Page 45 of Pirate's Intent
“Let’s see what we can do with them then.” He stood. “Just remember, keep one alive.”
“Aye, Cap’n.”
When Hannah made to stand, he put his hand on her shoulder and firmly pressed her back down. “You will stay right here.” When he gave Abigail a look, she pulled out one of many daggers he had given her. “You make one move to leave, and Abigail has my permission to stop you by any means necessary, Hannah. Do you understand?”
“Why would I want to leave?” She looked at him innocently. “If you get yourself killed, I might still be able to save my sister.”
Though she tried to come off haughty and uncaring, he knew her far too well. He saw the tiny vein throbbing in her temple. The way she clenched her hands tightly in her lap. Telltale signs that she was worried about him.
“I will be fine,” he said softly, cursing his loose tongue. She deserved to worry about him. To feel even an ounce of the bloody heartbreak she had put him through.
“I am sure,” she said curtly, not looking at him, suddenly wearing the cool mask of indifference she had worn the day he went off to war.
For a split second, he nearly yanked her into his arms and kissed her hard like he had wanted to back then, but his stubborn pride disallowed him.
Instead, he strode out without looking back, throwing over his shoulder, “Watch ‘er close, Abigail. She’s a slippery sort.”
A crack of thunder broke, and lightning flashed over the mangrove trees lining the back exit, so he kept to the shadows alongside Robert, one type of adrenaline switching to another. He loved battling, especially when it was stealthy. When he could sneak up on an enemy before they saw him coming.
So he snuck through the trees, discovering in little time how many they were dealing with and, for the most part, their locations. If he were to go off the headcount, he would say Big Devil had brought most of his crew with him.
Which, ultimately, made the fighting swift.
Having fought alongside one another for years, he and his crewmen knew what to do without much communication. Take the enemy down as quietly as possible before anyone could cry out and warn the others. So he snuck up on one, slit his throat then crept through the rain toward another.
Regrettably, a man did cry out before he made it to him, alerting his current prey.
He unsheathed his cutlass, and the two went at it, thrusting and avoiding each other as they slid in the slick mud. The heavy rain made it difficult to see clearly, so lightning flashes were his sole source of vision. That, as it happened, suited him just fine. He preferred to rely on his senses in combination with an acute ability to anticipate another’s move to a near-fault.
So imagine his surprise when he dodged a blade thrust, spun, and nearly lost his balance on the slick ground. He didn’t fall, but he was not prepared for the lethal sword thrust coming his way. A thrust, as it turned out, that never met its mark because a dagger hit the man’s forehead.
Astounded, he spun to find Hannah behind him.
Shehad thrown the dagger.
Moments later, she paid for it too when a pirate got a hold of her.
That’s when Luke realized he’d had no idea what a living nightmare was until now.
Not until Hannah’s life was seconds away from being snuffed out.
ChapterSeven
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SHE THOUGHT FOR SUREthis would be her opportunity to make a break for it, but when she stepped outside and saw a pirate ready to run his blade through Luke, everything came to a screeching halt. Her heart stopped, and her world dwindled down to him. There was no thought of fleeing only of saving him.
So she narrowed her eyes, aimed, whipped hard and by the grace of God, hit her mark.
When Luke spun and met her eyes, shocked, she nearly ran to him but was stopped short when a blade slipped around her neck. Yet again, she was in the lecherous hands of a pirate only this time circumstances were especially dire.
So said the stark fear in Luke’s eyes.
“Anyone steps closer or kills another one of my mates,” the pirate roared, “and she dies!” His gaze narrowed on Luke. “And don’t think I won’t do it!”
Luke made a gesture she assumed told his men to stand down.
She started trembling and tried to find the calm center she used to embrace when beneath her uncle’s switch, but it was bloody hard. Likely because she had not stood at death’s door. Typically speaking, death itself didn’t frighten her so much. At least it hadn’t until this moment. While leaving her sister without protection bothered her, deep down, she knew there was nowhere safer for Rose than with Thomas. He would die for her.
