Was that the plan? Was I supposed to stay in Asteris? Yes.
Did I want to leave? No.
Could I stay? I… didn’t think so. Not with Viper being a threat to my well-being. Not if I wanted to get my sister and nephew out of Sunada and into a better life.
I cringed and looked away, not wanting to talk about it anymore. I kept making plans in my head of things I wanted to do in the future with the crew, with Max, and I hated the reminder that none of it would come to fruition.
Willy patted my shoulder, offering a sympathetic grin. As he opened his mouth to say something that would likely break me out of my sudden bad mood and make me laugh, he was pulled away from me.
My brow furrowed in confusion as I watched Hunter pull Willy back and raise his fist as if to punch him right in the nose.
“Hey!” I yelled, lurching forward and grabbing the man’s giant fist to stop him.
He growled and whirled on me, pushing Willy hard to the side. My friend hit the railing and bounced back, falling to one knee. Ariella cried out, but I couldn’t look at her because now Hunter’s huge fist was aiming right for my face.
I ducked and moved to the side, reaching for the dagger I kept in my belt. Maybe if I was armed, he’d leave me alone… maybe.
Probably not, but worth a try.
Before I could turn to Hunter, Maneater rushed me from the side and punched me in the kidney. I didn’t have time to move out of the way, so the punch hit true, and I hunched forward on a yelp, grabbing my side.
Unicorn horns, that hurts so freaking bad.
But there was no time to coddle my injury. Butcher jumped into the fray with his sword already raised.
Seriously? All of them? This was an ambush by everyone in Butcher’s group.
Dragon balls, we’re in trouble.
I unsheathed my own sword, even as Hunter and Maneater pulled theirs out and faced me.
Toothless Jimmy had Ariella at knifepoint, a blade digging into her throat, and Puffypants Pete was squaring off with Willy. They parried a few times before Puffy stepped back and pulled a gun out. In half a second, he had it trained on Willy, aiming right at his head.
“Don’t move a muscle, kid. I don’t wanna hurt you.” Puffy tilted his head to the side. “But I will if you make me.”
“Don’t move, Willy,” I gasped out as I knocked Maneater’s sword to the side and backed up from him.Please, please don’t get hurt because of me.
My attackers backed away, seeming as interested in what happened to my friends as I was.
Willy raised his hands in the air, letting his knife clatter to the ground.
No, no, no, no.
Now he was unarmed and completely at Puffy’s mercy.
Butcher caught my attention when he pulled out his own gun and aimed it at my face. I scowled at him. I had a sword and plenty of knives on my person, but I didn’t have a gun of my own. Even if I did, there wasn’t much I could do with it right now.
Too bad the man didn’t want a swordfight.ThatI could do.
Although…
I slipped my free hand into my pocket, hiding the relief I felt when I found my rocks there. Maybe I could find a way to use them against these buffoons.
Butcher grinned at me, waving the gun around. “I was gonna just shoot you in the leg. You don’t need ‘em where you’re goin’ anyway. But… I think I wanna have some fun first. Do you know what my specialty is, Ghost?” He pulled his sword out and put the gun back in its holster. “I know exactly how to keep someone alive while they suffer.” With the way he was holding his sword, the implication was clear. He planned on making a billion shallow cuts all over my body, doing precisely what he’d said—keeping me alive and in pain.
I’d heard the horror stories about The Butcher. I’d heard how he’d tortured people, killing them slowly over the course of days, sometimes weeks. I’d heard that before Max, Viper had let The Butcher bring his victims on this ship, how he’d tortured them in the hold, how the crew used to have to hear their screams, hear the begging. How Butcher had reveled in their pain.
Stitches said it had given her nightmares for years and that she was grateful Reaper had put a stop to it.
