- Prey
- Sphere
- Black Rose
- The Great Train Robbery
- Blue Dahlia
- Carnal Innocence
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Lawless
- Sacred Sins
- Tribute
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- A Man for Amanda
- All the Possibilities
- Next
- Prey
- Sphere
- Black Rose
- The Great Train Robbery
- Blue Dahlia
- Carnal Innocence
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Lawless
- Sacred Sins
- Tribute
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- A Man for Amanda
The Sea WolvesPage 19
“Run, Jack!” someone shouted. He looked up and made out a shadow in the crow’s nest that must have been Louis. Jack didn’t need urging again—a hook in the chest wouldn’t kill a werewolf, no matter how hard he wished it. A snarl came from behind him, and then a splintering of wood, and Jack knew he’d bought himself mere seconds. He climbed the deck at an angle, rushing for the foremast. As he reached the rigging, Tree and Ogre emerged from the forecastle, befuddled, rubbing sleep from their faces as they took in the latest madness unfolding on deck. Vukovich and Kelly were close behind them, but they already looked alert and even excited. They watched with keen interest. “Come on, you bastards!” Jack shouted at them. “He’ll kill me!” “And eat you!” Vukovich cried merrily. “And save your heart for me, if he knows what’s good for ’im!” Kelly added. It was dark, the swell heavy, but Jack did the only thing he could—he leaped into the rigging and began to climb. The ocean wind scoured his face and blew his hair across his eyes, but he climbed as if the devil nipped at his heels. A heavy weight tugged at the rigging below, and he glanced down to see Finn climbing … but the beast beneath him was not really Finn anymore, and it was close enough for Jack to see. Fur had sprouted from its flesh and the snout belonged to something no longer human, but not entirely wolf—this was a monstrous combination of the two. The weight of the thing shook the lines as Jack climbed, but he kept on. Louis shouted encouragement. Jack felt the wind on his skin just as he did the rise and fall of his chest with every breath, and the thrum of his heart with every beat, more keenly than he had ever felt anything in his life. A copper tang filled his mouth, and he thought he must have bitten his tongue before realizing what he tasted was not blood, but the flavor of death on the wind. It filled the air around him and overwhelmed his senses. Jack reached the fore-topsail yard and started edging outward. Such a move would have been folly during the day, but at night…? Suicide. He could fall to the deck and split like an overfull sack of fruit, and even if he kept his balance, he had nowhere to run save a leap to the sheets, which would end badly. But a moment later, he grabbed hold of a line to steady himself and knew he had made the right decision. The monster could not follow him. It could not balance well enough, and the yard might not hold its weight. But Finn or not, the werewolf possessed a bestial cunning, and it caught enough starlight for Jack to see the cruel glint of its eyes. It could shake him loose, but he didn’t think Finn would want that death for him. The pirate hated him, and Jack had risked a great deal on a split-second presumption: that Finn would want Jack to die at his hands. The monster growled in pain as bones shifted and fur receded, and in moments, Finn stood there once again, clinging to the rigging. Shouts rose from below, and as Jack glanced down, he saw that Ghost had appeared at last. He stood, watching impassively, his expression grimly curious. Huginn and Muninn stood behind him, but they were not watching Jack and Finn. The twins studied the rest of the crew, alert for any threat to the captain. What he tasted was not blood, but the flavor of death on the wind. “You’ve given me a great gift, Cooky,” Finn growled. “I caught you in the midst of yer thievin’. Might be enough to save my life.” Crouched on the yardarm, ready to leap, Jack knew his life would be forfeit if he made the slightest misstep. But he smiled, just for a moment, then quickly hid his amusement so that Ghost would not see it. “You’ve gone rabid, Finn! I’m no thief. Looked more like you were up to something, down in the hold. That why you want me dead?” Ordinary men might not have heard him from down on the deck, but Ghost and the others weren’t human. They would hear, and Finn knew it. His eyes narrowed with understanding and hatred as he realized not only that Jack would attempt to turn the accusations back upon him, but that given his current standing in the pack, it might work. “You little bastard,” Finn growled. Jack glanced down and saw Ghost signal to Huginn, who dashed for a cargo grille in the middle of the deck, flung it back, and dropped down into the gangway that ran through the hold. Finn snarled and started to inch out along the yard. Jack wrapped his fist in the rope to which he clung for balance, heart hammering, wind gusts threatening to knock him from his perch. Coming up into the rigging had seemed, on the spur of the moment, a stroke of genius—the perfect stage upon which to perform his deception. But if Finn managed to kill him up here, all would be for naught. Already the wound in Finn’s chest had begun to heal. What were you thinking? Jack asked himself. “Kill me if you want!” he shouted suddenly, startling Finn. “Neither one of us is ever getting off this ship alive. But I won’t die with you painting me as a thief.” He looked across toward the crow’s nest on the mainmast but caught only a glimpse of Louis between topgallant and mainsail. Desperate, he looked down at the rest of the crew gathering below. Ghost and Muninn stood together. “I went into the hold,” Jack shouted, half a truth in his confession. “I wanted to sabotage the outer lock on the room you shut me and Sabine into so I could work it from inside. I thought we might have a chance to escape the next time. But I didn’t even get to it! I saw Finn coming out of the food stores, caught him at something, and now he wants me dead before I can tell you.” “Lies!” Finn screamed, and lunged. Jack put his weight on the rope and pushed off, swinging away from the yardarm and out over the deck. His arc took him around Finn, just out of arm’s length. Finn reached farther and lost his balance, windmilling his arms and slipping from the yard even as Jack swung back toward the mast and caught the rigging. Finn twisted in the air and stretched out—his hands becoming claws—and dug them into the wood of the yard. He flailed, trying to climb back up, claws scoring the wood. Shouts rose from below, some mocking Finn and others urging Jack to knock him off. But Finn moved swiftly. Arm hooked into the rigging, Jack brought up some slack and looped the rope in his hands. “Captain’s pet or not”—Finn huffed—“I’ll feed your innards to the sharks … and save the tastiest bits for—” Jack darted forward, nearly lost his balance, and slipped the loop over Finn’s head. Steadying himself on the tautness higher up the rope, he gave a small tug to cinch the makeshift noose tighter, then kicked Finn in the face. The sea wolf clutched at the yard but missed, and he fell backward toward the deck … until the slack Jack had gathered played out, and the rope snapped taut around his neck. Finn bucked and kicked his legs, reaching up to free himself from the rope. Fur sprouted once more from his flesh, and he became that half-wolf monstrosity again, snarling and spitting, swinging back and forth. Jack watched from the rigging, amazed at what he had done. His heart still slammed against the inside of his chest as though it longed to escape, but it had calmed somewhat. The immediate danger was over, but that did not mean he would survive the next few minutes. He scanned the deck below for Sabine, but she had not come up from her cabin to watch. Perhaps that was for the best. Her presence would distract Ghost, and his jealousy made him unpredictable. Better for his beautiful slave—for what else could she be to him but that?—to hide herself below until the night’s fates were decided. Huginn emerged from the forecastle and ran to Ghost, whispering in close to the captain’s ear. Jack saw the Nordic pirate show Ghost the small handful of diamonds in his open palm before they disappeared quickly into the captain’s own pocket. Now we’ll see, Jack thought. He pulled out the stiletto. Designed as a stabbing weapon, it would make for a poor saw, but with Finn’s weight drawing the line taut, he thought he could cut the rope. He caught it in his hands, and then Finn reached up over his head and grabbed hold of the rope and started to climb. Jack stared, frozen for a moment with the stiletto in his hand. |
- The Loners
- The Saints
- Switched
- Fangtastic!
- Re-Vamped!
- Vampalicious!
- Tome of the Undergates
- Black Halo
- The Skybound Sea
- If You Stay
- If You Leave
- Until We Burn
- Before We Fall
- Every Last Kiss
- Fated
- Suspiciously Obedient
- Random Acts of Crazy
- Random Acts of Trust
- Her First Billionaire
- Her Second Billionaire
- Her Two Billionaires
- Her Two Billionaires and a Baby
- His Majesty's Dragon
- Throne of Jade
- Black Powder War
- Victory of Eagles
- Tongues of Serpents
- Empire of Ivory
- Crucible of Gold
- Delirium