A Mutiny in Time (Infinity Ring #1)

Sera felt the briefest disappointment that she’d probably never see the older boy again. She might have ended up liking him a lot — if only he weren’t stinky and could travel through time.

“All right, this is how it’s gonna happen,” Eyeball said to the group. “We’ll go wait right below the decks. The little pipsqueak Dak and I will climb up and watch for a signal that the Amancio brothers’ plan is in motion. Then we’ll all move in and rescue Captain Columbus. Easy as throwin’ dice.”

Sera felt like she had to question things one last time. “That’s really it? Our only plan is to fight our way through a bunch of grown men — brandishing weapons we can hardly hold, much less use?”

“Yep,” Eyeball responded with a grunt.

“Okay. Sounds good to me.” She gave him a smile — a sudden confidence had filled her, though she had no idea where it came from. From the Remnant? A feeling that someone loved her and believed in her — even if it was someone she’d never met? Maybe. Either way, she’d take it.

“Then follow me,” Eyeball said. He set off down the cramped hallway, and the Riffraff army went with him.



Sera could smell the salty air as they got closer, could feel the coolness of it. She didn’t care anymore if they had to fight with men twice her size — at least she’d be able to pull clean, crisp air into her lungs.

Eyeball stopped them at the foot of a steep, almost vertical wooden staircase that led up to the decks, then lined them up against the wall. Sera could see the stars through the hole at the top and she felt a rush of excitement. Dak was beside her, holding a curved sword that looked like it could chop heads off with ease.

“It’s called a scimitar,” he said. “Or it will be eventually, but they haven’t actually coined the term yet. It originated in the Middle East, where —”

“Not now,” Sera said. “Not now.”

“Okay.”

But his gaze didn’t drop from her eyes, and a lot was said between them in the next couple of seconds without a word being spoken. That they were best friends; that they’d been through a lot and were about to go through their worst. But they were together and that made everything all right. They could do this.

Eyeball had climbed up the stairs until his head disappeared past the threshold. After looking in all directions, he crouched back down and called for Dak to come with him.

“Good luck,” Sera said.

“Same to you. Remember, as soon as we know Columbus is safe, we need to get out of here. You be ready with that Ring.”

“I will. It’ll all be over soon.”

Dak grinned. “Until we move on to the second Break and have to start all over.”

“Right.”

“Boy!” Eyeball roared — as much as he could while whispering. Somehow he managed it. “Get up here!”

Dak gave one last nod to Sera then scrambled up the stairs, almost face-planting into Eyeball’s rear end before he realized how fast he was going. The two of them slipped into the night air and out of sight. A hush fell over everything.

Sera closed her eyes and enjoyed the clean feel of breathing the ocean air. She’d often heard people talk about the calm before the storm, and she finally knew what they’d meant. At any second, their world was going to explode into action.

Things began to happen.

There was a distant shout, the words impossible to make out. Then another. And another. A scuffling sound, then a bunch of voices at once, arguing. The ring of metal against metal. The quick bang of an explosion — someone had fired a musket. Sera had to restrain herself from sprinting up the stairs before their signal.

Suddenly the booming voice of Eyeball filled the air, turning her heart into a rattling alarm clock in her chest.

“Mutiny! Mutiny! Mutiny! Salvador and Raul are traitors! Rise up and fight!”

Dak’s head popped through the opening at the top of the staircase.

“Riffraffs! It’s time to fight!”





DAK SCOOTED away from the opening as his small army started charging up the stairs and onto the deck. He got to his feet and turned to stand beside Eyeball again. The decks of the ship had been stone silent with no movement only a minute earlier. Now it was utter chaos, people running all over, fighting with swords and shooting muskets — though only a couple of people had those and it took forever to reload them after one shot. This battle would be won or lost by steel.

The problem was that the Amancio-led guards outnumbered the sailors who’d been brave enough to accept Eyeball’s challenge to fight back. Hopefully the Riffraffs would turn that tide as they ran screaming in all directions, ready to distract those loyal to the Amancios while Eyeball took the fight to the brothers themselves. It was easy to see who was on whose side — the mutineers were big and strong with shiny weapons, while Dak’s side looked pathetic and unorganized, with mismatched weapons and tattered clothing.