“Henry.”
He didn’t respond, as if he stood in another world, unaware of the one around him.
Finally, as if a light had been turned on inside of him, he retrieved his foot and came to me. “Let’s go.”
Hesitantly, we gathered the chests and a barely conscious Finn before heading back the way we came. I felt a rush of power wash over me and fill my veins. Every nerve was on fire with both excitement and fear. I did it. I led my crew to an enchanted location and found Peter Easton’s treasure. The people of my time would spend decades searching, but they’d never find it. A small part of me snickered at the thought.
But some other part, deep in the back of my mind, worried about the man I loved. He walked beside me, and I dared steal side glances at him, fearful. I searched for any sign of the darkness but only found that he brightened the further we walked. He caught me staring and only smiled, softening my fears until I felt silly for having them at all. Henry was just being protective back there. Angry for what Amos and his men did to us.
The siren was long gone, nowhere to be found when we emerged from the dark abyss. The water remained parted and our exit still accessible. It took a while, but we finally climbed out of the second cave as the setting sun cast a magical orange and purple glow over the cliffs of Shellbed Isle. I inhaled deeply the sweet scent of buttercups and fresh ocean mist. To me, it would always smell like victory.
We laid the heavy chests down and then collapsed on the wet grass. I knew we could only steal a moment to rest. Amos and his men would surely be close on our heels and that was a fight for another day. But I wanted to revel in the sweet high of triumph for as long as I could. My heart still racing, my veins still hot with adrenaline, I let out a fierce cry of laughter to skies above. Soon, my friends followed suit and we cackled to the heavens like a bunch of drunken jackals.
I was blissfully happy. I had everything I could ever hope for. Friends, family, a child growing inside of me and a man to share my life with. My victories. My heart. We had a long and dangerous journey ahead of us. One that would drag us across the Atlantic for months and surely test the boundaries of our close bonds with one another.
I rolled over and crushed my body to Henry’s, placing a warm kiss on his waiting mouth and then smiled. All evidence of his dark side that had reared its ugly head long melted away. A small part of me still worried about what I had seen, but I was too elated to let it bother me anymore.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
Henry lifted his head and his mouth spread wide. “Of course,” he replied. “You’re safe. That’s all that matters to me.”
He sat up straight then and reached for the closest chest, the one Amos had busted open. I grinned as I watched him drag it over to where we sat on the dewy grass and open it up. The old lid lifted with a rusty cry and there were the sleeping jewels once again. I marveled at their beauty, their otherworldliness. Blue sapphires too large to hold in one hand, emeralds and rubies so saturated in color they looked like expensive Christmas ornaments. Henry stuck a hand in the treasure and scooped out a fistful of gold coins.
“This is ours, Dianna,” he told me with delight. “We have the world in our hands and nothing to stop us.”
“Stop us from what?” I asked, still dancing around the thought of the darkness I worried still resided within him. I’d been so elated to finally have him back that I never stopped to really see. To truly look at the man I’d pulled out of that room on Kelly’s Island.
His eyes flickered with… something. I wasn’t sure. A shadow. An emotion, or lack thereof. But it melted away within seconds and my Henry resurfaced once again. He tossed the coins back in the chest and scooted closer, taking me in his arms. My head tipped back as I looked up at his beautiful face, tracing the lines of his sharp jaw and flushing the worries from my mind once again. No, this man was a pirate who’d been through a great ordeal. He would always be my Henry.
I reached up and brought his face down to mine, placing a kiss on the side of his mouth. “I love you.”
I felt his face move with a grin. “And I you, Time Traveller.” He pulled away to gaze into my eyes and I found myself lost in his deep, dark pools. They glistened with love for me and I returned to my blissful joy over our victory. His eyebrows raised. “Now, shall we go to England?”
I laughed. “Yes,” then craned my head to our friends who were adoring the contents of the other two chests. “To England!”
“Aye, aye, captain!” they called back in unison and laughter.
It didn’t matter how impossible the journey ahead would be. I wasn’t scared of facing Maria or of what I’d discover if we did find my mother. I didn’t fear what the sea had in store for us or the fact that I would be giving birth in a few months. I could face it all.
As long as I had Henry by my side.
The End
Continue Henry and Dianna’s epic adventure in book three of the Dark Tides series, The Blackened Soul. Get yours wherever books are sold!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Published author and freelance writer/editor, Candace Osmond was born in North York, ON.
She published her first book by the age of 25, the first installment in a Paranormal Romance Trilogy to which two others were published with it. The Iron World Series.
Candace is also one of the creative writers for sssh.com, an acclaimed Erotic Romance website for women which has been featured on NBC Nightline and a number of other large platforms like Cosmo. Her most recent project is a screenplay that received a nomination for an AVN Award.
Now residing in a small town in Newfoundland with her husband and two kids, Candace writes full time developing articles for just about every niche, more novels, and a hoard of short stories.
Connect with Candace online! She LOVES to hear from readers!
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WANT MORE FROM AUTHOR CANDACE OSMOND? CHECK OUT ALL HER AVAILABLE TITLES WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD!
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