When Whitley winds up on the top of a pirate hit-list thanks to her con-artist father, she must hide her identity and board another pirate ship, trusting in one shape-shifting pirate named Bluff to help her escape. Too bad you can never, ever, trust...
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Whitley
Bluff. The whisper moves through my body. That's him. The one that's supposed to be here with me. The one they ripped me from.
He's broken. I can see it in his eyes and it causes an acidic feeling to fill my stomach. The sting on my cheek turns to a throb as the attention is pulled away from me and to the boy. Within moments he's trampled by a mass of pirate bodies and pushed to the floor.
Bluff. I try to push the name from my lips, make it audible. I hardly have control of my own body. I want to go to him. I want him to know I'm here.
They pull him to his feet and his head hangs limp. I wonder if he is unconscious or if he's simply given up. Bluff. The cry is desperate but silent.
The bearded pirate laughs heartily. "I'm almost disappointed you showed up so quickly, boy. I could have had so much more fun with your little lass."
Bluff doesn't move. The pirate leans in, whispering in his ear. "Then again, my fun doesn't have to end just because you showed up."
Bluff's muscles jerk like he wants to fight again, but he's hardly able to move with several large pirates holding him still.
"I'll kill you," Bluff spits.
The pirate just smirks. "There are worse things than death. I suppose you know that already, though. Don't you, lad?"
Bluff goes limp again, like he's lost all desire to fight.
Please, I whisper inside. Don't give up yet.
"Well, now that this business is taken care of, let's see how this works, shall we?" Every body on the ship still as the bearded man approaches me with slow deliberate steps.
He squats next to me, look up to meet me in the eye. "Hello there, Whitley." He says like he's speaking to a spooked animal. I'd claw his eyes out if my hands weren't tied.
"You have something I desire." He says coolly.
You have something I desire, as well. I think. But the words don't come. "go," I force out with strained voice. "to." I wince at the pain the words cause. "hell." My chest fills with more power. It's worth the pain, the look on his face as he jerks back from me.
"Do you know what I want?" he says, his expression calm once again, "because I think you'd rather like it."
He takes in a deep breath and smiles. "You have power." He whispers. "And I just want you to use it."
Power? It sounds delicious.
A form slithers up to my side, her face close to my ear as she whispers, "tell him to rise." Her voice is one part hiss, one part melody. My vison blinks in and out of focus and then my fingers begin to tingle. I can feel it. The power.
It's right here. Waiting for me to use it.
"Rise," I force the word from my lips through my raw throat. Again, pain ripples through my whole body but this time so does the magic. It escapes my body and strikes into the boy. The magic forces his head to rise first, exposing eyes wide with fear. Panic. Pain. A despair so great is causes me to blink rapidly.
The rest of his body follows suit and stands up straight.
My stomach sinks.
This...isn't what I want.
I search his face. So full of desperation that's all I can feel. My hands shake.
You're worth saving, his voice, or the memory of his voice, drifts through my mind.
As I blink images come rushing back to my mind. A boy in a prison cell. Guiding me to the ground after leaping from a window. Bluff standing beside me as we set sail on a pirate ship. The way he looked at me in the crow's nest. The way he kissed me. Another kiss in an alleyway. Another below deck of the freedom. Another on the beach.
More images. More memories.
"Bluff." Finally. Finally my call is audible. I know he can hear it because his expression changes. It's still pained, still fearful, but shock and confusion, even hope, blurs all the emotions together.
I don't want to hurt him. I don't want to control him.
Simon doesn't seem to notice the change because he lets out a hearty laugh. So joyful, like this fulfills every desire he's ever had. "This is how I will destroy you." He tells Bluff.
Anger fills me. A rage so deep, so powerful it almost scares me. But maybe I need it. Maybe this is what this whole thing is for.
"Tell him to fall." Bluff's mother whispers in my ear again. I clench my jaw as a tear forms in the corner of Bluff eye.
