When a shot rang through the air.Intense pain radiated through his head.
Warm liquid dripped onto his shoulder, and he dropped to his knees.
???
Pain beckoned Cadan, throbbing, pulsating pain, drumming through his veins with every creak and groan of the ship.Ship?Where was he?The pain continued, luring him from his slumber, leading the way to consciousness, and though every inch brought more discomfort, he longed to wake up.Finally, he opened his eyes.The deckhead above him told him he was on theResolutein his bed, but the sounds of feminine humming told him otherwise.
He tried to sit, but he was surely tied to an anchor, apainfulanchor as a spasm of torment made his head spin.And why was it so hot in here?He groaned.Footsteps padded toward him, and an angel appeared in his vision.
Nay, not an angel at all, but Lady Fox, her golden hair tumbling over her shoulder and a look of concern in her eyes.
Taking a seat beside him, she grabbed a cool cloth and dabbed it over his forehead.
With great effort, he stayed her hand and moved it aside.“I have no need of your ministrations, my lady.”He heaved a sigh.“What are you doing here?”
She sat back with a huff.“I’m watching over you until Moses returns.”
“How did I…?”Ah, now he remembered.Memories returned in shattered pieces.His men helping him through the jungle.Moses and Smity aiding him up the rope ladder onto his ship.His cabin.Moses and Omphile hovering over him...and also Lady Fox.
“You got shot.Do you not remember?”
He closed his eyes.He remembered hearing the shot, then the pain, and then naught much after that.
“Who?”he asked.
The lady shook her head.“We do not know.Moses informed me that none of Allard’s men were nearby at the time.”
“Allard.”He moaned.“He got away.”
Pain chiseled a line across her brow.“Aye, I’ll let your men tell you what happened.”She started to rise, but he grabbed her arm.
She looked at him, alarmed.
Ignoring the pain, Cadan pushed himself up to sit and swung his legs over the bed.He rubbed his throbbing head and touched a bandage wrapped around it.No wonder he’d not remembered much.
“You could have left me in the jungle and run.”He glanced up at her, searching her eyes.“When Allard and I were fighting.”
She made no reply, but her breathing grew heavy again as it usually did when she was frightened.
“You could have also gone with Allard and left me to die,” he added.“Why?”
She lifted her chin.“In truth, you seemed the lesser of two evils, Captain.”
Humph.He’d been called many things since he took up pirating, but never the lesser of anything.
The room spun and a rare weakness dragged upon him.
She touched his forehead and all but shoved him to his back again.“You’re feverish.You need to rest.”
Infuriating woman, ordering him about.He was about to sit up again when everything went black.
A slight tapping on his chest aroused him from his slumber.Agony pulsed through his head, but he no longer felt warm.He opened his eyes to find Zada sitting on his bare chest, staring at him with one dark eye.He breathed a sigh.“Hi there, little one.Worried about me?”
No feminine humming met his ears, only the purl of water against the hull, the snap of sails and the creak of a ship at sea.The eerie glow of moonlight drifted through the stern windows, adding slivers of light to the lantern swaying above.How long had he been asleep?
Picking up Zada, he set him aside and sat, placing his feet on the deck.He felt for the bandage around his head.Still there.But he no longer felt hot and weak.Hedidfeel hungry.
His cabin door creaked open and in walked Pell.Following behind him, Omphile carried a bowl.Both grinned when they saw him awake.
