When I roll over, Brus’s lifeless eyes look back at me.
Before I can react, the pirate grabs my leg and drags me away across the deck. All I can smell is blood. I’m not sure if it’s my own or what’s covering the deck.
Grabbing my sword in both hands, I heave my upper body forward and bring the blade crashing into the pirate’s arm.
He screams and lets go. I scramble to my feet, pulling my blade free. There’s a sickening thunk as the metal scrapes against bone.
His eyes go glassy, and he drops to his knees, cradling his wounded arm. His shirt is already drenched in blood by the time I surge past him.
I barely make it to where the grappling hooks, shaped like demon’s claws, hold the ships together when the man with the two Xs on his forehead appears, ripping off his skull mask.
“Surprise,” he says, his breath every bit as foul as the first time we met.
Memories of Thipps crashing onto the dock, of holding his lifeless body, flash before me. Without thinking, I launch myself at the man. A guttural roar rips through me.
He grabs my arms as he ducks away from my blade.
I try to kick him, but he moves easily out of the way, never breaking his grasp on my arms. My wrists burn as he twists them, trying to break my grip on my sword. He’s stronger than me, driving me backward. My back rams into the railing not far from one of the grappling hooks.
My grip begins to weaken.
He leans in, his eyes wild and gleaming. He’s enjoying this. “Bet you didn’t think we’d meet again,” he says.
“I could say the same thing,” a voice calls behind the man.
Phipps comes charging forward. He yanks the pirate away from me and tosses him to the deck.
“I . . . I killed you,” the man with the Xs stammers.
“Now it’s my turn to do it to you,” Phipps says. Before the pirate can get one of his knives free, Phipps rams his sword forward, straight into the man’s stomach. “This is for my brother.”
The man’s eyes go wide before he slumps down against the deck.
Phipps rips his sword out. There are tears in his eyes. He blinks them back and yells, “For Thipps,” as he runs back into the fray.
Another scream echoes his.
Hettie.
I climb onto the railing and make the short jump to Captain Skulls’s ship, which is nearly empty since all the men were trying to get to me on the Swanflight.
Another set of feet pound down behind me. I look up into the grinning face of Captain Skulls.
“Why, if it isn’t the golden girl in the flesh,” he says. Every step he takes toward me lasts a lifetime, his feet thudding loudly against the deck.
I edge backward. I breathe in deep, haggard gasps.
“I loved your trick with the sun. I wish I’d thought of it. I might have you do a repeat performance for all the towns we raid. Lagonia will fear you more than they do your father.”
I raise my sword. “Never.”
He stops mere inches from it. “Maybe this will change your tune.” He motions and Aris moves into my line of vision. He clutches Hettie in front of him. Captain Skulls smirks at me. “I made a little stop at the Island of Lost Souls just for you.”
“You’re the ugliest, vilest, most black-hearted, foul creature I’ve ever met,” Hettie spits at Aris as he yanks her forward. She’s lost her sword and has resorted to clawing at his arms.
But Hettie’s right. I can’t believe I ever thought Aris was attractive. His eyes are too calculating, his features too sharp. His smile isn’t kind; it’s cruel.
“Hello, Kora,” Aris says. “Did you miss me?”
“You disgust me,” I spit back.
“The same could be said of you,” he replies. “At least when you make me a very rich man, it will almost make all those times I had to touch you worth it.”
I swallow down his insults before they can affect my concentration. “I’ll never turn anything to gold for you.” I point my sword at him while Hettie continues her attempt to struggle free.
“Make her cooperate,” Captain Skulls snaps at Aris, nodding in my direction. “That’s why you’re here. You said you could control her.”
Control me? Anger burns through my veins at the thought.
“Put the sword down, Kora,” Aris says. “Now.” He presses his blade against Hettie’s skin. She stops struggling when a small trickle of blood appears. I gasp.
I want to think he won’t do it, but he will.
“Surrender,” Captain Skulls says.
I’m not taking any risks with Hettie’s life. For now, I’ll have to comply. “Fine,” I say. I drop the sword at my feet.
“Kick it over here.”
I do as he asks.
“Good. Now come over here nice and slow.”
A single cannon fires.
Wood explodes. The ship lurches beneath me, pulling away from the Swanflight, which can hopefully only mean one thing: the cannonball found its mark.
Captain Skulls lets out a frustrated cry and clenches his jaw, making his cheeks look even shallower.
Now I just have to get the gold before the ship sinks. But before I can go after the gold, I need to get Hettie back on the Swanflight.
I rip off one of my gloves and toss it onto the deck. “I’m going to turn you both to gold.”
Aris laughs. “We both know you haven’t absorbed any. If you had, you’d be a raving mess like when I found you on the dock after turning my friend to gold.”
“I’ve come a long way since then,” I say.
Captain Skulls’s eyes are even darker when they turn on me. “Not far enough,” he intones, motioning for me to cross the rest of the deck and join him.
“Let her go first,” I say. I need to get Hettie off the ship as quickly as possible.
“That’s not how this works.”
I shake my head. I need more time.
Before I can figure out what to do, someone blurs past me, tackling both Hettie and Aris to the deck.
It’s Royce.
Hettie rolls toward the other side of the ship as the men grapple with each other, and I rush to her side to help her stand, propping her against the railing. She looks unharmed.
A few paces away from us, Royce lands a punch to Aris’s jaw. Aris stumbles backward, wiping a smear of blood from his lip. Then he charges Royce, driving him backward until Royce crashes into the railing next to us.
Aris laughs, picking up the sword he’d dropped when Royce first attacked, and takes up a position a few feet from Captain Skulls. They have us all cornered against the railing.
None of us have weapons. I spot Royce’s sword across the deck where he must’ve lost it tackling Aris. Mine’s not too far away. But neither are close enough to reach before Captain Skulls or Aris run us through.
“This has always been how it would end,” Aris says to Royce.
“It’s not over yet,” Royce retorts.
Captain Skulls points his sword at us and smiles. “It is over. For two of you at least.”
“Wait,” I call, bringing his attention back to me. “I’ll go with you, but let them go.”
“The time for bargaining has expired,” Captain Skulls replies dryly.
“Then I’ll jump overboard right now.” I press against the railing. “I’ll never turn anything to gold for you, and all you’ll be left with is what you’ve stolen from my father. Gold that curses whoever possesses it,” I add for good measure, praying Captain Skulls is even a fraction as superstitious as his crew. But I don’t even care about his answer because a plan is starting to form in my mind.
Captain Skulls studies me. “If you come without any fuss, I’ll let her go free,” Captain Skulls finally says with a nod to Hettie. “But Royce needs to learn his lesson.”
“Fine,” I say before anyone else can speak.
“As soon as you walk over here, she’s free to go.”
I start forward.
Royce lunges forward. “Kora, no.” He
grabs my arm as I hoped he would. “He’s lying. He’s going to kill us all anyway.”
“You said I’d make a good leader.” I take a deep breath, preparing myself before gently grabbing his wrist and prying it away with my bare hand. I inhale sharply and let out a metallic-scented breath. “This is me leading.” My eyes plead with him to understand.
It’s clear he doesn’t; he stares at me in confusion. I pull away from him as quickly as I can and take slow, measured steps backward to make sure he doesn’t follow me, doesn’t reach out for me again.
“Don’t do this, Kora,” Hettie pleads.
“I have to. For all of us.” I turn away from them. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
“Take her below and chain her up until we take the Swanflight,” Captain Skulls says.
“With pleasure,” Aris says.
“No,” Royce cries, as I move forward and Aris grabs my hand to pull me below.
The instant Aris’s hand touches my bare skin, he turns to gold.
CHAPTER 28
I shiver as the last of the gold vanishes from my insides.
Someone lets out an audible gasp, and I turn back to face the others. Royce has his wrist raised, staring at his now brass cufflink. His eyes meet mine in amazement.
I quickly move toward my fallen sword. I swing around and aim the blade at Captain Skulls.
Royce leaps forward and picks up his, adding his strength to mine.
“Impressive,” Captain Skulls says. “For once, I’m glad all the rumors are true. Although, I would’ve enjoyed killing him myself and collecting his skull after he’d repaid his debt to me.”
“He’s not dead,” I say. “He’s trapped. Just like you will be until you can be brought to court.”
“Then your father can stay trapped in his curse too,” Captain Skulls says. He turns and heads straight for the door that leads below deck.
My mind snaps to the gold. He’s going to throw it overboard.
“The gold,” I say to Royce just as the ship shifts beneath us.
Royce and I crash against the railing, nearly landing on top of Hettie. I drop my sword to avoid stabbing her, and it rolls down the deck.
There’s a loud noise behind us. The statue that was Aris smashes through the railing and splashes into the sea.
It glimmers as the depths swallow it.
Shocked, I stare after him. I’d planned to set him free eventually, once he was handed over to the authorities. But now—now he’ll be stuck in a golden prison forever. Unable to escape. The thought makes my stomach twist, not out of guilt, but out of fear of that fate. I’m not sure even Aris deserves that for eternity.
“Come on,” Royce shouts, drawing my attention. He takes my hand and pulls me after Captain Skulls. “Hettie, find Rhat. Tell him to get the Swanflight clear.”
Hettie nods and dashes off, picking up my sword as she goes.
“Stay behind me,” Royce says as we move toward the stairs Captain Skulls took. “Which way’s the gold?”
I’m about to say it’s in Skulls’s cabin, where I’ve seen it so many times before. But that’s not where the aura is coming from. It’s pulsing lower in the ship. Much lower. “I think it’s in the hull. He’s moved it toward the bottom of the ship.”
I panic. What if it’s already underwater?
I stumble, but Royce’s grip keeps me upright. He pulls me through a hallway, and I expect each door we pass to be thrown open to reveal Captain Skulls. We climb down a set of stairs, weaving our way through the pirate ship. Royce is about to head down one more staircase when I stop him.
“There,” I say, pointing to a closed door. “That’s where the gold is.”
Without waiting for him to acknowledge my words, I throw open the door. It leads into the brig, and the room is dark except for two lanterns hung at the front of the room. Cells run along both walls. Down here, the water has risen to our ankles.
Once we’re inside, I catch glimpses of my father’s gold inside one of the cells. It’s shifted toward the back of the ship as it sinks and is buried under a pile of human skulls.
The ones tilted sideways look questioningly at me. Through me.
The ship moans and shifts. One skull rolls off the pile. It breaks in two with a sickening crunch.
Royce grabs the door to the cell and yanks several times. The metal clangs but doesn’t budge. He resorts to kicking the bars. Nothing happens.
“Looking for this?” Captain Skulls emerges like a ghost from the darkness at the end of the hallway. He dangles a large key by a string.
“Hand it over,” Royce says, raising his sword.
“The only way you’re entering that cell,” he says, looping the string over his neck, “is when you’re part of my collection.” He pulls out his sword, aiming it toward us.
Royce quickly moves forward in the crowded space. The walkway between the cells is barely large enough for one broad-shouldered man, but Captain Skulls meets his attack. Their swords clang against each other’s and the bars as they work to find space to maneuver. They lock blades, and Royce brings his elbow up, smashing it across Captain Skulls’s face.
Captain Skulls stumbles backward clutching his nose. Royce presses him farther back toward the shadows.
They’re past the cell where the gold is locked, so I rush forward. I examine the hinges, then kick them, hit them, and pull on them. The bars don’t move. I’m trying to pry them apart with my fingernails when I hear footsteps creep down the staircase outside the brig.
I panic. There’s nowhere to run. Royce and Captain Skulls are at my back, and I don’t have a weapon. But Royce’s coat is still within reach. If only I could touch his buttons without distracting him. I’m turning toward him when a figure appears in the doorway.
I leap backward, but it’s Hettie. She has my sword in one hand and a thin dagger in the other.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she says. “We’ve got most of Skulls’s crew beaten. There’s still some fighting, but we’re winning. Thanks to you turning Aris to gold, more men surrendered.” She takes in the scene in the brig. “Where’s your father’s gold? This thing is about to sink.”
I point to the locked cell. “Captain Skulls has the key.”
Her mouth hangs open. “The gold’s in there?”
I nod. I expect her to complain or run out screaming. But that was the old Hettie. The new Hettie shoots Royce a look, but I know the passageway is too narrow for her to even try helping him in a fight. She seems to decide the same.
“Move over.” She shoves me out of the way and kneels in front of the lock, jamming her dagger into the keyhole and wiggling it back and forth.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Remember how my father”—she shoves the dagger farther in—“posted soldiers outside my room to keep me from visiting you after you got turned back? This is why.”
Her words are breathless and distracted as she works. The blade scratches against the metal lock. “I’m used to doing it from the inside with a hairpin, but I should be able to get it.”
Grunts and swords slicing against metal echo from the other end of the room.
“Hurry, Hettie,” I plead.
“I know I make this look easy”—she scrunches her eyes together and stares into the lock—“but I’ve never seen a lock like this one before, and I can’t tell if the dagger is too big to reach all the way to the back.” She rams her shoulder forward.
Something clicks, and the door creaks open.
I ease into the cell, holding on to the bars. The floor slants straight toward the pile. And the only thing worse than sliding face-first into a pile of gold is sliding face-first into a pile of gold and human skulls.
“Let me do this,” Hettie says. “I’d really like you not to turn the ship to gold while I’m on it.” She breezes past me, letting the angle of the ship slide her right to the foot of the pile. She starts throwing skulls toward the edges of the cell.
She pu
lls the necklace and chalice out first and shoves those into her pockets; then she digs deeper into the pile.
“The pheasant,” I point, “it’s right there.”
“I know,” she says, still not picking it up. “What are the smaller objects? I want to get those in my pockets first since they’ll take longer to find.”
“Look for two coins. They’ll be the hardest.”
She starts mumbling about finding coins in a skull stack and about how she never thought her life would come to this.
I glance toward Royce. He’s holding his own against Skulls, but neither has gained any ground.
I risk closing my eyes.
This close to the gold, it’s easy to focus on just one object. I isolate a coin.
“Try that skull there,” I point to one toward the bottom of the pile.
Hettie picks it up. A coin rattles out of the hollow cavity. She shoves it in her pocket while I’m busy locating the next one.
I guide her toward the bottom middle of the pile. She secures the coin with the other.
Next, she hauls up the platter, which she balances between her hip and one hand. She continues digging with the other. She pulls out the rose and the pheasant next, stacking them on the tray.
“What else is there? I’m not sure how much more I can carry.” The platter slips against her hip under the weight of the pheasant.
I scan the items. “The tapestry,” which I can spot the end of, “and a knife.”
“I’m not sure I can carry the tapestry right now. Where’s the knife?” Hettie asks. She irreverently kicks skulls in every direction.
I close my eyes. My mind doesn’t go toward the pile. A small aura shines back in the shadows. Back where Captain Skulls is standing.
My eyes bolt open.
The ship jerks downward again, and Hettie nearly loses her grip on the platter. More water trickles through the doorway and along the floor. It pools against the skulls before continuing along the room.
“Get out of here,” Royce calls.
“Skulls has my father’s golden knife,” I cry.
“I’ll get it,” he says without breaking stride. “Go.”
“Kora, help me,” Hettie says. She’s struggling to make it up the incline while laden down with gold. I hold on to the bars and lean forward, grabbing her wrist. I steadily pull her forward.
A Touch of Gold Page 22