by Merry Farmer
“Help!” she screamed at the closed door across from her. “Help!” She’d never once cried out for help when a man insisted on taking what he wanted from her. As vulnerable as it made her, it also emboldened her. If Albert or any of his crew was near, they would hear her. Albert would come to her aid. She didn’t have to struggle alone. “Help!”
Lord William pushed her upper back, forcing her to bend severely over the edge of the rope. She braced herself for the inevitable, screwing up her face and holding her breath. But as Lord William adjusted his stance behind her, the door flew open with a bang.
“What are you doing?”
Domenica’s heart caught in her throat in shock. It wasn’t Albert who had come to her rescue. Instead, none other than Polly stood in the doorway. She gaped at the scene in front of her with what looked like a mix of jealousy and horror.
“Get out,” Lord William snapped at her. “This is none of your business.”
Rather than backing down, like Domenica was certain the mousy maid would do, she marched into the room, around the side of the coil of rope, and pushed Lord William’s shoulders, sending him reeling backward. “We don’t have time for this,” she shouted at him. “The fires have already been lit. There’s no time to lose.”
“You were supposed to wait for me,” Lord William growled.
Domenica was finally able to twist away from him, despite her shaking, and to crouch in a defensive position. Lord William fastened his pants with an irritated grimace.
“Come on,” Polly ordered him. “We have to get out of here.”
“Give me a minute,” he hissed back. He grabbed Polly’s shoulder, spun her toward the door, and pushed her out.
Domenica was certain he would come at her again. She scrambled back, searching for anything she could use as a weapon, but there was little in the room besides thick coils of rope. “Stay away from me,” she said, baring her teeth to Lord William.
The only hint that things wouldn’t go badly for her was that Lord William didn’t shut the storage cabin door. He glanced out at the deck, then rounded on her.
“Well, my dear,” he said with a glib smile. “We’ll have to continue this delightful encounter some other time.” He peered out the door again as if searching for something. “And I was so looking forward to giving you exactly what you deserve.”
He was distracted, looking for a way to leave while still putting her down, she was sure.
“You’re a criminal and a disgrace,” she spat back at him.
He snapped to look at her with wide eyes. “And you’re nothing but a cheap whore. You always were, and you always will be.”
She didn’t expect the words to feel like such a blow, but they left her staggering as Lord William gave up and dashed out of the cabin. Domenica stumbled forward a step before sagging to sit on the edge of the coil. She felt as though he’d punched her in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her, and, Lord help her, she burst into tears.
Her insides writhed in misery as she sobbed. She had never let herself cry over her fate before, never accepted the defeat that inevitably came with a life of selling her body. Plenty of men had called her a whore and put her down before, but she’d ignored it. Or had she? It felt as though every one of those insults had broken through the wall she’d built around her heart to hit her at the same time. She wept over each insult and degradation. And through it all, the only thing she could think was what Albert must think of her.
As if her broken heart had summoned him, Albert dashed into the doorway. He paused there for a moment, lit in sharp relief by the lantern, wide-eyed and panting.
“Domenica, thank God.”
She dragged her gaze up to meet his, unable to stop her tears from flowing. How could he even stand to look at her when she was such a mess.
But instead of leaving her, as soon as she showed him her tear-stained face, he let out a strangled breath and ran to her, scooping her into his arms.
“What did he do to you?” he demanded, holding her tight and stroking her face and hair. “I’ll kill him, I swear.”
Domenica gasped and swallowed. “He didn’t follow through with it.” There was no use pretending to be shy about what Lord William had wanted. “Polly interrupted.”
“You mean Amy.”
The comment was so odd that Domenica’s tears stopped. Still in his arms, she leaned back to frown at him. “Who?”
Albert wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. “Her name isn’t Polly. I caught up with Lewis, and he told me what he knew. She’s a murderess named Amy Orvis. I don’t know how she and William became connected, but she tried to shoot Lewis the night of the card game.”
Domenica’s heart had been racing since Lord William dragged her out of the dining room, but it took on a whole new thump of urgency. “That’s…that’s unbelievable.” She licked her lips and swallowed, fighting to regain her composure. “We have to go after them and stop them.”
“I don’t care about them,” Albert said, still brushing his thumbs over her cheeks. He leaned in to kiss her, as if he needed that to be sure she was all right. “All I care about is you.”
It was as if her soul suddenly burst through into her body in a shower of heat and light. And on the tail of the rush of happiness, everything within her withered. She pushed out of his arms, moving past him and into the freezing air of night.
“What is it?” Albert followed her, trying to take her in his arms again.
“Lord William is right. I will always be a whore,” she said.
Albert made a furious sound. “Don’t believe a word that bastard says. He wouldn’t know a good woman if she was standing right in front of him, which she was.”
Her heart ached for Albert, but she still teetered on the edge of doubt. “I made my living as a whore. I went to your bed without a second thought. Does that not make me a whore?”
“What does it make me that I wanted you—that I still want you—even though I’ve known your past from the start?” he asked.
Domenica’s face heated. “It makes you a man.”
“And am I the same sort of man as William? Did I take advantage of you only to quench my own thirst?”
The flash of genuine concern in his eyes chipped away at the mess Lord William had left her with. “No,” she said. “You are not the same as him, mi capitán. Not even a little bit.” She took a step closer to him. “You are a man among men.”
“I am a man who wants you,” he said, closing the distance between them and taking her into his arms. “I want you now and forever. I want you always. Stay with me.”
The beauty of those words was so overwhelming that Domenica couldn’t breathe. They were everything that she’d longed to hear and far more than she’d dreamed would be possible. But reality wasn’t through with her yet.
“You will not be able to keep who I am, what I was, a secret,” she said, staring hard into his eyes, unwilling to let him skirt around this reality. “The world you belong to in London, the same world Lady Patterson belongs to, will not accept me. They will treat me just as Lord William has.”
“I’d like to see them try,” Albert growled.
“They will try,” she told him, shaking her head. “You can’t escape that. Why, not more than a month ago, you transported my friend Ellie and her noble husband to America because there was no way Lord Henry’s society would accept the marriage. I can’t divide you from your friends and family that way.”
To her surprise, Albert laughed. “Have you noticed nothing on this voyage? My ship is my society. My crew are my friends and family.” He shifted his hold, bringing her body flush with his. “We could spend our whole lives on the sea, between worlds, never having to be a part of anything other than the reality we create for ourselves. We can make our own rules, and damn anyone who would tell us otherwise.”
“Oh, Albert.” Tears flooded her eyes again, but for an entirely different reason. Her heart had never felt so full, and even though a part of
her remained suspicious of the beautiful life he was painting for her, she forced those old, demon voices into submission. “I love you,” she said.
“And I love you, my darling,” he said.
She lifted to her toes to kiss him as he bent to kiss her. They met in the middle with enough passion to light up the night and ignite the water around them. Domenica had never felt so relieved in her life, and even though part of her continued to whisper words of doubt, she was determined to put her trust in her capitán. The fire between them burned too hot to quench.
The fire.
Fire.
Domenica pulled back, sniffing the air. It wasn’t her imagination. She smelled smoke. The glow that she’d imagined seeing was real as well, deep and orange at the far end of the ship. A moment later, a scream split through the freezing night.
Polly’s words suddenly took on new, real meaning. The fires had been lit. The woman hadn’t been speaking metaphorically. The ship was on fire.
CHAPTER 9
T here were dozens of scents on a ship at full steam that could produce a burning smell, but the panic that suddenly came to Domenica’s eyes had Albert instantly ruling out anything usual. He sniffed the air, and his pulse shot up. It wasn’t a coal fire. Other things were burning.
“Come on.” He grabbed Domenica’s hand, and the two of them dashed toward the center of the ship. Domenica’s panic vanished, replaced by determination. That, at least, was a comfort.
But comfort didn’t last long. As they ran along the side of the ship, the water glowed orange in more than one place. Which meant the fire was not only blazing large enough to be seen through portholes on the lower decks of the ship, it was burning in more than one place.
“Captain!” Renshaw’s shout caused Albert to skid to a stop before they reached the door leading to the dining room and other public staterooms. “The ship’s on fire.”
“I know,” Albert snapped in reply. “Evacuate the passengers at once.”
“Aye-aye, captain.” But before Renshaw left to do as he’d been ordered, he added, “Three fires were reported at once by crewmen patrolling the ship, keeping an eye out for Lewis. One was put out, but two others were discovered. They all smelled of petrol.”
Albert clenched his jaw in fury. The fires had been deliberately set.
“Polly,” Domenica said, confirming his thoughts. “She told Lord William that the fires had been set.”
Albert nodded to her, then turned to Renshaw. “Evacuate the guests. Put out the fires if you can.”
“Aye-aye, captain.” Renshaw turned and bolted down the side of the ship.
“We have to help people to the lifeboats,” Domenica said, jumping ahead of Albert toward the door leading inside the ship.
She was blocked from going inside by a stream of panicked passengers in their fancy ball gowns and suits. Most were merely frightened, searching the decks desperately for the lifeboats. Some were already in hysterics, even though the deck looked as normal as it did any other night. That wouldn’t last long.
“There are more than enough places in the lifeboats for everyone,” Albert shouted as more and more people rushed out onto the deck. Frustrating as it was, the best he could do was lead them down the side of the ship to where some of the small craft were fastened. “We are not in danger yet, so if you would kindly stay calm, my crew will make sure each and every one of you is secure.”
He spotted half a dozen of his crewmen edging their way through the growing crowd. The way they jumped into action, tugging off the tarps that covered the lifeboats and working on the ropes that secured them made Albert proud. But there would be time for pride later.
“We have to go back to the ball room,” Domenica said. “Not everyone may be so quick to abandon the ship. They might even go back to their cabins to fetch their belongings.”
Albert winced over the truth of her statement and took Domenica’s hand once more. The last thing they needed was for frightened passengers to go deeper into the ship to pack their bags. They still didn’t know the extent of the fire or where it was blazing.
He tried squeezing past the steady flow of passengers pouring out onto the deck, but in no time, it became clear that they wouldn’t be able to get through that way.
“Over there.” He switched directions, nodding to a narrow alley between two storage cabins. There was a chance they could get through on the other side of the ship.
But the scene was the same on the port side as it was on the starboard. Passengers were pushing their way out of almost every door, heading for the lifeboats. Albert frowned and did his best to weave through them without knocking into anyone, but it was nearly impossible.
“There are more lifeboats at the far—”
He stopped as he glanced along the ship toward the bow. There, silhouetted in the glow of a fire burning below the line of the deck, were a man and a woman climbing into a lifeboat by themselves. Unlike the other lifeboats, theirs had already been uncovered, and was ready to be lowered into the sea.
“It’s them,” he growled, picking up his pace.
“Who?” Domenica asked. But even before the single syllable was out of her mouth, she saw. “No!” She picked up her skirts and dashed ahead of Albert. “I won’t let them get away with this.”
Albert hurried along behind her. As soon as they were past the crush of fleeing passengers, they broke into a run. He sailed past her, but they were too late to stop William and Polly, or Amy or whatever her true name was, before their lifeboat was away from the ship.
“You bastard!” Albert shouted. “You won’t get away with this.”
William didn’t answer. He barely acknowledged Albert’s shout.
“Don’t let them get away!” Domenica cried out to the night, too much despair in her voice. “They can’t get away.”
“Don’t worry.”
Albert spun back to the ship. Lewis and a few other men from his crew were racing to the lifeboat next to the berth where William’s boat had been attached.
“I will not let those two get away,” Lewis vowed. Even in the darkness, Albert could see the bitter determination in Lewis’s eyes.
“Be careful,” Albert told his friend, slapping him on his shoulder.
Domenica had already jumped into action, helping the crewmen uncover and untie the lifeboat. Albert loaned his strength to the efforts, helping as best he could when Lewis lowered the boat to the water. As soon as the men were away, oars in hand, rowing to catch up with William and Polly, Albert pushed away from the rail and searched for how they could help next.
A loud boom sounded from deep in the ship, followed by a shudder and the groan of steel ripping apart. The passengers who were now scattered around the deck, loading into lifeboats screamed. Worse still, a flash of orange and gold lit the night sky on the other side of the ship.
Grief tore through Albert, as unexpected as it was powerful. He pushed a hand through his hair. His ship. His home for the past decade. The thing he had loved most in the world. She was going down.
But it was Domenica who shouted, “No, no!” and shot off toward the explosion.
“Domenica, wait!” Albert called, chasing after her.
He didn’t catch her before she dodged her way into the now terrified passengers scrambling toward lifeboats. The first dozen or so boats had made it away from the ship in an orderly fashion, but now people were scrambling over each other, screaming and clawing their way to whichever boat was nearest.
“There are plenty of lifeboats,” Albert shouted above the din, still trying to catch Domenica. Was she trying to get herself killed by racing toward what was clearly a blaze that had broken through the deck at the stern? “There is room for everyone. No need to panic.”
He wasn’t sure he believed himself. Most of the passengers had every reason to be terrified. It was dark, the air and the water were freezing, and the ship was on fire. And still, Domenica pushed against the flood of people, rushing toward danger.
The only thing that kept Albert from throwing people out of his way in order to reach her was when she wedged her way past a panicked family from steerage to duck back inside of the ship. She wasn’t running for the fire after all.
“Make sure women and children, all women and children, get aboard a lifeboat first,” Albert called to one of his crewmen directing passengers toward empty lifeboats.
“Aye-aye, Captain.” The man nodded, reaching out for the mother of a steerage family.
Albert trusted his crew to do their job and squeezed his way through the doorway after Domenica. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or worse, but the hallway seemed stiflingly hot. At least it was less crowded than he imagined it would be. With any luck, that meant most of the passengers had already made it out onto the decks and were loading into lifeboats.
“Domenica!” Albert called, finally able to move fast enough to catch up to her. “Are you mad? You need to get into a lifeboat.”
Domenica stopped long enough to turn to him, shaking her head. “Lady Patterson. I didn’t see her on deck or in any of the lifeboats. She can’t move very fast, and in this crowd….”
She didn’t need to finish. Albert reached the same conclusion that Domenica must have reached on deck. A panicked crowd would, in all likelihood, push past a frail, old woman, leaving her to fend for herself.
They hurried on, turning a corner and rushing down a small set of stairs to the corridor that led to the dining room. As they went, they passed Bourne running in the opposite direction.
“Captain!” Bourne skidded to a stop, panting. He was drenched with sweat and had smudges of soot on his face. “One of the fires reached the aft engine room. The whole thing blew.”
“The explosion,” Domenica gasped.
Bourne nodded, and before Albert could ask, he went on with, “Five crew lost. But the blast was contained. Mr. Milton has had us clearing the decks from the hold up.”