like paper, and she felt every root and rock on the trail. When she wasn’t tripping over something, she was stepping into mud that kicked up, spattering her legs.
The monkeys had fallen silent, but numerous large creatures shifted and rattled the leaves as they passed. A tiger or panther roared in the distance. Even though the jungle didn’t sound like a friendly place for a solo traveler, Cas would rather face it than a ship full of pirates.
The trail split, and she saw her chance. Tolemek veered toward the left. Cas would take the right.
She hadn’t taken more than a single step in that direction when dark shadows oozed out of the foliage. She barely managed to keep from yelping with surprise when someone appeared right in front of her, blocking her route. She whipped her rifle up, but someone grabbed her from behind. She tried to jerk away, to back into the brush so she would have more space to shoot, but the firearm was torn from her grip. She dipped her hand toward the pouch of throwing stars, but the man behind her caught both of her arms before she could grasp a weapon. She stomped down on his foot, but he was wearing boots, and her pathetic cloth shoes lent nothing to the power of her heel.
Lanterns snapped open, and yellow light filled the pathway. Scarred, bearded faces full of missing or dead, brown teeth leered at her. Tattooed arms were wrapped about her body, restraining her—and squeezing all of the air out of her lungs. All manner of pistols and daggers were being waved about, more than one pointing in her direction. Cas’s first ludicrous thought was that these were some savage jungle nomads or bandits who scraped out a living by preying on those who dared walk these paths, but she realized the truth as soon as she spotted Tolemek. He was standing, his hands on his hips, next to a gray-haired man wearing an Iskandian general’s gold-braided hat, a spyglass on a thong around his neck, and a breastplate made of human finger bones. There were stories of cannibalism among some of the pirate clans, but they were just stories. Weren’t they?
“I wasn’t expecting you, Captain,” Tolemek said as calmly as if everyone had shown up to smoke and play cards together. He looked at Cas and waved to the hulking man holding her. The death grip around her torso loosened slightly, though she still couldn’t have slipped a hand down to those throwing stars. At least the pirates had only taken her rifle so far. Maybe she could still find an opportunity to escape.
“We were planning to while away the evening in the tavern, conducting a few repairs, and dodging a few lawmen,” the gray-haired man said, tapping his spyglass against the breastplate in a soft clink-thunk pattern. Was this Captain Slaughter? If so, he was one of the most powerful among the Roaming Curse, and perhaps the most infamous. “But some soldiers came by and were bragging about how they’d so daringly and cunningly captured you and that the commandant was going to torture you ceaselessly. I grew worried about you.” He flashed a grin—his teeth weren’t quite so poorly cared for as many of the ones in the other pirates’ mouths. “And my next batch of projectile naphtha you promised.”
“Your concern is touching,” Tolemek said drily.
Dry tone or not, when the captain thumped him on the shoulder, Tolemek shared the man’s smile. Cas didn’t like the easy camaraderie she sensed between the two. With her, Tolemek had seemed normal. Even solicitous. Oh, she was sure he had been using her all along, but, reputation or not, he hadn’t seemed like some vile monster. That might change now that he was back among his pirate brethren. Damn, she wished she had veered into the jungle just a few seconds sooner. She might have watched this reunion from some nearby treetop and then sped off before anyone caught her.
“It seems you escaped on your own,” the captain said. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”
Several of the men nodded and
The monkeys had fallen silent, but numerous large creatures shifted and rattled the leaves as they passed. A tiger or panther roared in the distance. Even though the jungle didn’t sound like a friendly place for a solo traveler, Cas would rather face it than a ship full of pirates.
The trail split, and she saw her chance. Tolemek veered toward the left. Cas would take the right.
She hadn’t taken more than a single step in that direction when dark shadows oozed out of the foliage. She barely managed to keep from yelping with surprise when someone appeared right in front of her, blocking her route. She whipped her rifle up, but someone grabbed her from behind. She tried to jerk away, to back into the brush so she would have more space to shoot, but the firearm was torn from her grip. She dipped her hand toward the pouch of throwing stars, but the man behind her caught both of her arms before she could grasp a weapon. She stomped down on his foot, but he was wearing boots, and her pathetic cloth shoes lent nothing to the power of her heel.
Lanterns snapped open, and yellow light filled the pathway. Scarred, bearded faces full of missing or dead, brown teeth leered at her. Tattooed arms were wrapped about her body, restraining her—and squeezing all of the air out of her lungs. All manner of pistols and daggers were being waved about, more than one pointing in her direction. Cas’s first ludicrous thought was that these were some savage jungle nomads or bandits who scraped out a living by preying on those who dared walk these paths, but she realized the truth as soon as she spotted Tolemek. He was standing, his hands on his hips, next to a gray-haired man wearing an Iskandian general’s gold-braided hat, a spyglass on a thong around his neck, and a breastplate made of human finger bones. There were stories of cannibalism among some of the pirate clans, but they were just stories. Weren’t they?
“I wasn’t expecting you, Captain,” Tolemek said as calmly as if everyone had shown up to smoke and play cards together. He looked at Cas and waved to the hulking man holding her. The death grip around her torso loosened slightly, though she still couldn’t have slipped a hand down to those throwing stars. At least the pirates had only taken her rifle so far. Maybe she could still find an opportunity to escape.
“We were planning to while away the evening in the tavern, conducting a few repairs, and dodging a few lawmen,” the gray-haired man said, tapping his spyglass against the breastplate in a soft clink-thunk pattern. Was this Captain Slaughter? If so, he was one of the most powerful among the Roaming Curse, and perhaps the most infamous. “But some soldiers came by and were bragging about how they’d so daringly and cunningly captured you and that the commandant was going to torture you ceaselessly. I grew worried about you.” He flashed a grin—his teeth weren’t quite so poorly cared for as many of the ones in the other pirates’ mouths. “And my next batch of projectile naphtha you promised.”
“Your concern is touching,” Tolemek said drily.
Dry tone or not, when the captain thumped him on the shoulder, Tolemek shared the man’s smile. Cas didn’t like the easy camaraderie she sensed between the two. With her, Tolemek had seemed normal. Even solicitous. Oh, she was sure he had been using her all along, but, reputation or not, he hadn’t seemed like some vile monster. That might change now that he was back among his pirate brethren. Damn, she wished she had veered into the jungle just a few seconds sooner. She might have watched this reunion from some nearby treetop and then sped off before anyone caught her.
“It seems you escaped on your own,” the captain said. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”
Several of the men nodded and
Similar Books
