Page 114 of Vengeance of the Pirate Queen

Apparently, I’m feeling a lot more forgiving now that I know I’m dying.

Dynkinar nods.

“What happened?” I ask. “Why were you fleeing to the sea?”

“The undead attacked in full force. They were killing everything in sight. We are all that made it out alive. The King of the Undersea must be stopped.”

“We’ll stop him. When we regroup with my queen, we will form a plan of attack immediately.”

Dynkinar bows her head. “It is our only hope now.”

“See to your people, and I will see to mine.”

She nods before helping to locate space for people below and above deck.

And I eye my sailors, who are rowing like mad for the ship, and I see immediately why.

The undead have arrived.

They pour out of the trees by the hundreds, their movements jerky and unnatural. Their eyes glow that peacock blue, even from here, and they move as one force.

One mind behind them all.

“Hurry it up, Kearan!” I scream at him.

“Thought I’d take in the sights first,” he fires back petulantly.

The undead reach the shoreline, but they do not stop. They plunge right into the water, sending it foaming and frothing upward. They march in over their heads, disappearing into the unknown depths.

“Damn,” I say.

Are they swimming? Are they walking the distance? How long will that take? Obviously the boats will reach us first, but will there be enough time to help everyone aboard?

The crew moves as quickly as possible. We haul all the newcomers aboard, and then the lads bring up the rowboats.

“Get us moving, now!”

They don’t need telling twice.

Captain Warran takes the helm again, and he gets us going while Kearan assists the smaller children about the ship. If anyone has noticed that I haven’t moved since coming up top, they don’t say anything.

That bundle of heat within my chest flickers slightly.

“Fighters to the starboard and port of the ship,” I call out. “Keep an eye on that water. If anything tries to climb aboard, slice it!”

As the ship begins to move, the crew takes position at the edges of the railing, peering into the water.

There’s a silence, as though everyone is holding their breaths, waiting to see if we’ve made it. I manage to walk myself to the side of the ship and look into the water below.

Nothing but a smooth surface.

And then I hear screaming belowdecks.

Chapter 23

I LEAP FOR THEstairs leading belowdecks before I remember I’m injured. Maybe I pass off my scream of pain as a battle cry. Luckily, Kearan beats me to the stairs, so he doesn’t see the way I lean against one of the walls when I make it to the bottom. The way I have to pause to catch my breath. To process what has happened.

I killed all those Drifta belowdecks after first boarding the ship.

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