Several wasted no time in joining the ranks of Tommy and Poison Lightning and passed out on the deck amid the boxes and crates, while others sat up with Charles and Dark Water. Sharing several jugs, they sat together until talk turned to mermaids, The Kraken, and other ominous creatures of the deep.

Red Legs, Solo, and Rusty, about three jugs into the evening, broke into song. Sea shanties echoed over the dark sea as bonfires lit the shoreline.

I laughed from the railing. Though I hadn’t imbibed as much as the others, my body felt warm and fuzzy.

Didn’t I have just the one drink with Jack when we pulled into port?

With my eyes closed, I leaned out over the sea and sucked in the cool breeze that swirled off the waves as my mind pitched and whirled.

Jack’s voice was somewhere. “I’m stepping over to The Revenge to divide up a hefty haul they made in Oriental waters. I’ll be back.” His dry kiss brushed my forehead and I smiled, my eyes still closed.

“I’ll be here,” I slurred. I tapped the steel that hung on my belt. “To protect our schip.”

Jack laughed a monotone, otherworldly laugh. “You best go below decks and sleep it off. We’re safer here than anywhere.”

Jack’s footsteps retreated across the deck. I slunk down against the railing and willed the world to stop spinning. One leg dangling over the side seemed to help. The happy sounds of The Black Otter danced around me and, despite having my eyes closed, I knew all was well. A smile found my lips as I drifted off to sleep.

An odd sound sparked me awake. A quiet grunting, out of place. The singing of sea shanties was no more and the sounds of happy laughter had been replaced by silence. Only the sounds of the sea, lapping at the side of The Black Otter, perhaps beckoning her back out to the deep, remained.

Did I dream that?

I rubbed my eyes. Still, my vision blurred. I closed them again. Another odd grunt jarred me awake.

There it is again!

I pushed myself to my feet. A mess of drunken bodies were strewn across The Black Otter’s deck. I bent slightly and examined each face.

Poison Lightning.

Charles Swan.

Dark Water William.

Solo.

Tommy was curled in a corner, whimpering in his sleep.

Was that the sound I heard? I listened for a moment to Tommy’s whimpers.

I shook my head. No, that’s not it.

Red Legs Roberts clutched a jug between his legs and snored deeply.

A couple of men I didn’t recognize split into four. I rubbed my eyes and they went back to normal. My heart thudded to a gallop. “Rusty.”

The sound came again. This time, more urgent.

I straightened my back and touched my steel. A flash of movement from behind the wheelhouse caught my attention. I held the railing with my free hand and staggered over. The anxious grunting was louder.

“What’s going on here,” I slurred.

A pirate I’d never set eyes on before, pale and bald, rose to an enormous height. He didn’t speak, but from under him, Rusty scooted across the deck toward me. With her hands finally free, she pulled a knotted rag out of her mouth. Tears streaked her face.

My vision tinted red. “Did he—”

She grabbed my legs and sobbed. “No. But he tried. I was sitting, looking at the stars. Everyone else was asleep.” Her voice twinged from scared to hysterical. “He came up behind me and stuffed this rag in mouth.”

I unsheathed my sword. “Who are you?”

“How dare you talk to me. Worthless woman.” His voice was a growl and his shirtless body was ripe with muscles. Scars crisscrossed his face and his large hands gripped into fists. “Now get out of here. Let me finish my business. Or you’re next.”

He grabbed for Rusty, but my steel moved on its own and bit into his wrist. His hand froze.

“Go on Rusty. Get out of here.” I felt her let go of my legs and I heard her skirts rustling as she obeyed without question.

The world pitched around me, but the giant of a man stood strangely still. I glared at him. “Get off my schip.”

He jerked his hand away. Blood sprayed across the deck. As though he wasn’t even injured, he retrieved his blade from his side and stood at ready. Scarlet oozed down his arm. “You want me gone? Make me gone.”

I assumed the position. The voice that slid over my teeth didn’t sound like my own. “To the death.”

He nodded and struck out with his sword. Mine intercepted. Still, I didn’t move my eyes from his. My lips twitched into a smile.

His mustached face went scarlet and he attacked again. My steel clanged against his as I thwarted his sword. With a flick of my wrist, I plunged my tip into his shoulder. He let go a roar as his face contorted into a grimace.

Booted feet pounded the deck behind me, but I didn’t take my eyes off the monstrous giant of a pirate that stood before me.

Tommy’s voice rang out first, then Solo’s. “Let her be, Nikolai. That’s Captain Jack’s wife!”

I yanked my sword free and held it at ready.

“She’s dead now,” Nikolai growled. “Don’t give a damn who she is.”

Metal clanged again through the still night air as his sword crashed into mine. I broke free and ducked as his blade slashed across where my head had been.

The brief thought of protecting my belly swirled into my mind. The possibility of being pregnant had occurred to me before. Once I told Bon, the thought sort of drifted away with her. But now, it was back. When one swill of Spanish rum made my stomach turn, I just knew. Now here I was, drunk and pregnant and dueling the biggest man I’d ever seen.

I pushed the thought away.

Of all the times to be distracted, now was not one of them.

“Red, look out!” Rusty’s voice was dripping emotion. “Please stop!”

I dropped instinctively to one knee, my sword before me. As Nikolai hulked over me, him an ancient mountain and me a helpless little pebble, I saw my chance. Holding my sword with both hands, I jammed it up hard through Nikolai’s chin. The big man dropped his steel to the deck with a clatter. Surprise widened his black eyes. He sunk to his knees.

“By God’s Blood,” Solo whispered.

I yanked out my blade, and Nikolai crumbled to the deck.