ALASTAIR
Tumultuous waves slapped against the hull, tossing buckets of water onto the deck. Overhead, the dark clouds persisted, concealing a warning all soldiers were familiar with: Ellira’s ire. Each drop of rain they released kissed my skin, dampening my attire until it clung to my frame like a second skin.
Spooling the frayed knots around my hand, I tugged, working in tandem with the deckhands to steer the ship through the wrath-filled sea. A gust of wind gathered the gaff sail on the mizzen mast, and I rode it, allowing the yards to pivot freely before fastening the lines near the stern.
“Foremast!” I shouted over the storm, twirling my finger at my men to indicate direction. “Pull her tight toward the bow!”
Canvas flapped, resisting every tug of submission by man’s hand. Crewmates tripped, and as I caught sight of Benno—one of our most esteemed boatswains—losing his footing, I reacted.
I hadn’t registered my movement until my palms slapped against the railing. Tossing myself over the banister with familiar ease, my booted feet collided with the dampened wood of the quarter deck. With onemore plummet, I landed on the main and broke into a sprint toward Benno, determined to reach him before he tumbled overboard.
“Cap!” Leo yelled in warning of the groaning crack of wood.
It roared to life behind me, the sound of an uncontrolled yard spinning. The timber spear rotated with a sharp hiss, shifting from a mere horizontal spar into a bloodthirsty executioner. I’d witnessed the cylindrical length decapitate men in the past, and even amidst my gut-churning remembrance paired with its deadly threat, my attention remained on Benno as I threw myself onto the forecastle.
Whispering against my damp flesh with a haunting caress, its passing breeze served as a coax from Jaskor. The buzz of adrenaline it wrought surged through me, my knees scraping across the planks as I pushed myself upright.
Wind snapped once more, and, encouraged by its relentlessness, the line Benno fumbled to control transformed into a thrashing serpent. Slithering in the grip he refused to release, it worked in tandem with the sail in an attempt to rip him from where he stood.
Tearing from my throat, the order I shouted shattered the shock that had settled on the decks. “Get yourshittogether and command this fucking ship. If you continue standing around like a bunch of mindless fools, it will cost you your head!”
Sliding across the rain-soaked wood to avoid the yard once more, I watched in horror as the line whipped harshly, acting as the last warning from the wrath of the sea that would toss him over the starboard gunwale. Frayed strands nipped at his arms, shredding his skin to the point crimson bloomed. A yelp of anguish escaped him, and as he met my gaze, his chestnut-brown eyes widened in fear.
He knows he will die if there is a second of hesitation.
“Swing port side!Now!”
With my last order sweeping through the domineering monsoon, I wrapped my arms around Benno as the line reeled back, acting on its desire to feed him to the abyss. We hit the ground, our bodies colliding in a large puddle with a prominent splash, air vanishing from my lungs on impact.
Benno released a shaky breath, and without me having to utter the demand burning a hole in the back of my mind, he loosened his hold on the rope. The line whipped free from his bloodied palms, and Matteus, our other boatswain, secured it, working at a pace the rage-infused sails couldn’t keep up with. Looping it through its designated cleat, he pulled it taut, forcing the canvas to snap back into submission.
With the ship settling back on its designated route and the wooden beams overhead unmoving, I rolled off Benno, a breathless laugh leaving me. “Gods above, Benny.”
“I’m sorry, Cap, I don’t know what came over me. But I knew if I released the line?—”
“The yard would’ve snapped,” I finished for him, a lengthened sigh tumbling from my lips. “I know, and while I appreciate your sacrifice, a yard is replaceable in the grand scheme of it all.Youare not.”
“But then the ship would’ve…”
His words trailed off as a sudden trickle of sunlight filtered through the clouds, the storm ceasing with an unexpectedness that urged my arm hair to stand on end. Tendrils of warmth caressed my back, taunting me to bask in the arrival of tranquility, but I knew better than to trustanythingon open waters.
A door slammed open behind me, its collision with the wall audible. Footsteps followed, drumming against the deck with impending approach before falling still beside me.
“What the fuck happened?” Leilani questioned, concern palpable in her tone.
“Do you want the truth or a fabricated white lie to share with our new crewmates whenever they wake?—”
“Alastair.”
“It’s a long story,” I muttered, pushing myself from where I’d landed before offering a hand to Benno. “Navigating a storm isn’t something I’m unfamiliar with, but whatever the fuck we just sailed through was the furthest thing from a normal storm. And now, with the switch from hellish waves to a calm that you would’ve neverguessed?—”
A shout from the sterncastle deck interrupted me. “Cap! We’ve spotted a woman starboard, alive but injured!”
A woman?
Leilani and I shifted from where we stood, rushing toward the group of men huddled against the gunwale. Positioning myself to Leilani’s left, I gazed over the edge of the ship, and sure as fuck, an unconscious woman lay on a slab of wood.
Her scarlet hair was tangled in deep knots, and matching splashes of crimson freckled her porcelain skin, pointing to some form of altercation. The loose-fitting linen top she wore was soaked through with water and blood. Motionless, her lithe frame had me wondering just how she’d found herself at sea, but a deep-seated part of me alreadyknew.
