Mercenary seriously wounded!
Mercenary unconscious!
Ethan stood over the now fallen sailor, heart pounding in his chest, and inspected his handiwork. The man lay unmoving as blood poured from his head and was quickly washed away by the rain.
“Finish him,” Maii said, hopping over to Ethan’s side. “I’ll eat later.”
Ethan shook his head. “No. He’s just some hired hand, and he’s done anyway.”
Maii grunted. “Going soft on me?”
“Not partaking in murder sprees is hardly going soft,” Ethan explained.
Maii gave a look of indifference. “If you say so,” he replied. “I suppose if this compassion of yours gets you killed, it’s no fur off my back.”
“No one is getting killed.”
“That’s my point.”
“You know what I mean,” Ethan said with a grunt. “Now, come on. Let’s go get Zoey.”
Chapter Twenty
The Secret
Ethan took the stairs below deck, pistol and lantern leading the way. He passed through a small cargo hold as well as the crew quarters, which thankfully only held a half dozen or so empty hammocks. At the other end, he reached the captain’s cabin, a cramped space with a single bed built into one side and a small table on the other, that was surprisingly devoid of anyone, as well. At the far side of the room, however, stood an iron-barred door that led to a tight three-foot-by-three-foot brig where a figure lay chained and curled inside.
“Zoey,” Ethan hissed as loud as he dared. He bolted over to the door and yanked on the handle as hard as he could, but it refused to open. “Zoey, wake up!”
The figure on the ground stirred, and Ethan dropped to his knees to get a better look. Zoey, indeed, lay inside with her hands bound behind her and her ankles locked tightly together. Her clothes had been torn in multiple places, and when she looked up when he called her name a third time, her face stole Ethan’s breath away.
A massive bruise marred her left cheek, and her lower lip had been split off to one side. Blood caked her chin and neck, and she looked more scared and helpless than a day-old fawn cast to the lions.
“Oh my god, Zoey,” Ethan whispered. “I’m getting you out of there right now.”
“Thank you,” she mouthed.
Ethan tried the door again, even though he didn’t think it would open, and then spent the next minute turning the cabin inside out, looking for the key. “Where is it?” Ethan asked once he realized he was on borrowed time. “The key, I mean.”
Zoey’s head fell, and she shook her head. “With the captain, I’m sure.”
“Damn it,” Ethan said. He then hurried back to the door and tried inspecting the lock. “Can I pick it? I mean, I don’t know how, but maybe you can walk me through it?”
Wood creaked behind him, and Ethan whipped around to find Jacob a foot inside the door with a pipe stuck in his mouth and surprise splashed on his face.
“Let her go right this instant,” Ethan said, leveling his weapon at the man’s head.
Jacob cautiously raised his hands into the air, but he didn’t seem nearly as afraid of having a gun in his face as Ethan would’ve liked. “I can’t do that,” he said, and when Ethan’s finger twitched on the trigger, the man quickly held up a finger. “Hear me out before you shoot: if I let her go, we both die.”
“No, if you let her go, you won’t die.”
The man took a puff from his pipe before using it to motion to Zoey. “Do you know what she is?”
“I do,” Ethan said evenly. “My friend.”
“She’s a lot more than that,” the man said with a short laugh. He then gave a curious look before sighing heavily. “You do know what she is, don’t you?”
“Ethan,” Zoey said. “Don’t listen to him.”
Jacob laughed once more, but this time twice as hard. “She’s charmed you, hasn’t she? And going by those marks on your neck, I’d wager she’s dined on you a little as well.”
“I don’t care what you think,” Ethan said. “I said let her go.”
“And I told you I can’t,” Jacob replied evenly. “I’m not looking to get shot, but I’m not lying either. If she goes free, we both die.”
“She won’t kill me,” Ethan said.
“She’s not the one I’m afraid of,” Jacob replied evenly. “It’s Lord Belmont. He wants her, and he’ll kill everyone in his way to have her—and that especially includes bounty hunters who let his prize go once she’s been captured.”
Ethan’s brow dropped, and he retreated a half step as he tried to make sense of this unexpected news. “Lord Belmont wants her?”
“Aye, he does,” Jacob replied.
“Why?”
“Ethan, please,” Zoey begged. “Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to kill me.”
Ethan snapped his eyes up in time to see Jacob step forward. Operating on pure instinct, Ethan pulled the trigger to his pistol, but when the hammer fell, only a distinct click hung in the air.
Jacob blinked and then grinned broadly. “Only a fool tries to fire wet powder,” he said, drawing his sword. “I guess I greatly overestimated you.”
Out of pure instinct, Ethan slung the lantern at Jacob’s head. It sailed through the air and was easily dodged, but when it struck the floor and its glass shattered, the impromptu missile served as a decent enough distraction. By the time Jacob had ensured no flames had taken to his cabin, Ethan had his cutlass up and ready.
“I’m going to tie you to the yardarm and flay you alive for that,” Jacob growled as he took a half step back and adopted a dueling stance.
“This is your last chance to walk out alive,” Ethan countered, hoping he could bluff his way out of this. “Leave me the key, and I’ll leave you with your life.”
“Bravo,” Jacob said with a hearty laugh. “You’re not a coward. I’ll grant you that. But I’ll see you under hatches before the next clap of thunder.”
Ethan had no idea what that last part meant, but it sounded bad. He didn’t have time to think about it, either, as Jacob drove forward with a straight thrust aimed squarely at Ethan’s heart.
You parried Jacob’s attack.
“Ugh! Get out of my head,” Ethan groaned, hating Narrator’s intrusion. Thankfully, Narrator seemed to do just that. Either that or the fact that he was fighting for his life allowed Ethan to ignore him completely for the next few moments, which was just fine with Ethan because Jacob’s next two attacks came harder and faster than before.
Ethan barely parried the first thrust, steel clanging loudly against steel. But when the next attack came, he didn’t fare as well. Though he managed to trap Jacob’s blade against his own and the hilt of his cutlass, the two ended up being nearly face-to-face. As such, Jacob was close enough to jab Ethan in the side with his free hand, sending him stumbling back.
They parted, and Ethan swung wildly, feeling his guard drop. Jacob ducked the haphazard blow and issued a low cut of his own. Unlike Ethan’s attack, this one sliced across the outside of Ethan’s left thigh.
“Damn,” Ethan growled, stumbling backward yet again. He didn’t get far as he was now pressed up against the door to the brig.
“Soiled your kicksees, have you?” Jacob mocked, dipping the tip of his blade toward Ethan’s bloodstained breeches. He was about to say something else when he dropped his sword and staggered forward, Maii latched firmly to the back of his neck.
Ethan, operating on pure instinct, sliced open the man’s belly with a single cut before stabbing him once more in the gut.
Jacob critically hit!
Jacob gravely wounded!
Jacob lurched sideways, and Maii released his grip. The man, with clenched eyes and jaw, fell against the wall, hand pressed against his gut and blood seeping through his fingers. The strength in his legs gave out, and he quickly slumped to the floor.
“Should’ve known you weren’t alone,” the man said with a pained, shaky voice.
“I told you to let her g
o,” Ethan said, keeping the point of his cutlass aimed at his adversary’s throat.
Jacob coughed, blood frothing out of his mouth as he did. “Tell me, what did she promise you?” he asked. “Bountiful treasure? Life eternal? Her everlasting love?”
“Too bad for you, you’ll never know.”
Jacob chuckled, which turned into a violent cough that took hold of him for several seconds. “For your sake, I hope it’s not a ruby amulet,” he said, resting his head against the wall. He closed his eyes, grimacing, before coughing again. When he was finished, his eyes met Ethan’s. “Blood and ’ounds,” Jacob said, grinning. “She did, didn’t she? She promised you Lord Belmont’s ruby, and you were fool enough to believe her.”
“What are you talking about?”
Zoey lunged forward, snapping hard against her chains. “Ethan, don’t listen to him,” she said. “He’s trying to trick you.”
Jacob shook his head weakly, looking like he was a single breath away from death. Yet somehow, he still managed to summon enough strength to gesture to his broken body. “Look at me,” he said. “What tricks could I possibly play? No, Master Ethan, if anything, the truth is far sweeter revenge on the two of you at this point.”
Ethan, unsure of what was going on, stepped sideways, so he could see both the fallen bounty hunter and Zoey at the same time. “Talk.”
“She’s only after that gem to destroy it,” he said. “There’s no selling and splitting the fortune, which I assume is what she promised you. It’s what she’s promised everyone else she’s tried to get help from.”
“No, that’s insane,” Ethan said.
“What’s insane is thinking she’d keep it,” Jacob said. “That ruby is what grants Lord Belmont his power, his immortality. She wants to destroy it.”
“I don’t care about that, Ethan,” Zoey said, tugging again. “Please, listen to me. He’s going to try and turn you against me. Yes, the gem holds Belmont’s life force, but I don’t care. We can still sell it for a ton of coin. Let someone else worry about trying to figure out how to shatter the damn thing if they want.”
The fallen bounty hunter turned to face Zoey, and he managed a snort. “Shatter? Is that the story you’re going with?”
“It’s the truth,” she shot back, narrowing her eyes.
“Tell me, Master Ethan, you’ve seen her run around with dragon’s breath, have you not? A powder that, when lit, melts steel faster than a torrent of lava? What do you think that’s for? Cutting locks and chain?”
Ethan, hating the fact that there was an air of truth to the man’s words, inadvertently dropped the tip of his sword. “You’re saying she’s going to melt the gem?”
Jacob nodded.
“Why?”
“I wouldn’t!” Zoey yelled. “God, Ethan, don’t let him get in your head like that. Why the hell would I risk my life to destroy something worth so much? I need funds as much as you do, if not more so! I’ve got people I’m playing for, too.”
“Yeah,” Ethan said as he turned her words over several times in his head. “But you don’t talk about them much, do you?”
“Because I’ve messed up, okay?” she said, eyes watering. She tried clearing them, but the chains kept her hands from her face, and all she could do was shake her head and try and sniff the snot away. “It’s worse than what I said earlier, and I didn’t want to say much about it because I didn’t want you to think I didn’t know what I was doing—or that I was a failure. I already think that about myself enough.”
Ethan felt his heart break for the vampire, and all he wanted to do was sweep her up in his arms and hold her tight. “I’d never think that about you.”
“How touching,” Jacob said with a slow clap. “I’ll tell you why she wants that gem, and it has nothing to do with getting money.”
Ethan spun back around and glared. “What is it, then? She’s doing it for shits and giggles?”
“Ethan, kill him!” Zoey begged. “Please, for my sake.”
Ethan shook his head. “No. I want him to die knowing his lies had no effect on me.”
“That’s the spirit, Master Ethan,” Jacob said as a devilish grin spread across his face. “The reason she’s so keen on destroying that gem is because it binds all the curses Lord Belmont has ever cast.”
“Ethan!”
Ethan held a hand up to Zoey, bidding her quiet. “What curses?”
“Hundreds by now,” the bounty hunter replied. “As for your lady, here, she’s been cursed by him as well, and she’ll never break free of it until that gem is destroyed—and the fastest and easiest way to do it is to melt the gem with dragon’s breath.”
“No,” Ethan replied softly, but even as the words passed his lips, doubt overtook him.
“Tell me, when was the last time she’s done something that would make her a queen of the undead?” he asked, suddenly gaining a bit of strength to his voice. “Blood sucking aside, has she charmed the masses? Shrugged off a hundred shots? Moved faster than a tempest or disappeared into mist?”
“No, but she must have.”
“Is that a fact?” he asked, not missing a beat. “Then, take a moment and tell me when.”
“I can’t recall.”
“Exactly,” he said. “That curse has stolen it all from her. She may be a vampire, but it’s in hunger only. Her powers are all but gone.”
Ethan was at a loss of words. All he could do was watch the man as he settled back down with a smile across his face. He didn’t want to believe a word of any of it, but at the same time, he knew the man was telling the truth. Why the hell would Zoey be carrying that volatile mixture otherwise? And in the end, the man had nothing to gain by lying, but Zoey certainly had everything to lose if that were the truth.
Ethan stood there, feeling all emotion and attachment to his surroundings drain away. He felt his eyes glaze over, and he didn’t know what to think or do. A deep sense of emptiness filled his soul, and he wasn’t sure whether or not he felt more angry, sad, or foolish for ever trusting her. The only thing he knew from all of this was that even in another world, one where he should’ve been able to reinvent himself as anything or anyone, he was still just an afterthought when it came to the fairer sex at best and something to be taken advantage of at worst.
“Ethan? Ethan, listen to me, damn it,” Zoey begged. “He’s lying through his rotten teeth.”
“No use now, love,” Jacob said with a bloody, cough-filled laugh. “He knows who’s telling the truth.”
“Shut up!”
“Or what? You’ll yell at me some more?”
Ethan snapped out of his daze. With one clean thrust, he drove his sword through Jacob’s heart. The man stiffened for a moment before slumping forward and falling over when Ethan withdrew the blade.
“Thank god,” Zoey said, sighing. “I thought he’d never stop. Now get me out of here before his crew gets back.”
Ethan’s eyes met hers. He tried to give off a flat affect, but a wellspring of agony ripped through his gut. Instead of letting it break him down, he channeled it into righteous indignation. “Piss off.”
He then turned and headed the door.
“Please don’t go,” she said. “I can explain.”
Ethan stopped, a foot away from the threshold. He half glanced over his shoulder. “Tell me the truth: were you planning on destroying that gem?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then no buts,” he said, cutting her off. “I’m done with you.”
With that, he left.
Chapter Twenty-One
Dying
“I’m dying, Ethan,” Zoey called out, her voice pleading. “I can’t do this without you.”
Ethan halted right outside the cabin, one hand holding the door. He could hear the storm thunder above, its fury matching the storm of emotions he had raging inside.
After a few beats, he turned around and stepped back in the cabin. He had no intention of listening to anything she said, but at the same time, he wante
d to give her both proverbial barrels.
“You think I’m going to believe anything you say?” he said. “You’ve lied to me from the start.”
“I know,” she said weakly. “I know, and honestly, I wouldn’t believe me either if I were in your shoes. But I’m not lying. I don’t have a lot of time left anymore—less than you do.”
“How’s that?”
“That gem, the curse it holds over me, keeps me from healing at all,” she said. “The only reason it didn’t kill me is because I’m a vampire.”
“Why?”
“Because it affects the living more than the dead,” she said. “Either that or I heal as fast as it kills. Either way, it hasn’t killed me yet.”
“Anything else I should know before I walk away?”
“If I die here, I die for real, too,” she said.
“I thought you said you didn’t know what happens if we die here.”
“I don’t, not for you, at least,” she said. “I lied about the chess match but not the duel. Death had me beat, and as I bled out, I got him to agree to a double or nothing by throwing my soul into the pot. He was gracious enough to let me heal and said whenever I was ready, he’d welcome the rematch.”
Ethan balled a fist at his side and started cracking his knuckles as he turned her claim over in his head a few times. “Is that why you never wanted to fight?”
Zoey nodded. “It is. I can’t risk being hurt at all. Death by a thousand paper cuts is still a death.”
Though her story elicited sympathy from Ethan, in the end, he still couldn’t get over the fact that she’d been using him for her own gain, stabbing him in the back as she toyed with his emotions. All he’d wanted to do when coming here was to save his dog, Anne, and Zoey had practically cost him that already given how much time of his she’d wasted. “You shouldn’t have lied to me,” he said.
Zoey surged forward, the chains around her snapping tight with the distinct clink of metal on metal. “I know,” she said. “But no one around here would help me, a vampire at the mercy of anything and everything. Please understand, I was going to help you get your ship once I was whole again. I wasn’t trying to screw you out of that. I’m not that evil of a person.”
The Pirate (Captains & Cannons Book 1) Page 19
