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...
"Too silent," Declan had muttered before gently pushing Liz a bit from him.
He glanced over his shoulder to Rob and Kate.
"They don't know you're here. They don't know anything from neither of you. You all stay here with Rob. I'll go and look."
Harp wanted to take a step towards the door when he still felt Liz' hand on his arm. He sighed before he turned to her and noticed Kate and Rob turning away from them.
"What?"
It came out harsher than he wanted, but Declan didn't have the time to talk or even think about another strategy.
"I'll come with you," she started while taking in his appearance.
He shook his head.
"No, you won't. Not this time, Liz. I need you to stay here with Tala, okay?"
"Tala's safe," she started, her hands shook when they came up to cradle his face.
Softly, Declan took both of her wrists and rested his forehead on hers. He took a deep breath in, felt her fear going through him and how her body trembled against him.
"I want you to be safe too," he murmured calmly. "Those pirates," he sighed, "I've got no idea what they'll do when they see a woman. You saw what happened just moments ago."
Her big eyes caught his gaze and her bottom lip trembled before nodding slowly. Declan took a deep breath of relief. He had won this round with her, at least that's the way he saw it. Then Liz surprised him with a full kiss on his lips and he couldn't help the groan that escaped him when her lips touched his. Warm and deep. It was like coming home after he had been on the road for, what felt like, years.
Her touch was welcome and before Harp fully realised it, he embraced her and pulled her full body against him. After weeks of ignoring him, depraved him from her touch and affection, Declan felt her love and worry for him flowing through his body.
A hard bang from on the deck made them snap out of their embrace. His hands still rested on her hips, but his gaze was already pointed towards the door that would lead him away from this little shelter. He looked at Rob.
"Keep them safe. At all costs," he grumbled before letting go of Liz.
He still felt her fingers slide of his back when he turned and walked away. Rob had nodded in his direction with a fierce glint in his eyes and Harp knew the women were safe with him. His distrust of Rob was completely gone, and he trusted no one else with Elizabeth and his daughter.
When he reached the door towards the upper deck, Harp was met with silence and his hands cradled his daggers in his fist. It was silent behind that door. Too silent.
He slowly opened it, making a loud creaking sound while he pushed it and walked on the upper deck. Declan hardly took on step on it when his was being held still by swords pointed at his throat. At least four were aimed at him and his eyes flickered over the people.
He found Fortuna and the French Ass being held under gun shot by the steer. Declan heard McTaggart curse and turned to face the Scotsman. Because of the movement of his head, a sharp end of a sword left a mark on Declan's throat.
"Is there anything of worth on this ship," the question floated over the deck and reached Declan's ears.
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He turned slightly, careful to not have his throat cut by one of the pirates. Declan had dropped his daggers as soon as set foot on the deck.
"Except some Rum," Fortuna replied to the man in the black cloak. "There isn't anything here. We're fugitives of the Crown, Captain."
Even from where Declan stood, he could see the tall, lean man's cloak wasn't just black. The threads that held it together were gold and the fabric was expensive.
"Aye," the hoarse voice said, walking towards Harp, "I can see your ship isn't worth one penny."
Declan could see Fortuna bit his lip ; the man's ship was everything to him. The Pirate's Captain didn't shed one look into the direction of Fortuna and the French Commodore, instead he stroke towards Harp. His men all took a step back to create some room so he could pass.
"You look angry," the Pirate said once he stood before Declan.
Only a small piece of his face was seen ; the smirk around his lips while everything else was hidden in the shadows of his cloak.
"What are you protecting?"
The way the man talked, British accent and civilised, made Harp's senses put on sharp. Knowing he wasn't dealing with some random, idiotic pirate but an intelligent man.
"Nothing," he grunted out. His eyes darted to the others of his crew, rested on Fortuna for some time before his gaze came to rest on the Pirate's Captain again. "You can have the Rum. You can even have the candles or anything else you need. But we need this ship."
He was met with silence and then a sudden sigh.
"Let me ask it in an other way: who are you protecting? A man like you, wild so to seem, wouldn't just lay down his weapons without a fight. Except...," the Pirate clicked his tongue, "if he's protecting something he holds dear. What or who is it?"
"I don't give a shit about anything on this ship except my crew," Declan said while the Captain slid off his cloak to reveal his face. Blue eyes as bright as Elizabeth's stared back at him. Short, brown reddish hair and sharp features. He wasn't much taller than Harp, but he was more lean build. Like a swimmer, which no doubt, a Pirate would do often.
The Pirate's Captain arched his brow, leaned his elbow on the shoulder of one of his shorter men and sighed annoyed.
"I gave you the chance to say it, now I'll have to order my men to search this...boat. I promised them some loot. There better be some fucking loot here or they won't be happy."
Declan took a deep breath through his nose, counted the Pirates in his mind and knew they were outnumbered. It was a fight that they wouldn't be able to win and he had to think about Liz and Tala beneath deck.
"My wife," he finally spoke and looked the Pirate's Captain straight into the eyes. "My wife and daughter are downstairs."
The Captain scanned Declan's face, lips tight upon each other before he finally moved to look around his men.
"Get the Rum," he ordered, "Get the woman and the child upstairs."
He was met with cheers all around and for the first time, Harp tried to escape the swords that pointed at him. The Pirate's leader glanced at him sideways.
"Don't hurt her nor the child," he ordered again when he saw the despair in Harp's eyes. "If one of you hurt her, I'll lynch you myself!"
He kept his eyes locked with Declan's, who now gave up the fight because three Pirates grabbed him simultaneously.
"Don't hurt them," Declan whispered the words while the Captain came closer again.
