When all his men were on board, Shark issued orders, and as soon as they were unfastened from the brig, they raised the sails. She turned and spied the
Sea Dragon
fading in the distance. Her heart twisted and terror rose. Her breath came fast and hard.
With Shark’s hand still clamped around her arm, he dragged her below. “We’ll have to fatten you up. You’re a scrawny lad.” He opened a door at the stern and flung her inside. “I’m sure you’ll like it here. I’m not a hard master as long as you do as you’re told.” His words were amicable, but the tone lying beneath hinted he meted out harsh punishments for the merest infraction.
He swept his arm around the filthy cabin, a direct opposite of the neat room Morgan insisted on. “You will clean my cabin. As you can see, it hasn’t been done in a while.” His dangerous eyes bored into her. “My last boy didn’t know how to follow orders, and he wasn’t strong enough to withstand being keelhauled.” He paused to allow his meaning to sink in.
Terrified already, Arianna didn’t need the added threat, but she wasn’t sorry he forced her aboard this ship. Somehow, she would help Morgan, and they’d escape together. She only hoped she could restrain herself from attacking this villain, or speaking out until the time was right. Her plans didn’t include dying, and she didn’t think she was brave enough to withstand Shark’s brutality.
Shark smiled. “But I’m sure you will obey my every command. Am I right?”
She nodded, not wanting him to hear the betraying quiver that would rock her voice.
“Good. Now, besides cleaning my room, you will fetch all I need. Are my orders clear?”
She dipped her head again.
He ruffled her ragged hair with a powerful hand. “I have to leave now.” He glared at her with a stern eye. “And I expect a clean cabin and you to be here when I return.” He laughed, an evil sound that rattled her nerves. “Of course, where would you go?”
He strode from the room, and she collapsed onto a chair, narrowly missing an empty bottle. Clutching her cold hands together, she breathed deeply to calm her nerves until the fetid air assaulted her nose. Rotted food and chicken bones littered the red and gold carpet along with other matter she couldn’t identify. Rumpled sheets and blankets hung from his berth onto the floor. Torn maps and scattered papers filled the top of a scarred, oak desk.
Where to begin?
Straightening and cleaning wasn’t something she excelled at.
First, before she began, she needed to find a weapon. A knife of any size would do. And after she set his cabin to rights, which would take some time, she needed to discover which pirate was Morgan’s brother. Would he help them or had he traded his loyalty to these cutthroats?
Where had Shark imprisoned Morgan, and how was he? Had they hurt him?
What about Andrew? Had the move to the upper deck sealed his fate?
Chapter Thirteen
Morgan yanked at the irons that bound his ankles together and his wrists to the wall, even though he knew the act would not gain him his freedom. Arianna raced through his mind as he sat in the dank hold. Where was she? Where had they taken her? Had they seen through her disguise? Why hadn’t she stayed with the crew and let him deal with the pirates? This business didn’t concern her. Now her life was also in danger. Morgan tugged on the chains again in frustration. He wanted to wrap his stiff fingers around her throat and throttle her for her interference.
“Morgan?” A whispered voice carried through the dark.
He stilled. “Harry, is that you?”
“Yes. What are you doing here?” His brother materialized.
He blinked as the light from the lantern pierced the darkness. “Rescuing you. What fool notion prompted you to join a ship full of pirates? Don’t you have any sense in that head of yours?”
Harry huffed as he dropped to his haunches before Morgan. “Always criticizing. If you must know, I was trying to help you. I figured if I could discover what their plans were and where they stayed, I could somehow get a message to you and we could capture them. But as always, I see you have taken it upon yourself.” Harry rattled the chains. “But you haven’t done such a good job. Maybe this time you will appreciate my help.”
Morgan’s simmering anger grew to a blaze. He hated being helpless and beholden to anyone. Even his brother. “Do you have the key to unlock these blasted chains?”
“Not yet.”
His rage flared. “Bloody hell!”
“But I will.” He paused. “Morgan…”
Morgan waited for Harry to finish what he had to say.
“I am glad you came for me. I could use the help.”
His brother had only attempted to do what he thought best. He couldn’t fault him for that. “I couldn’t let you have all the fun.” He paused. “Harry, how are you? Have they hurt you?”
“No, I’m fine. I went with them willingly, and they think I’m an ordinary seaman joining them for wealth beyond my dreams.”
Now his brother was safe, he latched on to helping Arianna, desperation squeezing his chest. “Harry, they took a cabin boy off my ship. Have you seen him? Did they hurt him?”
“Shark took him down to his cabin.”
Fear for Arianna gripped his muscles, and he yanked on the chains again.
“Morgan, stop.” Harry laid a hand on his arm. “You’ll only hurt yourself. I’ll get you free soon enough. He won’t hurt the boy, unless he gives him a reason to.”
That was what he was afraid of. Arianna was not an obedient woman. “Harry, I need to tell you something, and you cannot tell anyone or let it slip.”
“What is so important?”
Morgan hesitated. His brother would never intentionally betray him, but sometimes he didn’t think before… He had no choice. Morgan had to trust him to do what he could not, which was hard for him. Harry would have to be his eyes, ears, and body. “Come closer,” Morgan told him. If anyone hovered close enough to learn the truth, Arianna would be at risk. “The cabin boy is a woman,” he whispered.
“What?” The shocked word shattered the silence surrounding them.
“Quiet. Someone will hear you.” He searched the darkness beyond the light but could see no one.
“How? Why? Did you bring a woman on your ship? That wasn’t wise.”
Morgan clenched his teeth as he fought to restrain the rebuke that rose to his lips. “If you will listen, I’ll tell you. She stowed away on the
Sea Dragon
, and I didn’t find her until after we left England. I refused to turn back because it was crucial I find you. But that decision may cost her life.” Self-loathing and bitter despair landed with a thump in the pit of his stomach. He leaned as close to his brother as the manacles allowed. “You have to watch over her. She is impulsive, and if those cutthroats discover she’s a woman, they will rape her without remorse.”
“This gets more complicated by the minute.” Harry patted his brother’s knee. “I will do my best.”
“You must do better than that. Her life is at stake.”
Harry rose. “I will, but I have to get back before they come looking for me.” He lowered his voice again. “What is her name?”
“Arianna.” The word was like a soft caress dropped into the turbulent storm of his emotions. He prayed as he never had before that because of her position, invisibility would cloak her, and they would only see what they believed her to be.
****
The door crashed open. Arianna jumped and whirled. Shark stood on the threshold, his gaze sweeping the cabin. The cold metal sitting in the scabbard strapped to her calf beneath her pant leg reassured her. She had unearthed the dagger beneath the layers of filth in Shark’s cabin. He would never miss it. He probably didn’t even know it existed.
“You did a good job, my boy. You deserve a reward. Come with me.” He swung his arm around her shoulders and led her out the door. “We are celebrating our victory over your puny brig, even though there wasn’t a fight. Your captain surrendered easily. Stay with us, and we’ll make you wealthy before you’re sixteen. You’ll have your pick of women.”
He led her up the ladder to the main deck where the crew passed around bottles of rum and sang bawdy songs off-key. Arianna was glad she had heard most of them before, otherwise she would have blushed a bright red, betraying her sex. Shark strode into the midst of the pirates and swiped a bottle out of a man’s hand. He swallowed long and deeply and then shoved it at her. “Here you go, my boy.”
“I-I don’t think I should.” She tried to hand it back.
Shark slapped her on the back, and she stumbled forward, dropping the bottle as she fought to catch herself. Her eyes widened as she stared at the shards of glass. Would they flog her for the mishap? She spun around, fearing his rage. Instead, he sauntered to the nearest man and plucked the bottle from his fingers as he leaned back his head to drink. Shark kicked the broken glass from his path with a booted foot as he crossed to her and offered her the rum.
“I guess I don’t know my own strength. Drink up.”
She never had spirits before. Her papa never allowed her to touch it, and only on rare occasions did he permit it on his ships, but she knew its effects. Her gaze darted to his dark eyes. She had no choice but to obey. Taking it from him, she laid the rim to her lips and tilted the bottle slightly. A short, disgusting trickle flowed into her mouth. She grimaced and coughed as the liquid slid down her throat. She held it out to Shark. A drunken pirate stumbling by grabbed it from her hand, and she sighed in relief.
Shark snatched it back and shoved him on his way. “You need more than that, Stephen. That little swallow will do you no good. I’ll teach you how to drink like a man. Take a good long swig.” Shark once again savored the drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Just like that, Stephen, my boy,” he said when he finally lowered it.
Her breathing and pulse increased as the bottle slipped into her sweaty palm. She didn’t want a drink. She needed to keep her senses alert and her wits about her, ready to act at a moment’s notice. But Shark would not take no for an answer.
Maybe if she followed this one command, she could sneak away to the cabin. It was Shark’s but safer than being surrounded by a crew of drunken pirates. She lifted the bottle to her mouth again. As she slowly tipped it, gauging how far to go to get the least amount, the end was shoved high, and the rum rushed into her mouth in a flood. Overflowing her mouth, it ran down her chin onto her shirt as the rest seared the inside of her throat. She gagged and choked and sputtered. She couldn’t catch her breath. Panic consumed her. She fought to breathe, to drag oxygen into her burning lungs. She grabbed her throat. She didn’t want to die.
A little air trickled in and then a narrow stream. She drew a fuller breath. And then another. She wanted to scream and rage at Shark, but she couldn’t speak.
“Have some more, Stephen.”
She shook her head. “I-I th-think I-I’ve had enough,” she forced out, her voice hoarse and thready.
Shark threw his arm around her as he chuckled, and she cringed. “Nonsense. You can never have enough rum.” He snatched the bottle from her weak grasp and consumed the liquor with greedy gusto. “Once again.” He thrust it back at her.
When she hesitated, he wrapped his hand around hers and assisted her, leaving her no choice. She tried to lower it after a couple gulps, but he continued to pour until she jerked her head away. At least this time her throat rebelled with only a slight irritation and throbbing.
“You’ll get used to it.”
Shouting erupted, and he turned with his arm still around her. Two men, stripped to the waist and holding daggers, faced each other. “Come on, boy.”
A warm haze consumed and filled her head, making it hard to think. Shark, pushing men aside, shoved his way to the front of the crowd circling the combatants. She stumbled along beside him. If he hadn’t held her up, she would have fallen.
Shark yelled encouragement to the men, as did the rest of them. As she blinked at the wavering figures in front of her, he nudged her. “You don’t look like you’re having fun. You’re a little pale. Drink some more. The rum will take care of all your ills.”
She obeyed, no longer possessing the sense and energy to argue. And this time, it slid smoothly down her throat.
This stuff doesn’t taste so bad after all.
The world lightened, and her fears drifted away. She took another swig. The pirates didn’t look all that bad.
The arm around her shoulder fell away. As she staggered to the side to escape Shark, a glint of metal around his neck caught her eye. A key. She needed a key to rescue Morgan.
The crowd cheered. A man holding his bleeding arm stumbled past them.
“I’ll take you on,” Shark yelled. He ripped his shirt off over his head and threw it on the deck. The key followed, landing on top of the garment. With his dagger gripped in his hand, he approached his opponent.
Arianna tripped back to where Shark had stood. She looked around. No one noticed her. They were all engrossed in the fight. She reached down and grabbed the key.
The key secured in her tight fist, she spun and headed out of the crush of men. The pirates bumped against her and elbowed her to the back as they pushed forward and shouted at the two fighters. She tipped in one direction and then the next. The world spun and danced, making her dizzy. And sick.