Page 36 of Empire of Death
Now other pirates looked at me as well, from other ships, as they silently deduced where the underwater ally had come from.
The last enemy ship disappeared into the water in a surge of planks and debris, and all turned quiet. The only ones who’d survived the attack were far out into the distance, lucky enough to turn away at the opportune moment. An entire army of pirates had been decimated, leaving a single lonely ship.
The shark didn’t resurface, probably ready to return to its eternal slumber somewhere at the bottom from where it had come. The sun had already set, so the light was low, a hint of pink on the horizon.
Then a large fin emerged, slowly rising up from the depths, stretching high toward the sky—heading straight toward the final galleon. They were so far away now that we couldn’t hear what happened next, only see it.
The shark crashed into the bow of the ship, swallowing half of it in its enormous mouth. After a hard thrash, half of the ship went flying across the surface until it landed fifty feet away, and it immediately began to sink beneath the waves. Little dots that seemed to be the survivors were visible, but the shark took care of that too.
Once every one of my enemies was dead, the shark dipped below the surface, and I knew it wouldn’t be seen again.
Our ships continued to rock on the waves, the world silent except for the wind that made the sails flap. One by one, every pirate on every ship turned to look at me where I stood on the starboard, silently staring at me like the shark and I were the same entity.
My brother said nothing as he looked at me, clearly shocked by the horror he had just witnessed because he hadn’t seen it in Riviana Star.
Wrath was still there, the only person to look at me with pride instead of fear. Like a father who was proud of something his child had done, he had that fullness in his eyes and a stoutness in his heart that was easy to make out.
Jack was the first one to interrupt the silence. “The Pirate Queen.” His hand tightened into a fist over his chest, a custom gesture of respect among pirates. “Forever at your service.”
12
LILY
I knew Hawk was particularly bothered by what had happened because he didn’t speak to me for a day. He remained below deck in his bunk as we made the journey home. By the time we got back, we would have only been gone a week. According to Zehemoth, nothing had changed in the Southern Isles. My mother and father had made it across the sea, and now my father was in the castle.
I wasn’t given a job on the boat, so I could spend my time below deck if I wished, but I preferred to be level with the sea, to feel the breeze through my hair. I sat on a crate alone as I sliced an apple and ate the pieces, in the shade of one of the sails because the angle was just right.
Someone came to join me, grabbing an apple from the basket, the contents of which had already started to turn brown as they began to spoil. When he sat on the crate beside me, I realized it was Hawk. He didn’t pull out a knife to cut it, but instead bit into it with his teeth. The crunch was audible, the slice of his teeth through the flesh.
I looked over the bow of the ship, seeing nothing but blue in our path.
“How did you do that?” He took another bite of his apple like this was a normal conversation, when it wasn’t normal at all.
I knew exactly what he referred to and didn’t play dumb. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Try.”
“It’s like throwing out a fishing net and using the pulley to bring it to the surface. I felt a presence bigger than all the others, and without knowing what it was, I commanded it to send my enemies to a watery grave.”
“And it could understand you?”
“It’s a nonverbal command.”
He took another bite and chewed for a while, appreciating the view for a second. “And you’re going to tell me that a god granted you that gift with nothing in return?”
“I told you he wants the Barbarians to fail.”
“I know what you said, and I don’t believe you.” He turned to look at me, his eyes sharp like the razor Father used to shave his chin. “A god would never impart such a tremendous ability to someone without payment.”
“I didn’t sell my soul?—”
“Did you sell your body?”
My head whipped back to him, surprised he would make such a crass accusation. I was actually offended he would accuse Wrath of such a thing, until I remembered that’s exactly what hadhappened. It felt so long ago, and we felt like different people. From the moment we kissed, I was lost to him. And the moment he touched me and lit a fire inside my heart…the circumstances of our beginning didn’t matter. “No.”
“Then—”
“What are you worried about, Hawk?” I asked bluntly.
