It didn't seem terribly funny now.
Her lungs started to convulse. Her chest heaved. She squeezed her eyes shut.
And then the ship's hull shuddered violently, and her bodice shook loose. Her eyes shot open. She spun around and considered swimming back up into the breach to regain the breath she had lost in her frustration, but the fire above was distinct even through the murky water. The deck had touched down. The only way out was under and around the side of the ship, all the way to the surface.
So she bent her legs and pushed herself off the hull. She swam faster and harder than she would have guessed humanly possible. She made her way up along the curve of the hull, until she saw the ripples of the surface and the shimmering blot of the sun. She saw the underside of
Crusader
, and next to it she saw Calloway's slim form, legs kicking. The girl had made it.
Everything seemed to slow to a crawl. Kate felt as though she was swimming through a pool of clear mud. Her lungs convulsed viciously. She shook her head, fighting the inevitable. Her vision narrowed.
Just a little further. Just a little further. Oh, God. It's right there. I can see it. Just a little further. I can see it. Oh, God. Just a little further. Just one more push, Katherine. You can do it. Just one more—
She was five feet from the surface when she involuntarily inhaled. Water poured into her lungs. Her chest clenched, muscles ceasing. She grasped at her ribs, tearing at her bodice. She thrashed and thrashed, sucking for air that wouldn't come. Needles of pain shot into her skull through her temples. Her hands lifted from her chest to clutch her throat, fingernails grinding into her skin. She heard herself gagging.
The surface was slowly falling away now, and she realized she had stopped kicking. Before the ocean went dark, she gave her legs a final thrust.
When Kate's red hair appeared next to Calloway in the water, she knew something had gone dreadfully wrong.
Jeremy Clemens dove in and swam to Kate's limp body, wrapping an arm around her before she could sink. The men above tossed Clemens a knotted rope, and he hefted Kate over his shoulder. The two of them were lifted up to
Crusader
.
Calloway followed shortly after. Her arms ached as she grasped the rope and was lifted up the side of the ship. As she was helped over the rail and onto the deck, she gasped. Dillahunt was alive. He was slumped on a barrel, soaking wet and clutching a bleeding stomach, but he was alive.
Her excitement, however, was tempered when she saw Kate splayed gracelessly on the main deck, head drooping to one side. Her face was pale, and her mouth was hanging open. Four red trails ran down her neck where she had clawed at her throat. Clemens was hunched over her, prodding at her ribs, as if that would do any good. Avery Dowling was pacing with his arms crossed, trying not to look as concerned as he clearly was. Occasionally his eyes would flash Kate's way. Farley's face was bright red and all twisted up like he was trying not to cry.
Bastion appeared at Calloway's side, staring down at Kate. "She drink too much water?" he asked.
"No, she
drowned
, you idiot!" Calloway snapped uncontrollably.
Bastion burst forward. "Get out of the way!" he shouted, shoving Clemens aside. He kneeled beside Kate, leaned over her . . . and kissed her.
"Oh, for the love of God!" Dillahunt exclaimed, standing.
Bastion pulled away and stared at Kate's face. He looked dismayed. He leaned down again and delivered another kiss, cheeks puffing out like a blowfish. Nothing happened. He kissed her again.
The crew started to murmur uncomfortably to one another.
Calloway couldn't believe what she was seeing. Kate was dead, and this sick islander was groping her corpse. "Someone stop him!" she cried.
"I've had enough of this perversity," Dillahunt said, hardening his fists and stomping toward Bastion.
Bastion held up a hand and shouted, "Wait! I forgot something." He plugged Kate's nose between thumb and forefinger, and kissed her again. Kate's cheeks ballooned and her chest lifted beneath him. Her lips popped, and water burst from her mouth, splattering Bastion's face before he could pull away. She rolled over and hacked water for a long time, veins bulging from her temples and neck. Her face was purple by the time she was done. Blood seeped from beneath her bandana, trailing between her eyebrows and down her nose.
Dillahunt had stopped in his tracks and was gawking stupidly.
"Sorry to disobey, captain," Bastion said, lowering his head.
"It's quite alright," Dillahunt murmured, pale-faced.
Calloway dropped to Kate's side, squeezing her arm. Kate attempted a smile, but it was quickly lost to another fit of coughs.
"How did you know to do that?" Calloway asked Bastion.
"I drink too much water once. A man did this to me. Him learn it in the East. Him say you breathe into a person, it make them breathe." Bastion shrugged modestly. "It don't always work."
"It worked this time," Kate said in a throaty, pained voice.
Farley scratched the back of his neck. "Someone should make a note of that."
Clemens was shaking his head and wagging a finger at Bastion. "You stay away from me from now on. And keep that dead woman away from me, too. Black magic, that was. I knows it when I sees it." He ran for the hold.
Kate continued to cough while Calloway held her hand. Kate squinted gratefully up at Bastion. "Thank you," she said. "I'd kiss you, if we hadn't already."
When she was sure Kate wasn't going to die all over again, Calloway told her, "I'll be right back." She stood and moved to Dillahunt's side. She expected he'd be thrilled to see her, but he merely glanced at her. When he didn't say anything, she said, "Kate needs stitching. She's took a nasty cut under that bandana. I could swear I saw a bit of her skull!"
Dillahunt nodded. "Right. Any man here a surgeon?"
A timid little blonde man stepped forward. "I mend sails and fabrics well enough."
"There's a medical kit in my cabin," said Dillahunt. "See to Mrs. Lindsay's wound. And do take care. She's the only reason any man on this ship still draws breath. And after you've finished with her, my stomach could use some mending as well."
Calloway glanced over the remainder of the crew. There were about half as many as before the assault on Blackbeard's ship. Of the twenty men that had gone over, only Dillahunt had returned.
Dillahunt appraised them with a proud half-smile. "You shall all receive free pardons, as promised."
Some of them cheered halfheartedly, but most were too tired to muster the enthusiasm. Some were still staring at Kate in disbelief.
"Helmsman!" Dillahunt called up to Dumaka. "Take us out of these infernal islands."
"Aye, captain."
Dillahunt faced
Queen Anne's Revenge
. Calloway forced herself to look. The front half of the ship was completely submerged now, with the stern sticking out of the water, engulfed in flame. Several of Blackbeard's men splashed in the water, begging for help they would never receive. A few of them were swimming over, even as
Crusader
started to pull away. "Don't leave us!" they were screaming. "We'll drown!"
Dillahunt chuckled sardonically at that. Calloway watched him closely, wondering what he was thinking. "I'm happy to see you," she said.
"As am I," he distantly replied.
"You don't look it," she blustered, jabbing his arm.
He attempted to reassure her with an idle smile. It didn't work.
Later that night, after
Crusader
had sailed far from the circular island chain, making way for Nassau, Dillahunt joined Calloway in his quarters. She had been waiting a while, her back propped against the headboard of the bed. She had lit a few candles, stripped off her clothes, and collapsed onto the soft mattress. She ached all over, especially the back of her skull, where it had smacked the deck. She bandaged the hand she had singed when she tore the fuse from Teach's beard. When they returned to Nassau, she would be sure to find some aloe for the burn.
Dillahunt smiled briefly as he entered. He removed his belt and sat at the edge of the bed, struggling out of his boots. He collapsed beside her, and she snuggled close to him, placing an arm across his freshly bandaged torso. His face, however, was still wrapped in the old dirty bandages. She plucked at them, and he jerked his head away.
"I want to see you," she said. He sighed, letting her continue. She didn't stop until his head was completely unwrapped. The wounds that riddled his rugged face had scabbed over. He didn't look so bad. In fact, she thought it made him look even more handsome.
His eyes were steadfastly focused on the ceiling. She touched his chin, nudging it toward her, but his eyes did not follow. She sighed, rolling away from him onto her back. "Are you done with me, then?"
"Don't be daft," he said, rather lazily. "I'm just tired."
"You seem vexed." She entwined his leg in hers and nudged his crotch with her knee. "What can I do to fix it?"
After a while, he propped himself on an elbow and looked at her. She wanted to spring up and kiss him just for acknowledging her presence, but she resisted. "It was all for nothing," he said. "Hornigold is dead. Griffith's fortune might have made up for that, but it too is lost. Probably in the hands of Charles Vane, if he isn't dead in a cave somewhere. And before I had the chance to take Edward Teach's head, he fell from my grasp."
"Teach is dead, then?" Calloway said hopefully.
He looked at her, nodding slowly. "Claimed by his own ship. There is no way any man could have survived that fire. Does that make you sad?"
She screwed up her face in disgust. "Why would that make me sad? You know how I loathed the man."
He stared at her. "Yes. We never talked about that. You made an attempt on his life. Odd that he didn't kill you when he had the opportunity to return the gesture."
Calloway shriveled under his judicious gaze, feeling culpable without knowing why. "I'd rather not think about it," she said.
"No, of course not," he replied, looking away. He almost sounded disappointed.
She didn't want to talk about Teach, which would inevitably lead her to dwell on her mother's suicide. She was tired of the past. "How is Kate?" she asked in a suddenly chipper tone, hoping for a change of subject.
"Resting," he said. He leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "As we should be."
"Don't look so glum," she said, pressing against him. "You still have me. We still have our lives."
He smirked. "And nothing else."
She chewed on her lower lip. She had been giving something a lot of thought over the past few hours, but she wasn't sure how to present the idea. "You know, this ship carries yet another treasure."
Dillahunt sat up in a huff, pressing his back against the headboard. He winced as his stomach curled inward. "I know what you're getting at," he grated. "I'll not sell Lindsay back to her family. I gave her my word. We struck a bargain. True, it was not a bargain among men, and women are fickle with their words, but it was a bargain nonetheless. I needn't remind you that she saved all our lives, many times over."
"Yes," she agreed. "And we can return the favor."
He regarded her skeptically.
She crawled on top of him, straddling him. "How much longer can she last out here, living like this? Today was nearly the end of her."
"Today nearly ended us all," he reminded her.
"Have you had a look at your desk? It is stained with Nathan's blood. I don't think it will come out even with the most vigorous scrub. How long before a red blemish is all that remains of Kate?"
"That has nothing to do with this," Dillahunt stubbornly replied. "Adams was a fool. He played with fire and he got what he deserved. I'll not hear his name again. It repulses me to think he fucked that whore in this bed."
"Nathan wasn't an idiot," she objected. "He was weak for her, that's all."
"Bah," he said, waving a hand.
Calloway sighed. "Kate needs to go back, Guy. Whether she realizes it or not. She thinks she can gallivant around the Caribbean forever, from adventure to adventure."
He glared at her. "I suppose the considerable sum her family is offering has nothing to do with it? You said you'd never return to whoring. Kate's reward would ensure that decision, wouldn't it?"
She folded her arms and fortified her tone. "It's the best outcome for everyone. We split the money and Kate goes home safe."
The scars on his face contracted as he wrestled with his thoughts. "She will hate you for it. She will see it as a betrayal, and she will spend the rest of her life cursing the name Jacqueline Calloway. Are you prepared for that?"
She blinked, doubt swelling in her chest. She swallowed it before it could reveal itself. "Yes."
He nodded. "Very well. When we arrive at Nassau, we will turn Kate over to the governor, and pray he doesn't string her up for treason."
"He won't hang a woman," Calloway scoffed. "Such a thing would cause uproar, and besides she's worth too much. Her husband belonged to a powerful family."
"We must do it quickly," he said, "before she has a chance to disappear with another pirate. There will be no dallying in port, is that understood?"
"It is."
"And you must not alert her to your intent. You must act normal. She is a shrewd woman, and I needn't remind you that she is dangerous when cornered. Yes, her actions saved us all, but in doing so she saved her own life. Do not forget that."
Calloway considered arguing that point. Kate had recklessly leapt onto
Queen Anne's Revenge
and rescued her without any regard for herself. She would have died, if not for Bastion's magic kiss.
Instead of arguing, Calloway sighed and said, "I know."
"Then it's settled," he concluded. "We need discuss it no further."
She forced a smile, even though she wasn't feeling very happy. She needed a diversion, so she started to grind her hips against his. He failed to rise beneath her. Finally, he grabbed her arms and gently nudged her off. "Not tonight," he said wearily. "This day has twisted my stomach in knots. I am spent. Maybe tomorrow." He turned over and went to sleep. It was hours before Calloway was able to join him.