Page 30 of A Descent Into Darkness

Iawoke with a start, instantly on alert. A red apple coming into focus in my direct line of sight. It sat, curiously, on my desk. A pop of color in my otherwise drab room. Strange. I hadn’t remembered any apples being among the rations. A gift maybe? Teach’s feeble attempt to compensate for his insufferable behavior as the days at sea dragged on. He scrutinized everything, and his paranoia was becoming difficult to manage. I sat up cautiously, looking around, but the tiny room was quiet, dimly lit by the predawn light filtering in through the porthole. Isighed. It was another day at sea, and I was beginning to think I was going mad. The days stretched on in endless monotony. Even with favorable winds, there was no quick way to sail from the northern Atlantic to the bottom of the Earth at Cape Horn. My new role as Teach’s first mate spared me from the grunt labor of sailing, but I found myself subject to an entirely different sort of hell. I’d spent most of my days pouring over maps with Teach. Watching while he relentlessly interrogated Katherine, pushing for more information. She said the island we were looking for sat south of the Tierra del Fuego, but not a single map showed an island where she insisted it should be.

“You bitch! You best not be lying to me!” I heard the captain’s shouts down the hall, and I was instantly in motion, barreling toward his cabin. I busted through the door to find Teach with his hands around Kat’s neck, shaking her like a rag doll. Seeing her like that triggered the predator within me. My vision flashed red, casting everything in a haze as instinct took over. Within moments, the dagger was in my hand. Luckily, I had the wherewithal to use the hilt rather than the blade. I slammed the butt of my knife into his shoulder, deadening his arm instantly. The blow broke his hold on Kat, and she sunk to the floor in a heap. Teach whirled on me, a feral look in his eyes. I was so consumed by rage that I couldn’t control my fist as it connected with his jaw. He stumbled backward, a hand going to his bloodied lip.

“What the fuck, James!”

His words brought me up short, clearing my vision andbringing me back to reality. “Captain, I’m—my apologies. I don’t know what came over me. I thought maybe she’d pushed you too far, and I wanted to save you the regret of killing her when we’re so close,” I lied. But I knew it wouldn’t be enough to save me from his wrath. The demon in my chest purred. It had been worth it. It had felt so good when my fist met his jaw and the high of getting some semblance of revenge for Kat was heady.

“You fucking bastard.” The look on Teach’s face was lethal, and he closed the distance between us in two long strides. I doubled over when his ringed fist rammed into my gut. This was my punishment. If I had been any other member of the crew, I would have hung from the mast or been flung overboard. But being that I was first mate, Teach was forced to punish me privately. I righted myself just in time to take a blow to the face. My head whipped to the side, blood spraying from my mouth. I could hear Kat cry out, her sobs filling the room, but it did nothing to deter him. I stood again to face him, taking my punishment with my hands fisted at my side. I heard the sickening crunch as my nose broke with his next punch. This time, the room spun, and I fell to the floor.

“You ever get between me and my property again and being my first mate won’t save you from an agonizing death,” he growled and kicked me solidly in the gut. I coughed and spluttered. Blood poured from my nose, but I managed a weak “Yes, Captain.” Before he walked back to his desk and sat down.

“Katherine, get me something to clean my hands,” he ordered, and she jumped, bringing him a handkerchief in quick order. “Now, to settle this once and for all,” he said, cleaning my blood from his rings. He pulled a small vial from his belt and set it on the table. “Drink that. You won’t be able to hide your little white lies from me anymore.” He gestured again to the bottle of milky white fluid. I could see the color drain from her face. Teach had been forcing her to concoct any number of elixirs and poisons when she wasn’t warming his bed, and now she would become a victim of her own creation. She glanced at me, and he slammed his fist on the table. “Don’t look at him. Look at me! He can’t save you, darling. Now pick up that vial and drink.” She grabbed the tiny bottle in her shaking hands. I wanted to stop her. What if she couldn’t keep our secrets? My heart pounded in my chest, but there was nothing I could do. Teach was right. I couldn’t save her from this. I began mentally preparing myself. There was a distinct possibility that one of us wouldn’t be leaving this room alive.

Kat pinched her eyes closed and swallowed the truth serum, gagging and gripping at her throat as it went down.

“I like to see you choking. Later, I’ll replace that potion with my cock, and you’ll choke on it until I give you permission to breathe.” He sneered at her as she doubled over in a coughing fit. “Tell me, have you been honest with me about the location of the ruby?”

“Yes, sir!” she sputtered.

“And the location of the island?”

“I swear,” she cried. “It’s south of the Tierra del Fuego. It’s not showing on your maps, but I promise it’s there.”

“Good girl. Is there anything else about the ruby that Manann told you?”

She paused for a moment. “No,” she breathed, and it looked painful to get the word out. I tried to hide the look of relief that washed over me. She’d managed to keep the secret of the Kraken from him. It was our one and only wild card and she’d overcome the potion and fed him the lie that kept our plans intact. Maybe her powers were stronger than even Teach realized.

“And do you love me?” he asked condescendingly, and I waited with bated breath, my heart seeming to still in my chest.

“Yes,” she whispered, equally as pained, tears pouring from her eyes as she said it. An obvious lie she’d fed him to placate his ego. I breathed a sigh of relief. Teach chuckled to himself, low and sinister.

“Leave my sight. We’re done here. Seeing your tears usually excites me, but today they just seem pathetic.” Teach snagged a bottle of rum and focused his attention on the maps before him, ignoring her completely. “James, you stay. We have work to do if we hope to navigate these waters successfully.”

I knocked gentlybefore turning the key and cracked the door open. “Kat? May I come in?” I peeked into the darkened room, only to find Katherine still in her bed. She’d been sick since Teach had forced her to drink the truth potion. Most days it had taken every bit of encouragement to even get her moving. She huffed at me, flipping over, turning her back to me. I let myself in, closing the door behind me. I refused to let her go through this alone. “I brought you some tea. I managed to get you some peppermint and ginger. Well, Henry got them for you, but I added honey and a splash of rum for good measure. It should help you feel better,” I spoke softly while I set the steaming cup on her bedside table.

“I’m not much for company right now,” she said listlessly.

“I promise I won’t keep you. But I had to tell you… it’s been eating away at me. I need to tell you I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” she questioned as she finally turned to face me.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ll never forgive myself. I have failed you so many times. I know I am not a good man. I don’t proclaim to be?—”

“James, you?—”

“No, let me say this,” I insisted. “I should have protected you from Teach. I should have kept you safe, and yet here you are, suffering because of him yet again. And I stood by and watched.”

“We both agreed that we’d continue the ruse until we had the ruby. That was the plan. You were sticking to the plan.”

“At what cost? I’m supposed to protect you. Aside fromloving you, it’s the one job I have. I have failed miserably. I’m not sure I can even call myself a man.”

She smiled at me, and the look of it warmed my heart. She hadn’t been smiling enough lately, and it was all my fault.

“Have I ever told you how much I love you, James?” The words were sweet music to my ears.

“I don’t believe I’ve heard that story yet,” I said playfully, breaking the somber mood in the room.“But you have my rapt attention. Please tell me, milady, exactly how much do you love me?” She giggled, and I leaned in to kiss her, but the moment my lips touched hers, the hinges on her door creaked in protest only moments before the door swung wide and Teach stood in the doorway. I pulled away from her a mere heartbeat before he caught us.

“Ah, there you are. James, you’ve been noticeably absent from your responsibilities topside.”

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