Page 131 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage
Briony, you stubborn woman, I thought you were going to stay on the ship! How could you risk your life yet again?
He groaned inwardly, asking himself why he was shocked at the discovery.After all, she’s proven time and time again that she’s willing to give everything away to save someone. I just hope Costa isn’t too much for her.
“Well, Mendes? Can you see what it is?” Cardoso yelled.
Santiago turned to the commodore with an innocent look. “Nay, I’ve no idea! It’s moving too fast to get a good look at it!”
BANG!
Santiago felt his blood turn to ice at the sound. The one moment he’d looked away—
He returned his gaze to the front, only feeling warmth in his body again when he realized Costa had missed and Briony was all right.That was far too close.
“Comodoro, can’t you make this ship go faster!”
Then he saw Briony pull Costa under, and he almost leaped into the water after them. He only managed to hold himself back by reminding his anxious mind that he would still get there faster by ship. His thoughts swirled as every second they didn’t resurface felt like a lifetime.
But then Costa reappeared, swimming toward Lucia, who reached out to pull him back into the rowboat. He grabbed her right hand, and then his other hand lifted out of the water with—
Santiago felt all the air escape his lungs as he watched the knife pierce his sister’s chest, embedding itself in her heart. Time seemed to slow as he stared at the girl ahead of them, only just seventeen, always so full of life and laughter…now being yanked out of the boat and thrown into the water like she was nothing.
Briony’s head broke the surface right after that, but as soon as she saw Lucia, she, too, seemed to freeze in shock.
Costa, on the other hand, said something to the seal that Santiago couldn’t quite discern before turning to the boat and getting inside. Tears spilled down Santiago’s cheeks as he wished this was somehow all a dream and he’d wake up back in Everton, his sister safe and sound. And then he saw the gun.
Nay, not again.Regaining his mobility, Santiago drew out his weapon, took aim, and fired, hitting Costa in the wrist. The captain groaned and dropped his pistol into the water, grabbing at his wound.
The seal turned to see where the shot had come from, and when her eyes met Santiago’s, the strain on his chest lessened a bit and he found he could breathe again. She quickly vanished below the water as they continued to approach the second boat, and Santiago turned his attention to Lucia.
“Santiago…,” Lucia cried, but her voice was so weak, so quiet. She was barely staying afloat, and her eyelids were heavy.
Santiago jumped from the ship and swam to her, faster than he’d ever swum in his life. He grasped hold of her and got her into the boat. He barely even noticed the captain’s presence at that point and didn’t worry that the snake would try anything else now that Cardoso’s men had their own pistols trained on him.
“I’m sorry, brother. I… I should have trusted you. After you sent me away on the boat, I… I changed my mind and told Adriano to take us back—”
“Shh, don’t talk,” Santiago whispered, trying to stop the tears that were still flowing freely from his eyes.
But Lucia shook her head. “What happened? What was that sound earlier? And the seal in the water—why did it attack us?”
“It doesn’t matter now. We have to get you to Cardoso’s ship so you can get help.”
“I’m so sorry…,” Lucia said again, but this time, her words were so faint Santiago could barely hear them. “I’m…”
Santiago watched, helpless, as Lucia’s eyes fluttered shut and her chest stilled. He shook her to rouse her, but there was no response. She was gone. All that he held in his arms now was an empty shell.
A guttural cry broke forth from his lips, rising through the air until it pierced the very clouds.
“Agh, calm down! She was such a nuisance anyway!” Costa snarled.
Santiago’s eyes narrowed to slits as his vision turned red. “What did you say?” And before anyone realized it, his hands were around the man’s throat.
“Mendes, stop! We have to bring him to trial, and we can’t do that if you kill him now!” Cardoso shouted from one of his own rowboats as his men prepared to drop it into the water.
“I. Don’t. Care.” Santiago squeezed harder, enjoying how Costa’s face started changing color.
“There’s so much evidence against him that there’s no way for him to get out of this, Mendes. Do this the right way. The way your sister would have wanted.”
Santiago paused, looking down at his sister’s lifeless body. She seemed so serene now, and if not for the paleness in her cheeks and the wound in her chest, she would almost look like she was merely sleeping.What I would give to make it so!
