Chapter 13
Alister had been wrong in his estimation of getting Rosetta beneath him again.
Five days they had been sailing, and every day he brought her into his quarters with the excuse he needed to discuss their plans.
For five days, he’d needed to give himself release after their meetings because he managed to steal her mouth, which she was happy to supply, but nothing more.
He wanted the woman, but he refused to allow her to get him pent up. That’s what he’d told himself, at least.
Alister knew he needed to release some of the tension growing inside him. That’s why he grinned when he heard the man in the crow’s nest shout “Sail ho!”
Killing someone is just what I need. Looting and slitting throats was exactly what would raise his spirits after receiving bruising kicks to his ego from her rejections.
“What kind of ship have we got?” he yelled back, moving away from the helm for a moment to grab his nautical spyglass.
“It’s a frigate, Cap’n!”
Hmm. He leaned against the wheel to keep it steady as he raised the lens to his good eye – to see another frigate was never a good sign.
When he finally found it, inspecting it for what details he could make out across the distance, Alister’s lips drew tightly together. His expression shifted into a grimace when he heard the clomping boot steps of what sounded like a bear coming up the stairs.
“Is it a trading boat?” Rosetta asked him.
She must have heard the commotion from below deck and came to investigate.
“Nay,” he answered sourly, lowering his lens. “Pirate hunters.” Alister immediately began turning his ship the other way.
“You’re turning away from them?” She gave him a mocking, snide laugh. “And here I thought you were supposed to be some great killer who didn’t run from anyone.”
He turned to her with a foul face, pointing his index and middle fingers of one hand at her.
“And whose fault do you think that is?”
She quickly frowned, her head shaking in confusion.
“We made a deal, lass,” he bit, straightening the wheel. “It’s your fault I can’t go after it.”
As much as he knew he could take it on, the amount of damage his ship would obtain could put them at a disadvantage if they wanted to capture the Laughing Siren. He wanted to sink it just because of its existence, but he’d made a deal with Rosetta, and he intended to keep it.
“Oh.” Her gaze shied away from him in embarrassment.
“Go back to your station,” he demanded.
“I’ve already done my duties!”
“Then go do something else!” His mood had darkened further, and if she wasn’t going to give him what he wanted, he needed to ride out this terrible state of mind on his own.
“But–”
“Cap’n!” Keat in the crow’s nest shouted. “They’re turning to us!”
Shit. “I need all hands on deck!” he yelled. “They know who we are.”
They must have seen his ship’s figurehead before he managed to turn.
Pierre and Derek gave orders while he kept his focus on measuring how far the pirate hunters were by eye.
He was diverting the way he’d turned to try and keep them relatively on course.
It did little to help; they were going the opposite way.
“Here, let me help,” Rosetta offered, stepping forward with arms raised. “I can man the helm or watch the ship.”
He swatted her reaching hands out of the way. “Touch the wheel of my ship, lass, and you’ll regret it.”
This was his position, and he refused anyone’s help when he didn’t need it. The only ones he would ever trust to touch his ship were Pierre and Derek.
The way her face tightened into a spiteful look raised his hackles.
“Aye! Now get below deck and stay there, where you are safe.” When her look darkened, he pointed at her again. “The last thing I need is a woman getting in the way!”
“I’ve fought against pirate hunters myself!”
“I don’t give a shit.” He grabbed her shoulder to turn her by force, shoving her towards the deck stairs.
She stomped down them, and he looked through his lens once more.
She’d distracted him for long enough that the ship had jumped in size through his magnifying telescope. They’re gaining on us.
The ship was smaller than his, lighter, and it had the wind on its side. Before long, the hunters would be upon them.
“Change of plans, lads!” he yelled, turning the wheel of his ship the other way. “Ready the cannons and prepare yourselves for war.”
If Alister couldn’t run, then he would fight, despite the position it put them in for getting her ship.
When the other frigate was in range of the Howling Death’s front cannons, he knew there was no point in raising his black flag. The hunters knew Alister and his crew were coming, and that they would fight to the death.
“Fire the front cannons!” The command echoed throughout the ship, voices deep and loud as it travelled until he could no longer hear it.
Two bangs sounded as the front cannons shot. One hit the front of the other ship while the other hit the water with a giant, spraying splash.
“Again!”
When that same side was hit once more, and they didn’t receive fire back, Alister knew two things.
Firstly, this frigate didn’t have as many cannons as they did, to the point where it didn’t even have a front cannon. Secondly, it was moving down the left side of his ship.
“Ready the port side cannons!” Alister turned his wheel to the right to help stop the potential collision. “Derek!”
“Aye, Cap’n!” He came bounding up the stairs, taking the wheel from him without another word, as though he already knew what he wanted.
Derek would protect the helm better than anyone and would be better at defending than attacking if the need arose. That peg leg didn’t make him steady for crossing ships, but he would if they were desperate.
Alister withdrew his cutlass, readying himself for battle.
“Fire!” Once the command started echoing, he also yelled, “Move across!”
His men swung to the other ship while the crew of the other did the same. Alister gutted a man before he even had the chance to land, then he stole his rope and swung his way over.
He booted someone in the chest as he landed, letting go of the rope so he could hold his cutlass with two hands and shove it into the enemy’s head.
There was no point in finding the captain. If he knew who Alister was, he’d probably eventually try to greet him.
Metal rang as swords crossed. The occasional gun fired as men wasted their singular bullets.
He felt a swift but shallow slice across his shoulders. If he hadn’t been moving forward, it would have been deeper. Alister turned and blindly swung, hacking into someone’s side with his longer reach. The bearded man gave a gargle that worsened as he yanked his sword back to remove it.
He raised his cutlass to the side when he saw someone barrelling towards him on his good side.
He blocked the attacker and thrust his hand forward, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off the ground.
The gasping man let go of his sword in an attempt to pry Alister’s hand off him, just as Alister pulled his sword back and stabbed it through his torso.
Blood quickly covered him as he took life after life with little care. The ground beneath his feet shook each time his cannons hit their ship, but he knew his own was receiving fire as well.
His men were already going below deck to kill the gunmen, slowly overtaking the meagre crew.
Alister hadn’t wielded a crew this large before, so he was sure the sheer number of them had come as a surprise.
Just as he was turning to find another target, someone cut the throat of an enemy next to him. A heavy burst of blood sprayed over the side of his body, hitting him in the face and covering his eye patch.
His tunic was covered in blood that was not his own. Unfortunately, some had gotten in his good eye, temporarily blurring his vision. He went to rub it away.
“Watch out!” He knew that voice. It wasn’t hard to distinguish a woman’s voice.
Just as he wiped the worst of the blood from his face, he saw Rosetta land on top of a man about to cleave Alister’s head off.
She rolled forward to get away; she had done enough to protect him so Alister could kill the man himself.
She quickly pulled her gun from its holster and shot a man in the back of the head.
Pulling her sword from its sheath, she turned to Alister.
She must have thought he was an enemy because she went to swing and then immediately halted.
“What the hell are you doing on this ship?” he roared, so loudly he knew a few heads turned.
He was even more furious when he had to quickly pull her forward to stop someone from cutting her from behind.
“Helping!” she shouted back, running down the deck and out of his reach.
She leapt, shoving her sword into the back of someone who had been overpowering one of their men.
It wasn’t hard to tell who was their crew and who were pirate hunters, since their attackers’ clothing wasn’t rags like their crew. Pirates typically didn’t care about the way they looked.
Fuck! He didn’t have time to watch out for her when he had men coming at him on all sides. He realised they knew who he was.
His face was known. He had dozens of wanted posters with sketches of his face; Alister couldn’t touch land without someone recognising him.
He lost her in the chaos. Rage and fury coursed through his entire being, and it felt like the violent surge of emotions hardened his muscles into stone.
As he fought, barely gaining a scratch, more of his men joined the fray, helping to take down those encircling him. He kept them at bay, knowing he couldn’t get kills in unless he was lucky, not with this many around him, not when he was this overrun.
He constantly had to duck blades, thankful no one held a loaded pistol.
Just as he was about to swing a deathblow down on one of two left, a sword protruded through his enemy’s chest, nearly stabbing into Alister. He jumped back and quickly aimed for the other, cleaving him in two.
The holder of the sword was Rosetta.