JAMES
THREE WEEKS AGO
“Blackwell.”
A voice pulls me from my dark thoughts. I can’t see who it is and I don’t recognize the voice, but a moment later, the burlap hood is pulled away and the De’Vero General appears.
He’s crouched down in front of me while two men stand behind him at the door.
He pulls a key from his pocket but doesn’t make a move to unlock the manacles.
“I need your help,” he says. “The Tempest fled and Aldric sent a ship after her. That gold cannot fall into Aldric’s hands. Your ship has been sighted down the coast, and we need to reach it before the fleet does. Can you do that?”
I tilt my head at him curiously.
“Theoretically—with a fast ship—” I hold up my wrists. “Not in these of course. And not with the shadow of the noose looming at my back.”
Thaddeus shakes his head and unlocks first one, then the other manacle.
“You won’t hang.”
The chains fall to the ground and I get to my feet, rubbing my wrists.
“If I get the gold back for you, what are you going to do with it?”
“Nothing, Captain.”
I look at him incredulously. “Then what’s in this for you?”
Thaddeus gives me a humorless smile and heads towards the door. “A crown.”
Shock has me silently following behind him, and his men fall into step behind me as we exit the room. He’s not hiding, he’s not even attempting to sneak me out. The power behind this simple action leaves me with a lot of questions.
“Where’s Aldric?”
“Occupied.”
I don’t want to ask, but I have to.
“And Caspian?”
“Locked up.” Thaddeus looks at me briefly. “He’ll be fine.”
I don’t say anything as we make our way through town, keeping to the shadows but Thaddeus’ pace, while urgent, isn’t rushed.
Reaching the beach, I see a rowboat pulled up in the shallows, guarded by men in black devoid of De’Vero colors.
Climbing in, Thaddeus gives the order and we row out beyond the beakers.
“Won’t Aldric come after us once he finds out I’m gone?”
“He won’t find out. He’ll see you hang—well, not you , but someone pretending to be you.”
Clever . But I also realize that means Caspian will think I’m dead.
My conflicting emotions roar through me, battling for traction.
Part of me can’t stop picturing how devastated he’ll be when he has to watch me hang.
The other part is still furious with him for throwing everything about us into question and undermining the truth.
The truth that I frustratingly can’t stop myself from feeling—the truth of exactly where my heart still lies.
We hug the rocky shoreline, the light of the moon the only thing guiding us.
The boat rounds the corner of the bay and a ship slides into view, white sails pale against the inky-black sky.
Once aboard, Thaddeus barks a few orders to get us underway.
He turns to me, giving me a look like he’s sizing me up.
“I saw the way Caspian looked at you.” I scowl vehemently, not wanting to talk about this. “Do you feel the same?” Thaddeus asks.
“I don’t know what to believe,” I say coldly. “I thought I knew—” I can’t bring myself to go on.
“I thought you judged a man by his actions,” Thaddeus states.
“What if those actions are all a manipulation hiding the truth?”
“Which is?”
“That he was going to double cross me all along.”
Thaddeus smiles at me humorlessly and shakes his head. “Do you really believe that? Or are you just upset he didn't choose you?”
“I didn’t expect him to choose me.” It’s a lie I desperately want to be true.
“Still hurts though,” Thaddeus muses. “Look, you can do what you want, but whatever happened between the two of you—you can’t fake that kind of intimacy.
I’ve known Caspian a long time; I know what kind of man he is, and I can say with confidence, the way he looks at you—” The General shakes his head ruefully.
“I’ve never seen him look at someone like that before.
” Thaddeus puts a hand on my shoulder. “Caspian deserves someone who will fight for him like he fights for everyone else.”
I have nothing to say to that. Thaddeus gives my shoulder a squeeze before nodding towards the quarterdeck.
“Let’s go get your ship back, Captain.”
I make my way to the helm. The man there nods his head to me and steps away without another word. I wrap my hands around the worn wood and gaze out over the glassy open ocean. If we are going to make it to the Tempest before Aldric’s ship, we don’t have any time to waste.
I bark out a few orders and the ship lurches forward, picking up speed and cutting through the water. As much as I’m trying not to focus on Caspian, I can’t help the ache I feel. It’s like a part of me is missing, and the farther I sail away from it, the more painful it becomes.
Because a part of you is missing, idiot.
Thaddeus is right—Caspian deserves someone who will go to the ends of the earth and fight for him, because no matter what, I know he’d do the same for me.
Just like he’s done for countless others.
So while part of me wants to get to the Tempest, sail away, and forget all about Caspian, the other part of me is ready to burn the fucking world down.
The De’Vero family continues to take from me, and it ends now. Whether or not Caspian and I have a future, I’m going to remove Aldric from this earth so Caspian doesn’t have to worry about Foxhollow, and so that I can finally bring the De’Vero reign crashing down into ruin for good.
The sun is just beginning its ascent when the call comes that sails have been sighted on the horizon.
“Is she Aldric’s?” Thaddeus shouts.
“Aye, General!” The barrelman calls down. “She’s flying De’Vero colors—looks like the Commandant . The Tempest is ahead of ‘er—three leagues and closing.”
Thaddeus climbs the steps to the quarterdeck and hands me the spyglass. I turn the wheel over to his navigator and put the glass to my eye.
“Once we start firing on her, the Tempest will know what to do,” I say.
“I have an even better idea, Captain,” Thaddeus says, a sly glint in his eyes. “ Run up the Black!” He barks.
I watch the men hoist the massive black canvas only to stiffen as it unfurls to reveal my colors.
I can’t help the small smirk that tugs at my lips as Thaddeus and I exchange a knowing look.
Putting the glass back to my eye, I train it on the Tempest .
She’s still too far away to see anything on deck, but I watch as she makes a turn starboard letting me know Harrison has seen us, and is coming around.
Orders are given to run out the guns and prepare for battle, but I see something being run up the Commandant’s mast.
“She ran up the white,” I say.
I hand over the spyglass and Thaddeus takes a look.
“She made the right choice,” he mutters.
He barks out more orders and the crew prepares to board.
We sail up alongside the Commandant and I see a very confused Captain standing at the mast. The crew throws over grapples and I follow Thaddeus as we cross the gap.
“Thaddeus?” The Captain greets the General with an apprehensive look. “What’s going on? Why are you flying the Black…” His gaze lands on me at the General’s shoulder and he pales significantly.
“I’m here to tell you to turn around, George,” Thaddeus says.
“I can’t do that,” the Captain says incredulously. “The King gave me orders to bring back the Tempest .”
“Well, I have new orders for you, and you can pretend they’re from Aldric if you want,” Thaddeus says. “But they’re to turn the fuck around.”
“ King Aldric,” George corrects him with a frown.
Thaddeus is quiet before a cold smirk sinks into the hard lines of his face.
“He’s not my King.” Thaddeus says. He lets that information settle, and the deck is deathly silent.
The tension in the air thickens to a tangible degree and my hand rests casually on my pistol, feeling the shift.
Thaddeus looks around, his hands on his belt before he regards George with eyes like steel.
“Here’s the deal, George. You can turn around, or take your chances going against two warships.” He jerks his chin and the Captain glances over his shoulder to see the Tempest , closing fast on his other side. He turns back, much more pale than before.
“You’re committing treason, Thaddeus!”
“What’s it going to be, George?”
The Captain’s mouth presses into a thin line but he’s apparently no fool. Anyone with half a mind would know he’s outmatched.
“I concede,” he growls .
“Good man,” Thaddeus says. “Now, where’s your quartermaster?”
He looks around the deck and a man steps forward, touching his forehead in greeting but looking apprehensively at the General. Thaddeus pulls his pistol and everyone on deck tenses.
“What’s your name?” Thaddeus asks.
“Quincy.”
“Watch closely, Quincy—” Thaddeus brings up his pistol and points it at George who starts to protest. “You still watching?”
Quincy nods frantically.
“Good.” Thaddeus pulls the trigger and Quincy jolts as George drops to the deck, a bullet through his forehead. The crew protests, but Thaddeus’ men hold them at gunpoint and the ship is quiet once more. Thaddeus sighs and gestures with his gun.
“Unfortunately, George here would have sailed straight back to Aldric and told him everything. I can’t have that.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I need you to do something for me, Quincy,” Thaddeus says. “I need you to sail to Ironhold and send this message to the Duke—”
“The Duke, sir?”
“Yes, the Duke of Brookveil. Tell him it’s open season and he should join me in De’Vero for a hunt.”
Quincy tenses in fear as Thaddeus walks up to him. The General shoves his pistol under Quincy’s chin—even though it’s empty, Quincy goes rigid.
“Repeat it back to me,” Thaddeus growls.
“I’m–I’m to find the Duke—”
“The Duke of what?”
“Brookveil—and tell ‘im–tell ‘im it’s open season and he should–he should join me–you, I mean, sir, in De’Vero for a hunt.”
Thaddeus nods once and leans in, his voice cold. “Now, if I hear you’ve gone back to Foxhollow, or anywhere other than Ironhold, I will find you and do much worse than a bullet, understand?”
“Y–yes, sir, General,” Quincy sputters.
Thaddeus removes the gun and squeezes his shoulder, giving him a humorless smile.
“Good—and you lot—” He turns and addresses the crew as a whole. “Anyone have a problem with the orders I just gave your new Captain?”
The deck is so quiet you can hear the water lap against the sides of the ship.
“On your way then,” Thaddeus says.
I follow him and his crew back over to his ship and look at the General with renewed respect. I also have a lot of questions.
“How do you know John?”
Thaddeus is reloading his pistol over a barrel. “We go way back.”
“He never told me he knew you,” I say.
Thaddeus gives me a quick, ironic smile. “Why would he do that?”
He has a point. “What did that message mean?”
“That? Nothing John doesn’t already know. I just needed them to fuck off and not go back to Foxhollow.” Thaddeus glances up at me briefly. “He speaks highly of you by the way.”
“Is that why I’ve avoided the noose for this long?” I ask dryly.
Thaddeus gives me an equally dry smile before resuming his reload. “One among many.”
He looks over my shoulder. “Your ride is here, Captain.”
I look to see the Tempest cruising up alongside us with Harrison and Lan at the rail, and Van at the helm. I turn back to Thaddeus, still with more questions than answers, but he speaks before I can ask anything else.
“I’d offload the gold somewhere before you make port in De’Vero,” Thaddeus shoves his reloaded pistol into his belt. “Use the tunnels to get in.”
“How do you know I’m headed to De’Vero?”
Thaddeus gives me a look that says I need to stop asking stupid questions.
“Will you be behind us?”
“I’m headed back to Foxhollow to keep an eye on our De’Vero brothers. But now that he thinks the business with you is done, Aldric will be eager to get home.”
I hold out my hand and Thaddeus takes it firmly in his. “Thank you,” I say.
“Don’t make me regret this, Captain.”
Once I’m on board the Tempest , I turn back to see Thaddeus watching me. He casually salutes me before walking off.
“Captain—”
“Get us underway,” I bark.
“Nice to see you too,” Lan mutters.
“What the fuck happened?” Harrison demands. “Why is the De’Vero General flying your colors?”
“That’s the least of it,” I answer. “Come on, I need a drink.”