“You said you’d never go back to Nassau alive,” Teach said.
“That was before I knew Webb would try to have me killed twice in one day. We have to go back. Do you think he’ll let me live with the information I have?” Easton asked. “He sent you to find me, that dirty bounder to kill me, and then he sent another ship to make everything and everyone disappear. Once he finds out I’m still alive, I’ll be a hunted man for the rest of my life, constantly looking over my shoulder. If the Fortune doesn’t return, he’ll know immediately that something is wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t already sent another ship after us.”
“But he thinks we’re dead. If we go back, he’ll know his plans failed,” Kitts said. This was the first time the soldier had voiced anything that remotely resembled insubordination. Perhaps he wasn’t so loyal to the Crown after all.
“Which is precisely why we need to go back. He’ll figure it out eventually, but if we strike now, we can catch him off guard. We have to take the fight to him.”
“That would be a suicide mission,” Kitts said.
Easton gave the soldier a patronizing smile. “If you were in charge, yes. You’d walk through his front door and announce yourself. But that’s not the way I fight.”
Kitts flushed a dark crimson. “We have to seriously think about this. We can’t just attack the governor of Nassau.”
“That’s exactly what we’ll do. And we’ll do it now. Remember, he tried to kill each and every one of us today. And he won’t lose a single night of sleep over it.” Easton stepped up to Reva at the same time that she whipped out a long dagger.
“I’m not going back,” she hissed. “I had to sleep in the belly of that ship for six days. Today was the first time I saw the sun since I left Nassau. When I go after Pelham, I plan to do it with a ship of my own.”
Wisely, the pirate moved on, motioning to Anne and Teach. “Webb’s holding your friends hostage until you take me back. So go back we shall. But we’ll make it worth our while. Webb is our true enemy. He can’t be allowed to continue destroying lives.”
“He’s right,” Anne said. “Webb has to be stopped.” She was grateful to Easton. He’d put into words exactly what she’d been feeling ever since she’d first met the governor and his wife. But she knew that as a woman, no one would have listened to her.
“We can’t all return on the Fortune,” Teach pointed out.
“Of course not. We’ll need some men to remain here and continue repairing the Killorn.”
“What about supplies?” Kitts asked.
John stepped forward. “The Fortune is well equipped. They took the supplies we had left on the Triumph and transported them before they went searching for you. But even if they hadn’t, it’s obvious Webb made sure they were well stocked.”
“Ah, yes, Webb mustn’t let his mercenaries starve, must he?” Easton muttered, his voice bitter.
“You were once one of his mercenaries,” Kitts pointed out.
Easton scowled at him as he held his arms wide, showing his emaciated form. “And we’ve seen how well that went.”
“We need to make haste,” Teach said. “We’ll leave enough supplies here for the men who stay and make sure we take enough with us to make the trip to Nassau and back. We won’t have time to resupply while we’re there.”
Excellent. Anne had been about to say the same thing. “The trip there should only take us five or six days, depending on the—”
“You’re not going,” Teach and Easton said simultaneously.
Anne scoffed at the two of them. “Why not?”
“Because it’s too dangerous.” A fierce frown cracked Teach’s face.
“You’ll be too much of a distraction. And it’s too dangerous,” Easton added, after catching Teach’s eye.
“This isn’t your decision to make. I have as much right as any of you to go after that man, especially after what he did to me and what his wife did to Beth. And those are my friends he’s holding hostage, not just your men.”
“I’m sorry, Anne. I understand how you must feel—”
“Don’t you dare pretend to know how I feel,” she ground out, her face flushing with heat. “This is as much my fight as it is yours.” The governor had threatened to sell her. Teach would never understand how that felt.
Teach’s mouth thinned, his expression thunderous, but surprisingly it was Kitts who spoke up next.
“He’s right. It’s too dangerous. You escaped Webb once, but if you go back, and he catches you, you will hang. Webb can’t be trusted.”
“If any of you go back and are caught, you’ll all hang,” Anne pointed out.
Easton shook his head. “We won’t get caught.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because we know how to fight,” Easton said, his voice unapologetic. “I meant what I said. You’ll be a distraction. A lovely one, but a distraction nonetheless. If you get caught, Teach wouldn’t hesitate to go after you, which could compromise all our lives. It’s too great a risk.”
“So you expect me to stay here with a bunch of strangers while you all sail off?”
“Reva has already said she’s staying,” Easton said. Reva looked as if she wanted to hurl her dagger in his direction. “And I’m sure the two of you will get along.”
“John and Benjamin will stay behind,” Teach said. “And some of the men from my crew. They’re fit and will be able to repair Easton’s ship faster. If I didn’t trust them, I wouldn’t leave you here.”
Frustrated, Anne looked to John for help. Surely he would make them see reason. But her friend only gave her a sympathetic smile, his mouth firmly shut.
Without another word she stalked off toward the captain’s cabin.
? ? ?
Three separate campfires lit up the night sky. The musky scent of smoke rose in lazy spirals toward the stars. From the windows in the captain’s cabin, Anne watched the men on the shore laughing together. Correction, the men and one woman. Reva sat comfortably on a log, her legs crossed in front of her. Since her men were excellent fighters and in good shape, several of them would sail back to Nassau as well.
In an effort to help some of Easton’s men gain strength, they’d slaughtered two of the pigs from the Fortune, and Anne’s stomach rumbled, the smell of roasted pork reaching her across the cay.
An overwhelming feeling of loneliness washed over her. Would she ever find a world in which she belonged?
“We’re ready to leave,” Teach said.
Anne maintained a stony silence. She hadn’t heard the cabin door open, but she didn’t turn around.
“Please don’t be like this.”
The scent of food had intensified. Teach had brought her something to eat, and Anne’s mouth began to water. His footsteps sounded on the wooden planks behind her, and the plate clanked on the desk as he set it down.
“I’m not sorry for leaving you behind. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”
“That’s unfortunate, because I won’t forgive you if you leave me behind.”