos says, stealing a glance over his shoulder. He readied the gunners, telling them of Grayson’s plan to evade for as long as we can, hoping to get to open water before we take our shot.

I look up and see the wind starting to shift in our sails. The large swath of fabric whips back and forth, and we start to lose our forward momentum.

“Damn these cursed waters,” Grayson mutters under his breath as he looks behind us. Blythe’s ship is close. Only three stone isles separate us from him. His sails are tight, the southern wind filling them. It won’t be long until he’s upon us.

“The current is taking hold of us,” Zaos says right before a loud groan sounds and I’m rocked forward, my chest crashing against the railing.

I nearly topple over the edge, but Grayson grabs ahold of my waist, pulling me back.

An ominous shudder runs through the ship and the right edge starts to dip low.

“What the hells?” I say.

“We’ve run aground!” someone shouts from below and I scan the main deck.

“Oh my gods! Tommy!” I scream, watching him swing upside down, with his foot stuck in the rigging.

I move toward the stairs, but Grayson keeps his hold on me. “Rowenya, don’t!”

“Grayson! He needs help!” I jolt out of his arms and run down the stairway. Keeping my eyes on Tommy, I hear booted footsteps behind me as Grayson follows. The ship rocks violently to the side, nearly rolling over and capsizing completely.

I trip at the bottom of the stairs, landing hard on my hands and knees.

The wooden floor bites into my palms, but I find my footing and start running toward the foremast. The sharp angle of the deck rolls my momentum forward and I have to slow myself before I trip again over a rolling barrel.

It darts right past me, knocking into one of Grayson’s men.

He lets out a ragged moan, but I don’t stop.

Not as Tommy’s leg starts to slip through the roped netting.

“Tommy! Hold on!” I yell to him, still too far away.

“Rowenya! To your left!” Grayson’s voice booms and from the corner of my eye I see another barrel rolling straight for me.

Stretching my body out, I dive over it, tucking myself into a roll.

The hard floor meets my back but I keep my chin secured to my chest. Colors swirl together as the world spins around me, but I somehow land on my feet and keep running forward.

“The Reaper! Starboard side! The Reaper, she’s gaining on us!” Screams erupt all around me, but I don’t spare a second to look.

“Fire at will!” Grayson’s low voice commands from somewhere behind me, but I don’t stop for him either.

The ground shakes beneath my feet as cannon fire erupts. My knees ache from the fall, but I keep propelling them forward. Tommy reaches up, trying to grasp onto the net. His fingers reach around it, but they slip and his tangled leg drops a little more as the top half of his body swings down.

I finally reach the bottom of the rigging and start climbing up. “Tommy, I’m here! Don’t move!”

“Rowenya!” he cries out, his voice cracking along with my heart.

“Hold on!” I tell him as another round of cannon fire blasts through the air, but this time, no quake comes from beneath me.

“Take cover!” someone yells and I roll to the side, clasping onto the netting as a cannon ball shoots right past me. I watch as it soars through the air, hitting a stone isle in the distance with a thunderous boom.

I gasp. Dark shards of stone explode into a storm of chaos. A sharp ringing buzzes in my ears and the world seems to still, if only for a moment. Large pieces of stone slide into the white-capped water.

I squint my eyes against a glimmering light along the horizon.

Steeling myself, I swing myself back around and start climbing again. Shaking my head, the ringing subsides.

“I’m coming,” I say to Tommy, but my breathless voice doesn’t carry.

Peering up, I see tears trailing down his red face. With shaking hands, I focus on the net. Hiking my knees up high, I move as quickly as I can.

“R-Rowenya . . .” I hear his stuttering plea, nearly shattering all that is left of me. I blink back my own tears, shoving memories of Raven from my mind as I climb and climb and climb.

“This is not the end,” I tell myself, borrowing Grayson’s words. Borrowing his strength to keep me going. Another round of cannon blast fires and I’m not sure which ship it comes from as I finally reach Tommy. Frantic, he swings forward.

“Don’t!” I scream, as he misses the net and his leg slips, his boot is now the only thing preventing him from falling to his death. Reaching my arms through the netting, I grab onto his leg with my right hand and reach for his swaying torso with my other. “Grab onto me!”

Tommy’s eyes are wide as he swings forward and misses my outstretched hand. He lets out a guttural sob as his leg starts to slip from my grasp.

“Come on, Tommy!” I scream at him, my heart near bursting from my chest.

He swings again, and this time our fingers touch and I wrap mine around his. “I’ve got you!” Adjusting my grip, I let go of his leg and reach for his waist, pulling him hard against the netting. His arms pull through and he swings his legs down, finally getting his feet secured.

Both of our bodies shake from the effort as our eyes meet.

Tears stain his cheeks as he mutters, “You saved me.”

“We’re not out of this yet,” I tell him, trying to stop my body from quivering. “You climb down first.”

His bottom lip shakes as he nods and starts to move hastily down the net. I start to follow when another round of shots are fired and the net below me quakes. A loud crack tears through the air and a blast of wood splinters all around me.

“Rowenya!” Grayson roars from below, but I cannot see him.

Not as I shield my face from the splintering blast. Hot pain sears through my arms, belly, and legs as dagger sharp wood cuts into my flesh.

The moment I open my eyes, I start to fall backwards, even though my hands still grasp firmly onto the net.

Looking up, I see the foremast pillar falling toward me.

I reach out, trying to find anything else to grasp onto, but the loose net tangles around my arms and the pillar hurtles toward me.

Faster and faster I fall. My stomach dropping as my body soars through the open air.

Then a whip of agony flashes across my back, hot and unrelenting, like a strike of lightning.

I’m no longer floating.

I’m sinking .

Water floods around me. The salt burning my eyes as I let out a garbled scream. A darkened shadow lands above me.

The pillar.

Bubbles cloud my vision and I start swinging my arms wildly, trying to swim for the surface, but the net traps me. The harder I swim, the more entangled I become. Darkness surrounds me as I reach for my dagger and try to pull it free, but the blade doesn’t move.

I yank on it again.

Nothing.

Looking down, I see the net is wrapped around my weapons belt.

I pull on the dagger again. Too hard this time. The blade soars through the water, too far from my reach, and I start to panic.

My lungs burn.

My body screams at me to breathe in.

A dark shadow passes next to me and I watch the pillar race toward the murky depths below, bringing me along with it in a vicious roar.

I’m desperate for breath and my body betrays me. I suck in a lungful of saltwater.

It burns.

It burns.

IT.

BURNS.

Something splashes above, drowning out what little sunlight peaks through the surface and I look to see it’s him .

Grayson swims toward me and I weep, my tears lost to the sea.

He swims. And swims. And swims.

I reach up through the net, waiting for him to claim me.

To pull me from the darkness.

But I am lost to his distant shadow.

Black creeps along the edges of my vision until there is nothing left but the cold that surrounds me.

I have always hoped it would be the roaring mouth of the sea that claimed me.

For the thought of being lost to the stroke of a sword or the heat of fire sends a shiver down my spine.

I much prefer the peaceful quiet of my head submerged beneath the waves as a subtle lull of the currents pulls me under.

The sea is where I have always belonged. I am made of water and salt. It has been bred into my bones, etched into my soul.

One day it shall claim me.

Today is that day.