Page 18 of Veiled Fate
“Get the captain,” Kiel barked, ripping the fabric off the rod to clear a path. “Now.”
“What are you doing?” I cried, my body moving to obey, even as I stared at the pattern of flames. What was that there in its depths?
“Seeing if I can stop it,” he growled, stomping on the fabric.
It was a losing battle. Even I could see that as I rushed away, heading for the stairs and the main deck. There were too many fires, and they were spreading far too fast for him to put them all out. Far too fast, indeed …
“Captain!” I shouted as I emerged on deck. The cool breeze from the incoming storm front puckered my skin, reminding me that I was completely nude. “Fire below decks. Fire!”
Some crew must have heard Kiel’s original bellow because they were already coming to investigate. Once they heard my calls, they jumped into action. Some charged below decks. Others ran for the barrels of water that lay prefilled on the main deck, snatching up buckets. Others still began to work on the sails, likely to furl them, keeping them out of the reach of flames for as long as possible.
Recognizing that I was only getting in the way, I moved to the helm, staying near the big wheel and the captain. Andi came over to join us, though she kept quiet, her gaze fixated on the hatch.
“What happened?” he barked once the men were organized and operating a practiced routine that didn’t require his constant oversight.
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “We didn’t knock anything over. There wasn’t even a lamp down there to give off a spark.”
“So, you’re saying that fire just popped up out of nowhere to the degree that you two couldn’t put it out before it got too big?”
I shrugged helplessly. Thatwaswhat had happened. While nudity wasn’t a big deal to a wolf shifter, there was a difference between me standing on his deck unclothed and telling him I’d been in the throes of an intense orgasm and hadn’t noticed what started the fire.
The weight of the captain's unconvinced stare weighed heavily on me, and I couldn’t bring myself to meet it. After all, I didn’tknowanything. I just had … suspicions. The memory of my fingers tingling, the unusually strong explosion that had rushed through me at the instant of my climax. The way my hands had been flung back and the pattern of the fire.
That wasn’t possible, of course. Nobody could do that. Well, the dragons could, but only from their mouths, and Iknewthat I hadn’t breathed fire and wasn’t a dragon.
So, what was the explanation?
My fingers, nervously searching for something to fidget with, found the wheel, gripping the spokes tightly, feeling their smooth carved angles under my fingertips.
“That’s not a toy,” the captain said calmly, one hand settling on the top of the wheel, holding it firm.
“Right.” I snatched my hand away, the urge to move not going away.
Bucket after bucket of water disappeared below, the smoke now pouring out of the open deck hatch. The sailors who had focused on the sheets were now working the pumps, bringing up more water from the lake below with every rise and fall of their arms.
“It won’t be enough, will it?” I whispered, sudden surety of our situation setting in.
A huge cloud of smoke billowed out of the hatch, obscuring everything for a moment. Shouts of alarm and coughs from the sailors announced their retreat. One of them came rushing over to the captain.
“We can’t stop it,” he said regretfully. “Cap’n, I think she’s going down.”
“I understand. You know what to do.”
The man nodded and started shouting orders to the others as they abandoned their efforts.
“Damn.”
It was all he said, but out of the corner of my eye, I watched the proud man sag ever so slightly. I clenched my jaw as my stomach roiled. It was his ship, his livelihood, and probably had been for many, many years. Now, he would lose it. The gut punch of his single curse hit me hard.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
The captain grunted. “To the boats, Miss Saunders,” was all he said, his voice distant and empty. “To the boats. We might lose the ship, but I’ll be damned if a single one of us dies today. Is that understood? No dallying.”
“Of course,” I assured him, even as I rushed toward the hatch as the last of the crew emerged. “Kiel! Let’s go!”
Andi grabbed me and hauled me away from the opening just as heat and flames erupted from the hatch. I wrenched away, shielding my face.
“Kiel!”My scream was nearly drowned out by the roaring as flames started to eat away at the hatch itself. Andi held me firm.
