Thankfully, he followed my lead and didn’t drift closer or cast affection in my direction. For all they knew, he still wanted to deliver me to England to be hanged.
“Where’s the captain?” someone asked.
“Heading this way now.” A skinny, awkward, loose-jointed fellow leaned in the doorway, picking his teeth with a blade. “Captain! Come see what we got!”
Outside, two voices approached the cottage. One was too soft to hear clearly, but the other drawled in a brogue that hailed from Scotland. As the inflection hit my ears, my entire body shook with fear.
“I dinna ken anything about that,” Madwulf snarled. “I was told the admiral hanged her from the yard-arm. She’s dead.”
Who was he talking to? I leaned forward, heart pounding, hoping, pleading…
“She was spotted on the upper deck of the flagship while you were blowing her rigging to bits against my will!” That voice. The rage. His vicious, gravelly Welsh accent.
My breath left my lips on the wings of salvation.
Priest was here.
The booming pulsation in my head consumed the sound of Priest’s unforgettable accent. I pressed my lips together and silenced my gasps, straining to hear him.
Beside me, Ashley went inhumanly still as if his entire being was focused on the conversation beyond the door.
“One of Cutler’s soldiers. Why am I just learning this?” Fury roughened Priest’s voice, every syllable boiling with vehemence. “Mark me, Madwulf. If she’s dead because of your actions, I’ll need something to stab repeatedly, and your face will become my favorite target.”
“Uh, Captain MacNally…” The duke of limbs in the doorway held up a loose-jointed finger.
“I dinna understand the problem,” Madwulf said, ignoring his crewmate. “You told me you wanted her dead.”
“I wanted to kill her myself!” Priest roared. “Me! No one else. That was the agreement.”
Agreement? My mind spun, trying to fit the pieces together. How did Priest get here? Had he arrived with Madwulf? Did that mean he was on HMS Blitz when it fired on the flagship?
All at once, everything clicked.
Priest must have sneaked onto HMS Blitz while Ashley anchored in Nassau to search the brothel. Ashley was there for two weeks, so I couldn’t be sure about the timing. Evidence suggested that Priest freed Madwulf from the hold after Ashley sailed back to the admiral. Because the pirates overtook HMS Blitz while Ashley was with me on the admiral’s flagship.
Apparently, no one had told Priest I was alive and imprisoned on the admiral’s flagship. The omission was deliberate, to be certain, for it would’ve been in Madwulf’s interest to sink the flagship without Priest stopping him to look for me.
My ears thudded wildly with the drum of my overtaxed pulse. I’d been so heartsore over Priest’s perfidy, but that was nothing compared to what he must have felt when they told him I was dead. After he’d already freed them.
Madwulf wanted Ashley’s ship. Priest wanted me. They’d lied to each other to protect their agendas, and here we were, teetering on the cusp of full disclosure. I felt the impending bloodshed in my bones.
“What’s done is done,” Madwulf growled. “Dinna threaten me again, Priest.”
“Actually, Captain…” The lanky, ill-made fellow in the doorway interrupted again. “She’s here. Look.” He motioned inside the cottage.
The sound of footsteps exploded into a flurry outside. A second later, several men burst in, but my world narrowed to one.
Priest’s silver eyes shot straight to mine, his expression awash with everything I felt—shock, confusion, relief, and savage determination.
As his gaze frantically swept over me, hunting for injuries, I gave him the same inspection.
He wore a baldric of blades and pistols over his shoulder. A cutlass hung from straps of leather around his waist. My father’s black jackboots covered his feet, and leather braces adorned his forearms. My examination traveled over the snug brown breeches and loose black shirt before landing on the compass.
My compass.
Wedged beneath his waistband and secured to his many belts, it was a glorious shock to the heart. I thought I’d never see it again, yet there it was. Safe. Whole. Precious. Impossible to replace. Just like my husband.
He hadn’t moved from the doorway, his rugged physique so stiff and hard it was as if the sight of me had turned him to stone.
His intense gaze held mine. His breaths came faster, and in that sublime moment of eye contact, everything felt right in the world. With Ashley at my side and Priest armed to the teeth, I knew we would