fourth installment of the Heavy Burdens series. Not a stand alone book! You will have to get through Heavy Burdens, Black Wolf and Sparrow before reading this one.
After their escape from Castle Benton, Declan and Liz are being chased by the English...
Harp's upper arms were burning from pain by the time he had the time to look around him. The floor of the ship was slippery because of the blood. Not only from the Pirates, his comrades and himself were bleeding from minor injuries as well.
Declan himself had a nasty cut right above his eyebrow which made it hard to see. The rain washed most of the blood away from his face, but sometimes his vision got hazy and coloured red around the edges. He had to wipe away the blood from time to time and that were seconds that could cost him his live if he wasn't careful about it.
The rest always seemed to keep their guards up, only the French Commodore was limping, and Harp could see a large gash on his leg; blood leaked from his trousers and the man's features were contorted in pure pain. Nonetheless, the French Asshole (as Harp called him from now on) was still quite fast with his rapier.
It was Rob who didn't seem hurt at all, but even in the dim light from all the lanterns, Harp could see the young man's forehead shining and it wasn't just from the rain. It was obvious to see that even strong, young Rob was getting tired.
The Pirates were with many, but with that, many fell under Harp's crew too.
When one of the bigger men charged on him, Declan caught a movement on his left. The whole fight, Rob and he tried to block the door that would lead the Pirates downstairs. Until now, that tactic worked just fine for them.
But Rob got distracted when he got jumped by two Pirates and while the boy tried to fight them off, three men slipped through and disappeared downstairs.
Fear caught his heart right then and there while Declan collided with the big man in front of him. The collision knocked the breath out of his lungs. Declan barely managed to lift his arm to push the large, and stinking, pirate away from him by pushing his elbow against the throat.
The man was caught off guard, needed to get his balance which gave Harp just enough time to glance over his shoulder to Rob. It seemed that the young, strong man was able to fight off the two men.
"Liz," Declan shouted over the chaos and Rob's blue gaze caught Harp's.
He nodded once and disappeared into the darkness when he ran down below.
Declan couldn't hold back the sigh of relief before turning his attention back to the Pirate in front of him. He stretched his arms, daggers in both his hands and smirked.
"I've got no time for this," he growled low while the other bared his rotten teeth in what was supposed to look like a grin. "So, you either walk away or you die."
It was a warning, deep hidden into his voice and Declan impatiently turned the daggers into his hands. Waiting what the man would do and for a moment, it looked like the Pirate lowered his blunt machete and contemplated to walk away from this fight.
Instead, Declan was met with a loud laughter and gritted his teeth. His lowered a bit, steadied his position when the Pirate charged with a loud yell towards him.
Declan was ready for the impact the big man would make, took a deep breath in and his knuckled turned white from holding the daggers.
The collision between the two big men never came...
When the Pirate was one foot away from Harp, he suddenly held still, a surprised look on his features while his gaze travelled down to his stomach. Declan followed his gaze down, and the first thing he saw was blood spilling out of a small wound. He raised a brow when he noticed the small blade that stuck through the man's body was pulled back.
The big Pirate fell on his knees and didn't seem to realize he was going to die. The look of surprise on his stupid face almost made Declan want to laugh. When the body fell on deck, Declan looked up to meet the cold gaze of Jean-Joseph.
The Commodore didn't speak up, only nodded towards the door that would lead below deck.
Harp didn't waste time and jumped through the door. Jumped down the stairs, not bothered by the sudden sharp pain that shot through his left knee. He couldn't be bothered with his knee, especially when he heard the high-pitched voice of Liz through the barracks. Declan couldn't understand what she screamed, but he could clearly hear the panic.
He made his way to the back, ducking underneath the wooden beams that kept the deck up, and jumped over barrels that were in his way. Although it only took him a few minutes to get there, it felt it took ages before he finally threw open the door of the storage room.
What Harp saw, made him growl deep before he lashed out to the first Pirate, he could get a hold on. They were with three and Rob struggled with one of them while Kate held Tala close to her. The maid stood in the far-right corner, as far as possible from the fight that happened in the long, small room.
Elizabeth was being held by the one Pirate who wasn't engaged in the fight. Her features in both pain and anger while being pushed against the wall. An old short sword was pressed against her throat which held her back. Her gaze flickered from the man in front of her to Harp when he barged in.
A drop of blood tainted her flawless skin from her neck and Declan averted his gaze from her. His strong hands grabbed the Pirate he was holding by the neck. Using all his strength he threw him against the door, closing it in the process.
Rob was on the upper hand in his part of the fight, grabbing his opponent and pulling him away from Kate and Tala. The baby wailed in the blonde her arms. A sound that made Liz turn her head towards her daughter. The movement made her feel the sharp edge of the weapon make an ever deeper cut into her skin. A hissing sound came from her lips and she bared her teeth to the man who held her.
"You're going to die," she mumbled, a strange, proud hint in her voice.
"We'll see about that," the man spat back, his back turned to Declan.
The Pirate hardly noticed Liz her eyes flickered from him to Harp who now stood behind the pair. Her chin raised, making her look stubborn and Declan felt his heart skip a beat when he locked eyes with her green ones. The strength that lie in them, made him remember why he fell in love with Liz.
He pushed the thought away, stretched his arms and his fingers closed around the Pirate's neck. Liz smirked, an evil sight on that once innocent face of hers. Her innocence was long gone now, and Declan didn't hold back when one of his daggers planted into the man's neck. The blood didn't bother him, neither Liz nor he cringed when the man fell on his knees.
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Harp kicked the lifeless body, glanced over his shoulder to Rob who took care of his opponent and stood with Kate. He held, a now calm, Tala in his arms and seemed to whisper to the child.
Declan wasn't prepared for it when Liz' arms suddenly flew around his neck. Her body close to him and, out of instinct, his arm circled around her waist and pulled her even closer against him.
Their embrace was short when a sudden horn was heard and they all noticed it was silent on the ship. Too silent. There wasn't any sound of fighting any more. And that horn seemed to be the messenger of bad news.
