Page 25 of Daughter of the Dark Sea
Finlay sharply nodded as Kora took off to the wide steps, and she rounded the corner, her hand following the smooth curve of the ebony balustrade railing. The fog was thinner up here, and Jack stood defiantly at the helm, his left hand gripping the wheel.
His dark brown eyes tracked her stalking across the deck, and she kept her palms open and up, offering a false sense of parley. “Jack, stop this now,” she spoke in Devanian. “It’s over. You can’t win this.”
He released an exasperated laugh, and his long ginger hair wafted in the gentle night breeze. “We’re getting off thisgods-damnedshipalive.” He spoke in the common tongue, without his pirate dialect.
Who were these pirate twins?
He sucked in moistened air, sweat plastering his face and body, holding himself well despite the obvious wound to his shoulder from one of Aryn’s arrows.
“You know I can’t allow that.” Kora shuffled closer.
“You don’tknowwhat’s happening.” His deep breaths became shaky. “We arenotyour enemy!” She paused herhunting stalk, a few feet away from the helm. Her fingers itched to reach behind for one of her hidden curved sabres.
“Don’t feed me that drivel.” Her lips curled in repulsion.
Jack’s eyes pleaded and her stomach coiled. She narrowed in on his grimy hand clutching at the wheel ofHell’s Serpent.
Hership.
“We are not your enemy,” he repeated, switching to Devanian.
Kora’s temper flared. She was angry at pirates for taking her life and her family away, but she was now angry at herself. She’d been foolish, letting Jack use their connection of Devanian to soften her and bring her guard down. The breeze turned into a gust of wind, circling around them with strange warmth, and his face broke into a mystic smile.
“Listen,” Jack spoke softly. “Listen to the voice that carries on the wind. I know you can hear it.”
Kora’s world froze.How did he know?
She’d never told anyone about the guiding hand of the wind that followed and whispered carefully to her mind. He laughed, smiling up at the dark, night sky. He was mocking her. A low, animalistic growl ripped from her throat. He had to be lying. He was tricking her once again, and she silently reached for her daggers.
“Jack!Help me!” Silas roared.
Returning the yell, Jack suddenly spun the wheel, turning the ship starboard side. The ship violently rocked, and Kora’s legs slid as she fell to the deck, her side slamming into the weathered wood.
Jack dashed around the helm, darting to the balustrade and hurling himself over. She scrambled to the railing, unsheathing one of her daggers, ready to impale it into his back. Jack tucked his body in, shielding his injured shoulder from the fall as heexpertly rolled onto the deck, disappearing into the thick of the fog in a matter of seconds.
He was no ordinary pirate, and Kora smiled—it was time for a hunt.
Racing down the steps to her left, she gripped her dagger. Aryn lay unconscious by the entrance to her quarters. His body was slumped in the amber light, the exquisite cream makeshift of treasure discarded and forgotten by his feet, and Finlay was nowhere to be seen.
The fog was so thick she could barely see a few feet in front of her, but she carefully stalked to the edge of the ship, keeping her back to the open air of the ocean as she followed the thick railing. It’d become rough over the years from sea exposure, and the number of arrows embedded into it during warfare created various dips and grooves in the wood.
She’d spent so much of her time uponHell’s Serpent, she could navigate it blind. Once Kora was sure she was adjacent to the main mast, her hand flung out and thankfully grabbed onto the shrouds. She couldn’t charge into the fight hidden within the fog and risk harming Finlay, Blake, or herself.
So, she began to climb.
Once the sound of blades clashing, males shouting, and boots stomping against the wood were directly below her, she paused. The honey glow of the lantern pierced the misted veil enough for her to make out a collection of shadows fighting each other.
It was easy to spot Blake. She knew his body as well as she knew her own, his movements a mirror of hers when they fought. He was a strong opponent against Silas, with Finlay defending the rear. Until Jack’s shadow arrived, and they became an undistinguishable frenzy.
A crash sounded to her right, and Kora sighed with relief as Samuel emerged from the crew’s quarters, his shoulder leaningagainst the broken doorway, and he stumbled towards the scuffle mere feet below her.
“No! Don’t!” Finlay cried. “What are you doing? Why? Pl-please don’t do this! NO!” he wept, followed by a heavythudagainst the deck. Silas’ laugh rang in her ears, as Finlay cried a male’s name over and over.
“Save him,”the reliable voice pressed on her shoulder, and she relaxed her grip on the shroud, letting her body fall silently towards the grey abyss of her ship.
12
Kora had fallen many times before.
