Perilous by Cari Z

Author:Cari Z [Z, Cari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: NineStar Press
Published: 2016-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Part Three

The searing pain in his hip drew him out of blessed unconsciousness and into brutal reality as the pliers dug into his flesh. Lieutenant Commander Thomas Williams, formerly in command of his Britannic Majesty’s ship, Perilous, opened his eyes and groaned hoarsely. The man wielding the pliers, small and sweating, glared fiercely at him and gave a mighty tug. Something within his body broke free. Tom screamed and fell back onto the cot beneath him, stars dancing before his eyes.

A rag soaked in alcohol was thrust at his wound, its burn merely one more shade of pain on the cluttered canvas of his body. After a few excruciating moments of rubbing and scraping, the rag was removed, and for a moment, Tom almost felt pleasure at the lack of pain. He looked down and saw the small man threading a needle and then glanced at his hip. The left side just below the point of the bone was a mass of torn flesh, and a deeper ache told him the bone was broken. His surgeon said something in French to him. Tom shook his head wearily.

The little man sighed in exasperation and then spoke. “Zees hurt.” He picked up a thick leather strap lying on the table next to the pallet. He thrust it between Tom’s teeth. “Bite.” Tom bit. The thick, curved needle pierced his flesh, and he mercifully fell back into unconsciousness.

*

The carriage was bumpy, and the motion of it was almost enough to make Tom ill. It wasn’t surprising, he told himself. Three months continually at sea in the blockade of Brest, then back ashore and into a carriage to London before he’d had a chance to get his land legs. That would make anyone ill. He looked over at his traveling companion, Captain Christopher Knightly. He looked worse than Tom felt.

Not on the surface. Outwardly he looked much as he always did. Captain Knightly was a tall man, slender and handsome, with fine features, skin tanned from the sun, and silky blond hair drawn back into a queue at the nape of his neck. His expression was calm, his posture relaxed. His dress uniform was immaculate. Percival, his steward, had outdone himself in keeping all his captain’s belongings in perfect condition. To most eyes, Captain Knightly made an elegant picture, another member of that old aristocratic family embodying their illustrious name. Tom knew better.

“Relax, Christopher,” he said softly.

The captain glanced at him sharply. Tom was a mere lieutenant, and under most circumstances, taking such a liberty with his address would have resulted in swift reprimand. However, circumstances between the two men were hardly normal. His captain smiled reluctantly. “Is it that obvious, Tom?”

“Not really.” Tom shrugged. “But it might help if you don’t think of this as going to a funeral.”

“It’s killing me in more ways than one,” Christopher retorted, staring morosely out the window. “Killing my career, killing my happiness, killing my freedom…”

“You look surprisingly healthy for a dead man.”

“You know what I meant, Tom,” he snapped.

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