Ethan’s eyes lost focus, and he ended up staring at a seam in the floorboards as he tried to figure out what was going on. It only took him a second. His heart stopped, and one single word barely escaped his lips.
“Zoey.”
Chapter Nineteen
The Chase
The bed was empty.
Ethan stood at the foot with lantern in hand, and he stared at the spot where he’d left Zoey. He stayed there for only a moment before sweeping the room with the light and racing out.
“Zoey? Maii?” he called.
Muffled curses and threats of death for screeching at this ungodly hour answered him from multiple rooms, but he didn’t care. He ran to the end of the hall, calling for them both before bolting downstairs and into the tavern.
Shadows draped the large room, with the only sources of light being the moon filtering in through a few of the windows and the warm glow cast by dying coals in the fireplace. In front of said fireplace slept the cook, a burly man whose hairs on his head numbered exactly nine. He was propped up in a large wooden chair, snoring loudly as his massive belly rose and fell. Maii lay curled up at his side.
“Maii!” Ethan shouted, running over to him. He nailed his shin on a stool in the process, nearly falling flat on his face, but stayed upright by catching himself on the table. “Maii, wake up!”
The jackal shot into the air, and his head snapped back and forth as he took in his surroundings.
“Maii, where’s Zoey?”
Maii tilted his head but didn’t answer.
“Damn it to hell, Maii,” he said. “She’s not in the room anymore. Just tell me.”
“Ethan? I don’t think he can talk,” Alice said from behind, concern in her voice.
Ethan spun around to see the two girls standing on the first step to the second floor, huddled together. “He…I know,” he said, realizing it was probably in both his and Maii’s best interest not to draw attention to the fact that Maii wasn’t an ordinary thing. “I treat him like anyone else,” he said. “I get a little carried away sometimes.”
Ethan then sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly. “Okay, do either of you know if that guy got a room?” he asked.
“Your friend?” Katherine asked. “No, I don’t think so.”
“He’s not my friend, but I’m pretty sure he has my friend.”
“But why?” asked Alice.
“I don’t know!” Ethan said, throwing his hands up in the air out of frustration. “He was watching Zoey all night, and he obviously paid you two to distract me. Now she’s gone, and he’s not here. What else could it be?”
Alice, face full of fear, covered her nose and mouth with her hands.
Katherine put an arm around her shoulders and spoke softly. “We didn’t know. Honest.”
“Ugh,” Ethan said. “You two, check the rooms. I’ll check the kitchen and basement.”
“You want us to go into the guest rooms?” Alice asked.
Ethan narrowed his eyes and drew his pistol. “If you don’t, I will,” he said. “I’m not going to stop looking for her until I know she’s safe.”
Alice nodded, but before anyone could move, Katherine shook her head. “She’s not here,” she said, pointing to the door. “The bar on the door is off.”
Ethan spun and brought the lantern up to see. Sure enough, the thick beam that was used to secure the tavern at night had been placed to the side. Furthermore, the door itself was open a crack.
“Crap,” Ethan muttered.
Before he knew it, he stood in the dirty streets with a light rain drizzling on his head and Maii a few paces away sniffing the air.
“God, I hope you’re a good tracker,” Ethan said.
If there ever was the perfect embodiment of are-you-freaking-kidding-me, it wouldn’t have been found anywhere but with the look Maii shot him.
“Right, nose and all,” Ethan said with a huff. “Can we stop the dramatic looks now?”
The jackal nodded and bobbed his head down the street to their left before breaking into a light trot. Ethan quickly followed, his shoes thumping hard against the cobblestone. As he ran, the rain fell harder, and an ocean wind swept through the town, bringing with it the smell of salt and…and what was that? Ethan wrinkled his nose and ended up gagging. Something rotten.
A glance to Maii showed he wasn’t imagining the horrific odor, for the jackal had his eyes tightly shut and was shaking his head in a vain effort to be rid of the smell. “By a witch’s cold tit, that’s the most putrid thing I’ve ever been witness to,” Maii said with a low growl.
“What is it?”
“Dead whale, I think,” Maii replied. “Myriden only likes eating their hearts and ends up leaving the rest. Usually, whatever’s left gets eaten by scavengers and sharks, but sometimes they wash up nearby and stink up the place.”
“Ugh,” Ethan said, trying to shake the image of a bloated, decaying whale corpse from his mind. “Does that mean it’s near the docks?”
“Probably,” Maii said. “Or washed up on one of the barrier islands nearby.”
“But you can still track Zoey, though, right?”
“Yes,” Maii replied. “She went this way, or rather, rode this way with a couple of horses. Probably in a wagon.”
“Rode?”
Maii sniffed the air again and wrinkled his nose. “If I have to do this much more, I’m going to stick my snout in dung to be rid of this smell,” he said. “She’s with the man who was watching her back at the tavern.”
“Damn it,” Ethan muttered, shaking his head. “I was afraid of that. All the more reason to find her quickly.”
“What do you plan on doing once we find her?”
“Assuming he’s taken her?”
Maii nodded.
“Kill him.”
“That’s cold,” Maii said with a surprisingly approving tone. “Not going to even offer a chance for parley? Or an arrest and proper trial?”
“He kidnapped Zoey,” Ethan growled. “He’ll be lucky that’s all I do to him.”
“Why, Master Ethan,” the jackal said. “I do believe I’m getting to like this side of you. May I be so bold to ask what brought it on?”
Ethan paused at the unexpected question. He wasn’t sure how to answer it at first, but it didn’t take much honesty with himself to find the answer. “I’m her white knight. I’ve never been that before.”
“Her what?”
Ethan shook his head. “It’s nothing. It’s just a stupid thing to be where I come from,” he said. He then snickered at himself. “Hell, half the time it’s a bad thing to be called that.”
“I see,” Maii said, even though Ethan was sure he didn’t.
“Look, it all comes down to this,” Ethan said. “She trusted me to keep her safe, and no girl has ever actually asked that of me. Not seriously, anyway, and definitely not in a life-or-death situation, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to make sure she’s safe, which includes killing the dude who ever thought he could get away with taking her in the first place.”
Maii flashed a devilish grin. “Afterward, can I eat him?”
“Absolutely,” Ethan said, feeling his body temperature rise. “And if he’s broken even one strand of hair on the top of her head, I want you to do it slowly, while he’s still alive.”
“Now, that is the kind of thing I like to hear my master say,” Maii said.
The jackal went back to his tracking, and Ethan closely followed. They passed through the narrow streets of Weynock with greater speed than before. Ethan wasn’t sure if that was due to Maii being sure of the trail now or if he was trying to act quickly before it was washed away thanks to the rain. Either way, the faster pace gave Ethan hope they’d reach her before any one of a thousand nightmare scenarios unfolded that were plaguing his mind.
Who the hell kidnapped a vampire, anyway? Did he know who she was? Or was he simply some sick creep looking to drag a woman off to have his way with her? Ethan had no i
dea, but in the end, he didn’t care either. He was completely serious when he answered Maii. The only thing he planned on doing was putting a bullet straight through the man’s heart.
Five minutes or so came and went, and Ethan was now thoroughly drenched thanks to the rain that had become a torrential downpour. His clothes chafed his skin, and water streamed into his eyes, causing him to wipe them clear time and again. Lightning streaked through the sky at regular intervals with thunderous claps that were so loud they’d easily silence any cannon. With them, at least, they brought flashes of light that helped illuminate the way.
“I’m coming, Zoey,” he muttered. “Hang in there.”
The two rounded a bend in the road and quickly found themselves at the guardhouse that led to the town’s docks. Huddled inside the stone walls, taking refuge from the storm, were three guards, seated around a small table with mugs and playing cards in hand.
They almost didn’t notice him.
Almost.
Ethan was a couple of steps away from slipping by when the guard closest to the door happened to look over and jump to his feet. The man, a boy of seventeen years at best, really, came running out, sword in hand.
“You there!” he said. “Halt!”
Ethan did, reluctantly. He didn’t have time for this, but he also knew he had to handle this encounter perfectly, and perfectly definitely didn’t include entertaining the idea of running. “Is something the matter?”
“It’s past curfew!” the guard said. “What business do you have at this hour?”
Ethan balked at first, unsure of what to say or do. Thankfully, he quickly realized if he didn’t respond at all, he’d get to know the stockades faster than a mutinous crew would get to know the hangman’s rope. So he did the only thing that came to him. He went on the offense. “You dare question me?” he shot back, hoping he could throw whatever luck he had regenerated since his fight with Barnaby into whatever fast-talk skills the world had, assuming it had any.
The guard faltered but ultimately didn’t back down. “Who are you?” he asked. “And I best be seeing some sort of papers to identify you with.”
The two guards in the guardhouse took to their feet. They didn’t approach, but one did call out. “Anything the matter?”
“That’s what I’m determining,” the guard in front of Ethan replied, glancing over his shoulder. “Now, you best be answering me, sir.”
Ethan had no idea who was important, let alone what he could say to impersonate them. But he did realize one thing: money was a universal language. With one hand, he held up a finger, bidding the guard wait, and with the other, he reached into his coin purse and pulled out a crown. “I was never here,” he said. “Understand?”
The guard’s eyes went wide at the offer, but the young man quickly recomposed himself. “It’s a high crime to bribe a guard,” he said, voice low and eyes filled with greed. “I could take you in right now. Then I’d have your whole purse.”
Ethan swallowed reflexively and tried his best to keep calm. He couldn’t back down now from the bribe, and he knew he’d have a hard time beating this guard in a fight, given his own inexperience. He definitely wouldn’t best three of them. Ethan did the only smart thing he could think of that tapped into his gambling skills. Or maybe a dumb thing. He doubled down.
“You could,” Ethan replied. “But if I’m willing to toss a crown at you, think about how much I could toss to others to bury you, even if you did try and stick me in prison.”
The guard shifted his stance uneasily, no doubt trying to decide whether or not Ethan was bluffing.
“Look, lad,” Ethan said, hoping he could get away with such language, despite the fact that he wasn’t much older. “A man came through here on a horse with a woman. No one is going to stop me from getting to her. Now, you can stand in my way and face the consequences, or you can tell me where he was headed, and if it checks out, I’ll even pay you a second crown for making my job easier.”
That got the guard’s attention. The young man straightened and glanced over his shoulder to his comrades, who were casually watching. Apparently, the rain was enough of a deterrent to keep them inside for now. “How do I know you’re not a wanted man or up to no good?”
“If I were, do you think I’d stroll right by?” Ethan replied.
“No.”
“Exactly,” Ethan said. “Now, be smart. Take the crown and tell me what I want to know.”
You feel a little bit more deceitful.
Startled at Narrator’s voice, Ethan jerked back. Thankfully, the guard was already glancing over his shoulder to see what the others were doing before turning around and snatching the coin from Ethan’s hand and pocketing it.
“Jacob Linden passed by not even ten minutes ago,” he said. “Had a lady with him. Said she was sleepy, but I know what a drunk looks like. I take it he’s the one you’re after?”
Ethan nodded. It took all his self-control not to show his building anger, but he managed. “He is.”
“He’s got a small cutter tied up at the end of the third pier,” he said, motioning out to the docks. “You’ll find him there.”
Ethan tipped his head at the young man. “You have all my utmost gratitude, good sir,” he said. “I’ll be back with your crown shortly.”
With that, Ethan took off toward the docks, Maii at his side. At first, he simply broke into a light trot, but once he was a dozen yards away from the guardhouse, and the man who’d stopped him had returned to his post, he broke into a full sprint and didn’t stop running as fast as he could until he’d reached that third pier and had traveled nearly to its end.
Tied to the pier maybe twenty yards away, a fifty-foot single-mast ship with a handful of small deck guns rocked in choppy waters. All of its sails were furled, but thanks to the lanterns carried by its crew—a total of three, by Ethan’s count—and the illumination by the still-constant flashes of lightning, Ethan could see that preparations for launch were being made despite the stormy weather.
“Harrison!” one called to the other. “Go round up the crew!”
“Aye! On my way!”
With that, the three on the ship became two as one of the men hopped off and hurried by Ethan without giving him a second glance.
“I don’t think we have a lot of time,” Ethan said.
“I’d say you’re quite right about that,” Maii replied. “Do you have a plan?”
Ethan drew his sword and nodded toward the ship. “Board the ship. Kill the bad guys. Save the girl before a dozen more show up.”
“I like it,” Maii replied, grinning with enthusiasm.
Ethan, not expecting the energy in the response, straightened. “You do? Thanks.”
“Brave. Straightforward. Completely stupid,” the jackal said, bobbing his head with each point. “Possibly more stupid than you trying to bribe the guard back there.”
“I did bribe the guard back there.”
“True, but you were incredibly lucky the other two didn’t notice and demand in on the bribery action.”
“Maybe you missed it, but I’m a lucky kind of guy,” Ethan said, puffing his chest.
“If you say, Master Eight INT,” Maii said, grinning. “I just hope they toss your body on the docks and not overboard into the water. I don’t like my snacks marinated in brine.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at the jackal. “Don’t call me that.”
“Little too close to home?” he asked. “Look, you might get the drop on one, and I emphasize the word might. But you’re hardly the swashbuckler, now, are you? These men are seasoned, and there could be more below deck we don’t know about.”
“Maybe, but in a few minutes, we’re going to have a lot more to worry about,” Ethan said.
“Then I suggest you think of a better plan, quickly.”
Ethan grumbled to himself, and then some more when he realized that Maii was right. He was being rash and stupid, both of which had nearly gotten him killed with B
arnaby. That said, as hard as he tried to come up with an idea that could work, all that he succeeded in doing was giving himself a headache. He was about to ask for any suggestions when he saw one of the men disappear below deck, leaving the other alone near the bow of the ship.
“Now’s our chance,” Ethan said. “Can you distract that one long enough for me to sneak up on him?”
“And how would you like me to do that?”
“I don’t know,” Ethan said. “Just be you. Mess with his head.”
“As you wish,” Maii replied before darting off.
Ethan waited a few seconds for the jackal to get ahead before following. He tried to be as quiet and sneaky as he could in his approach of the ship, and he felt that the storm did a fantastic job in keeping him hidden.
Right as he got to the ship and stepped aboard, Maii darted in front of the man’s view at the very bow and sat. At first, Ethan wasn’t sure what the jackal’s plan was, but it soon became apparent. Tiny blue flames erupted across his fur, softly illuminating him in light and giving him a magical appearance.
The man still on deck, with a wood belaying pin in hand, stared blankly at the jackal, unmoving as the rain pelted his face, and Maii swayed gently with the natural rocking of the boat.
Realizing he didn’t have long, Ethan moved toward him as fast as he dared. A couple paces away, the man spun around unexpectedly. At that moment, Ethan realized what had given him away: his lantern. Oddly enough, or perhaps luckily enough, that same light was what let Ethan react first as the man spent a moment shielding his weathered eyes with one hand.
Free attack!
Narrator’s voice barely registered in Ethan’s mind as he struck the man across the face with the hilt of his cutlass.
Mercenary lightly wounded!
Mercenary stunned!
The man staggered backward, and Ethan seized the moment. He leaped forward and smashed the sailor once more across the cheek with a right cross that sent him spinning, and then struck again, hitting him square in the back of the head.
The Pirate (Captains & Cannons Book 1) Page 18