“What are you doing? Someone will see.”
He grinned. “Precisely.”
A spark fizzled from a flint and a flame flared to life on the wick. Samantha fought the urge to knock the lantern into the water as he lifted it above his head and waved it back and forth.
Her jaw dropped as a light onshore blinked in reply. Griff grunted and extinguished the flame. He sat down and slid two oars into place. Two broad strokes and they glided away from the ship.
“Griff!”
He nodded forward. “Watch.”
She turned just as a blazing ball of fire erupted in the distance. It blossomed into a tall column of angry orange and moments later, a loud report boomed across the water. Shouts came from the deck above and Griff began rowing with all his might.
The rowboat slid through the waves away from the frigate and soon shadows surrounded them. Samantha couldn’t drag her eyes from the horizon, where the ball of flames had turned into a dark smudge of smoke.
“What was that?”
“Gunpowder. Several kegs of it.” Griff let out a chuckle. “I’vealways wanted to do that.”
The hull scraped against sand and Griff jumped into the surf. Samantha followed and a wave crashed around her, billowing her skirts around her legs.
“Quickly.” Griff took off at a run across the beach and into the scrub. Samantha’s skirts dragged in the sand and stuck to twigs as she tried to keep up. Forget burning the blasted things, she was ready to rip them off and run in her drawers.
Clouds covered the moon again and she stumbled through the brush. A sharp pain bit into her side. “Griff, wait.”
He stopped and she closed the distance between them. As she drew near, he let out a bark of laughter. “You look like a blue pufferfish.”
She scowled. “How much farther?”
“We’re halfway there. I’m sorry, but we need to press ourselves. With luck, we can get out of here before Thorne decides to sail around the island. You’ll have plenty of time to rest on the ship.”
Samantha pressed her hand into her side and forced herself back into a run. The humid heat of the night pressed around her. Minutes dragged past as sweat ran down her face and chest. When they crested a hill and the glimmer of water reached her eyes, she came to a stop and hunched over.
Griff made his way down to the beach and joined two men next to a longboat. Samantha’s gaze flew out to the water and her heart soared. The ship rested offshore, a dark beacon of hope. She stumbled down the hillside and the two sailors gaped at her.
“What happened to you?” one asked.
The other jabbed him with his elbow. “Never mind him. Did you see our diversion?”
She grinned. “It was spectacular.”
“We had to blow up one of our longboats, but it was worth it.”
Griff grabbed the edge of the boat and started to drag it toward thewater. “Stop gabbing and get us to the ship. We can celebrate later. If we do indeed escape.”
The sailors sobered and helped him. Once the little vessel left the beach, they all clambered in. With three sets of oars, they pressed through the breaking surf and set off.
Samantha watched the dark brush on the island, half expecting a hoard of giants to break onto the beach at any moment.
“Don’t watch the shore.”
She jerked around to face Griff and he nodded to the west side of the island. “He’ll come by sea.”
For now, the horizon remained clear of any sails. Silence fell around them, save for the slap of oars as they dipped into the water, and she turned.
“Griff?”
He grunted.
