Chapter 24 Kaspar #2
He growled and whirled on me, pushing Willy hard to the side. My friend hit the railing and bounced back, falling to one knee. Ariella cried out, but I couldn’t look at her because now Hunter’s huge fist was aiming right for my face.
I ducked and moved to the side, reaching for the dagger I kept in my belt. Maybe if I was armed, he’d leave me alone… maybe.
Probably not, but worth a try.
Before I could turn to Hunter, Maneater rushed me from the side and punched me in the kidney. I didn’t have time to move out of the way, so the punch hit true, and I hunched forward on a yelp, grabbing my side.
Unicorn horns, that hurts so freaking bad.
But there was no time to coddle my injury. Butcher jumped into the fray with his sword already raised.
Seriously? All of them? This was an ambush by everyone in Butcher’s group.
Dragon balls, we’re in trouble.
I unsheathed my own sword, even as Hunter and Maneater pulled theirs out and faced me.
Toothless Jimmy had Ariella at knifepoint, a blade digging into her throat, and Puffypants Pete was squaring off with Willy. They parried a few times before Puffy stepped back and pulled a gun out. In half a second, he had it trained on Willy, aiming right at his head.
“Don’t move a muscle, kid. I don’t wanna hurt you.” Puffy tilted his head to the side. “But I will if you make me.”
“Don’t move, Willy,” I gasped out as I knocked Maneater’s sword to the side and backed up from him. Please, please don’t get hurt because of me.
My attackers backed away, seeming as interested in what happened to my friends as I was.
Willy raised his hands in the air, letting his knife clatter to the ground.
No, no, no, no.
Now he was unarmed and completely at Puffy’s mercy.
Butcher caught my attention when he pulled out his own gun and aimed it at my face. I scowled at him. I had a sword and plenty of knives on my person, but I didn’t have a gun of my own. Even if I did, there wasn’t much I could do with it right now.
Too bad the man didn’t want a swordfight. That I could do.
Although…
I slipped my free hand into my pocket, hiding the relief I felt when I found my rocks there. Maybe I could find a way to use them against these buffoons.
Butcher grinned at me, waving the gun around.
“I was gonna just shoot you in the leg. You don’t need ‘em where you’re goin’ anyway.
But… I think I wanna have some fun first. Do you know what my specialty is, Ghost?
” He pulled his sword out and put the gun back in its holster.
“I know exactly how to keep someone alive while they suffer.” With the way he was holding his sword, the implication was clear.
He planned on making a billion shallow cuts all over my body, doing precisely what he’d said—keeping me alive and in pain.
I’d heard the horror stories about The Butcher.
I’d heard how he’d tortured people, killing them slowly over the course of days, sometimes weeks.
I’d heard that before Max, Viper had let The Butcher bring his victims on this ship, how he’d tortured them in the hold, how the crew used to have to hear their screams, hear the begging. How Butcher had reveled in their pain.
Stitches said it had given her nightmares for years and that she was grateful Reaper had put a stop to it.
But at least he’d put his gun away, right? A sword, I had a chance against.
Well, I supposed I’d asked for this, didn’t I?
Maneater and Hunter came up on either side of me, swords drawn.
Three against one.
Three very skilled, very experienced pirates who knew how to fight dirty.
Against me.
Just me.
Holy goblin claws, I was gonna die.
“Reaper!” Ariella screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Shut up,” Jimmy growled at her. “Or I’ll slice your pretty throat.”
Ariella’s face turned red with anger. She wasn’t scared in the least. She was pissed. “You’ll all get what’s coming to you.”
I didn’t have time to help her or Willy when these scumbags were coming at me.
Butcher attacked, and I parried, then had to deflect a blow from Maneater. I felt the air move behind me, so I ducked, just as Hunter attacked, trying to stab me in the back.
When I straightened, Butcher was already there, swinging at me. I grunted at the impact of his sword hitting mine—the man was a lot bigger than me and made of muscle—but I still managed to push him off, just in time for Maneater to run at me.
I went to slice him with my sword, but Hunter was behind me again, and I had to jump to the side to avoid his blade.
Hunter immediately swung his sword at me again, and I stumbled back, getting my sword up, just in time.
The sound reverberated from the sword to my hand and right through me, and I couldn’t contain my gasp at the hard hit.
But then Butcher attacked at the same time, and I had to deflect his sword, then Hunter’s again, then Butcher’s, and I lost track of whose sword was swinging at me. All I cared about was blocking the swings.
And I did. I blocked and hit and ducked and rolled, all the while the three of them kept up a constant attack. The sound of clanking swords filled the air, even as others cheered and jeered.
Butcher swung at me, and I hit his sword, but I didn’t expect the fist that came flying. He punched me with his non-sword hand right in the chin. My teeth clanked, and blood filled my mouth when I bit my tongue. Hot liquid dripped from my lip—blood. Great. My lip was going to swell.
I didn’t have time to worry about that because my three enemies didn’t let up on their attack.
I got a lucky swing in and sliced right through Maneater’s vest. His linen shirt beneath it stained red as blood seeped from the shallow wound.
But the injury did nothing to stop him. It was as if he didn’t even notice it. If only I’d been able to cut deeper.
A few of my other friends started to step in to help me, but from my peripheral vision, Viper came out of his cabin.
It looked as if he was a snake in a sea of mongooses.
He moved through the crowd with ease, everyone parting quickly to let him pass as if they were afraid he’d strike them down without pause—to be fair, he probably would.
“Don’t interfere,” he yelled to my friends. “Or I’ll take your head myself.”
I didn’t think that was an idle threat, so I was glad no one else jumped in. But still, he was such a goddesses-damned bastard.
“Butcher,” Viper called out. “Get this done. Now.” I had no doubt what he meant. He was ready to plug me in.
Holy phoenix tails.
Holy… holy fuck.
I ducked another swing from Butcher, and the three of them seemed to have renewed energy, like hearing Viper had invigorated them, made them more determined. I was in trouble.
I was already getting tired. I had no idea how much longer I could keep this up.
When Hunter and Maneater both attacked at once, I pushed my fluxweaver magic into the rocks cradled in my palm, then threw them straight at Hunter.
The rocks burst in his face, and he cried out in pain, dropping to one knee, hands clutching at his bleeding face.
Some of the debris blew into Maneater’s face, making him flinch.
That was all the distraction I needed to swing my sword at him.
He tried to move away, but he wasn’t quite fast enough, and I managed to get another slice across his chest. This time, the cut went deeper, the blood seeping into his linen shirt at a faster pace.
He yelled and backed off, but didn’t go down.
I’d hurt him, but he wouldn’t be down for long.
Ariella and Willy were both yelling out Reaper at the top of their lungs, but I didn’t have much hope of him hearing them over the commotion. But maybe he’d come to see what all the fuss was about.
He probably thought it was someone getting into a simple argument or fight.
But this was so much more than that.
This was my life. My autonomy.
Butcher got a lucky swipe, his blade slicing across my arm.
Luckily, I moved back far enough that he didn’t take my whole arm off.
I blocked a hard blow from Hunter, grunting at the impact.
His entire face was covered in blood, cuts and gashes, and his right eye was bleeding profusely from my little blast. But apparently, that wasn’t enough to keep him down.
Now he was just super pissed and probably wanted to chop me up into little pieces and feed me to the sand kraken.
Before I could stop him, Maneater ran into me, forcing me back several steps, making me crash into the damn railing. The hit knocked the wind out of me, and I gasped, trying to catch my breath.
I pushed Maneater away and lifted my sword, turning toward the three men. Butcher didn’t look fazed in the least. Hunter’s face was a mess, but he looked eager to murder me, and Maneater had a few cuts, but nothing major. All in all, they looked a hell of a lot better off than I did.
Here I was, cut, bruised, and exhausted, and they looked like they could go another three rounds—or ten.
Just as I stepped forward, I felt cold metal touch my throat, and a deep, slimy voice said close to my ear, “Not another step, Ghost.” A chest brushed my back as an arm wrapped around me from behind, then slid along my sword arm, pushing it down.
“Viper,” I hissed, unable to keep the disgust from my voice. How had he snuck up on me so quietly? How had I not realized he’d step in?
He’d been keeping everyone else back, so I’d thought I only needed to worry about those three. I never thought Viper would actually do something himself.
I was an idiot.
Viper chuckled and pulled me tighter against his body, speaking low for my ears only.
“I hear you have a talented mouth.” He leaned over my shoulder, crowding me, and tapped my lips with his other hand.
“I thought about taking you to my bed and testing the waters… But I think we can put this body to better use.”
I shivered in disgust from the suggestion, and fear sliced into me.
Viper removed every single one of my weapons mechanically, even the hidden one I kept at my ankle, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
When he emptied my pockets of the rest of my rocks, my heart rate increased, and I felt sweat bead across my forehead.
He’d taken my last line of defense, and I wanted to vomit knowing my life was in the hands of this evil man.
Every time I moved, he pushed the knife harder against my throat. When I tried to pull away, the knife nicked my skin and choked me, making me cough.
I was truly, wholly caught.
I met Ariella’s gaze, and then Willy’s, and they both looked as frightened as I felt.
“Come now, Ghost. Let’s get you plugged in.”
Viper started pulling me along, heading toward the ladder, and my chest tightened with fear and anxiety. I tried to push his arm away, tried to slip from his grip. I kicked and screamed, but his arms were like steel bands around me, as hard and unmoving as the knife slicing the skin at my throat.
This was it. This was going to be the last thing I saw before I was turned into a flux-zombie. Ariella’s fearful face, Willy’s glassy eyes, both of them mouthing apologies to me as if this was somehow their fault.
It wasn’t, not at all, and I hoped they didn’t blame themselves for my fate.
My heart felt ripped open when I thought of Max, of how guilty he’d feel when he found out I was plugged in.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to go to him.
I wanted him to save me even though I knew he couldn’t.
It was too late.
He was too late, and now, my fate was sealed.
Viper roughly turned me so he could see where we were going, the panic making me struggle and flail around to no avail. A strangled sound came from my throat. Not a scream, but a sound of pure anguish when I realized I couldn’t escape him. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get away.
As we got closer to the ladder, I heard footsteps thundering up them, and despite myself, despite the horrible situation, a small bit of hope grew in my chest.
“Viper!” Max yelled as he emerged, drawing his sword and pointing it right at the captain. “Let him go. Now.” His voice was all Reaper, all menacing and terrifying and demanding. It was a voice you wanted—needed—to listen to.
But when he looked at me, when his gaze met mine, I could see my Max within his eyes. My sweet, kind, caring Max, who’d come to save me from an impossible situation.
There was no way out of this, but at least I got to see those pretty eyes that glowed with a beautiful soul within them one last time.
“Let him go, Viper,” Max repeated.
Viper let out a malicious chuckle. “Never.” Then he pointed his sword at Max and yelled, “Now!”