The door to the captain’s quarters opened, and a short Amaridian man stepped out, gesturing to his first mate as he did.
The captain wasn’t alone. Walking at his side was none other than Taryn Kertell, Ahnna’s cousin, smiling and gesturing happily toward the ship full of grain. They walked slowly toward the ship’s rail and Taryn rested her hands on the ladder, about to climb over into a longboat.
James’s eyes shot to Ahnna, who remained hidden behind the rocks. She lifted her hand.
One minute.
And Taryn wasn’t moving.
The explosion itself wouldn’t kill her, but the Amaridians would see it as an attack, and Taryn was the closest Ithicanian to hand. They’d cut her down without thought.
And knowing Ahnna as he did, she’d blame herself.
He had to do something.
Desperately, James flung himself at the supplies that they’d brought up with them, including the large crossbow and bolts that they’d used to get off the bridge onto their ship. Whirling, he judged the distance between the karst and the ship.
He had enough rope, but barely.
He readied the weapon, aimed it at the mainmast, and let the bolt loose.
It soared through the air, trailing the thin cord, and sank into the mast. Several of the sailors jerked at the noise, looking up at the rope in confusion, but James was already moving. Pulling the cord taut, he secured it to a tree, snatched up one of the hooks, and jumped.
An Amaridian soldier spotted him and pointed, several more calling out in alarm. But there was no stopping now.
James flew through the air above the open water. Falling, falling, and then his feet hit the deck and he rolled. His knees screamed but he leapt to his feet. Shouldering aside soldiers and ducking under blades, he ran straight at Taryn.
Her mouth opened, eyes filling with horror and recognition as she reached for her weapon. Her machete was only half drawn as James scooped her up and jumped. His foot struck the railing and he leapt, flying over the longboat below to land with a heavy splash in the water.
Boom!
The water surged, flipping James over and over, and he lost his gripon Taryn. He lost sense of up and down, but following the rush of bubbles, he reached the surface and sucked in a breath.
The Amaridian vessel was aflame and sinking fast. Sailors leapt into the water and started to swim to shore, and James caught sight of Taryn swimming as though her life depended on it.
Which it did.
The Amaridians ceased leaping from their burning ship. Instead, they stared down at the water, expressions filled with fear.
Ahnna hadn’t lied when she said that explosions were like dinner bells for Ithicana’s sharks.
All of her instructions replayed in James’s head at once, turning to a drone of noise as his eyes fixed on the fins cutting through the waters.
Don’t be prey.
He slowed his motions, staying as still as possible. The fins shot past him, chasing after the dozens of Amaridians trying to reach the shore. The men disappeared, one after another, jerked beneath the surf so swiftly most of them didn’t have the chance to scream.
Don’t be prey.
The ship was sinking lower in the water, aided by the weight of gold and silver, and the upper decks were rapidly turning into an inferno. The sailors and soldiers were climbing atop one another, screams mixing with the crackle of flames. Trapped between death from fire and death from teeth. The Ithicanians in the boats were shouting at the Amaridians to jump, to abandon ship, but the soldiers only stared at them in fear.
Everything was chaos, the Amaridians certain Ithicana was attacking them, and the Ithicanians searching the horizon for signs of attack from another source.
Don’t be prey.
If James went any more still, he’d sink beneath the waves and drown, but his skin was crawling with the certainty that he was being hunted. That was when his eyes lighted on the cut on his arm. Shallow. Inconsequential.
But bleeding.
