Page 24 of Heart of the Deep

“I should have known you would give in to the first human slit they dangled before your face,” Neo said, “just like your traitorous friends.”

“When we return home, Neo, I will accept your challenge. And I will enjoy crushing you.”

Neo growled, but said no more.

Chapter 7

Asudden impact woke Larkin; she’d landed hard on her side. Pain radiated through her already bruised hip. She twisted to look up at the bunk she’d been in a moment ago. Before she could comprehend what had happened, her stomach lurched, and the floor tilted wildly. She slid across the steeply angled floor, clawing wildly to slow herself, but her momentum was too great. She rolled into the far wall, hitting her head.

“Fuck!” She pressed a hand to her throbbing temple.

Objects fell from the nearby table, scattering around her.

The world tilted again, this time in the opposite direction. A crack of thunder shook the floorboards.

She shoved herself to her feet and grabbed her boots, leaning against the wall for stability as she tugged them on. She stumbled to the door, threw it open, and hurried to the stairs. The wild motion of the ship battled her every step. Grasping the rail with both hands, she hauled herself up.

When she lifted the latch at the top of the steps, the wind blasted the door open, nearly knocking her back down the stairs.

Lightning streaked across the sky. Its illumination granted her a fleeting image of the chaos before her. Men shouted orders over the din, scrambling to secure the sails. Others were tying themselves down to keep from being swept overboard by the crashing waves that crested the siderails.

Thunder boomed immediately after the bolt of lightning. The wood beneath her feet rumbled.

Someone pushed Larkin from behind. She caught herself on the wall beside the door as men rushed from below deck to join the efforts.

She hurried to a group of men struggling with the rigging. Taking hold of the thrashing rope, she leaned back with the others until her muscles strained and her ass nearly hit the deck. Rope fibers bit into her palms, scraping flesh as the rope slipped.

“Heave!” one of the men yelled.

Larkin gritted her teeth, planted her boots, and pulled.

A gust of wind swept into the sail. Larkin cried out as the rope was yanked from her hands. She hit the planks hard enough to crack her teeth together. Men fell around her, a few partially atop her, cursing and sliding in the seawater on the deck.

There was a blinding flash and a deafening boom. Slivers of wood exploded from the central mast.

Turning her face away, Larkin threw up her arms for protection. The men nearby cried out in pain, their bodies taking the brunt of the splinters.

“Look out!” someone shouted.

Larkin looked up as the upper half of the mast pitched forward. Bright flames spread rapidly across the sails and crept along the rigging. She dragged herself from beneath the men, scrambled to her feet, and ran. The entire boat shuddered as the mast hit the deck. Larkin stumbled, catching herself against the wall near the stern.

The men’s’ shouts grew more frantic. “Fire! Fire!”

She stared with wide eyes at the damage. Coaxed by the wind, the flames spread quickly. The foremast and sails were ablaze within moments.

Realization crept up her spine, icy in the wake of the fire’s heat — the ship was burning, and the people aboard would burn with it unless they dove into the sea. But how could anyone last in those violent waves? They’d have to choose between drowning or burning alive.

No.

She wouldn’t accept that.

The kraken!

The churning ocean wouldn’t be a problem for them, but they didn’t stand a chance against the fire while they were locked in those cages. She needed to free them.

A light off the side of the ship caught her attention. She battled the tilting deck, leg muscles burning, to take hold of the port rail and peer over it. One of the smaller boats bobbed on the swelling waves nearby, cast in lantern light made eerie by the surrounding darkness.

“Larkin!”

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