Page 68 of Broken Fate
Sailors were coming across, forming a defensive line, while up near the bow, Kiel, Praksis, and the others were busy slicing away the lines tying the ships together. A deep groan ran through both ships as they shuddered and began to pull away.
“They’re stealing our ship!” someone on the other side shouted just as one of the sails caught fire, providing an intense flare of light that illuminated everyone still fighting on the decks of our old ship.
A few attackers tried to jump across, but they were easily cut down. Everyone from the stern of the dying merchant ship was aboard our new vessel now, except for the captain and a few of his defenders.
“Clive!” I shrieked, the fires illuminating him as he fought with savage tenacity, driving the attackers back, buying time for others to clear the slowly increasing gap between ships.
As he rejoined the defensive line, the captain hauled him off and pushed him toward the edge, taking his place in the steadily shrinking wall of sailors.
Clive protested, but the captain died as the center of his wall went down under a fresh wave of sailors pressed home.
“Hurry up!” I shouted, racing down the deck of our ship as we started to sail past the dying merchantman, its stern now between the last two masts of the frigate. “Jump, Clive, jump!”
Taking two steps back, Clive ran for the railing and freedom.
He flung himself up into the air, clearing the gap with ease—
Only to be smashed aside as the sails of the rear mast loomed out of the darkness and knocked him into the sea.
“CLIVE!”
I ran for the rear deck. “Man overboard!” I hollered, climbing up onto the railing, preparing to jump into the dark waters.
Someone grabbed me and hauled me to the deck, wrapping their arms and legs around me, preventing me from escaping.
“Let me go!” I hollered, trying to squirm free. “I have to go get him!”
“No,” Andi said firmly, holding me tightly, her voice breaking. “Jada, no. We can’t. He’s gone.”
“But—”
“The spar hit him across the head,” she said. “He’s unconscious. You’d never find his body in the dark. You’d just kill yourself.”
“Clive,” I moaned, sagging back onto the other woman.
She held me, not letting go, the two of us lying on the deck, unmoving. Behind us, the merchantman was slowly going up in flames even as the sailors of the navy tried to save it.
Nearby, the sounds of battle could be heard as any remaining crew of the frigate was summarily dispatched. I didn’t care.
“Clive …”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Iremembered little of the journey home.
We sailed through the night before putting ashore somewhere with the morning light. Then we shifted and ran. My wolf must have taken control because it was all a blur to me. The only thing I remembered was the four of us sticking together. Gralk had gone elsewhere. I didn’t know. Nor did I care. It was just the team running.
But only four of us. Four.
Two of our number were gone in the fight. Rationally, I knew it was likely to happen. We were fighting against a monolithic government that wanted total control and wasn’t afraid to use any means necessary to ensure its stability. People had already died. Darris was the first, having been slain breaking me out of prison.
Clive wouldn’t be the last. Iknewthat, but it didn’t hurt any less. He’d been the last remaining link to my old life. The one where I’d had parents and friends. A friend.
Now, there was nothing but a gaping hole in my stomach where they should be.
Over and over again, I watched him jump from the deck of the merchantman. He had the height and the angle. It should have worked! I wanted to scream at the stupid spar. How dare it be attached to the mast inthatposition, atthatheight.
Why?
