Page 19 of Veiled in Stars and Silver
I drew my knife and rammed it into the shoe of the man standing on my hair. He let out a wild howl, his face contorted in agony. I yanked the blade free and moved to my feet, drawing my sword.
The two other men roared with laughter. “She get you, Gray?” They guffawed as the other man rolled in pain.
I looked toward my brothers, and my heart rose into my throat. The water was up to their chins. I met their eyes and relief flooded my veins. I tried to send them a message through my gaze.I’ve gotyou. I’m coming.Filling my head with thoughts of being reunited with them, I lifted into the air.
“Ah, no ye don’t.” Broad Shoulders grabbed my ankle and whipped me back onto the ground. Sand filled my mouth.
My hands tightened on my weapons. Fine then, if they insisted, I’d deal with these men first. I got up, spitting grainy particles, and faced them.
“Look at her, acting like she can fight,” Bulging Eyes said.
Rage boiled in my blood. I stood, my blade at the ready. “I’ll give you one chance to turn around and leave. Let me rescue my brothers.”
“Come, girlie, put the weapons down,” Broad Shoulders said.
I could try flying off again, but I needed to get my brothers off the rock, and that would take some time. In the water, I’d be much more vulnerable. I couldn’t have these men trying to stop me.
The bulging eyed pirate took a step toward me. I dove for him, dropping to my knees, and dug my blade across his thigh in one powerful slice. Then severed the tendon behind his ankle with my knife. He gasped, gripping his leg and raging.
“Bitch! You bitch!” he spat.
I came to my feet behind him and shoved him into the sand. Then danced out of reach. “Stay down.”
The man with the injured foot hopped over to his fallen comrade, both looking at me with fear and anger.
These pirates didn’t understand. I’d been trained by a man ten times more skilled and cruel than any of them.
The last man snarled at me, drawing his sword. He was bulkier than the other two, and from his stance, he might’ve had some training. He came at me, and I jerked out of reach, blade in hand, watching for an opening. I needed to end this quickly.
He came again, and I didn’t move in time. The man’s sword sliced through my shirt, barely missing my skin along my stomach. I spun, coming around on his backside. I pressed the blade of my saber against the side of his throat. Shifting, I turned my head to check on my brothers.
“Drop—”
But the man roared, jerking my attention back to him, his sword about to ram into my abdomen. I reacted. My blade dug into his throat, tearing a clean, deep line into his skin. Blood flowed over my blade.
The sword slipped from his grasp.
The man dropped to the sand. A shocked expression etched onto his weathered face. His lips moved silently, and something human and fearful entered his gaze. I didn’t want to feel pity for him. Still, the blood on my blade, the agony in his eyes. I bent to see what he was mouthing. He reached up with sudden strength and grasped my neck, forcing me down over him. I bared my teeth, and my fist tightened on my knife, but his grip relaxed as his eyes pleaded with me to understand… something.
And even though he couldn’t speak, the movement of his lips became distinctly clear.
Pan.
I jerked out of his grasp as his hand fell away, motionless for the last time. Dead. The man was dead.
I’d killed him.
Pan. The name reverberated inside my head. What did it mean? Why was Peter’s name the last on this man’s lips? Like he was identifying his murderer. But it wasn’t Peter. I had done the deed.
I looked toward Marooners’ Rock, and every thought fled from my mind. The water was covering my brothers’ heads. I gripped the knife, throwing the bloody sword away from me, and raced for the water, diving into it.
The world beneath the surface was a murky green. The cloudiness of the deep ate what little light existed. I swam, my eyes stinging.
I took to the surface, making the last few strokes to Marooners’ Rock before taking a breath and dunking under to free my brothers.
My fingers scraped across the stone where they should have been.
They were gone.
