Page 21 of The Withering Dawn
“Your men do not feel safe with that thing on board. And with a tongue, she could put her spell on any one of us.”
“What happens to her is not your choice to make!”
“Captain!” one of the other men cut in. “Get away from it!”
Cathal stomped down the stairs, leaping over the last bit of railing and landing next to Nazario, his cutlass drawn.
“Yer overstepping, doctor,” he said, standing shoulder to shoulder with Nazario and closing me behind them.
I knew their barricade was not for me as much as it was for each other, but imagining it was set off a flurry of pent-up emotions. No one had ever been protective of me. Not since my mother and I scarcely remembered what that was like.
“I’m saving us. Let me make this hard decision for you and keep your conscience clear. It’s obvious she’s gotten to both of you.”
Cathal and Nazario tossed each other a puzzled look like the thought itself was preposterous. And it was. I hadn’t done anything to sway them. I’d never done anything to anyone save for the man who’s throat I bit out because instinct told me it was the only way.
Without warning, Henry pulled a pistol from his belt and had the audacity to aim it at Nazario.
“That pistol only holds one shot,” Cathal warned.
Henry’s lip twitched like the fact annoyed him. Panic flashed in his eyes again.
“She’s a siren. I should be aiming this pistol at her. Get out of the way.”
Those same instincts that had gotten me into trouble the last time my life fell apart clawed their way out of their little prison and suddenly I was shoving between the two men to get in front of them.
I was small in comparison. The idea that I could shield them from a bullet was ridiculous. I wasn’t expecting to stop it, though. I was getting ready to bite out the doctor’s throat if he pulled the trigger. He’d threatened me with pain and mutilation and now he was threatening his captain. The man reeked of dishonesty and bad intentions and it was clouding my senses, making my teeth ache.
Henry’s eyes dropped to look at me, wide and twitching like he didn’t know how to respond. Behind me, I heard the familiar sound of a pistol hammer being cocked back and next thing I knew, Nazario’s arm was extending over my shoulder to aim his weapon at the doctor. And then Cathal was doing the same thing on my other side.
The two crewmen at Henry’s back scurried to pull out their pistols, but in their frantic rush, they were catching on their belts. The ship lurched sideways, throwing all six of us off balance. I fell back against Cathal and he stumbled onto the steps with a frustrated grunt. Nazario righted himself against the railing, but one of the other men slid right off his feet and toward the edge of the ship. With a scream, he tumbled over the side and into the raging water below.
Henry staggered, flailing to grab hold of anything he could. As he did, he fired a shot, blowing a small hole in the steps right next to Nazario’s head. I pushed off Cathal, a red haze of rage falling over my eyes, and sprinted toward the doctor. His companion saw me and took aim, so I pivoted, driving him against the mast. I shoved his wrist upward and the pistol fired into the air. My gums throbbed as my teeth changed shape, growing to sharp points just before I clamped down on his neck and tore into his tender flesh. He screamed, but not for long. When I drew back, taking a large chunk of his neck with me, his scream turned to a wet gurgle and his body flailed to the ground, rolling as the ship tilted to the other side. I reached out for the mast only to see Henry with his arm drawn back, his face ghostly white and full of terror.
Sharp pain exploded through my skull when the butt of his pistol connected with my head.
Stars danced across my vision and then fadedto nothing but blackness.
It all happened so fast. Henry nearly shot me and in a blink, Aeris charged him, changing course only to diver Rourk’s pistol and rip out his throat.
It was chaos.
I clambered to my feet just as Henry turned on Aeris, slamming his pistol into the side of her head. I watched her body spin from the impact and she toppled over, limp. I aimed my flintlock at Henry just as he was turning to face me again, but the sea was doing everything to sabotage us. The Amanacer moaned as she pivoted, parallel with another wave, making every bit of the confrontation a struggle. I slid forward, crashing into Henry. In having to use both hands to hold onto the mast, I dropped my flintlock.
On the other side of the mast, Aeris’s body was careening toward the railing, unconscious. A wave of water washed over the deck, sweeping Henry’s legs out from under him and carrying Aeris out of my reach. Behind me, Cathal was scaling the steps to get to the helm and steady the ship’s course.
I had no other option.
Henry cried out like a child as he lost his grip on the mast. I grabbed hold of his wrist and guiding him to a rope until he could steady himself. Rourk was hanging onto the base of a cannon, one hand firmly pressed to his bleeding neck, but either his grip or the loosened cannon would give out soon. I untied some of the rope coiled around the mast and tossed it to him, keeping a grip on what was left of it as I dove after Aeris.
She was sliding quickly toward the edge of the ship with yet another wave of water that swept across the deck. I dropped, skidding on my hip when the incline was too much. Just as her body was slipping through the gaps in the railing, I reached for her arm and locked my hand around her wrist. The wind was unyielding, pelting me with stinging raindrops and the salty ocean spray blurred my vision, but I had her. I hoisted her up toward me, ignoring the ache in my shoulder when the stitches tugged on my already torn flesh, until I could wrap my arm around her waist. I waited for the ship to straighten out, my other hand tangled tightly in the thick rope. When it finally did, I wasted no time, worried the ocean would toss us again. I got to my feet, lifting Aeris’s limp form into my arms and speeding toward my quarters.
I threw the door open and rushed inside, setting her down on my bed, soaked and possibly dead. I didn’t have time to check before I had to rush back out to tend to the chaos.
Cathal managed to steady the ship enough for me to march straight over to Henry unhindered. I grabbed him by the front of his vest, lifting him to his feet and slamming him against the mast, baring my teeth. His glasses had been knocked off and he could barely balance his own weight, but I didn’t care about any of that. Part of me wondered why I even tried to save him after his betrayal had almost gotten me killed.
“Bastardo traicionero!” I roared. “¿En qué diablos estabas pensando? You idiot!”
He said nothing. He just shook his head, his hands raised in surrender. Aleksi appeared from the crow’s nest, leaping the last fewfeet off the shroud to help me. He pulled a large hunting knife on Henry without asking any questions.
