Page 10 of High Seas

“It did not. Why didn’t you catch me?”

He pursed his lips, pushed his long, greasy hair out of his face, and then blurted, “Enoch would kill me if I touched you. If he so much as smells my scent on you, he’ll kill me. He won’t even give me time to explain what happened.”

“Number one, you just smacked me, so if your theory is right, you’re already screwed. Number two, he wouldn’t hurt you,” I said, groaning as I sat up. The fabric of my stolen dress caught on the sandy stones beneath my bottom. Edward must have been seriously afraid of Enoch, because he stepped away and didn’t even offer a hand to help me stand, despite the ridiculous net of fabric in which I was caught.

“I couldn’t wake you, so I had no choice but to give your cheek a pat. It was either that or pour water in your face, which in hindsight, might have been wiser. But believe me when I say he would end me and enjoy doing it. I know Enoch,” he pushed. “Anyway, I have been informed that Enoch’s home is not currently occupied, but that he was seen here not two days past. If his ship is docked, I can take you to it. If he’s gone, we’ll have to figure out where he was headed, and I volunteer to take you to him.”

“He wouldn’t dock in the harbor with the other ships?” I asked, remembering how Edward had skillfully avoided port with his pirate ship. There were a slew of smaller ships that bobbed in the port along the shore in front of Brutulo, but Edward had sailed around to a deeper section of water. He claimed it was because his ship was too large and heavy to dock with the others, but now I wondered if he was as skilled a liar as he was a slapper of cheeks.

“Not a chance,” Edward chuckled. “Enoch is even more private than I.”

I dusted the sand from my dress and remembered the one I’d hidden. Edward followed me as I ran back to the bush I’d stowed it under, then we hiked straight up what I called a mountain, and what Edward called a hill, along the island’s foot paths to a hidden, rocky grotto on the north side. Which was no easy task in a giant, somewhat scandalous gown, barefooted. Enoch had once chastised me for not wearing proper footwear (or any at all). My soles remembered his advice with each step.

My vision at night was nearly as sharp as it was in the daylight, but that didn’t help the agility of my descent, other than showing me how precarious each misstep had the potential to be. The only way to reach the cavernous bay in which Enoch would supposedly be anchored – if he was still in the vicinity – was to clamber down a narrow path paved with slippery rock. More than once I lost my footing, catching myself before slipping over the edge or skimming into Edward’s legs.

Even the blackness of night couldn’t hide the silhouette of an even more foreboding form. Enoch’s ship was the largest I’d seen; it was much larger than Edward’s, and taller, longer, and broader than any in the harbor.

“Are you coming?” Edward asked, waving me forward impatiently. I’d stopped to take in the ghostly sight before me and hadn’t even realized it. Edward made a scoffing noise. “It’s not that impressive,” he grumbled.

“Aww. Do you have ship envy?”

“Of course I’m envious of her. Look at the height of the tallest of her masts.”

I sharpened my vision and paused again to look at the ship with dark wood and black sails that looked brand new. No flag flew to mark it, but if Edward was right, sailors would know to whom it belonged, flag or none. And if Edward’s reaction to Enoch’s name was any indication of his reputation in this time, just the sight of the ship would be a deterrent, as effective as the carnage that lined the path to his castle gate in thirteen forty-eight.

One mast, at least fifty feet tall, towered over the vessel and over two shorter masts. My heart leapt. Did he build her so I’d have a tall enough place to leap from, or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

Edward caught his leather tricorn hat as a hearty gust of wind nearly blew it off his head. In truth, the ship looked deserted. No candlelight flickered in the windows of the quarters that clung to the bow and stern, but I remembered Edward’s earlier wisdom that it was unwise to leave a ship unguarded. Maybe that only applied to non-Nephilim.

“Are you sure he’s here?”

Edward tilted his head. “Define sure.”

I rolled my eyes. “So, does the plan entail that we’re going to board his ship without permission? Given the fact that he hates you, I’m not sure that’s the wisest course of action.”

“Wise flew out the window the moment my crewman leapt off the rail of my ship and plucked you from the sea.” Suddenly, the loose rock beneath his feet gave way and he slid halfway down the steep slope, barely catching hold of a boulder to stop his sudden freefall. He got his footing and stood up triumphantly, his fists propped on either side. “Besides,” he continued undeterred, “there are others Enoch hates even more than I.”

With careful but light and quick steps, I made my way down to him. The wind picked up, whipping strands of my half-dried hair against my face.

I couldn’t wait to see Enoch. Would my sudden and surprising appearance be strange for him? To me, I’d left him a mere few hours ago, but for him, almost four hundred years had passed. I wondered how he had changed. His hair and the style of his clothes would be different, but his heart… I hoped it was the same. And though it would make perfect sense for him to do so, I hoped he hadn’t given it to someone else in my absence. I hope he’d held a place for me in it.

I gripped the still-dripping gown tighter in my hands, more water squeezing from the thick fabric, as I picked my way down the steepest part of the trail. Edward and I stopped at the bottom, looking up at the ominously dark sails. The ship bobbed silently in the cover of deep water, and a wide plank led from the rocky shore up to its deck. However, no one approached to greet us. If Enoch were here, he would have heard our fumbling scramble down the cliff and would’ve come to see who was being so loud. That meant he must not be here.

My heart cooled, but Edward was undeterred. He waved me toward the wooden plank. “After you.”

“Such a gentleman.” I walked up the plank and stepped onto the deck, draping the wet gown over the railing. Turning around in a circle, I took in Enoch’s ship, his home on the sea. As I stood on the hill above and looked down, I could see she was beautiful and strong, everything a ship should be. But from the vantage point of her deck, I knew she was a force to be reckoned with. Her sails were furled, but I could imagine them being let down, bowing out to catch the wind, gliding the great vessel along the ocean’s surface. She, not the breeze, would determine how fast she moved. Her deck was immaculately kept and she was armed to the teeth with sleek, shining black cannon.

Many more cannon than Edward had, but I didn’t point it out.

This ship reflected the qualities of her master. She was a promise of annihilation to those who crossed her, and of protection to those who called her their own. My hands skimmed the railing, my fingers noting the silent scars she proudly bore.

Just then, a gasp and a grunt came from behind me. I whirled around to find Edward’s feet kicking wildly in the air where a tall man held him up by the throat. “Thatch,” he growled.

It’s him!

“Enoch?” I stepped toward him, my fingers stretching to touch him, yearning to feel him in my arms. But when he turned around, it wasn’t awe or kindness that shone in his eyes. It was hatred. Pure and terrifying. He dropped Edward and turned his attention on me.

“I suppose I am a bit thirsty,” Enoch said to the pirate, who was panting for air and gripping his already-bruising neck, his boots scuffing the deck in his haste to get away from Enoch.

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