Let her go!” I scream.
He turns to look at me, and I lean so far against the ledge of the crow’s nest I nearly fall out.
“I don’t want to hurt her,” Aris shouts back. “Surrender, and I’ll let her go!”
I stare down at the deck. Both Rhat and Royce are fighting multiple opponents. They’ve spread out from their original positions and seem lucky to be holding their own. Skulls’s men have scrambled over the ship, filling up every empty space. I don’t spot anyone from our crew who isn’t fighting at least two men at once.
Metal clashing against metal fills the air, and strangled cries reach me as some of the men go down. The deck’s already beginning to look like the floor of Captain Skulls’s cabin due to all the blood spreading across it.
I’m safe up here with the rigging virtually in tatters, but I can’t reach anyone else who can help Hettie. Not that there’s anyone free to help her.
I turn to check on Aris. He’s pulling her farther across the deck.
I don’t want to let her out of my sight.
That decides it.
I whip off my gloves and tuck them into my belt so they don’t rip. I heave the rope over the side of the crow’s nest and throw myself over, maneuvering until my feet become entwined. I may not have liked the rigging, but it was a lot better than the single rope. The wind thrashes it below me, causing me to sway.
I ease myself down since there’s no one to catch me this time.
By the time I reach the bottom and hop onto the deck, everyone has shifted position. I hastily pull on my gloves as I scan the decks. I don’t spot Rhat or Royce anywhere. I don’t even see my dagger.
A man in a skull mask tries to grab me, and I plunge through the crowd to escape, bouncing off backs and glancing past swinging arms. Someone cries out behind me, but I can’t bear to turn and look.
My slippers have a hard time getting any traction on the blood-soaked deck, and I slide into a big-bellied sailor who’s missing an ear. He turns, ripping the knife he holds in each hand from where they’d been lodged in Brus’s stomach. Brus silently drops to the deck.
The pirate’s smile when he spots me is just visible past several missing teeth in his skull mask.
I pull my sword and point it at him to keep him at bay. My hands are already sweating inside my gloves. When he moves toward me, I panic and ram my sword at the man, the exact move Royce told me not to do.
He deflects it easily with his knife.
Just like I did with Royce, I make the same move again, and this time, I duck down, running my blade across the pirate’s leg and leaving a deep gash.
He cries out, but doesn’t fall.
He feints forward with his blades, and I’m so busy watching the knives that I don’t see his foot swing around.
My legs go out from under me, and I land on my back with a thud. A throbbing pain ricochets through my head, but at least I’ve managed to hold on to my sword.
When I roll over, Brus’s lifeless eyes look back at me.
Before I can react, the pirate grabs my leg and drags me away across the deck. All I can smell is blood. I’m not sure if it’s my own or what’s covering the deck.
Grabbing my sword in both hands, I heave my upper body forward and bring the blade crashing into the pirate’s arm.
He screams and lets go. I scramble to my feet, pulling my blade free. There’s a sickening thunk as the metal scrapes against bone.
His eyes go glassy, and he drops to his knees, cradling his wounded arm. His shirt is already drenched in blood by the time I surge past him.
I barely make it to where the grappling hooks, shaped like demon’s claws, hold the ships together when the man with the two Xs on his forehead appears, ripping off his skull mask.
“Surprise,” he says, his breath every bit as foul as the first time we met.
Memories of Thipps crashing onto the dock, of holding his lifeless body, flash before me. Without thinking, I launch myself at the man. A guttural roar rips through me.
He grabs my arms as he ducks away from my blade.
I try to kick him, but he moves easily out of the way, never breaking his grasp on my arms. My wrists burn as he twists them, trying to break my grip on my sword. He’s stronger than me, driving me backward. My back rams into the railing not far from one of the grappling hooks.
My grip begins to weaken.
He leans in, his eyes wild and gleaming. He’s enjoying this. “Bet you didn’t think we’d meet again,” he says.
“I could say the same thing,” a voice calls behind the man.
Phipps comes charging forward. He yanks the pirate away from me and tosses him to the deck.
“I . . . I killed you,” the man with the Xs stammers.
“Now it’s my turn to do it to you,” Phipps says. Before the pirate can get one of his knives free, Phipps rams his sword forward, straight into the man’s stomach. “This is for my brother.”
The man’s eyes go wide before he slumps down against the deck.
Phipps rips his sword out. There are tears in his eyes. He blinks them back and yells, “For Thipps,” as he runs back into the fray.
Another scream echoes his.
Hettie.
I climb onto the railing and make the short jump to Captain Skulls’s ship, which is nearly empty since all the men were trying to get to me on the Swanflight.
Another set of feet pound down behind me. I look up into the grinning face of Captain Skulls.
“Why, if it isn’t the golden girl in the flesh,” he says. Every step he takes toward me lasts a lifetime, his feet thudding loudly against the deck.
I edge backward. I breathe in deep, haggard gasps.
“I loved your trick with the sun. I wish I’d thought of it. I might have you do a repeat performance for all the towns we raid. Lagonia will fear you more than they do your father.”
I raise my sword. “Never.”
He stops mere inches from it. “Maybe this will change your tune.” He motions and Aris moves into my line of vision. He clutches Hettie in front of him. Captain Skulls smirks at me. “I made a little stop at the Island of Lost Souls just for you.”
“You’re the ugliest, vilest, most black-hearted, foul creature I’ve ever met,” Hettie spits at Aris as he yanks her forward. She’s lost her sword and has resorted to clawing at his arms.
But Hettie’s right. I can’t believe I ever thought Aris was attractive. His eyes are too calculating, his features too sharp. His smile isn’t kind; it’s cruel.
“Hello, Kora,” Aris says. “Did you miss me?”
“You disgust me,” I spit back.
“The same could be said of you,” he replies. “At least when you make me a very rich man, it will almost make all those times I had to touch you worth it.”
I swallow down his insults before they can affect my concentration. “I’ll never turn anything to gold for you.” I point my sword at him while Hettie continues her attempt to struggle free.
“Make her cooperate,” Captain Skulls snaps at Aris, nodding in my direction. “That’s why you’re here. You said you could control her.”
Control me? Anger burns through my veins at the thought.
“Put the sword down, Kora,” Aris says. “Now.” He presses his blade against Hettie’s skin. She stops struggling when a small trickle of blood appears. I gasp.
I want to think he won’t do it, but he will.
“Surrender,” Captain Skulls says.
I’m not taking any risks with Hettie’s life. For now, I’ll have to comply. “Fine,” I say. I drop the sword at my feet.
“Kick it over here.”
I do as he asks.
“Good. Now come over here nice and slow.”
A single cannon fires.
Wood explodes. The ship lurches beneath me, pulling away from the Swanflight, which can hopefully only mean one thing: the cannonball found its mark.
Captain Skulls lets out a frustrated cry and clenches his jaw, making his cheeks look even shallower.
Now I just have to get the gold before the ship sinks. But before I can go after the gold, I need to get Hettie back on the Swanflight.
I rip off one of my gloves and toss it onto the deck. “I’m going to turn you both to gold.”
Aris laughs. “We both know you haven’t absorbed any. If you had, you’d be a raving mess like when I found you on the dock after turning my friend to gold.”
“I’ve come a long way since then,” I say.
Captain Skulls’s eyes are even darker when they turn on me. “Not far enough,” he intones, motioning for me to cross the rest of the deck and join him.
“Let her go first,” I say. I need to get Hettie off the ship as quickly as possible.
“That’s not how this works.”
I shake my head. I need more time.
Before I can figure out what to do, someone blurs past me, tackling both Hettie and Aris to the deck.
It’s Royce.
Hettie rolls toward the other side of the ship as the men grapple with each other, and I rush to her side to help her stand, propping her against the railing. She looks unharmed.
A few paces away from us, Royce lands a punch to Aris’s jaw. Aris stumbles backward, wiping a smear of blood from his lip. Then he charges Royce, driving him backward until Royce crashes into the railing next to us.
Aris laughs, picking up the sword he’d dropped when Royce first attacked, and takes up a position a few feet from Captain Skulls. They have us all cornered against the railing.
None of us have weapons. I spot Royce’s sword across the deck where he must’ve lost it tackling Aris. Mine’s not too far away. But neither are close enough to reach before Captain Skulls or Aris run us through.
“This has always been how it would end,” Aris says to Royce.
“It’s not over yet,” Royce retorts.
Captain Skulls points his sword at us and smiles. “It is over. For two of you at least.”
“Wait,” I call, bringing his attention back to me. “I’ll go with you, but let them go.”
“The time for bargaining has expired,” Captain Skulls replies dryly.
“Then I’ll jump overboard right now.” I press against the railing. “I’ll never turn anything to gold for you, and all you’ll be left with is what you’ve stolen from my father. Gold that curses whoever possesses it,” I add for good measure, praying Captain Skulls is even a fraction as superstitious as his crew. But I don’t even care about his answer because a plan is starting to form in my mind.
Captain Skulls studies me. “If you come without any fuss, I’ll let her go free,” Captain Skulls finally says with a nod to Hettie. “But Royce needs to learn his lesson.”
“Fine,” I say before anyone else can speak.
“As soon as you walk over here, she’s free to go.”
I start forward.
Royce lunges forward. “Kora, no.” He grabs my arm as I hoped he would. “He’s lying. He’s going to kill us all anyway.”
“You said I’d make a good leader.” I take a deep breath, preparing myself before gently grabbing his wrist and prying it away with my bare hand. I inhale sharply and let out a metallic-scented breath. “This is me leading.” My eyes plead with him to understand.
It’s clear he doesn’t; he stares at me in confusion. I pull away from him as quickly as I can and take slow, measured steps backward to make sure he doesn’t follow me, doesn’t reach out for me again.
“Don’t do this, Kora,” Hettie pleads.
“I have to. For all of us.” I turn away from them. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
“Take her below and chain her up until we take the Swanflight,” Captain Skulls says.
“With pleasure,” Aris says.
“No,” Royce cries, as I move forward and Aris grabs my hand to pull me below.
The instant Aris’s hand touches my bare skin, he turns to gold.