8 #3
The wind is cold and eerily silent. I don’t like it.
It’s as if even the trees know something very bad is happening.
We haven’t seen anyone else since we cleared the ship.
Instead, we have just been sitting here, waiting for them to arrive like we planned.
Kellen creates a distraction, the pirates go to check it out, he gets Zeke and meets us here.
Aggie, Tati, Rachel and Adrian are already here and on the ship. They got as many things as they could.
Ace has locked the men in the room where he tied them, to ensure nobody comes near them.
“I know,” Ace murmurs. “I know, but I don’t want to leave because if I do, and they arrive, then we’ve got another problem.”
I bite my lips, glancing around. “How long do we leave it before going and getting them?”
“Fuck,” he murmurs, running a hand down his face. “I don’t fuckin’ know, honestly.”
“Hey,” Aggie says, climbing down the ladder and landing as quietly as she can. “Anything yet?”
I shake my head. “No. Nothing. They’re not here yet.”
She presses her lips together. “Do we go and find them?”
I shake my head. “No, we were just talking about that. We don’t want to risk Ace getting tangled up if they’re already on their way.”
She nods. “Makes sense. Well, Tati and Rachel are busy scrubbing like mad in there. Tati said she would rather sleep on the barnacle rocks than in that ship, but considering we have no choice, and it might be what saves us, we just have to do what we can.”
The ship is disgusting, but it’s our way out so none of us are really complaining.
Not yet anyway.
We fall silent again, just standing, waiting.
Ace gives me a look that says he’s two seconds from doing something reckless.
I know it’s not for dramatic effect. He paces the shore, gun pressed against his thigh, and every now and then his gaze flicks to the tree line.
Each time, I see his hand tighten, then relax, the little twitch of his fingers a tell for his nerves.
Aggie stands with arms crossed, quietly.
“I have to go check,” Ace finally says, voice low.
“If you’re going, I’m coming with you.”
He spins on me. “Not happening. You stay here, Gracie. We can’t risk—”
I don’t let him finish. “No. I’m coming because if something happens to you, I will be the only thing keeping the people on this ship safe. Nobody goes out alone.”
Aggie doesn’t say anything, but I feel her approval.
Ace’s jaw works. I can see the argument on his face, but he’s already lost. “Fine. Aggie, you hold down the fort. You see anyone but us, you fuckin’ shoot.”
She cocks her head. “With what?”
He nods at the ship. “You’ll find a stash in the captain’s room. I put them all there.”
“I’ve got this,” she nods, turning and disappearing into the darkness.
Ace turns towards me. “You stick close. No hero shit, you hear?”
“I know,” I whisper.
My heart is a jackhammer in my ribs. I want to clutch his hand for comfort but settle for shadowing him up the sand. It’s cold, the kind of cold that tells you it’s late, but there’s no comfort in what daylight will bring if we fuck this up.
We slip through the darkness, skirting the edge of the jungle.
Ace moves in silence, every inch of him predator, and I do my best to match, even if my legs ache from the sheer amount of walking we have done today.
We don’t say a word, not even when I catch my knee on a sharp berm and almost faceplant.
Ace just grabs my arm, steady and blood-warm, and keeps going.
After what feels like forever, we reach the edge of the clearing where Zeke was last seen.
The campfire is embers now, and it’s dead silent.
There’s nobody stoking it. A shudder rips through my body, like it knows something I don’t.
It’s so fucking silent it’s terrifying. Something doesn’t feel right, that’s for certain.
“You see him?” Ace whispers.
I squint, letting my eyes adjust a little more. Near the fire, against a tree with his hands bound behind him, is Zeke. His head is slumped forward, but there is nobody with him. At least, I can’t see anybody. Most importantly, I can’t hear anybody.
“I see him,” I whisper back. “He’s there.”
I point, and Ace is already moving. He stops short and turns back to me. “We don’t have much time. I am going to check the perimeter, you get Zeke. The second you hear me whistle, you get Zeke and run. Don’t look back.”
My heart skips a beat. “And you?”
“I’m going after Kellen.”
“Ace—”
“If something goes wrong—” he cuts himself off, jaw tight, and takes a moment to regather. “You leave. You hear me? You get on that ship, and you go.”
I’m already shaking my head. “I won’t leave you out here.”
His hands find my shoulders, grip hard. “If it comes down to me or those women, you choose them. Do you understand me? You get them out, and you get them home.”
I swallow, tears burning under my eyelids. “Ace...”
“Say it.”
I can’t. I shake my head again.
“Say it, Gracie.”
“Ace.” My voice breaks on his name. “Please don’t ask me to leave you here.”
He moves toward me, taking my face in his hands. “Promise me, Grace. That you will make sure they get out alive.”
A lone tear slips down my cheek.
“Them,” I whisper. “I choose them.”
He holds my gaze for one more second, like he’s memorising something.
Then he kisses me, long, hard and deep, then disappears into the black, making for the tree line and whatever hell lay beyond.
I stare after him for a second, every nerve in my body screaming run, but I don’t.
I wait, and after a minute, he lets out a low whistle.
That is my signal to move forward with the plan.
I push off and sprint for Zeke. He is asleep, or passed out.
I can’t tell. I take his shoulders, shaking.
He jerks, his head snapping up. Relief flickers when he realises it’s me.
“Hey there,” I smile, even though it wobbles.
I pull out my knife and start cutting the rope while he takes a minute to become fully with it.
“Somethin’ has happened,” he murmurs, his voice raspy and dry.
“I know,” I say. “I know, which is why I’m here and Ace isn’t.”
“Grace,” he rasps, stumbling to his feet as soon as the ropes are gone. “Where are they?”
“I don’t know, but Kellen hasn’t come back. Ace is going after him. I’m getting you to the ship.”
“I’m helping.”
He takes a step away from me and I take his arm, stopping him. “Zeke, no.”
Turning, he glances down at me. “I’m going, Grace. You know I won’t leave them alone. Go back to the ship, make sure everyone is safe.”
For some reason, this makes me want to cry.
Maybe it’s because I know better than to argue, or maybe it’s because if anyone can help, it’s Zeke.
So I nod, even though my eyes burn. Zeke disappears as if he was never here.
I stand alone in the darkness for a few minutes, and then I turn and run as fast as I can in the dark.
Aggie is standing on deck when I arrive, gun ready.
“Aggie,” I call out, because I know she can’t see me, but I can see her. “It’s me. Grace. I’m coming in.”
“Grace? You’re alone.”
I rush forward and get onto the ship as fast as my legs will allow. Aggie is standing under a dull orange light, and she spins on me the second I approach. Her eyes are wide, full of fear and uncertainty. “What happened?”
“Kellen wasn’t there,” I say, trying to catch my breath. “We got Zeke, but he went with Ace to find Kellen.”
My voice cracks, and Aggie takes my shoulder, squeezing. “These guys are made for this, honey. They’ll be back.”
I nod, sliding down on an old barrel. The deck is empty, the world is silent, and I have never wanted anything more than for Ace to walk out of that jungle, battered and grinning and alive. I don’t pray, because I don’t think anyone is listening. But I make a wish, and hope that’s enough.
Time passes. A lot of it.
They don’t come back.
“Something is wrong,” Aggie whispers, standing beside me, the gun in her hands.
“I know,” I say, heart pounding against my ribcage.
Turning towards me, her eyes lock onto mine. “We need to do something.”
“I know,” I repeat.
She’s right.
We can’t risk leaving this much longer, but at the same time, what if it’s a set-up? What if they know we’re here and are trying to get us away from the ship so they can kill us and leave.
God, what if they have already....
No.
I can’t think like that.
Dammit.
We need a plan.
Fast.