Page 28 of The Searching Songbird

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Draven doing the same, and, between them, they were soon able to verify that all of the men on the deck, at least, were uninjured.

She watched as Draven opened the door to the main cabin. “Do you think they used the gas inside, as well?”

“I'd be surprised if they had that much on them. The stuff's pretty hard to come by. Still, it's possible.”

They passed through the main cabin, which was empty, and headed for the stairs that led down into the hull of the ship, where most of the rooms were located. They immediately came upon a body at the bottom of the stairs. Draven knelt down beside him.

“Paralyzed,” he confirmed and heaved the man up into a sitting position, with his back resting against the corridor wall. Unlike the men on the deck, this man had his eyes open wide and they rolled around in his head with a panicked urgency.

“Hang in there, Billy,” Draven murmured, patting the man's shoulder. “It'll pass soon. I'm gonna have to leave you here, though, so we can check on the rest of the ship. We'll be back as soon as we can.”

The man made a garbled noise in his throat, but his eyes seemed to relax a bit. At least, they weren't rolling around like crazy anymore. Lily gave him a sympathetic smile as she followed Draven down the narrow corridor.

He led them down to the captain's quarters, where Captain Melbrooke had retired to earlier in the evening, leaving his first mate in charge of the ship overnight. A smear of blood on the door handle caught Lily's eye and a feeling of dread crept over her as they entered the room.

Apparently, the pirates were either out of Hag's Breath or they'd chosen not to use anymore, because the captain was definitely not paralyzed. The pirates had tied him to his desk chair and stuck a gag in his mouth. From the looks of the bloody gash on his forehead, they must have caught him by surprise.

Draven yanked the gag out before slicing through the ropes with his knife. The captain rubbed his jaw then reached up to touch his forehead, wincing as he gave the gash a tentative poke.

“Damn pirates caught me sleeping,” he grunted. “I wasn't able to do more than swing my legs over the side of the bed before they were bashing me over the head with my own damn paper weight.”

He started to stand but dropped back into the chair after hovering halfway up for a moment.

“Bloody hell. They really did a number on my head. How'd they even manage to get down here, anyway? Don't tell me my entire crew is drunk.”

“They took us by surprise. Used a cloaking enchantment on their ship, so we didn't see them until they were right on top of us. Then they went and gassed the men up on the deck with Hag's Breath.”

The captain's eyes narrowed. “A cloaking enchantment and Hag's Breath? How the hell do a bunch of pirates get their hands on that kind of ammunition?”

Draven shrugged. “Hell if I know. They didn't bother with the crew up top, so it doesn't seem like they were out for blood.”

“They took a chest, though,” Lily interjected. “I saw them swing it overboard... probably onto their ship, although I can't be sure, since I couldn't see it.”

“Damn.” The captain pushed up again, bracing himself on the arms of the chair until he was steady. “Have you checked the other cabins yet?”

“Just the corridor and your cabin,” Draven responded, and the captain hissed out a low curse.

“Benton. He was transferring a trunk full of gold drams to the Flores branch of the Lehi Bank. I'd bet anything that's what they were after, although I can't imagine how they got wind of it.”

He moved past them, leading them out into the corridor and down a side hall that led to the guest cabins. A body lay crumpled on the floor in front of an open door. Lily let out a cry when she spotted Kenny's familiar red hair, and she pushed past the other two men in order to drop down beside him.

“Kenny... Kenny, can you hear me?”

A muffled groan in response had her heart returning to its normal cadence, and she let out the breath she'd been holding as the boy rolled over onto his back and looked up at her with groggy eyes, one of which was swollen and quickly turning a deep black-and-blue.

“Big man walloped me good,” he croaked. Lifting his arm, he gestured toward the open door behind him. “Was just leavin' Mr. Benton's room after bringin' him some tea when they jumped me.”

“And Mr. Benton? Do you know if he's alright?” Lily asked, as Draven and the captain slipped past her into the dark room.

“Dunno. Guy knocked me clean out with that big, meat fist of his.”A light flickered on inside the room, and Lily bit down on her lip as she watched the empty doorway, waiting for someone to say something. Finally, she heard the captain murmur a low curse, and her curiosity had her rising to her feet.

“Maybe you should wait out here...” Pushing himself into a seated position, Kenny reached out to catch her hand, but she was already moving, stepping across the threshold into the cabin.

Then she saw him.

Mr. Benton's lifeless body was splayed out against the cabin wall, with thick, metal spikes holding him upright from where they'd been driven through his wrists. There were words written on the wall above his head, but her vision was too blurry to focus on them. It was all she could do not to vomit right there on the floor.

A scream rent the air, jarring her. It was a loud, piercing scream full of pain. Clamping her hands over her ears, she looked around the room, but no one else seemed concerned. Both Draven and the captain were still focused on Mr. Benton's body as they conferred in hushed tones. What were they even talking about anyway? And why weren't they bothered by all the screaming?