Chapter 9
T he shock paralyzed me. As the half-open cabin door swung open, Nathan stepped in front of me.
Over his shoulder, I spotted Isaac’s first mercenary, the man everyone called Biller-Miller-The-Killer .
My heart started racing. His broad face still seemed as hard as a mask of steel, almost emotionless.
With a Glock in his hand, he came across the porch toward us, aiming alternately at Rayk and Nathan.
For a moment, I only saw the matte black muzzle, but then sounds penetrated my consciousness.
Footsteps, rustling. I looked around in panic and spotted Maury, the man with the scar across his cheek and nose who had hit me and restrained me on the Agamemnon.
He was standing to the left of the cabin.
To the right, a dark-haired man with a ponytail whose name I didn’t know suddenly appeared.
They’re here. They’re all here . My field of vision shrank as if I were looking through binoculars backward. Something creaked and I instinctively glanced in that direction.
For many seconds, I forgot how to breathe.
Isaac leaned in the doorway before slowly strolling across the porch as if savoring his entrance.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, little lady.
” His smile was triumphant and victorious, his bright eyes filled with a covetous, possessive flicker.
I had never been aware of their color. If someone had asked, I wouldn’t have been able to say—but now I noticed them.
Shiny topaz, like autumn leaves; like my grandfather’s eyes.
Amber eyes. “Next time you might want to be more careful where you undress,” he said now, lifting my black frilly pants, which he was holding in his hand at eye level.
“Or where you leave your clothes lying around. Noah recognized them immediately, so we knew you were here a short while ago.”
I shook my head defensively. He had almost reached us and Nathan stretched his arms out to the side to give him more room to attack even though we both knew it was futile. “Leave her alone! We called the police. They’ll be here soon.”
“Liar.” Isaac’s smile faded and his aristocratic face showed a demonic shadow as if his innermost being was pushing outward. Turning to his men, he said, “Knock him unconscious. He must not follow us under any circumstances.”
The horror of those words stilled something in my mind, the sounds seemingly muffled by powdered snow.
Isaac didn’t even give Nathan the chance to defend himself.
I had no idea where all the men had suddenly come from, whether they had all hidden behind the hut or were lurking in the bushes.
In my silent, frozen state, I recognized Taurus, Mykonos, and Apollo.
And naturally, Isaac’s remaining soldiers, whom he had brought with him onto the cutter.
Three of them grabbed Nathan, dragging him away from me toward the narrow patch of green between the veranda and the swamp, but when he hit one of them hard with his elbow and the other with his fist, a fourth joined them.
I was still unable to move my legs. My thoughts disappeared into a white void, dissolving into nothingness.
I could only watch as four men held him down and the others formed a loose circle around him.
They took turns beating him, punching him in the stomach and spitting in his face.
And no matter how hard he fought back, how much he fought and raged, he was not Superman.
They called him traitor, Judas, and worse, hitting him while Nathan cursed Isaac, screamed at him, begging him not to hurt me.
“Don’t hurt her, Isaac! I beg you…let her go! Please, let her go…”
In the end, it was those words that finally brought me out of my trance.
As if cued, I stormed the group, trying to get to Nathan, to throw my arms around him, but they wouldn’t let me through. Laughing, Maury and Mykonos shoved me back repeatedly as if I were running into a wall.
“Stop! Stop, you’re killing him!” I pounded my fists on Maury’s back as hard as I could until he turned toward me and shoved me so forcefully with two hands that I fell backward into the grass.
When I stood again, tears were streaming from my eyes.
Helpless, I stood there watching as Billy Miller hit Nathan so hard in the jaw that he fell to his knees. Blood poured from his mouth and nose, his eyes flickering with pain.
“Nathan.” His name was no more than a whisper on my lips.
For his sake, I wished he would lose consciousness, but fate was not kind.
He remained conscious and tried to stand with his last strength, but only managed to crouch.
He swayed menacingly, and when he raised his head, his dark gaze was on me as if he no longer noticed anything else, not his pain, not the men around him, not the blood on his face—only me.
His gaze contained so many things: regret, horror, dismay.
The shadow of his curse. Everyone he loves dies .
The desire to protect me. The pain of not being able to.
“Will,” he whispered and his voice broke. “I didn’t want…this to…I didn’t want this…”
His words constricted my throat. He seemed convinced that Isaac would not let me live. Even worse was watching him fight oblivion so he wouldn’t let me down.
As he stumbled forward to get to me, Billy struck again. Then again and again. Each time, Nathan would get back up, gasping, but eventually, he would lose his bearings and fall to his knees.
“Will?” He turned his head searchingly as if he couldn’t see me anymore, and a single deep sob burst from me.
“Stop, please, please, stop!”
Someone pushed me aside and I heard Isaac’s voice before I saw him walk past. “That’s enough, Miller. You were to knock him unconscious, not beat him to death. He’s my brother, damn it! Tremblay, finish it. But be careful, okay?”
I clutched the bracelet and stared at Taurus. Thomas Tremblay. For a few seconds, our eyes met. Compassion was in his eyes beneath the vicious bull tattoo. He was merciful. He pushed past Isaac’s soldiers and struck. Unexpectedly swift and hard.
Nathan sank to the ground next to the water. It was quiet for a few seconds. Much too quiet. A few autumn leaves swirled over him. I wanted to run to him to see if he was alive, but two dark-haired mercenaries grabbed me under the arms.
Through my veil of tears, I saw Isaac go to Nathan, feel his pulse, and then nod to Taurus. “Well done!”
The word echoed in my head. Well done! It meant Nathan was alive. Well done! I couldn’t stop staring at him as he lay there, but suddenly, I was pulled away and the last thing I saw of him was his midnight-black hair, a strand of which was blowing in the wind.
The men pulled me toward the hut. Isaac came toward us, but he ignored me and pressed two black cloths into Apollo’s and Mykonos’ hands. The fabric looked like my frilly pants, and when I looked closer, I saw the hem with the wide elastic.
Nausea rose in my throat, but I remained silent even when they put it over my eyes and tied my hands behind my back.
They dragged me away and put me in a boat that rocked restlessly on the water with the movement. Two of them jammed me between their bodies, then the engine started and the boat set off.
I was numb, cut off from everything, in a bubble of fear with endless images in my head.
How Nathan begged Isaac not to hurt me. How he sank to his knees and looked at me as if I were doomed to die.
I thought about how I had always found a piece of my past when my life was in danger, and now, I might have one last chance to find out what my consciousness had denied me for so long.
It was supposed to be a comfort to me but it only made me more desperate. It wouldn’t help me anymore.
The journey seemed to take forever and I wondered where they were taking me, to which hiding place, to which place.
Repeatedly, I tried to get some distance from the two bodies that were pressing me between them, but each time, they seemed to slide closer to me.
At some point, a hand played with my hair, tugging at the ends.
Oh God, no! Frantic, I held my breath. I was as stiff as a board, which made the men around me laugh.
“Pirate bitch,” a man who sat across from me whispered darkly. “You’ll get what you deserve soon.”
It seemed to me as if he wanted to add something else, but he remained silent. The hand on my hair also suddenly disappeared as if the men had reacted to something. Or someone.
Maybe Isaac .
I breathed in as quietly as possible. I sensed that they were watching me.
And I felt Isaac’s presence even though he was perhaps sitting further away.
He was there. He had to be there, but he was quiet—almost as if he was deliberately ignoring me.
As if he wanted to save me for a moment of peace and not savor his triumph too quickly.
It reminded me of my father saving an exquisite Cuban cigar to enjoy with his espresso.
At some point, we stopped. Two men lifted me out of the boat and set me on my feet on the soft ground.
I staggered blindly, but I didn’t get three yards when I was hit hard in the ribs. I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. I fell to my knees, dazed by the pain and shock.
I heard their muffled mockery and barely noticed when two of them grabbed me under the arms, pulled me up, and dragged me along as if they were pulling an old cart. My boots dragged over the soft ground, but after a few steps, the muddy ground became harder.
Dazed by the sharp pain in my ribs, I heard a door squeak before I was dragged along and my surroundings darkened. I noticed this despite my blindness.
After a few yards, I was half dragged up steps, my feet slipping.
At some point, they untied my hands, pushed me forward, and then slammed a door shut. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought I was going to throw up. I was afraid they were still there, fearing another blow, but when nothing happened for a while, I pulled the cloth off.