Corsair hit!
Corsair killed!
Narrator hadn’t finished his last announcement when the vampiric pair spun around and issued another combination attack of beat-and-thrust, this time Zoey knocking away the next pirate’s weapon as Ethan, operating in complete unison, stabbed the man through the gut, dropping him immediately.
Bonus attack!
Corsair hit!
Corsair killed!
Zoey, with a hold on Ethan’s forearm, spun the two of them around so that they now faced off with the last remaining pirate. The man, the one who’d come out from hiding last, backed away, sword and free hand raised defensively and a panicked look in his eyes.
Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, the sounds of two distinct gunshots filled the air.
Corsair hit!
Corsair hit!
Corsair killed!
Ethan straightened but kept his guard up. The pirate staggered forward with a pair of gaping holes in the middle of his chest. The man fell to his knees, then to all fours, then collapsed in a bloody heap.
“What the hell just happened?” Ethan asked.
Before Zoey could answer, a woman stepped out from behind the oak tree, wearing a pearl-white bodice with a black corset and form-fitting pants tucked into leather boots. She carried a smoking pistol in each hand and an impressed look upon her face. As she continued forward, eyeing the dead corsairs with a glint in her dark eyes, a long scimitar swayed off her hip.
“Never thought I’d see you again, Zoey,” she said, her refined voice sounding like it came from Eastern Europe or whatever the equivalent was in this world. “Dare I hope you came for me? Or is this just a chance meeting?”
Zoey nodded. “No, we came for you.”
“Thank God,” she said as she came close. The corner of the woman’s mouth drew back, ever so slight, as if the act of smiling came unnaturally—or maybe it was that she couldn’t quite bring herself to believe Zoey. “Do I get a hug?” she asked stiffly. “Given how we parted, I’d rather not assume.”
Zoey nodded again. “You can have a hug. I’m glad you’re still alive.”
“I’ve missed you,” she replied once she had Zoey wrapped in her arms. Zoey returned the embrace, albeit with obvious reluctance, and that reluctance didn’t go unnoticed. “And let me also say, thank God you shot first. I saw them heading your way, and I was worried I might not reach you in time.”
Zoey laughed. “Ha! As if I’d believe any of them were locals. Of course, I was going to shoot first.”
“How did you know that?” Ethan asked.
Zoey pulled away from the woman and pointed to Bill’s body. “See that tattoo with the flag and irons? It’s a slaver tat. His friends have them, too. That alone makes them shoot-on-sight worthy. I assume the only reason they didn’t shoot us first—or try and take us—is they were worried we actually had a few hundred troops nearby.”
“Ah, gotcha,” Ethan said. “Wonder if they have anything good.”
“Only one way to find out,” Zoey said. “But if they have any rings, don’t go putting them on right away like last time, yes?”
“You’re just saying that because I ended up with Maii,” Ethan said as he searched the fallen corsairs. He didn’t come up with anything exciting, but even splitting the coin, he was happy with his share. Narrator, as always, gave the rundown.
You have taken six shillings!
You have taken the pistol!
You have taken powder and shot!
“Your pistol is much better than his,” Zoey said.
“I know,” Ethan said as he adjusted the new weapon’s place in his waistband. “But I figure we might need to sell it at New Port Royal. I’d take the swords, too, for the same reason, but I have a feeling walking around with all of those attached to my body would be awkward.”
“Fair enough,” Zoey replied with a nod.
The woman cleared her throat. “Care to introduce me to your new pet?”
“Right, sorry,” Zoey replied. “Katryna, Ethan. Ethan, Katryna.”
“And I’m not a pet,” Ethan tacked on.
Katryna raised an eyebrow, and Zoey confirmed. “He’s not.”
“Then who is—” Katryna cut herself off as she sized the two up for a moment. “Oh. I see. Well, I’m happy for you, Zoey. I imagine he’s quite skilled, then, if he’s the pick of your crew.”
“He’s the captain, actually,” she said.
“And you’re looking at the crew,” Ethan finished.
“The crew, as in, she’s part of it?”
“The crew, as in, all of it,” Ethan replied.
Katryna’s jaw dropped. “Tell me you’re joking. Tell me you’ve got a full battalion of marines on board.”
Ethan shook his head, though he wished he didn’t have to. “Afraid not.”
“That’s insane,” she said. “How did you even get the ship sailing?”
“Very carefully,” Ethan replied. “We were hoping to find a crew here.”
The woman pressed her lips together and frowned. “This world, I swear, always trying to plant a pig on me.”
Ethan furrowed his brow. “What?”
“Plant a pig,” she repeated. “It means to cause trouble and play dirty tricks. You come here with a ship and get my hopes up—but have no crew.” The woman sighed and shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. We will work with what we have, yes? But we best be moving fast in the meantime.”
“Why?” he asked. “What’s going on?”
Katryna started walking and motioned for them to follow. “I’ll catch you up on the way to the others,” she said. “Hopefully, we’ll be long gone before the corsairs realize they’re missing their friends.”
Chapter Five
Marcus
“The corsairs raided the town a couple of months ago,” Katryna said as she blazed a trail through the jungle with Ethan and Zoey following close behind. “In under an hour, they had all of the survivors in chains.”
“Damn. That was fast, but they’ve got to be more than simple slavers,” Ethan said. “Why are they still here?”
Katryna glanced over her shoulder and nodded. “They are. They sank our ships, took Lenada’s shore guns, and erected a fort on the other side of the island. It doubles as a labor camp.”
“A labor camp? For what?”
“They’re digging for something,” she said. “What, I’m not sure. A few others and I escaped the carnage by pure luck. I didn’t exactly run up and ask what they were doing.”
“That dig must be why they faked the quarantine,” Zoey said. “Whatever they’re after must be insanely valuable.”
“How many of them are there?” Ethan asked.
Katryna shrugged. “Couple hundred, give or take a few dozen.”
“Did Marcus escape?”
“He did. We’re going to his place, in fact.”
“His place?”
“He built a spot hidden away, far from town,” she explained. “To work on his ‘art’ without having to listen to people complain about the noise. Or smell.”
Ethan barely caught that last part, for his stomach rumbled, signaling the impending return of that invisible, ravenous monster who’d made a home in his gut. It wasn’t the first time it had made such a noise during their trek, but it was the loudest. It rumbled so loudly, in fact, that Katryna stopped and turned around.
“Skip breakfast?” she asked.
“No,” Ethan said, setting his jaw and trying to push his pangs away. It wasn’t easy, and he wondered how much longer he’d be able to do it before he lost his mind. “I guess I didn’t get enough, is all.”
Zoey grimaced, her hand clutching her midsection, and leaned against a tall, thin rubber tree. “You and me both,” she said.
Katryna joined the vampire. With one hand, she took Zoey by the shoulder, and with the other, she offered her wrist. “Here. This will help.”
> Zoey pushed her arm away and shook her head. “We’ll catch something later,” she said. “I get the feeling you’ll need your strength.”
Katryna offered her wrist again. “And you need yours. You look like a squeezed lemon.”
The exchange went on, and as it did, Ethan felt his teeth sharpen and his mouth water. His feet carried him forward with a will of their own, and his eyes never left the gentle curve of Katryna’s soft neck.
Katryna turned and shot him an incredulous look. “Down, tiger.”
Her words were short and sharp enough that Ethan regained his self-control. “Say again?”
“I said, ‘down tiger,’” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “Look, I don’t know what fantasies you’re entertaining when it comes to the three of us, but we’re stopping that right now. We are not peas in a pod, so stop gawking at me and drooling like we are.”
Ethan blew out a puff of air and laughed. The tone in his voice grew dark, and as he sized Katryna up, memories of his first night with Zoey ran through his mind. “Katryna, can I be honest for a moment?”
The woman rested her hand on the pommel of her scimitar. “If you like, but I can’t promise you’ll keep your tongue.”
“You look absolutely delicious.”
Katryna opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, Ethan lunged.
“No! Don’t!” Zoey yelled, dashing forward. She managed to underhook one of her arms in Ethan’s shoulder and used it to hip-toss him to the ground.
The move caught Ethan by surprise, but it didn’t stop him. He slipped from her grasp and tried to drive forward again, but Zoey pounced on his back. Ethan flattened out on the ground. He reached out with his hands and used them to claw forward, dying to sink his fangs into human flesh.
“I just need a little,” he growled, pulling himself and Zoey along. “A liter at the most.”
“No, Ethan. Now’s not the time,” Zoey shot back. As he continued to argue and struggle, Zoey slipped one arm around his neck from behind and soon got him into a rear-naked choke.
Ethan kept going with all he had. The gnawing in his gut demanded nothing less. His throat felt scratchy and dry, and Katryna’s heart tempted him to such a degree that any siren would be jealous.
A few seconds later, his fingers tingled, and goosebumps formed across his skin. His vision dimmed, and then oblivion took him.
The next thing Ethan knew, he was lying on his back, staring up at a jungle canopy as two women stood over him. His hunger pangs were gone, and it took him a few seconds to realize who they were, but he had it figured out by the time Katryna spoke.
“Wow,” Katryna said, eyes wide. “Wasn’t expecting that. I guess that explains why he was drooling over me. Is he part of your coven, or did you two meet somewhere else?”
Ethan perked at her question, realizing he didn’t know a lot about how vamps worked in this world. “You’re part of a coven? That’s actually a thing here?”
“We met back in Bartigua,” she said.
At first, Katryna didn’t react, but after she studied him for a few seconds, a little resentment showed on her face. “Ethan, how old of a vampire are you?”
“A few days,” he answered, taking to his feet.
Katryna arched her eyebrows. “A few days? Who turned you?”
“I’m afraid that’s on a need-to-know basis,” Ethan said, figuring it best for all involved not to name names.
His ruse, a poor one admittedly, didn’t last half a moment. Katryna slowly turned her head to Zoey with a deadpan look upon her face. “I can’t believe you did that.”
Zoey groaned and rolled her eyes. “Look, it’s nothing personal—”
“Of course, it’s personal,” Katryna interrupted, throwing her hands up in the air. “How could it not be? We were like drops of water together. At the very least, tell me you two have a long history together. Known since diapers, yes?”
Zoey balked.
“He’s a noob you don’t even know?” she said with a huff of disdain.
Ethan crossed his arms. “I am not a noob.”
“Oh yeah? When did you get here, then?”
“A while back.”
“So, a week ago,” she said with a smirk. “Two, tops.”
Zoey sighed and rubbed her temples. “Please stop. You’re going to make me regret ever coming here,” she said. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?”
“I wish you would, because it’s the truth.”
“Fine. Whatever,” Katryna said. “But you know what? I’m not jealous at all. Why would I be? I mean, I’ve only been in the game three times as long as you, made sure you didn’t die when hunters came looking for you, and now you’re telling me you wasted the best gift you could give anyone on a complete noob.”
“Ahem,” Ethan said, puffing his chest. “As I said before, I’m not a noob.”
“Sure, you aren’t,” she said. “Let me see your character sheet.”
Ethan stepped back, feeling put on the defensive. “Let me see yours.”
Katryna reached into her bodice and whipped out a neatly folded piece of paper. Keeping it clamped between two fingers, she flipped it out toward him. “Be my guest.”
Ethan warily took the paper, unfolded it, and read aloud. “Name, Katryna. Race, human. Class, swashbuckler. Strength, fourteen. Endurance, fifteen. Intelligence, ten. Charisma, eleven. Reflex, fourteen. Luck, nine. That doesn’t seem all that special.”
“Keep going.”
So, he did, but not for much longer. He stopped when he saw her level and skills and whistled. “Thirty-four? Holy crap, and a master at Swordplay?”
“Among other things,” she said. A smirk formed across her face. “Going by your look of astonishment, I’m going to stand by my original point: you’re a noob. You don’t have to show me yours.”
“Yeah, well, could a noob kill a lich?” he countered.
Katryna shook her head and grinned. “No, but a noob would lie about it.”
“He’s not lying,” Zoey interjected.
“He’s not?”
“No.”
“Not only did I kill a lich, but I saved Zoey’s life in the process,” Ethan said, feeling smug as he puffed his chest. “Impressed?”
Katryna’s mouth hung open for a few seconds before she seemed to realize she needed to say something. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“Maybe,” she repeated. “Question for you, though, while I’m thinking about it.”
“Shoot.”
“Why are you here?”
“Playing against Azrael,” Ethan replied as he handed back her character sheet. “I’m assuming you know about him.”
“I do,” she answered. “That’s why most come. Who are you playing for?”
“Anne,” he replied.
“Wife? Girlfriend? Kid?”
Ethan shook his head. “She’s my dog.”
Katryna stiffened as if she’d been belted across the face with a leather strap. “Your dog?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re risking your life for a dog.”
“Yeah,” Ethan said again, this time feeling annoyed. “I love my dog.”
“Your life, I guess,” she said with a shrug before turning to Zoey. “Did you know this?”
“I did,” Zoey replied. “I think it’s sweet.”
“I think it’s dumb,” Katryna said. “Don’t get me wrong, pets are nice, but hardly something I’d risk my soul for. Not sure I like the idea of following someone like that.”
Ethan, feeling himself start to seethe, shot the swashbuckler a glare. “Who are you playing for, then?”
“No one.”
“No one,” Ethan tutted with disbelief. “Then why are you here?”
“I won a game at the fair—back when I could go,” she said. “This is my prize. To live in this world as long
as I like, which as far as I’m concerned, will be forever.”
“Forever? Like, forever, forever? Like never see your friends and family again, forever?” he asked.
Katryna’s face hardened as she popped her knuckles and her eyebrows knitted together. “Exactly like that.”
“Well, okay,” Ethan said, not sure what to make of her reaction. At that point, his stomach growled, and he hunched as his gut tightened. “I’m really going to need a bite soon,” he said.
“We’ve got snares set not far from here,” Katryna replied. “Hope you like rabbit.”
Ethan didn’t know if he did or not, but since Katryna wasn’t on the menu and she hadn’t offered him a rat, he decided he’d give it a go. Thankfully, they didn’t have to go far. Ten minutes later, they reached the first snare, which had a seven-pound rabbit alive and kicking. Two minutes after that, Ethan decided rabbit was a step up from rat, but Katryna probably would’ve tasted better.
Ethan shuddered at that last thought, no doubt the result of what humanity he still had left in him.
Post-snack, Katryna led them through the jungle at a brisk pace. When two hours had nearly passed, they reached a secluded thirty-foot waterfall with a small, crystal-clear basin. Giant red cedars lined the perimeter. Strangler figs wrapped about half of the trees, and between them all, oil palms grew by the dozen.
The air held a refreshing, almost magical feel to it, and tiny golden fish darted around the water, while a few emerald-green parrots sat perched above, divvying their attention between the fish below and the newcomers to their side. All the place needed, as far as Ethan was concerned, was a large hammock to climb in.
“Damn, this is incredible,” Ethan said as he took it all in.
“It’s definitely one of the island’s hidden gems,” Katryna said, carrying on.
Ethan could only nod in agreement as she led them around the left-hand side of the pool. He took care not to lose his footing on the few slippery spots of rock Katryna pointed out along the way. When she reached the side of the waterfall, she took a couple of handholds on the rock face, and once her feet found what little purchase was available, she started to shimmy across.
The Crew (Captains & Cannons Book 2) Page 4