Page 76 of Scourge of the Shores
Hands grabbed her—pulled her upright. Scotty and Jim. Strong and familiar arms wrapped around her, holding her when she couldn’t stand on her own. Stiff fingers rubbed her shoulders and pushed her hat back and forth on her head.
“Ye did it, Danna,” Jim said with a prideful gleam in his eyes. “Ye did it.”
She closed her eyes—just for a moment to let the relief wash in—when the world exploded again.
Danna flinched as the thunder of cannon fire ripped through the victory cries. A geyser of seawater erupted past the port bow. Its force threw her off balance. She sank to her knees, unable to stand on her own.
For a second, she couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. They had won. Cain was dead.
The sound of cannon fire thundered. For a moment, Danna thought the nightmare wasn’t over.
Scotty and Jim each took a firm hand under her arms, as her ancestor’s ship rocked from the impact, taking in water from the hole Cain left.
“What in Tophet’s name was that?” Jim yelled.
She saw it before they did.
The black sails. The open gun ports. The smug figure on the ship’s deck that had fired the shot.
Rosa.
Danna’s cheeks boiled red. She should’ve known it was the greedy, bloodthirsty Rosa.
Her head whipped around to see Lucas’s ship riddled with holes and taking in water. She knew it. The no-good, cowardly, manipulative, lying, thieving pirate!
“Ready all cannons,” she yelled in agony-laced bursts, still gripping her belly. Every movement sent fire through her core, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself upright. There wasn’t time to collapse.
But Storm Rider sailed between Rosa’s ship and Danna’s. The red flag rose above the white sail with the golden “J,” signaling war with no mercy, no quarter, and Storm Rider ran a shot across Rosa’s bow.
The cannon fire splash inundated Rosa’s forecastle deck. Hagen’s ship raised a red flag and shot a warning across Rosa’s bow as well. The fleets of Adams, Garrick, Holcomb, Cooper, and Vance all raised red flags. Finally, Blackwood also raised a red flag. Rosa’s ships’ gun ports closed and the sails unfurled, signaling his surrender.
Robert caught her gaze at the helm.
“Throw the lines,” she told Jim and Scotty through clenched teeth. “Fer Ervin’s ship.” The pain only allowed phrases to exit her mouth.
They left Danna clinging to the gunwale, watching Robert’s magnificent Storm Rider sway in the black waters.
Robert turned to face her. His gaze spoke words she’d never hear again. He removed his hat, swung it low, and gave a slight bow. His coat whipped in the breeze.
“We shall part ways now, Captain Chadwick.” His voice carried across the waves, though it dimmed with the slow separating distance. “May your island be prosperous; one day, I will see you again.”
Her voice caught in her throat from the huge lump that forced its way down to her belly. His words cut like a blade. He was actually leaving. A small part of her wished somehow he could have stayed.
The lump in her throat grew unbearable. She fought to force words past it. The waves pushed the two ships apart. Dominion over her voice finally returned.
“Fair winds, Captain Jaymes,” she called out, short, clipped, due to the pain in her belly.
But by the time she managed to speak, the breeze carried her words away before she could hear if he gave a reply.
The waves pushed their ships apart, widening the space between them. She saw him—stepping up to the stern’s gunwale, watching her, but too far to reach, too far to call back. She lifted her chin, willing herself to stay strong, but her hands clenched into fists on the ship’s railing.
“Be seein’ ye, Robert,” she whispered. The Pirate Kings were already sailing away in the opposite direction from the island.
The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the deck, but she remained by the place of Cain’s death, unable to tear her eyes away from Storm Rider.
She blinked a few times to chase away any tears before collapsing onto the main deck. She sniffed and felt the breeze by her ear. The hole on the starboard didn’t seem to be of the sinking kind, and hopefully, the crew was patching it as best they could for the journey home. She rolled onto her back and let the fresh air sweep through her lungs. She focused on the setting sun, its descent mirroring the sinking feeling deep in her heart.
“All crew accounted for,” Lucas’s voice rang out a while later. His heavy boots drew near over the bent and buckled main deck.
