0615930492 by Matt Tomerlin

Author:Matt Tomerlin [Tomerlin, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction
Published: 2014-01-07T05:00:00+00:00

CALLOWAY

The fire sizzled and steamed as waves lapped at what little of Crusader’s keel remained above water. The sea around the ship churned and bubbled like a witch’s cauldron as the last pockets of air escaped from within. Plumes of smoke rose from holes in the hull, merging into a single column that was giant and black against the purpling early dawn sky, blotting out the swiftly fading stars.

Calloway hadn’t slept all night. Vane had forced her and Kate to watch the battle, commanding a lanky pirate with colored hair to make sure they didn’t flee to the hold or the shelter of a cabin. Two cannonballs and more than a few musket balls had come dangerously close, and Calloway wondered if Dillahunt had considered that he might kill her. He must not have cared. Or maybe that was exactly what he wanted. Not that it mattered now. It was unlikely he had survived the massacre. If her life meant so little to him, she saw no reason why his death should concern her.

Though she couldn’t muster much sorrow for Dillahunt, seeing the smoldering carcass of Crusader diminish into the sea tugged at her heart. Before sunrise, the ship would be gone, with no trace that it ever existed. She had called that ship home for over a month, and its crew had become an extended family of sorts. She had been through so much with them, including a prolonged stay in the brig. The best of Dillahunt’s men had not so long ago crewed as pirates under Benjamin Hornigold, before various mutinies confused the ranks. It didn’t matter where any of them had come from, no more than it mattered that she had come from a brothel. The important thing was they had found their rightful place for a time. Too short a time.

She fixated on a deep maroon cloud in the water, where one of Dillahunt’s men had tried to swim for safety, but he went the wrong direction and was quickly taken apart by Advance’s swivel guns. There were limb-sized chunks bobbing on the surface. She wondered who those body parts belonged to. One of her friends? Or maybe a random deckhand she had never bothered to get to know?

She was struck by a dreadful thought.

Was she looking at what remained of Bastion? Please, no, she silently prayed. But even if that wasn’t Bastion, there was no way he had survived the bombardment. She hoped he had died fast and painlessly. That was all she could hope for now. Bastion was a good man, and she couldn’t stay angry with him for spurning her advance. He was loyal to his captain to the end, for all the good it had done him.

Vane’s crew crammed every inch of the deck, and the wretched stink of sweat and grime invaded Calloway’s nostrils. They hungrily leered at the ruin of Crusader, licking their lips and twitching like starved animals. Their numbers had increased after longboats were sent to shore to

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