Page 25 of Heart of the Deep

She turned to see her father running toward her.

He gripped her arm when he reached her. “We need to get everyone to the other boat!”

“I know,” she called over the wind, looking back toward the light. Anyone who attempted to reach it would drown.

Unless they have something to guide them…

But throwing a rope to the other ship in the dark, with this wind, would be nearly impossible, and they didn’t have time to attempt it.

When the idea hit her, she didn’t waste time.

“Wait here!” she yelled as she hurried away from her father. She didn’t stop when she heard him shout her name.

The harpoon guns — meant as the back-up plan if the tranquilizers didn’t work or there were more kraken than they’d anticipated — were still mounted along the outside wall of her father’s cabin. She tugged one down and rushed back to him. The weapons were old tech, from the days of the colonization, each with a bundle of line attached.

She could only hope the line was durable enough — and long enough — for what she needed.

Her father took a single look at the harpoon gun, met her eyes, and nodded. She knew the expression on his face. It was one she’d seen too little as of late.You’ve got this, Elle.

Stabilizing herself against the rail, she raised the gun and took aim, focusing on the small boat. Distance, wind, the weight of the harpoon, the movement of the two ships; all were factors in whether she’d succeed. She only hoped she wouldn’t hit one of the men on board.

She took in a single deep breath, released it in a slow exhale, and pulled the trigger. The harpoon flew from the gun with athump, and she lost it in the darkness. She couldn’t hear an impact over the wind; her grip tightened on the gun.

The line went taut. Her father grabbed onto it as it tugged her forward, throwing his weight backward to counteract its pull.

The light on the other ship flashed, and, distantly, a bell rang.

Larkin ran off some slack, and together they lashed the line around the nearest mooring post. Once it was tied off, she wedged the gun against the railing for good measure.

“It’s secure!” she said.

Her father barked orders over the storm. Several men gathered at the post — far too few. Had some already abandoned ship or been washed overboard?

“We need to send everyone across, now,” Larkin said. “That boat’s going to get full, but we don’t have a choice.”

“Go, Elle!”

Larkin stared up at her father. A dozen emotions flickered across his face, cast in an orange glow and harsh shadows by the growing flames, though his expression changed little from the stern mask of the commander. The sorrow and pain in his eyes, the hint of desperation, almost broke her resolve.

“Go!” he repeated. “I’m not letting you do anything stupid, damnit!”

Larkin threw herself at him, taking him into a tight embrace. “Get them off the boat,” she said as she slipped the keys off his belt. “I’ll be right back.”

She turned and ducked between two men, squeezing through the frantic press of bodies to emerge on the other side. She raced across the deck toward the brig, not slowing when her father shouted her name. The entryway was open and unguarded; she hoped Lance was safe, but there was no time to search for him.

Hands on the wall to maintain her balance, Larkin hurried down the ramp and grabbed the lantern at the bottom. She lifted the bar and shoved the door open.

The ship lurched as she crossed the threshold, pitching her forward. She twisted to protect the lantern, hitting the metal bars of Dracchus’s cell with her shoulder.

She groaned, gritting her teeth against the pain in her limbs, and clutched the bar behind her as the ship righted itself.

Once the floor was somewhat stable, she turned and fumbled through the keys until she found the one that fit the lock. She flung open the cell door and moved inside, dropping to her knees in front of Dracchus.

His amber eyes were alert as they met her gaze. If he was fearful, he sure as hell wasn’t showing it. “What is happening, Larkin?”

“The ship’s on fire,” she said, nearly dropping the keys as she unlocked his collar.

“Should you not leave?” he asked.

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