Easton crouched on the stairs between the gun and upper deck, a jubilant smile on his face. “Well done, lads! We live to see another day! The Triumph will plague us no more!”
Leaning forward, Teach saw the burning remains of the Triumph. Most of the ship had been blown apart, with only the stern remaining. The Triumph hadn’t stood a chance against two well-armed vessels.
Bounding toward the captain’s cabin, Teach found Anne where he’d left her. Benjamin sat on the table, holding a rag up to his ear and Anne stood by his side, a beautiful smile lighting her face. In two steps, he reached her. Mindful of her back, his lips met hers. Her arms went around his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair. His desire to be alone with her overwhelmed him in every way.
But someone gave a low whistle, reminding Teach that they were so very far from being alone.
Easing Anne away with a quiet murmur, Teach saw that Benjamin had turned his head politely. But Easton leaned against the door frame, a smile stretching his thin face.
“If that’s the prize you’re awarded, what will the real hero receive? Since it was my ship that saved us—”
Teach stepped forward, prepared to inflict bodily harm, but Anne stopped him, rounding on Easton. “Your reward is your life. If you make one more comment like that, I won’t stop him from coming after you. You might be entertained by your own wit, but the rest of us are not.”
Easton looked between the two of them. Something in Teach’s expression must have convinced him that Anne spoke the truth, for he gave them a brief nod. “All right, then. I’ll consider myself thanked. Shall we go up on deck and see where your men are?”
CHAPTER 35
Anne
Teach sent a skiff to shore, bringing Kitts and the rest of his men to the Killorn. Some of them were already collecting planks of wood that dotted the water’s surface from the destroyed Triumph. They could be used to repair Easton’s ship.
By the time John pulled up in a longboat, the deck of the pirate ship was teeming with men. Kitts, Easton, and Teach had formed some kind of uneasy truce, at least for the moment.
As John’s grinning face appeared over the railing, relief unfolded in Anne’s chest and she met his smile with one of her own. John had left the Fortune anchored out in the open water.
Striding toward Anne, John took her hands in his. “Happy to see me?”
Teach slapped John on the back, slightly harder than necessary. “Of course we are! But how did you get from the Triumph to the other ship?”
Kitts’s astonished voice cut through the celebration. “You’re a woman!”
Anne turned to see everyone staring at a slight figure wearing a hat pulled low. Reva’s dark brown hair was long and pulled back in multiple braids.
“Muy bien.” Shaking her head, Reva looked in Easton’s direction. “Are they all this intelligente, Easton?”
“Only the ones that survive. What are you doing here?”
“Saving your life, querido.”
Anne smiled at the expression on Easton’s face as he gaped at Reva. The girl certainly enjoyed surprising people.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
Reva gave Anne an exasperated look. “Los hombres,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“She means she is the reason we’re all still alive. After I took Anne and Benjamin ashore,” John said, purposefully avoiding Teach’s eyes, “I returned to the ship and saw the Fortune from a distance. I’d hoped that they would sail past, or if they did stop to offer help, we could simply tell them to move along. But when they arrived, they didn’t offer any warning, opening musket fire on our ship, and taking out two of ours before we knew what they were about. Their captain said that if we came without a fight, they’d let us live.”
Teach stiffened at Anne’s side, his hand tightening momentarily around hers.
“They took us to the Fortune and set off on the Triumph to catch you off guard. I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that Webb sent them after us,” John said.
“How do you know for sure?” Kitts asked.
“They were only too happy to tell us.” John gave Kitts a cold stare. “Apparently, Webb never planned for any of us to return to Nassau. Or anywhere else, for that matter. They were told not to leave any survivors.”
“I told you,” Easton said grimly. “Anyone who comes in contact with me and the information I have is considered a threat.”
Anne shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. “But how did you overtake their ship?”
“Reva and her men were already part of their crew. They were the ones left to guard us. They set us free and we sailed here as fast as we could.”
“Why were you part of the crew?” Easton demanded.
“And how did you hide the fact that you were a woman?” Anne asked, fascinated.
“Los hombres son estupidos. They only see what they want to see. The captain needed more sailors for the Fortune and I needed a way to leave Nassau and come after Easton. I slept during the day and kept to the crow’s nest during my watch at night.” Reva pointed a finger at the pirate. “You stole my ship.”
“No, I borrowed it.”
“I want it back.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“You sank the Maldicion?” Reva’s lips twisted into an ugly snarl as she let loose a string of Spanish curses, accompanied by rapid hand gestures.
The rest of the group was silent for a moment, watching her.
Anne chanced a glance at Kitts, trying to determine his thoughts. The governor whose orders he so blindly followed hadn’t thought twice about killing him.
Eventually Reva stopped, but she continued to glare in Easton’s direction. “I should never have trusted you.”
“I’ll find you another ship. I promise.”
Reva let her hands express what she thought of Easton’s pledge.
For the first time since he’d boarded the Killorn, John took a hard look at Easton. “Who’re you?” John asked.
“George Easton.”
“The pirate?”
“One and the same. And you are?”
Anne tried to smother a laugh at the shock on John’s face.
Teach grinned. “This is John Collins, my first mate.”
Easton gave a slight bow. “Well, John Collins, I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”
John raked his hand through his hair. Anne could practically see the wheels churning in his head. The pirate they’d been sent to capture had just greeted him as if they were at a simple dinner party. And he wasn’t in any form of restraints, even with Kitts standing right beside him. “We’ll explain later, John. First we have to decide what to do now.”
“We head back to Nassau.”
Every head turned in Easton’s direction.
“What? It’s our only option at the moment.” Although Easton’s voice was light, the look in his eyes was hard.