Pirates of the Angui (Cipher's Kiss Book 1): A Scottish Highlander Time Travel Romance

by Heather Walker

  “Wheesht, Miss,” he exclaimed, fixing his gaze at the wooden decking. “Dinnae say so.”

  “It’s true,” she replied. “Do you really think he’d keep you around all this time if he didn’t? Admit it. He has a soft spot for you that he doesn’t have for anybody else.”

  The smile evaporated off his face. “He doesnae have a soft spot for anyone. Believe me.”

  “He told me he doesn’t give his heart to anybody because he doesn’t want to watch them grow old and die,” Ree told him. “He must think a lot of you if he went to the trouble of taking you in and protecting you.”

  Duncan shook his head. Now it was his turn to stare out to sea. “He couldnae care about me, no’ the way he cares about his own kind. I’m naught but a cabin boy to him.”

  “I would be willing to bet a lot of money that’s not the case,” she countered, placing a soft hand on the boy’s back.

  “I would give anything—anything!—to be one of them,” he murmured. “It’ll never be, though. I’ll grow old and die while all me comrades stay young and healthy. It’s a cruel trick the Almighty played on me when he brought me here. I would have rather starved on the streets of Dundee than ever kenned what I was missing.”

  Ree studied his profile. She gazed beyond his filthy clothes and long, stringy brown hair, at the vulnerable boy standing next to her. How many of his age, boys and teens, had been lured into Ned’s crew through aspirations of immortality? If Ned and his friends succeeded in finding the Cipher’s Kiss, would they ever consider using it on anyone other than the women they selected to be their mates? What would become of the frail humans who had helped them?

  Why would the Angui share the elixir of immortality with humanity when they could rise to become a global superpower again and keep humans as slaves, the way they had before? Could Ree get on board with that? Could she help save the Angui from destruction, even knowing what would happen?

  Duncan shook himself out of his reverie. “I must tell him something, Miss, and I cannae tell him ye come and go as ye please. It’s out of the question. Ye must come now, Miss. Ye must.”

  “All right, Duncan,” she replied. “You can tell him I’m on my way. Just answer one question for me.”

  “What is it, Miss?”

  He turned his innocent young eyes to her face and waited in breathless anticipation to hear what she had to say.

  The question died on her lips as she read the answer in his eyes, plain as day. He would serve these Lewises all his life, for good or ill. He knew exactly what they were and what they were capable of. He probably knew the whole story of how the Falisa turned against them, and he didn’t care. He served the Angui with all his heart and soul, and he wouldn’t be the only one.

  Ree knew enough history to see the pattern repeat itself. The Gunns rebelled against their immortal overlords, but they were one race out of dozens. Others had probably served the Angui as gods. They considered themselves honored to serve and slave for the beings they worshiped above all else. Some of these races probably competed amongst themselves for the privilege of serving. They would do the same thing again if the immortals ever regained power.

  Who was right and who was wrong? The immortals were right to defend their existence and even their supremacy over humans. The Gunns were right to attack them and try to annihilate them. Ree saw both sides of the coin the same way she saw Ned and Malcolm pitted against each other.

  She knew she had to pick a side if she ever wanted to get back to her own time, and she definitely needed the protection of one over the other. She could throw her life behind either movement, but not both. She had to choose the lesser of two evils, so she could find her way home, while staying alive in the meantime. And she’d already made that decision when she fought Malcolm off.

  The reality hit her like a ton of bricks. Ned and his people might not be as impeccably good as she might like to hope. No one was. She had to help the Angui, not because they were immortal and not because she believed their movement was more right than the Falisa’s. She had to help the Angui for Ned’s sake. He’d won her heart when he first laid eyes on her leg, both here and in the future. He’d looked on it as some kind of marvel and hadn’t cringed or recoiled. No one had ever made her feel that way. She’d never seen herself as worthy of being loved because of her damn false leg. She was damaged goods. But Ned valued her because of it. That’s just the kind of guy he was.

  She woke from her trance to find Duncan still standing there, staring up at her as he waited for her to say something. She shook her head and smiled. “Never mind, and you don’t have to tell him I’m coming. I’ll go see him now.”

  She walked around the boy and headed to the cabin. All around her, men were busy at work, scrubbing the deck, adjusting the sails. Some were whistling, others singing vulgar songs. Ree did her best to ignore their ogling as she made it to Ned’s cabin.

  She entered to find Ned sitting at his desk, his eyes dark with thunder. On seeing her, he shot up from his seat. “Where have ye been?” he snapped. “Gilias tells me Malcolm attacked ye and tried to kill ye. Is that true?”

  She lowered her head. “It’s true,” she replied in a soft voice, meeting his stare once again. “I guess I’ll have some bruises on my neck tomorrow. I got too close to his cell, and he reacted. I made a mistake. I won’t make it again.”

  Ned jammed his hands into his hips and leaned in toward her. “Ye made a mistake going to see him alone,” he fired back. “Ye should have taken me with you, or Gilias, or anybody.”

  “You don’t have to freak out about it. Gilias came in time. Nothing happened.”

  “Are ye out of yer mind?” He barked, rounding on her with a purposeful stride. “That foul-mouthed scum put his hands around yer neck to kill ye. I’ll flay him for that and dump his offal over the side.”

  Ree’s eyes widened. “Leave him alone,” she yelped. “Isn’t it enough you keep him locked up in that pit of yours? What do you plan to do with him, anyway? You said he’s more valuable to you alive than dead. What are you going to do—trade him to the Gunns for some concession? No, don’t answer that. I don’t even want to know what lunatic plan you come up with.”

  Ned glared down at her. “The Gunns prize him above all others,” he said in a neutral tone. “He’s their chief strategist against us. They’ll trade for him, if I ken anything about them.”

  “What will you trade for?”

  Ned flipped a hand in the air. “I dinnae ken,” he replied. “Perhaps I’ll trade for some information on the Cipher’s Kiss.”

  Ree stopped in the act of formulating a biting comeback and cocked her head to peer at him. “What would they know that you don’t already?”

  “They’ve been tracking it as long as we have, but they’ve made more progress. That’s why they’re here in Scotland. It must be here.”

  “I thought they were here to stop you.”

  “It’s the same thing,” he replied. “They wouldnae come to Scotland if the Cipher’s Kiss wasnae here. That’s why we came, to find it before they did.”

  Her curiosity got the better of her, and she forgot her anger. “Tell me what you know about it.”

  “I dinnae ken aught about it. It’s a potion. That’s all I ken.”

  Ree started pacing around the room. “I wish I knew what was in it.”

  Duncan burst into the cabin without knocking.

  Ned and Ree spun around.

  Duncan looked back and forth between them with wild eyes. “The bilge—it’s flooded. The hull’s breached. We’re taking on water fast!”

  Chapter 11

  Ned whipped around and jabbed his forefinger in Ree’s face. “Stay here! Dinnae budge from this cabin until I come for ye.”

  He raced away with Duncan before she could answer and exploded onto the companionway amid men running every which way. He shouted to be heard above the noise, “Where’s the breach?”

  “I dinnae ken,” Duncan called back. “I dinnae think anyone
kens where it is, but it must be on the lowest deck. There’s already two feet of water in the cargo hold.”

  Ned skidded to a stop and spun around to face him. He clapped Duncan on the shoulders and said, “That’s it, lad!”

  “What’s it?” Duncan asked.

  Ned whipped around the other way and set off at a fast clip. “The brig, lad. He’s sunk us, the rotten sod.”

  “Sir?” Duncan asked, giving chase.

  “Get above, lad, and be quick! Get Ben down here as quick as ye can and tell him to bring Noah Kelly with him. He’s the best swimmer we’ve got. If I’m wrong, we’ll need a decent man to swim down the hold to find the leak. If I’m right, we’ll need all hands down below to repair it before it floods the ship and sinks her. No more questions, lad. Go!”

  Duncan gave him a fervent nod before racing off for the upper deck to find Gilias. Ned marched toward the stairs to the deck below, rolling up his sleeves. All the men ran the other direction, away from the incoming water, but Ned paid no attention. His mind seethed in a dozen directions at once.

  He made it down to the cargo hold and found the situation worse than Duncan had let on. The door to the brig was wide open. Water gushed through, filling the room up to waist height. Ned didn’t waste a second. He stepped down into the freezing water, pushing his way through swirling eddies and floating supplies toward the brig. One glance through the open door and he saw that he was right. A massive hole gaped in the bow planks behind the brig cell, half-submerged in the sea. Water poured through the hole in bursts with the sway of the ship, breaking the daylight shining through.

  Ned took one look around and confirmed his worst suspicions. Malcolm Gunn was gone. He’d broken a hole in the hull and escaped, leaving the ship to sink.

  Ned cursed Malcolm under his breath, but he didn’t have time to think about that now. He pushed into the brig against the tide. He paddled his way to the cell door just as Gilias and two other men appeared at the stairs with Duncan.

  Gilias glanced around. “Blazes! I swear I only left him for an instant. I went to get his supper, the rat!”

  “Never ye mind that. Get down here!” Give me the keys.” Ned held out his hand, and Gilias tossed them across. Ned caught them and bent over the lock. “Get above, Duncan. Get at least five stout lads down here with boards and hammer and nails to seal the breach. Hurry!”

  Duncan raced away.

  Ned fumbled with the keys, then had to slow himself down. If he dropped them in this deluge, the whole boat would go down. He steadied his hands and fitted the key in the lock. He hauled the door open, cramming the keys into his sporran, and pushed into the cell against the torrent of water coming through the hole. A gang of men appeared on the stairs and plunged in, forming a fire brigade handing long boards into the cell.

  Ned struggled to the breach, the water threatening to knock him over as it pummeled against his chest. He couldn’t hear himself think over the shouts and churning thunder of water. He took his place at one side of the breach, and Gilias handed him one end of a board from the other side. Ned held it in place at the top of the hole while Gilias nailed it in place. Two more men worked beneath them to nail boards across the hole as fast as they could go.

  Ned moved to the next board down. The rushing water carried the weight of the ocean, stopping the men from being able to steady the boards long enough to nail them down. Ned and Gilias saw at the same instant what they needed to do. They leaned all their weight against the boards while water thundered on their heads and shoulders.

  Ned shuddered under the pounding impact, but he had to hold firm. They had to seal this breach before everyone on board drowned. They got one board at a time into place. Every section they sealed made the catastrophic pressure stronger coming through the thinner gap remaining. The last three boards took five men to hold in place until they drove home the last nail.

  Ned collapsed against the hull to catch his breath. Gilias clapped him on the shoulder. One by one, the men swam out of the brig, through the cargo hold, and to the upper deck.

  Ned leaned against the cell door opening for a moment before he followed them. He had to get his thoughts in order before he faced his men. Malcolm Gunn had won this round, and now he was gone. Ned couldn’t begin to imagine how he’d breached a hull eight inches thick.

  At last he composed himself enough to wade out of the brig. The crew had already set up another fire brigade to bail out the water. Now that the news had spread about the breach being sealed, the men could throw their energy into the work. They would clean up the ship, and everything would go on as before.

  Ned passed his friends, dragging his weary limbs across the deck. He staggered to the cabin and shut the door behind him before his legs gave out. He crumpled on the floor in a heap.

  Ree rushed to his side and tried to pick him up. “Oh, my goodness! Are you all right? What happened? Is the ship all right?”

  “Leave me be, woman,” he muttered. “The ship’s all right, but we’ll need to put into dock and get the breach repaired before we go out again.”

  She tugged at his clothes. “You’re soaked through. Get these off before you catch your death of cold.”

  “I told ye, lass,” he replied. “I cannae die of cold. Drowning, yes. Cold, no.”

  “Stop arguing,” she snapped. “Get up here and quit wallowing on the floor. You’re scaring me.”

  He let her help him up and lead him to the bed. Her hands flew all over as she unbuttoned his shirt. She got his shirt unbuttoned and pulled it over his head, then let it drop in a soggy pile on the floor. She took hold of his belt and started pulling at it.

  Ned froze. Was she really going to do this?

  Ree tugged his belt loose but stopped before she had it from around him. Her eyes darted to Ned’s face, and her eyebrows flew up.

  For a fraction of a second, Ned gazed into her eyes alight with breathless excitement as he caught his kilt just before it fell to the floor.

  Ree flushed scarlet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Never ye mind, lass. I can undress meself without a woman’s help, I hope.” He turned away to his closet and took out a fresh shirt. Standing between the small wardrobe and his bed, he slipped the shirt over his head, and the tails covered him down to the middle of his thighs. Then he let his kilt go and stepped out of it.

  Ree froze in shock. Her eyes widened as a jolt of embarrassment mixed equally with excitement shot through her. She watched him towel off his hair, radiating bewitched amazement, then she lowered her eyes to the floor. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

  “Dinnae apologize, lass. Ye tried to help me, and I appreciate that. I’m just exhausted. I need to rest.”

  He flung himself on the bed and tossed a wool blanket over his legs. The instant he closed his eyes, the realization of how close to losing his ship and crew, his very life, and hers, rushed over him. He let out a ragged breath and threw his arm over his eyes.

  “Ned?” she asked.

  “Aye, lass?”

  “Is anyone…is anyone dead out there?”

  “No, lass,” he replied. “No one’s dead, but that harpy Malcolm Gunn escaped.”

  “Escaped!” she said wide-eyed.

  “Aye. He almost killed us all doing it too. He’s got a few tricks up his sleeve, that one does. I wouldnae wager he’s back on Lewis as we speak, cooking up a scheme to come after us again before we make port. That would be just charming if he did.”

  Ree sank down on the bed next to him, bumping against his leg. He looked out from under his arm, to find her staring in blank shock at the wall in front of her. She rocked slightly and mouthed the words in breathless whispers. “He’s not going to stop is he? It’s me he wants. He won’t quit until he recaptures me. That’s it. I have to go back. I have to turn myself in to him. I can’t be responsible for any more deaths.”

  “Ye’re not going anywhere, lass,” he told her. “I’ll no’ turn ye over to him or any of the Gunns. Y
e didnae blow a hole in me hull, did ye? Of course not. Ye couldnae have. Only a devil like him could do something like that.”

  “You don’t understand,” she cried. “I saw his face. He has his sights set on retaking me. He’ll come back with the merchantman, and he’ll attack you while you’re weak. He’ll sink this ship, and you’ll all go down. What will happen then? We can’t allow that to happen.”

  She tried to stand up, but Ned grabbed her arm and pulled her down. He realized too late he’d used too much force. She banged down next to him, her head whipping around to stare at him.

  Ned let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, lass. I didnae mean to frighten ye. There’s no need to worry. I won’t let a dog like Malcolm Gunn sink me ship. And I sure as blazes won’t let him take ye.”

  Their eyes locked. He held a sincere gaze on her until the fright in her eyes calmed.

  “Ye’re safe here for the moment,” he told her, placing a comforting hand on her arm, “and we can get into port before they find us.”

  “How?” she asked. “How can you outrun them with your hull damaged?”

  “That’s for me to deal with,” he replied. “Ye’re here, and ye’ll stay here until I find a safer place for ye, and it winnae be the Isle of Lewis.”

  She blinked at him, then her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “Wheesht, lass,” he murmured. “Ye’ve seen a mite of action these last few days. Ye have the right to fall apart now. Look at me. I’m flat on me back in bed in the middle of the watch. What would me men say if they could see me now?”

  She opened her mouth to say something, but her lips quivered. With great effort, she pressed them together to hold back a rush of tears.

  Ned saw it coming and pulled her down on top of him. Her head hit his chest, and he closed her in his arms. “Wheesht, lassie,” he whispered. “It’s all right. Ye’re no’ going anywhere as long as I have something to say about it.”