Desi could imagine Liam attracting quite a few ladies’ eyes.With his shoulder length blond hair, muscular build, and sexy Irish accent, the man could be a model for the cover of one of those raunchy romance novels.
Keg uttered another loud belch.Shorty’s gaze seemed permanently attached to her.Alden appeared to be deep in thought, while Liam continued drinking.
The captain had been unusually quiet, but having finished his meal, he leaned back in his chair.“Food not to your liking, Miss Starr?”He gestured to her half-eaten plate.
She gave a tight smile.“My stomach is upset.”
A flash of concern warmed his gaze before it hardened again.“To be expected when you sneak on board my ship, steal from me, and give no explanation.”
Desi was about to answer when a strange pattering rang through the cabin, like the tapping of rain on a wooden roof.It grew louder and louder, silencing her dinner companions as everyone glanced around for the source.
Instantly, swarms of rats poured into the cabin, some squishing from beneath the door, others coming through cracks in the bulkhead.One dropped onto the table from above.
Desi screamed.
Chapter 9: Rats and Rogues
“Rot and Ruin!”Caleb leapt from his chair, plucked out his long knife, and began hacking away at the rodents.His crew did the same.No time to ponder where the vermin hailed from or why there were so many.
The woman screamed.Swerving, he spotted her standing atop her chair, but a throng of rats had climbed it and were nibbling on her feet.Herbarefeet.He dashed for her, grabbed her by the waist, hoisted her over his shoulder, and darted out the door.Up the companionway ladder, he was met with a blast of salty wind and the snap of sails.But no rats.Hence, he gently set her down on the bulwarks.
“Stay here.You’ll be safe for now,” he ordered before turning to leap down the companionway again.But not before he saw a flash of moonlit white in the distance, like a ghost drifting over the dark seas.
“Sail!Sail!”sounded from above.
He’d spotted a ship earlier in the day, but she had slipped away, heading south.He’d not made chase even though she may have been one of the pirates Governor Woodes Rogers had commissioned him to round up.Or,better yet,a Spanish merchant he could pillage, as per his letters of marque.But he needed to finish the task his father had given him first.
Was this the same ship or a different one?Either way, he had to deal with the rats first.“Where away?”he shouted to the man in the crosstrees.
“She were south by southwest, Cap’n, but she disappeared now.”
Marching to the binnacle, he grabbed a spyglass, lifted it to his eye, and scanned the horizon.Naught but dark rippling seas, glittering with moonlit foam.A ghost, indeed.
“Keep a weather eye out!”he shouted back to the watchman before dropping below.
Back to a different kind of sea.One with rats raging beneath his boots.No matter how many he squashed underfoot, more came.“Douse the lanterns and get above!”he bellowed down the hallway as his men spilled from his cabin, stomping, slashing, and kicking the little beasties.
Halting, Alden grabbed his arm.“’Tis not natural,” he shouted, rare fear in his eyes.“’Tis pure evil.”He tightened his grip, adding, “You know what to do,” before he leapt up the ladder.
Did Caleb?Rats clambered over his boots.He kicked them away, sending them crashing into the bulkhead, their eerie screams sending a chill down his spine.
Down another hatch, he found his men cursing and howling as they joined in the battle.“Get above deck, men!”
Grabbing a lantern, intending to douse the flame, he hoisted it above his head.A thousand red demon eyes met his.More and more piled atop the others, forming a growing pyramid of devilish fiends.The only way to kill them all would be to set the ship aflame.And he couldn’t do that.
“A sail!”a shout came from above, “Headin’ our way!”
Terror froze Caleb,unusualterror.He’d never failed to act decisively under pressure before.His father and grandfather had taught him to respond quickly on both instinct and prayer, and then worry about the outcome later.’Twas the way of these dangerous seas where a captain never knew what danger lurked around every island.
Rats crawled up his breeches, their sharp claws piercing his skin, their stench stinging his nose.
And for the first time since he’d commanded a ship, he had no idea what to do.
Wait.The Ring.
Shaking off the furry demons, he bolted back up the ladder and into his cabin.The feral rodents were everywhere, piling atop each other, even climbing the bulkhead and hanging from the ceiling.One landed on his shoulder.He swatted it away.Patches, a rat hanging from her teeth, made a mad dash for the door, scattering the fiends as she went.
Dropping to his knees, Caleb reached beneath the folds of the cat’s bed, pulled out a pouch, and emptied the Ring into his hand.
