“After we meet up with Theo and Yarrow, if we find that none of us have killed him already, we’ll make a plan to return and cut him to pieces,” Zander promised.
Ace nodded, the steel of a pirate captain settling once more over her face. She gestured to the path ahead, and they continued hand in hand.
23
The smell of smoke signaled the approaching exit. When Ace and Zander emerged from the tunnel through an opening in the side of a knoll, the full moon did little to illuminate the thicket of trees awaiting them in the ashy night air. Zander snuffed the now-useless candle and replaced it with his dagger as he and Ace navigated through the branches, moving away from the source of the smoke. Behind them, one of the storehouses was alight.
Zander stopped to gather his bearings when they reached clear air. He pointed to a tree in the distance where horse-shaped shadows stood.
“There,” he said. “That’s where we’re to meet Theo and Yarrow.”
The two pirates continued walking, moving quickly.
“Stop right there!”
Ace and Zander whipped around to see a uniformed man emerging from the darkness, his pistol raised. The blood on his face shone in the moonlight despite the thick coat of soot on his skin, indicating he’d survived the second explosion at the storehouses.
“Don’t take another step,” the man said. “Lord Sanz will reward me handsomely for—”
The man fell over sideways, his declaration cut off by the impact of the large rock Yarrow held in their hand. They stood over him, squinting in the darkness and then hitting him again to ensure he was no longer conscious, before dropping the stone and rushing toward Ace and Zander.
When Yarrow reached Ace, they wrapped her in a fierce hug. A fierce, grinding cry escaped them, as if every moment of fear, anger, and frustration from the past five days left their body all at once. When they broke the hug, Yarrow took each of Ace’s hands in theirs and gave her a look of ferocity.
“I told you not to come, you fool,” Ace said, tears in her eyes.
“And you were a fool to think I’d listen,” Yarrow responded. “Goddamnit, I’m so glad to see you.”
“And I, you,” Ace said, pulling one of Yarrow’s hands to her lips and kissing their knuckles.
“We must go,” Yarrow said. They looked at Zander. “A few of the survivors from the second grenadier escaped and rode North. Theo pursued them on one of Sanz’s horses. I’m going to go after him. We’ll meet you two in Malaga as soon as we can. Ace, you know where.”
“Yarrow, have you seen Sanz?” Zander asked.
Yarrow shook their head. “No, but I wouldn’t stick around to look for him if I were you.” Their eyes settled on Ace with a meaningful look. “Later,” they said.
Ace nodded, and the three pirates ran to the horses tethered nearby and mounted them. Yarrow’s gaze lingered on Ace and Zander before they took off in pursuit of their partner. Zander looked at Ace.
“We didn’t come in on the main road,” he said. “I assume you know the way to Malaga?”
“Aye,” Ace said. “But I need to stop somewhere first. Do you still have my compass?”
Zander patted his pocket, indicating that he did. Ace smiled and spurred her horse into motion, and Zander followed her. The Sanz estate loomed in the background as they rode, the grand structure illuminated by fire on both sides that slowly spread inward, threatening to devour the remaining legacy of Ignacio Sanz.
They rode in the dark for a short time before they turned off the main road and followed a path east. After a few minutes, the sharp angles of a wrought-iron fence emerged in the darkness. Beyond it lay the ruins of a burnt building.
Ace approached the barrier slowly, then dismounted. Zander followed suit. He stood next to Ace as she looked up at a tall, arched iron gate. An ornate letter “V” decorated the top.
“This was your home,” Zander said.
Ace nodded. “Aye, it was, once.” She stepped forward and pushed on the gate. It swung open, creaking loudly.
“He never let me return here,” she said as she stepped beyond the gate and onto her family’s property.
Zander followed her wordlessly up the path to the ruins of her previous life. The roof and exterior walls were gone, either burned or removed after the fire. Most of the debris had been cleared away. Large stones around the base of the home remained, as did the foundation and much of the interior skeleton. There was a stillness in the air that reminded Zander of a graveyard.
Ace stopped at the threshold and turned to look at Zander.
“I need a few minutes alone,” she said.
Zander nodded and took a step back. She walked on, disappearing into the crumbling structure.
Zander waited anxiously for Ace to return, twisting and twirling his daggers in his hands for a long time in silence. He scanned the landscape in the direction of Ignacio’s estate, expecting to see men on horses dotting the horizon any moment.
After a while, a sound to his left drew his attention. The snap of a branch. He held his breath, listening. Another sound, like a footstep on gravel. Then another.
Zander crouched low and carefully made his way around the side of the house toward the sound. Turning a corner, he saw a man dart inside the ruins. A hood obscured his face. Zander’s heart jumped from his chest into his throat. Ace was inside, exposed, vulnerable. He ran, leaping over the remains of a wall in pursuit of the stranger.
Ace’s voice slowly became audible as he navigated the once-grand home in the dark. She was talking quietly, steadily, as if she were having a conversation with a loved one. Likely, she was. He steadied his breathing, not knowing where the man went, and not wanting to alert him to his presence. He focused on Ace’s voice, following the sound to the center of the house.
He found her kneeling, a large stone wall at her back. Her head hung, her curls falling on either side of her face like a curtain.
“I promise,” she was saying, but she stopped short. Her shoulders went rigid, hearing the crunch of footsteps behind her at the same time Zander did. She shot up, unsheathing her sword and whipping around just as a figure rushed at her, his own sword held aloft. As the blades clashed, the hood fell back from the man’s face, revealing the snarling features of none other than Ignacio Sanz himself.
“You stupid fucking woman!” he screamed. His face was coated with soot, and dozens of shallow scratches marred his skin.
Ignacio pushed hard against Ace’s blade with his own. Ace’s foot caught on a stone, and she fell backward, landing on her elbows as she held her cutlass aloft.
Zander crossed the room quickly, quietly.
