Page 7 of Scourge of the Shores

The moon was full overhead when she heard a twig snap.

Her eyes popped open, and she scanned the island’s jungle.

A white shirt stuck out like a lighthouse on a cloudy night.

Just one shirt, though. She grabbed her extra knife, a short blade, not enough to kill but enough to blind.

She sat up quietly, aimed it, and held it by the point, ready to throw.

The pirate was about to cross the threshold into the village. She sent the blade sailing past the pirate’s nose at his first toe across the clearing. The blade’s point stuck into the ground next to the boot.

A gritted “Sink me ship!” coursed over the clearing. The man stumbled backward with his hands up.

“I mean no harm,” he said loud enough for her to hear.

Danna jumped from her hiding spot on silent feet.

“Hands high, pirate,” she snapped, cocking her flintlock. The night swallowed the sound, but she saw the flicker in his eyes. He’d heard it. “Ye cross that line again, and I take the foot.”

The man chuckled. “I wanted to see if I could barter for some good island food.”

She scoffed at his silver-spun words; they weren’t fooling her. “At this hour?”

He walked into the clearing with his hands up. “White shirt, no weapons. I come in peace, surrenderin’ any ill will.”

“Ye ain’t scouting for pirate king gold?”

“No, let them rest in their graves.” He took a few more steps until Danna recognized him—the Pirate King from the shore.

“Jaymes, ain’t that right?” she asked.

His pearly whites glistened in the moonlight. “So, has my great name spread here at last?”

She wondered at his playfulness. She scanned the rest of the foliage, looking for movement or signs of an ambush. “Only heard of ye today. Fresh to the waves, ain’t ye? Where do ye find the audacity to call yerself great?”

The red on his cheeks was visible even under the moonlight.

“It’s easy when Chadwick rose to fame, I suppose.

” His body straightened, and the playfulness in his voice was gone.

“All he had to do was rob one ship of the elite, leave the rich in a rowboat, and give freedom to the ship slaves if they sailed beside him. Grew an entire fleet in that manner. Every ship captain owed Chadwick their life and freedom. It’s easy to be a Pirate King and amass treasure when there aren’t any other pirate kings. ”

Danna’s chest tightened while her jaw grew taut. She lifted her chin high. “Ye dare speak ill of the Pirate Chadwick?”

Jaymes cocked his head with a scoff and changed his tone, stripping the silver from his words.

“What’s to speak of? One ship takin’ a swing at a pack of fat merchants?

Barely worth song. Unity , now— that’s real power.

Maybe if ye’d ever sailed farther than yer ancestors’ bones, ye’d know what it takes to be a pirate king. ”

His insult fell like burning coal to the pit of her belly and ran straight to her toes.

The sea called to her, and she wanted to sail it, but her duty was to stay on the island.

This ignorant man before her knew nothing.

She pointed the flintlock at his face. “Never heard of ye, and don’t care to.

But ye’re breachin’ me contract—so back up before I put a bullet in yer skull. ”

Jaymes let out an audible breath. His shoulders fell. “Our pride’s in our way, I see.” The sharp edge in his voice dulled to civility. Just like that, the pirate’s tongue turned polished again—courtly, careful, too smooth to trust. He wasn’t retreating. He was maneuvering.

“Why don’t I start over? My name’s Robert, and I’ve come alone and weaponless, as you stipulated.”

He took a tiny step forward, and she ran a shot by his ear. The birds jolted in the night, causing branches to sway and their shadows to dance.

“Curse a siren!” he yelled and bent over, clutching the side of his face.

“That’s yer warning, Captain,” Danna said, tucking the used flintlock into her belt and drawing the second. “Next bullet’s between yer eyes.”

Jaymes straightened and shook his head. “Be civil, Danna. It’ll be dawn in an hour or two. I’ll tell you the real reason I came trekking. It wasn’t for island food, although I’m sure you have quite the menu.”

“Don’t care,” Danna said through clenched teeth. “Honor the contract. There’s no trouble. Stay on the east side.”

He straightened his back, and his eyes ran over her face.

“I promise you, I’m no scout. I’m not here to steal from the father pirate kings.

” He put his hands on his belt and shifted his weight.

“The real reason was that I only wanted to speak with you again. I thought if I made my way to the village and were there when you awoke, I’d be less likely to be shot.

I’ll return tomorrow alone, and I promise I won’t cross your line, but I’d like to know more about this island when I retire from piracy. ”

"Why’s that? Ain’t ye the greatest name on the seas? Yet here ye be, sneakin’ about in the dead of night."

He lifted his hands again to show he had no weapons. “I’ve my reasons.”

Danna marched up to Jaymes and shoved her pistol under his chin while his arms were still up.

Their proximity took her off guard. His scent was like a pond after a cleansing rain and a dancing night of spiced rum.

It removed the thought from her tongue. He didn’t flinch when the muzzle touched his flesh, and she stared up at him with wide, fire-filled eyes.

His breath was steady and flowing over a full bottom lip.

The sting of his words rushed back in full force, and she whispered through hot breath, “Ye dare speak ill of me family name. Ye dare lie to me. Ye dare break me contract.” She debated the next words, for killing him would ensure her contract was kept; however, it could also spark a war between the islanders and the pirates, one that the islanders would most likely lose.

So she spared him in the moment. “Ye come back here tomorrow, and ye’ll be dead before ye hit the ground. ”

He rolled his stubbled chin so the muzzle was nestled against his Adam’s apple and peered down at her over the top. His eyes glowed with admiration. “Danna, you fascinate me.” He tilted his head. “Most women cower before me, and yet here you have a gun to my throat.”

Danna stiffened, wondering why this man was not afraid of death. “I don’t cower before men.”

The corners of his mouth turned up. “Nor should you.”

Her grip on the flintlock relaxed at his affirmation.

The air crackled with tension as she stood toe-to-toe with the fabled Jaymes.

The moonlight cast a silver glow on the island, highlighting the rugged terrain and the waves crashing against the shore.

A slight tingle tickled her fingers and toes.

The moonlight fell on his forehead and nose, the rest in a dim shadow, but his eyes glinted.

His hunger wasn’t for gold; it was for her. He had risked his life to talk to her.

No, that was not possible.

She swallowed hard and broke their gaze to scan the tree line for any lingering sign of an ambush. However, everything seemed to be in order. Her finger lifted from the trigger as words finally flowed again.

“Stay on yer side, Jaymes.” She leaned in, her voice lowering.

“Ye be lookin’ a bit too comfortable among the dead,” she challenged, her voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Her belly knotted at the betrayal of attraction to the intruder—a haughty, self-obsessed pirate with sugared speech.

She could feel the red stain rise on her cheeks and hoped the moonlight did not reveal her lapse in judgment.

“Aye, Captain,” he said as his gaze dipped to her lips. The knots in her belly fluttered when his eyes met hers once again.

Branches broke and cracked, and heavy, fast footsteps thudded from the village. Whoever came to her aid had impeccable timing, but to her surprise, Jaymes did not run.

Lucas and Jim appeared on the other side of the clearing. Lucas’s hard breaths came between his words. “Heard yer shot, Captain. Caught one, eh? Want me to finish the job?”

Danna waved her hand to signal her answer.

“I was just sendin’ a message, Captain Ervin,” she told them without breaking eye contact with Jaymes. “This one’s about to leave.”

She shoved the muzzle into the underside of his chin, making him stumble backward a few steps, gagging.

He recovered, though, rubbing his throat. He glanced at Lucas and Jim, tipping his hat, before returning his attention to Danna. “I’ll be back tomorrow, alone and weaponless per your contract. And I’ll hope you honor your word and not shoot me dead.”

“Stay on yer side of the island, Captain Jaymes,” she warned. “Talkin’ ain’t reason for trespassin’.”

He took a few more steps backward into the brush. “You can call me Robert,” he said, his voice velvet in the dark. “And I never break a promise.” The shadows hid his face before his white shirt faded from sight.

Lucas’s heavy steps thudded behind her, breath coming in spurts. “I thought ye were hurt. I should’ve been here with ye. Yer mother would’ve kicked the bucket from under me legs had something happened to ye.”

Danna squared her shoulders to him. “I can handle meself. Protect our village. That’s what I am asking ye to do.”

Lucas’s jaw tensed, and the shadows played with his patchy, short blonde beard. If Jim hadn’t been there, he might have rebutted her.

“Aye, Captain,” he finally forced out. His eyes slid toward the spot where Jaymes disappeared before he and Jim left. Jim would probably give Lucas an earful about her decision to let the pirate live.

Danna took a deep breath once she was alone again.

Had she killed Jaymes, the pirates could have had a reason to kill them all.

If she let him live, the pirates could see them as weak and kill them all.

Either way, neither decision had a good outcome, just as with her decisions with Cain.

The islanders were going to die one way or another.

At least they could die fighting for their home.

Maybe that was what Lucas was trying to tell her earlier that evening.

She hated sea dragons, those cursed, prophetic relics of the DeepMother’s soul.

Born saturated in her magic, they were creatures of habit—choosing a single hunting ground and haunting it until death or desolation claimed it.

The one now circling their waters had chosen their island, and it would not leave unless forced.

But the islanders would not flee, either.

It was either the dragon or the island. One had to die.

She slipped the unused flintlock into her belt, then reloaded the used one with a prepackaged charge and holstered it at her hip.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings one last time, then stooped and cupped a moonflower blossom in her palm. Its aroma replaced Jaymes’ scent, and she shook off the electric feeling his closeness had spurred in her. Robert Jaymes was just another cocky pirate, thinking she’d be an easy wench.

He’d learn otherwise.

She crawled back into her hiding spot in the centuries-old tree and closed her eyes, cherishing the last hour of the night and hoping for no more interruptions.

Still, Jaymes’s steely eyes, chiseled cheeks, and broad, stubbled jaw haunted her mind.

Somewhere between exhaustion and defiance, sleep stole her, and with it, an image: his lips, warm and firm, pressed to hers.

Danna jolted awake to birdsong and dawn’s first light. Jaymes’s voice coiled in her thoughts like sea fog. She scowled, drained her waterskin in one greedy gulp, and swiped a hand over her face.

“No more of that lousy brute.”