Page 35 of A Descent Into Darkness

“I’ve got you. Don’t worry, we’re getting out of here. This is what we wanted.” I tried to sound calm and reassuring while I retrieved the keys, but the water was rising alarmingly fast. Eerie groans filled the cabin, an ominous reminder that at any moment the ship could be torn apart. We were on borrowed time. Adrenaline roared in my veins, urging me to move faster, but I couldn’t stop my hands from fumbling with the keys.

The water reached our chests by the time I got the shackles off her. The heavy Victorian dress she wore slowed her down, but there was no time to cut it off. I gripped her hand in mine, determined never to let it go. We lived or we died together.

The flooded passageway was now completely tilted on its side, our heads just barely bobbing above the water.

“James. I want you to know that I’ll love you even into the shadows of the next life,” she said, and it sounded like a goodbye.

“Don’t do that. We’re going to make it out of here,” I commanded, not allowing any other thoughts to enter my mind.

TheQueen Annewas sinking on her port side when we crawled our way to the deck. I had prepared to escape with Kat on a dinghy when the kraken finally struck, but it had allhappened too late. Teach had foiled our plans. Now I was desperate for a way out.

Before a plan could even take shape in my head, a resounding crack echoed in my ears and my body was airborne, flung from the ship. I couldn’t tell which way was up or down. The only solid was Kat’s hand in mine. We hit the water hard, forcing the air from my lungs and knocking me senseless. I could tell that we were sinking, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I couldn’t summon the strength to move.

The demon burned in my chest, forcing my eyes to pop open. The sea held us in its weightless embrace. Moonlight filtered into the dark water, illuminating Kat’s face. Her eyes were closed. Peaceful. Her golden hair swirled around her face, and she looked like a beautiful specter. But she wasn’t dead. She was vibrant and filled with life, but if I did nothing, we were both lost souls. It was the thought of her body, dead and rotting at the bottom of the sea that spurred me into action. The urge to live reigniting inside me. I wrapped an arm around her and kicked. Everything inside me ached and burned, but I kept going. The peaceful embrace of the sea quickly turned into death’s stranglehold. My vision clouded, but my resolve was steadfast.

When I finally broke the surface, that first breath felt like a renewal. I’d done so many things wrong in my life, but fate had given Kat and I a second chance. I wouldn’t fuck it up this time.Queen Anne’s Revengewas nothing more than splintered driftwood. Most of the ship was making its slowdescent into the depths, but broken pieces of the hull still remained afloat. I managed to pull Katherine to a section of the ship and haul her waterlogged body aboard. She still hadn’t moved. Hadn’t pulled in a breath. I crawled onto the wreckage with her lifeless body.

“Katherine! Wake up!” I patted her cheeks and shook her shoulders, but she didn’t move. Panic began to rise in my chest. Was I too late? Had I lingered in purgatory for too long? Had she gone on without me?

Frantically, I pushed down on her chest. Willing her to take a breath. I kept pushing, I wouldn’t give up. That’s not how she’d said it would happen.

“Breathe, goddamn you! I won’t let you leave me. Not now.” Water poured from her mouth and her whole body convulsed as she expelled the sea water. I turned her on her side, her body heaving with raking coughs. The sound was like music to my ears.

“James,” she rasped, flopping over on her back, trying to catch her breath. “Did we make it?”

“Yes, we made it.” I smiled down at her, riding on the high of simply being alive. The storm had passed, and the seas were quiet again. No evidence that anyone had survived the kraken’s wrath, save for the two of us. Kat stared up at the night sky as we floated away from the devastation.

“The stars. I’ve seen this pattern before, over and over again, just how they are placed in the sky now.” She sat up, hope flaring in her eyes. “This is it. This is the path we were meant to be on.”

The gentle bob of the ocean waters roused me from my dreamless sleep. The sun had yet to rise above the horizon, but the stars were already lost in her light. It was eerily silent. Nothing but the lapping water against the broken piece of hull. The only remains of the chaos we had endured. No more screams, no more cannon blasts, no more splintering wood. Not even a bird flying above. TheQueen Ann’s Revengeand her crew were simply gone. Nothing left but a memory of the horrors she possessed. We’d barely escaped the kraken last night. That monstrouscreature would haunt the darkest corners of my mind til my dying days. I took a moment and thanked the Divine for their mercy.

I’d spent the evening kicking towards the shoreline. The sheer fear of the kraken grabbing ahold of my ankle, like one of Neverland’s mermaids, kept me moving into the wee hours of morning. When my legs refused to go any further, I climbed atop of our makeshift raft, pulled Kat into my arms, and fell victim to exhaustion. The current had worked in our favor, pushing us closer to our salvation while we slept. The island was just ahead.

“Kat, my love.” I gently nudged her. “Wake up, we made it.” I placed a kiss on her forehead as she opened her eyes.

“We’re alive?” she mumbled.

“Alive and at the doorstep of our future.” I pushed an errant strand of hair from her face and kissed her soft lips. “We did it. Look.”

She sat up, quickly taking in our surroundings. It was just us and the island. “We’re free,” she giggled at the realization. “We’re free!”

I pulled her into an embrace, effectively tipping our raft over and sending us splashing into waist deep water. Laughing, I lifted Kat into my arms and kissed her fiercely. I claimed her mouth, tasting the salt of the sea, knowing that Manann had bestowed us with his blessing. “Come, let us find our ruby.” Grabbing her hand, we walked together toward the shoreline.

The island was beautifully alluring. If I learned anythingfrom my time in Neverland, it was that beautiful things were not always what they seemed. This was the hiding spot of a powerful relic. We would be wise to be mindful. Craggy peaks rose up from the center, attempting to kiss the clouds. While white sugar sand beaches littered the rocky shoreline. Small palm trees and bushes shrouded the dense landscape, effectively hiding the secrets within. We had no map to guide us. Just my intuition and Kat’s visions.

“This place is paradise.” Kat was in awe. “Are you sure you don’t want to just stay here for eternity? Our own little oasis.” She started looking around the private beach. “We could build a little hut here and live off the land.”

“Be wary, my love. Often, beauty is but a dangerous illusion. We should try to find the ruby quickly and make our way back to Neverland. Who knows what this island is hiding.”

“Fear not, James,” she said theatrically. “For we have escaped hell and have found our heaven.” A coy smile spread across her face as she closed the distance between us, reaching up on her tiptoes to pull me to her sinful mouth. I slid my hands into her wet hair, pulling her closer, tilting her head to deepen the kiss. Her soft lips parted eagerly, and my tongue swept over hers. The delicate kiss escalated to a fevered pitch. I explored every curve of her mouth in a wild abandon. She kissed me back with a fervor of her own, dragging her teeth over my bottom lip.

Greedy with need, she ripped at my soggy shirt. “I want you now,” she demanded. “We have waited long enough. Wehave fulfilled our vow. I will not wait any longer.” Her hands roamed my body, dropping lower to my growing length. This was it. The moment I had been so desperately waiting for.

I growled at the heat of her touch. “Slow down, love. We’ve waited years for this moment. There is no need to rush. He can’t hurt us anymore.” I pulled my shirt over my head. Her chilled fingers slid slowly down my damp chest, sending a shiver of pleasure down my spine. I turned her gently away from me and began pulling at laces of her dress. One by one, I took my time freeing her from the soaked gown. I wanted to savor every moment. I was determined to do this right and worship the perfection of her body that had been denied to me for so long. I slipped the gown off her shoulders and dropped it in a heap at her sandy feet. I spun her back towards me and lifted the wet shift from her body. Her skin pebbled with the cool breeze, begging to be soothed by my touch.

“Your beauty…” I paused, searching for the right words. “It leaves me utterly speechless,” I admitted as my hungry eyes drank in the sight of her. She was the reason I made it this far without the demon swallowing me whole. The one thing that could dull the aching need for revenge, at least for a short while anyway. I lifted her chin and kissed her gently before scooping her up in my arms, and laying her down on the soft, warm sand.

“Touch me,” she mewed.

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