Page 24 of Daughter of the Dark Sea
The other Flint brother.
He looked identical to Jack in ways, but his foul nature distinguished them apart.
“Justlet him go.” Thank gods her tone was calm. “You’re surrounded.” She gestured to the bereft ship. Eerie silence answered, sending Kora’s mind flying as she scrambled for sight of her crew through the thickening mist. The alarm had been so loud, why weren’t any of them here?
“Nah, don’t think I will, missy.” The twin’s shoulder oozed thick, darkened blood, soaking his tattered, filthy shirt.
It spilled onto Finlay, as his foot flexed for his broadsword behind them, by the pit entrance. Blood soaked the blade, and a small seed of pride bloomed with Kora. They had fought. Her pride quickly extinguished as Finlay’s head wound spurted, dripping down the side of his ashen face.
“Don’t see any of ye here to stop me,” the pirate sneered.
Blake had disappeared, melting into the shadows, becoming one with darkness, and she swallowed, praying he was circling the ship to capture the pirate from behind.
“Ye see, I think ye like this lad,” he continued, laughing sinisterly in Finlay’s ear. Kora grimaced at his rotten teeth. Finlay’s sparkling dark eyes pleaded with her as his tremor became violent. “Ye be wantin’ him alive.”
She ground her teeth. “What do you want?”
“Me and me brethren will be gettin’ off ye ship now,” he grinned. “With our booty, and ye coffers—as interest.” He winked, and she nearly launched herself at him.Bilge-sucking scum.
Kora edged closer, and the pirate tutted as he pressed the thick, sharp knife against Finlay’s stubbled throat, spilling precious drops of blood.
Where were the crew?She tried to suppress the rising anxiety within her.
“Stop!” She raised her hands higher, desperate to save Finlay. “Where’s Jack?”
A dark predatory shadow weaved through the equally dark gloom ofHell’s Serpent.
“He be here soon.With our treasure.” The pirate’s gaze flickered, and it was enough of a sign. Kora twisted and froze in horror.A warm light beamed from the open door to her quarters, slicing through the fog, and Jack silently shuffled out of the cabin, dragging something behind him.
This was a diversion.
Blake slithered up behind the rotten pirate with disturbing calmness. He hesitated, glancing towards her with concern, and swept his leg under the twin’s. Blake’s fist pummelled down into his chest, knocking him down, and he mercifully lost his grasp on Finlay.
Finlay careened to Kora, and she caught him before he hit the deck.Thank the gods.His shaking hands gripped onto her as he cried out with fear—fear of death circling him once again. Blake wrestled with the pirate, his hand reaching for the cutlass sword sheathed at his side.
“We need him alive!” Kora ordered. She was determined these pirates would meet their demise in the courts of the Aldara Council.
“Silas!” Jack cried from the quarterdeck. He staggered from her quarters, his right shoulder bleeding, the arm hanging limp, hauling the makeshift knapsack of Galen’s wealth with his left arm. He froze at Blake pinning Silas to the floor, his sword drawn in an execution.
“Jack! Don’t move!” Kora shouted.
Jack dropped the knapsack, swiftly sprinting for the steps up to the quarterdeck, and she chased after him, with Finlay hot on her heels.
“Don’t kill Silas!” she called to Blake over her shoulder, and he growled in response.
They’d absconded from their cells, and she knew Blake saw death as a fit punishment, but she wanted a crueller hand of justice. Kora wanted to see them rot in the worst place on earth—
Aryn suddenly stumbled out of her quarters as they raced for the ebony steps, and he collapsed to his knees, the fog wrapping around him like a blanket.
“Aryn!” She diverted towards his crumpled figure and Finlay hoarsely cursed. Aryn groaned, clutching his head, whichwas peppered with bruises, and clogged with thick blood. Kora crouched beside him.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, his body sagging. “I saw him go in.I-I tried to stop him.”
Kora braced Aryn by his shoulders, helping him sit back against the outside wall of her quarters. “Do you know where the crew are?”
Aryn pointed weakly towards the crew quarters at the bow end. “The smoke,” he wheezed, and her eyes widened. Jack’s boots pounded against the wood above them.
“Finlay,stay here with Aryn,” she quipped. “Keep an eye on Blake. Don’t let him kill Silas.”
