Page 27 of High Seas

The pirate held out two placating hands. “Look – I found and returned your Eve. Now, I’d appreciate it if you would dismiss my debt and allow me to take my leave.”

“Consider your debt to me forgiven,” Enoch answered graciously, his words holding the merest hint of a bite.

Edward started to bow, but stopped midway. “To you only?”

“Your quarrel with my sister is not mine. You took enough treasure from me to buy a small country. I release you from your debt, but you took something far more precious from Terah, something I can’t forgive on her behalf.”

“She can have the sloop,” Edward capitulated. “If that’s all she wants, tell her I wish her well,” he said, walking to the door. “I can easily steal another.”

“Wait. Are you serious? You stole Terah’s ship?” I laughed. His name would crown her shit list for a very long time.

Edward shot me a derisive look and extended his hand to the brass handle of the double door.

Enoch shifted his weight from one foot to the next, a board groaning underfoot. The wind swirled through the room, extinguishing the few candles that provided light. “I’m afraid I can’t let you leave.” The doors slammed closed in front of him and suddenly Enoch was there. “And you’ll have to wait for her below deck. Your presence here is distracting to my guests.”

Edward’s eyes widened. “No. Please. I won’t try to escape. Just let me stay here.”

“I don’t trust you, Edward. I made that mistake once, and will never repeat it again.” Enoch grabbed him by the back of his jacket and escorted him out into the torrential rain.

I followed them down a wide set of steps that led into the dark heart of his ship. It was exactly as I expected: barrels of goods, burlap bags filled with food, coiled lengths of rope, cots tucked into corners, and hammocks tied where there was enough space. They swayed as the choppy waves pushed the ship to and fro. Cannon lined each side of the cavernous ship, but even with the substantial space they required, there was plenty of room to move around.

We walked farther below deck where it quickly became dark and damp, smelling of steel, soaked wood, and gunpowder. Something rattled from within the dark hull. I sharpened my vision, sucking in a gasp when I saw her. One of my clones stared back at me.

She smiled, whispers of dim daylight leaking into the room and reflecting off her fangs.

I couldn’t breathe. It was me, but it wasn’t. It was me – as a vampire. She stared at me as intently as I did her.

Edward laughed under his breath. “I’m not sure she likes what you’ve done, Enoch.”

“Keep wagging your jaw, Thatch. The vampire is thirsty,” Enoch threatened.

The pirate’s smug smile melted away and he didn’t laugh again. Instead, he stayed close enough that Enoch was comfortable, but far enough away that the shadows concealed him. His heart drummed loudly against his ribs.

The clone looked between me and Edward, her eyes sharp and desperate. She wanted me to get close, just close enough so she could pull me against the iron cage. She could easily feed on me from there. Enoch wouldn’t even have to open the door. I couldn’t read her mind, but could see that we even thought alike.

The clone grabbed hold of the bars. “Why haven’t you turned her?”

“She isn’t one of you,” he answered.

Her hair was slightly lighter, highlighted by days in the sun, and her face was plumper beneath the chin and in the cheeks. Other than that, we were so much alike it was scary. Even her voice was mine.

The clone sized me up. From head to toe, she took inventory of our similarities and differences. I could see her eyes hang on each one. My hair. The stakes at my side. The way my tech suit fit. “What year are you?”

“I’m Eve.”

The clone threw her head back with a laugh. “We are all Eve.”

“No, I’m the first. I am one of the top three Assets.”

She rolled her eyes. “And I’m the Queen of England.”

“I don’t care what you think,” I told her.

She snickered. “Then we have another thing in common.”

Enoch moved to the wall of the wooden hull and took a pair of shackles off a spike. He walked to Edward. “We can do this civilly or not, but you will be shackled for the time being.”

“And then what?”

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