“You’re mad,” Cadan spat.
“Indeed.”
“Tell your men to lower their swords, and we will do you no harm.”
Cadan blew out a bitter laugh.“Us no harm?Clearly, we defeated you and your men.’Tis you who should beg us for your lives.”
“Perhaps.But once again, seems I have the upper hand.And with a woman again, ha!”A breeze swept over them, stirring leaves and tossing strands of Damien’s hair across his cheek.“Do as I say!”His tone hardened as he pressed the knife until a drop of blood trickled down Lady Fox’s neck.
“Lower your blades!”Cadan commanded.
“Very good.”Allard began backing up, then ordered his man, “Take the mulatto as well.”
“What need have you of her?”Cadan said, taking a step forward.“She’s but a maid.”
Allard shrugged.“For the babe, for I’ll not have my sweet burdened with his care.”
Blood surged through Cadan’s veins—red, hot blood.
“If you follow us,” Allard said, “if you attempt anything.If I so much as see you behind me, I will kill her.And now, I bid youadieu.”Retrieving his hat from the ground, he swept it out before him in a flourish, then plopped it on his head and continued to back away, never taking his eyes off Cadan.One by one, his men fell in behind him, leveling blades their way.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Allard shouted.“Your ship is mine.Even now, my men are taking it over.Don’t bother dashing to save it, for I am sure it is too late.”And with that, he spun around and disappeared into the darkness, dragging Lady Fox beside him.
Alarm rammed into Cadan, thrusting and poking and stabbing.In one dastardly moment, he lost the lady, her child, Omphile, and his ship!He could not lose his ship, not to this man!He could not!
Sheathing his blade, he clenched his fists until blood dripped down his palms.Pell, breath heaving and blood running down his arm, moved beside him.“We will get her back, Captain.”
“The ship or the woman?”he asked, though he suddenly wondered which one was more important to him.
“Both.”
Cadan rose to his full height and stretched out his shoulder where he’d been struck with the hilt end of Damien’s rapier.A pain stretched down his leg, no doubt from a wound he didn’t remember getting, but he could still walk.“Indeed.”He would not be defeated by this blackguard.Not again.
“Orders, Captain?”Durwin approached as did Smity and his other men, one of them holding a bloody hand to his waist.
He surveyed the two pirates Allard had left unconscious in the dirt, bloody and bruised.The craven cockroach abandoned his men like so much refuse.
His own crew had fared much better.Out of the seven men, only two were injured, one with a blade to his side and the other a bloody gash on his head.“Olin, take Hawk and Kipp into town.Seek out a physician posthaste, then meet us on the ship.”That last order was more one of hope, but it seemed to infuse confidence in the remaining men as Cadan set off to follow Allard.
His plan?He had none.Except to rescue the woman and take back command of his ship.But which to tackle first?
Pell, Durwin, Smity, and Barnett took to his heels as he crept down the muddy street, clinging to the shadows, careful to not make a sound.Allard and his men were easy to spot, for they cackled on like a group of lusty hens, not to mention the occasional blue flash of Gabrielle’s skirts.
By the time they reached town, a strip of gray light lit the horizon, pushing back the darkness, not only in the sky but in town where the debauched revelry of just hours earlier had crawled back into hiding.Light and dark.Good and evil.Cadan rarely thought of such things, but he’d seen pure evil that night in the empty eyes of Allard.Pure insane evil.Did such wickedness, such debased corruption truly exist?And if so, was it a spirit, as his mother had told him?For if evil did exist, then so did good.
And hence, God.
Peering through the gloom, he spotted Allard once again, still maintaining his tight grip on Lady Fox.Another of his pirates had Omphile in his clutches, dragging her along as if she were a stuffed doll.
Fury boiled in Cadan’s stomach.
Halting, Allard looked behind him.
Cadan slammed against the side of a wooden building that no doubt served as achandler,for the scent of beeswax filled his nose.His men followed suit.A cough rose in his throat, and he slammed his hand on his mouth to stifle it.
After a few moments, Allard continued on his way.
Cadan and his men hopped from building to building, keeping to the shadows in stealthy pursuit until there were no more structures to hide beside.
