Page 21 of Scourge of the Shores

"Otto, Thane, with me,” Robert said, cutting her off before she could argue. Then, slow as the tide, he dragged his thumb along the brim of his seaworn hat before lifting it—just enough to taunt. “Duly noted, Captain Chadwick. Just here for fair trades, nothin’ more.”

“First light, Captain Jaymes, or ye’ll be left behind.”

Robert’s grin widened as he dipped a lazy glance at the little puddle of spit. He didn’t wipe it away—just let it sit, shining on the leather of his boot.

“First light,” he echoed and waved his men out. As they walked past, the villagers lifted their chins and glared at the pirates.

“And Captain Jaymes,” she called after him.

He paused in the doorway, turning just enough for the firelight to catch his grin. “Aye?”

“If ye wanted a proper invitation, ye should’ve asked nicely.”

His steely eyes locked on her. “Ask nicely?” He chuckled, and his voice dropped low. “Wouldn’t have suited either of us, Captain.”

Then, as he strode out, he whistled a drawn-out shanty like a man in no hurry. The tune curled between them like a net he cast without care if it caught. Just before the shadows swallowed him, he glanced back with a look edged with quiet amusement. A dance. A challenge. A waiting game.

Whoever Robert was tonight wasn’t the same man who walked the shore with her. Or maybe he was. That was the trouble. He could be both. And curse him, she was starting to see it. His retreating form disappeared in the dark.

Curse him again, the warmth of his breath when he spoke, deep and sure, still lingered on her cheek. It enveloped her, enticed her, and made her want to claw it off her skin. She clenched her fists and scowled down at the map, but the lines blurred. Her mind was betraying her.

Silence filled the hall as the cautious stares of her people fell upon her.

She squatted on the table, pulled her knife, and etched the outline of Laurence Isle in the wooden map.

“Ethan, Scotty, ye’re with me. Get some good rest tonight, for I doubt we’re gonna get much sleep over the next few days. ”

“Aye, Captain,” they said.

“Let’s get these vultures off our island,” she said, lifting her gaze to the men and women in the hall. “As fast as the storm blows.”

“Aye, Captain.” Their voices struck like steel on flint, sparking in the darkened hall.

* * *

The dawn light was barely a golden line on the horizon.

The tide lapped against the pier, the only sound in the waiting hush.

The wind whispered secrets out to sea as Danna scanned the shore again.

No sign of them. She could only hope the pirates had drowned themselves in rum and forgotten their boasts.

Scotty and Danna raised anchor with the rotating windlass as Ethan stood at the tiller of the small sloop ship. The hold was packed full of salted meat and fish for trade, and enough food for six.

“Think they be mad if we left without ‘em?” Scotty whispered.

“Shoulda been here,” Danna said, knowing a voyage on a sloop would be hard with half the needed crew. But no sooner had she said it, three figures approached on the shore with island sentinels behind them.

Lucas and Jim stood on the pier and noticed them too. Lucas sighed. The gangplank slammed back on the boat’s edge. Lucas walked on board and pulled Danna to the stern, dismissing Ethan to the bow.

“Jaymes ain’t here to obey, Danna. He’s here to test ye.” Lucas kept his voice low. “Last night, he told ye plain—he likes ye, he likes ye a lot, but he won’t take orders from ye. Make him.”

She scowled. “I thought he was trying to tear me down.”

“Nah,” Lucas muttered. “He’s waitin’ to see if ye tear yerself down first and come jumpin’ in his arms. He’s testin’ ye. See if ye take the bait. He ain’t the one, Danna. Don’t spurn him; don’t fall for him neither. It’s a fine line; don’t cross it.”

He hesitated after glancing once more behind her.

“A pirate like him? He’d take whatever ye gave—and then some.

” Then, softer—almost regretful—he added with a slight shake of his head, “And once he takes, it’ll be his.

But when the tide turns, he’ll vanish with it, and ye won’t cross his mind again. That’s how much ye’ll mean to him.”

Robert’s voice echoed from the pier. “We’d been here sooner if yer guards hadn’t held us.”

“First light, Captain,” Danna shouted, keeping eyes locked on Lucas. “We’re raisin’ anchor.”

Lucas must have seen the waver in her gaze. He dipped down to be eye-level with her. He pressed his lips thin and gave her a nod of reassurance while squeezing her shoulder. “Safe journey, Captain. We’ll be seein’ ye in four, five days.”

She gave him a nod with pressed lips. “Keep steady, Captain Ervin.”

He turned and exited the ship before Robert and his two pirate crew came aboard. Jim and Lucas yanked the gangplank off as Otto helped Scotty with the anchor.

Robert sauntered up to Ethan, who had returned to the tiller. “Ye a Captain?”

“Helmsman,” Ethan gritted, not wasting a glance on him.

Robert hummed as he adjusted Ethan’s grip on the tiller. “There ye go,” he whispered before gazing at Danna. “Ah, Captain Chadwick.”

He started toward her, easy, slow, but she pulled her flintlock. “Ye’re here to observe, Jaymes. Don’t touch, talk, or otherwise engage with me, me crew, or the traders on Laurence Isle. Savvy?”

Robert took a lazy, unbothered step forward with hands loose at this sides.

The flintlock clicked into place before he could take another step. He sank a row of perfect teeth into his bottom grinning lip. “Or what? Ye be shooting me, Danna?” he finally said.

“It’s Captain Chadwick to ye,” she corrected, her legs holding steady against the ship’s sway. “And aye, I’ll do it.”

He took two more steps.

She raised her pistol.

“I’m unarmed,” he said and lifted his hands in a lazy surrender.

“Get to the main deck and make yerself useful. Touch me helmsman again, I ain’t givin’ no warnings,” she said, waving him off with her weapon’s muzzle.

“Aye, Captain,” he said and took two more steps forward with eyes gleaming in the dawn’s light.

The nerve to test her while she held a gun! She curled her finger on the trigger, aimed for his shoulder—but before she could decide if she meant to fire, he spun on his heel and strolled to the main deck.

She let a shaky breath hiss through her teeth before glancing at Lucas on the pier, his face set like stone.

The sea stretched ahead—vast, endless, uncertain.

Two days to Laurence Isle. Two days trapped aboard with Robert Jaymes.

She only hoped she could keep her head—and not let him crawl any deeper into her heart than he already had, whether she liked it or not.