Page 81 of Pirate Witch
Instinctively, I search out my twin. Nos is waiting behind me, ready to rush forward by my side. Immortal speed is going to make dodging the bullets child’s play, but the others won’t be so lucky. Most of the people behind us are humans, with only a few immortal volunteers among them.
Taking a last deep breath, I leap forward, heading for the mages with a single-minded determination.
They don’t need to rush forward—most of them are happier on the edge of conflict using their spells as long-range weapons—but a handful of them do. Before I can call out a warning, they’ve disarmed and grabbed Cooper. I try to hack my way through the enemy to get to him, but there are just too many between me and him. No one else has even noticed, too busy in their own fight. I briefly consider shifting and letting my leviathan do the work, but my other form is too big for this space. I’ll end up crushing our allies.
All I can do is watch as the pair of larger mages stun him with one of their glyphs and drag him away from the gunfire and mage-blasts. They shield their backs as they disappear down an alley, no doubt taking him to his father, as ordered.
Shit.
I can’t follow him. Not when there are so few of us between my mate and the people who want her dead. No matter how much I pity the kid, I can’t choose him over my mate.
We’re going to get you back,I promise.
If we don’t, I think Elsie might never forgive us.
My beast is right beneath my skin, his scales coming forward to cover my arms as I run into battle, shielding me from stray blades and bullets. We’ve never been able to do this before. I haven’t had enough control until now. But shifting with Nos seems to have settled my relationship with my beast completely. Now I use that to my full advantage as I dodge blasts of mage fire and slice through the magic-wielding bastards one by one.
We’re so focused on the fight that none of us notice the fog at first. It creeps between us in tendrils, slowly covering the courtyard until it forms a deep blanket around our ankles. I haven’t seen it for years, but it’s not the kind of thing you forget.
Everything in me wants to stab the wraith which manifests between me and the mage currently trying to disarm me. Only fear stops me. If that creature decides I’m the enemy, then I’m dead. There’s no way to outrun it, no way to kill it. Only salt works, and I didn’t bring any to this battle.
I’m rewarded for my terror-filled inaction when the ghastly creature stretches its mouth wide and bites the head of the mage off in one clean chomp.
Blood spurts, covering what little of me was still clean. I fall backwards as the wraith continues ripping into the mage, stumbling and ending up on my ass as I take in the scene around us. Everywhere I look, wraiths are sweeping through the area. That terrible white mist they bring has blanketed the whole courtyard, and now they rush through the place like a spectral plague. Our rag-tag group of defenders remains untouched as they chase the fleeing men through the city, screeching in glee.
Goddess, I know they’re on our side, but they still scare the shit out of me.
“Yeah, you’re not alone,” Nos mutters, alerting me to the fact that I spoke my last thought out loud. “Imagine not being able to see them.”
“That’s a blessing,” I retort, scrabbling to find the flare we brought with us. “Trust me.”
At least their appearance means our witch made it back to us in one piece.
“The signal?” Nos asks, reminding me of my one job.
I find the stupid gun and hold it up in the air, pulling the trigger and sending up a bright green flare into the sky. A signal to tell the others still on our ships to move in for the kill. Then I clap my brother on the shoulder.
“Elsie’s mage got taken in the fighting. We need to get him back.”
“I agree,” he says, catching my meaning easily.
The first part of the battle is over, won for us by the wraiths. But there’s a second battle raging at sea, and it’s time to lend our captain a hand. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get Cooper back in the process.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
VALOREAN
TheDeadwoodcruises through the grey waters like a dream. At my stern are the other ships Cirio sent. There are five of them, and they’ve all chosen to follow my course as we drop sail and steer around the headland that’s been hiding us from sight. The green light in the sky should make me feel better—it’s a sign that everything has gone according to plan, after all—but it doesn’t. The tension coiled in my muscles is almost painful and it’s not getting any better as I lead our small force across the bay. Our plan is simple: we have to cut my uncle’s ships off from the open sea, leaving them no choice but to face us.
Right now, their attention is on the fleet of longboats struggling to push off away from the fog-laced city. The screams of men falling to the wraiths are so loud that I can hear them from across the bay. The screeches of those creatures are even louder, and I thank both Goddesses, profusely, that I’m chained to the sea in a way that I hope means I’ll never have to meet one up close.
In that same thought, I pray that they keep to their word and leave my mate and crew untouched.
It made no sense for me to stay with them, leaving us a ship down, but Ihatebeing left behind with no clue about what’s happening. They could be injured, attacked by wraiths, dying, and—
I cut off those musings with the savage discipline everyone who lives and dies by the sea learns early on. Worrying for my crew and our witch won’t help them now. All I can do is destroy these motherfuckers before they get a chance to rejoin their cronies in Cawshome and come back for revenge.
The ships in the bay are panicking, the bells on their decks ringing out in frantic alarm, sending whatever skeleton crew remains aboard scrambling to their stations. In response, my own ship readies herself, and the hatches on the gun ports open and lock into place. The long guns roll into position without much prodding, and my transmutation circles flicker to life across the hull, reinforcing theDeadwood.
