Christian heaved himself from the deck, ears ringing, and threw himself against the splintered mainmast crushed against the door.
The ship listed hard to port and he had to grab a hanging line to keep from falling again. Waves began to slosh over the deck as the sea tightened her grip on the floundering brigantine. It wouldn’t be long now.
With a snarl, he grabbed the mast once more and leveraged his legs against the door. Nothing. Damn it. Water swirled around his thighs. His waist. Still, he clawed at the wood. But the weight of the mast had pinned the door to its frame. Without an ax and minutes he didn’t have, there was no hope of opening it.
“Red!” He shouted her name again.
Silence. His gaze went higher. The mast had also crashed through the decking above her cabin.
“Son of a—”
A huge groan trembled through the ship as she slipped deeper beneath the waves and the frothing waters tangled rigging ropes around Christian’s torso and neck.
“Lieutenant.”
Griff stood on the mast where it jutted from the water and reached out.
Christian shook his head. “I can’t let her drown.”
The old man’s face twisted with grief but he shook his head. “You’ll kill yourself as well if you stay there any longer.”
As if on cue, the ship shuddered with one last effort to remain upright. Christian’s feet were swept from the deck as a new cascade of water crashed over him.
A hand closed around his arm and dragged him to the surface. He clambered up onto the mast and looked down into the dark water encasing the main deck. His heart lurched in his chest and heat gathered at the corners of his eyes.
“There’s nothing you can do.” Griff touched his shoulder and pointed to the longboat floating next to the sinking vessel, and as the ship rolled again, they dove into the waves.
The sea washed away his tears and when he surfaced, theRavenhad gone bottoms up. Her barnacle-covered keel glistened in the sun as she rapidly descended to her watery grave. More hands grabbed at his shoulders and the crew dragged him and Griff into the longboat.
All eyes were glued to the sinking ship. In a matter of seconds, her hull submerged until only the bow jutted from the water. It bobbed. Once. Twice. Then with a quiet whoosh, it slipped beneath the waves.
Thick silence crushed around them as Christian stared at the spot. Huge bubbles broke the surface where ropes, sails, and bits of broken wood drifted in an ever-widening ring. He gripped the roughhewn wood at the edge of the longboat, his breaths coming in irregular, harsh gasps. He should have stopped her.
Damn it. If he had gone after her sooner, he could have kept her from entering that death trap.
Now, she was . . .
His chest splintered with an acute pain.
She was gone.
Every complicated feeling he had for her crashed forth, squeezing the air right out of his lungs. His brave, fierce, exasperating pirate.
Gone.
The cabin boy let out a strangled sob and Christian’s eyes burnedonce more. Clenching his teeth together, he dragged his gaze from the tragic scene to where his father’s sails were still visible against the horizon.
Damn the man. Damn him to hell and back again. A growl rumbled in the back of his throat. He would go to Savannah, would petition for more ships. And would take the bastard down. His fingers curled into tight fists.
Thorne would pay.
The boy cried out again and Christian jerked around. One of the men pointed and Christian’s heart gave a hopeful little leap. It couldn’t be.
It was.
Fiery hair glistened in the sun as she surfaced, coughing and sputtering. The most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
Before anyone could react, Christian was already in motion. After a sloppy dive that smacked the water against his face, he kicked out to her in broad strokes.
