Page 10 of Take No Prisoners
"Stairs," the man said. He wasn't hovering in air, then. He was standing on the stairs to the hold with one hand outstretched. "Watch your step."
Niall blindly stepped up and took the man's hand, and a spark traveled between them.
"Sorry," Niall muttered. He didn't know where the static had come from, in all this water. The same thing had happened with Renald right before he ...
"Go," the man said when Niall reached the first semi-dry stair. "Follow the gangplank to my ship."
Niall risked a look back. Renald dropped his sister's hands, and the man picked her up, placing his hat on her head. "Hello there, little one. Will you keep that safe for me?"
"Yes." She gripped the rim with her small hand.
"What are you waiting for?" Renald sounded a little panicked. The water was now steadily rising behind them, already over his boots on the stairs.
Niall stepped up two stairs at a time until he reached the main deck. It was completely deserted, left to sink from the gaping holes in the deck and the ones they could no longer see below. He walked around one hole, watching their chance for rescue slip away as the waves caught the gangplank and ripped it away from the deck. The other ship loomed over them, but it was too far for Niall to jump to her with Renald's added weight.
"Now what do we do?" Renald cried out.
Niall had no idea, but Renald wasn't asking him. Their angel, who now had Jasmine clinging to his neck with both hands and dangling down his back, stepped onto the deck rail and launched himself at the rope maze hanging from the side of the other ship. The ropes went every which way, vertical and horizontal, but Niall would end up back in the water if he dared the same move.
Jasmine was already scrambling up the side of the ship into the arms of another person dressed much like the man who'd rescued them. The only difference was the thick black braid over her shoulder beneath her tricorn hat.
"Toss me the boy," the man said.
"What?" Renald squawked. "No!"
"He was ... unconscious a moment ago," Niall said. "He might be too weak."
The man studied him with a frown that implied he knew exactly how unconscious the boy had been a moment ago. "I'll catch him, I promise. Toss him."
Niall didn't see any choice. The longer they stood on the deck, the more water licked at his boots. He cradled Renald to his chest, bunching his muscles. Then, he tossed Renald toward their rescuer with all his might.
Renald let out another undignified squeal as he landed on a cushion of water inches from the ship. The spout carried him to the rope wall, where the captain caught him under the arm and helped him grab onto his neck. Renald was a foot taller than Jasmine and still not moving the best, but he held on.
It was Niall's turn to jump, but he couldn't get his legs to work. His angel was a water weaver. Niall should have known on some level. The man had just stopped the giant ship from sinking with them in it.
The angel in the tricorn hat glanced over his shoulder. "You coming?"
The water had entirely engulfed the deck and was fast approaching the railing. Niall had seen ships sink before, capturing sailors in their wake and pulling them to watery graves. He hopped onto the deck rail and jumped for it.
His hands still burned from where he'd touched the metal bars of his cell, and the rope was slippery, but he grabbed on tight. He hit the side of the ship so hard it rattled his teeth and every bone in his body. He hurt everywhere, but he was still alive. He pulled himself up to the deck rail of a brigantine. He would have been impressed with its size, had he not left a far larger vessel.Starlight Specterwas far larger than his parents' sloop.
"Fucking thief."
There was that voice in his head again. Vadim was in irons, but he still looked deadly with his white hair whipping around his face.
"You've usurped my power long enough."
Niall's world faded to a small white circle as his legs gave out beneath him. The last thing he saw before complete darkness was the face of his angel staring down at him, concern darkening his brow.
Chapter 4
Efren
Efren didn't want to interrogate Vadim in his cabin, but there was nowhere else onStarlight Specterwith privacy, not with her false hold full of navy sailors and the true hold full of supplies for Aquarion.
He also had nowhere to sit. His bunk was now a sickbed for the young man who had so valiantly rescued the two children from the sinking ship. After he'd passed out, Efren had carried him to the cabin and propped him up on the pillows, conscious of Olivia's and Vadim's gazes on him.
He slid around the desk and leaned against it, instead, leaving Vadim to stand with his back to the cabin door. Vadim's hands were cuffed in front of him at his waist, a single iron chain holding them together. It hadn't been enough to keep him from removing a glove during the skirmish, though. Olivia had ordered him to put the damn thing back on, and then she'd pushed him toward Efren's cabin with the butt of her rapier.
