Page 29 of Scourge of the Shores
“Danna might’ve let ye live, but I’ll take her punishment for killing ye and save her the turmoil of yer games.”
Robert stared him down before giving a short nod. He doubted that Ervin would let him enter without some kind of agreement.
Ervin’s hand fell from Robert’s shirt, and they proceeded through the small kitchen and to the hearth. Robert stood at the foot of the bed while Ervin leaned over and wiped a timid hand across Danna’s brow. Danna was still so pale. Robert swallowed the lump in his throat.
When she had passed out after he had spent a while stitching her leg up, layer by layer, his heart crashed into his belly. He’d never felt such worry about anyone in his life before, except his mother.
Scotty had burst in and accused him of killing her. But he didn’t care that Scotty had shoved a flintlock in his face. He scooped her up and barked an order to take them to Ma.
Seeing her in the morning light, blinking rapidly as Ervin pulled the bottom of her eye open, Robert knew he was the worthy one from the seas.
He wanted her.
He wanted to hold her in his arms.
But she pushed him away, and now Ervin told him to leave her alone. Even if she liked him in return, he doubted she’d leave her Ma based on what she said.
Robert glanced at the woman in the bed. She had shriveled to almost nothing. Her nub waved toward Ervin, and the blanket fell flat at her knees. Danna would never leave her Ma in that state, which meant he would have to stay on the island. But could he do that? His attention fell back on Danna. She moaned and whispered in a feverish haze, “Lucas.”
If she stayed in the state she was in, though, she probably wouldn’t last another few days. His mind flipped through his secret inventory of enchantments as he thumbed the edge of his belt, where the enchantment would sit if he had it with him. There was one he had been saving for himself that she desperately needed—its bright red pearlescent shimmer came to his mind’s eye.
He stroked his two-day beard. Should the Pirate Kings mutiny, he’d likely need it. Enchantments like that were rare in the North. He’d have to sail East to get more. He’d have to decide soon if he’d give it to her, even if he were not the worthy one from the prophecy.
He glanced at Ervin speaking in hushed tones with Ma before Ervin kissed Danna on the forehead. He strode toward the door and jerked his head for Robert to follow him out.
But the thought of leaving and never returning sickened him. Danna let out a pitiful moan in her fitful, pain-filled half-sleep. He’d seen maimed men, dying men, and wenches in pain, but seeing Danna slowly drift from life put his heart in a vice.
If he gave her his enchantment, she would owe him nothing—she would live, but she wouldn’t be his.
Ervin barked a whisper, “Jaymes.”
But Robert slipped first to Danna’s side. He kneeled beside her and took her clammy hand in his.
Ma reached over, touched his cheek, and whispered, “Thank you for saving her.”
Robert nodded and let his gaze fall to Danna. The perfect outline of her brow, nose, and full lips illuminated in the morning light. He imagined waking every morning to her pretty face.
“Stay with us, Danna. I’ll try to save your life a third time,” he whispered in her ear. “And if we are never to be, I will always hold you in my heart as the first woman who took mine.”
He lifted her knuckles to his lips before placing her hand on the bed and standing up.
Ma told him before he turned to go, “You are a good man, despite what they say about the pirates.”
Robert half-chuckled. “Thank you, ma’am.”
He turned to leave, but Ervin stood between him and the door. His arms were crossed, and both feet were planted firmly under his shoulders.
“I was saying goodbye, mate,” Robert whispered.
Ervin motioned for him to follow, and when they were outside, he pushed Robert into the dirt and drew his flintlock. “I told ye.”
Robert lifted his hands. “I said me goodbyes, didn’t I?” He shook his head and lowered his hands to rest on his knees. “Shoot me if ye will, but I couldn’t leave without saying me goodbyes.”
Ervin’s finger twitched on the trigger before he lowered his weapon. “Fine. Leave us. Get back to yer camp.”
Robert stood up, and before his ego caught up with him, he realized Ervin was acting as a father. No one would ever be good enough for his girl. So maybe Robert had to show Ervin that he was the worthy one the enchanter spoke of all those years ago. He stretched out his hand to Ervin. “Thank ye for lookin’ after her.”
Ervin eyed his hand before his gaze lifted to Robert’s, but he refrained from shaking it. Still, Robert held out his hand.
