“Yes, Nicky. Like you. Now get out of my sight and ready yourself for battle, before I change my mind and snap you into those cuffs. I can’t lie, I’d like to see you dangling there.” He licks his lips and reaches toward me, but I sidestep his hand and dart out of the cabin. His mocking laugh chases me as I flee belowdecks.
30
As I charge along the corridor, I crash straight into Locke, who grips my arms reflexively. “Ho there, Nick! What is it? Are you all right?”
“Captain Neelan says I’m to fight with the crew.” My voice quivers on the edge of tears.
“What? How in the tides did that happen?”
“I—I might have asked him about sparing lives—”
Locke closes his eyes. “You didn’t.”
“And he said I was soft, and that I must either fight or have the weakness tortured and fucked out of me.”
Locke’s eyes pop open, gazing wide and startled into mine. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“He says he’s done it before. There are manacles in his cabin—”
“He told me those were only for consensual play.”
“Well, they aren’t. Locke—” I stop talking as a pair of sailors shoulder past us. They peer at us curiously, and Locke releases my arms, shifting to create more space between us.
“I’ll deal with the Captain later,” he says grimly. “For now, you will have to make a show of fighting. Stick with me, and I’ll cover you. I won’t let you be harmed, and you won’t have to kill. I promise.”
“You can’t promise any of that. You’re not all-powerful, Locke.”
He takes my face in his hand, a sharp, sudden grip. “You don’t think I know that? Let me pretend to have this under control, Nick. Otherwise I’m going to go mad with fear for you.”
I nod as best I can with my cheeks squished in his fingers. He looks at me, his eyes warming with an intangible kiss, and my stomach thrills.
“I’ll show you where the weapons are.” His tone is heartbreakingly gentle, as if he’s telling me the most intimate of secrets.
I follow him back along the corridor, to a small room separate from the main hold. The place bristles with weapons of all kinds, jumbled together in a tangle.
“Will I be whipped for using one of these?” I ask.
“No. You were ordered to fight by the Captain himself.”
“And how do these battles usually go?”
Locke picks up a sword and slides it half out of the sheath, examining the blade. “It’s different every time. Depends on how quickly the pirate ship can catch up to its target, if at all. TheArdentis big, and running heavy with loot and men already, so I’m guessing the Captain will use the cannons first, to try and disable theLady Marcella.”
“But couldn’t that end up sinking theMarcellabefore we get to her?”
Locke nods. “That’s always a risk with something as imprecise as cannons. When we get closer, Captain Neelan will likely use the grappler guns.”
I cock my head, frowning. “I’ve never heard of those.”
“They’re a unique weapon awarded to larger ships flying the Crowned Skull flag,” Locke says. “They shoot massive barbed darts that pierce the merchant ship. Those darts are attached to chains and cranks, so we can pull the ship nearer. Neelan will likely try to stay behind theLady Marcellaso her guns can’t target us. We have both small long-range cannons and grappler guns near the bow, which puts us at an advantage.”
“And will we have to board the ship?”
“Yes. Sometimes we drop the boats, row over, and climb the sides with grappling hooks. Sometimes we’re close enough to swing ship-to-ship.” He looks from me to the sword and winces. “Have you used a sword before?”
I return his grimace, thinking of long days at the dressmaker’s, afternoons sipping tea and embroidering, evenings spent pretending to read an etiquette book while I secretly had a serial romance pamphlet tucked in the pages.
“No,” I reply. “I’ve never used any weapons at all.”
