Stormbreak (Seafire #3) - Natalie C. Parker Page 0,75
on the opposite side of the circle, positioning themselves on the rail so they stood above everyone.
“Tassos brings them in and they steal from us?” Fray made his voice loud. “They want Bullet help they should abide by Bullet rules. And punishments.”
He punctuated this last with a tug of Nettle’s hair that made her cry out.
Sledge was there in a flash. His fist driving into Fray’s chest with so much force the Bullet was thrown back in the air. Caledonia saw Sledge pull Nettle into his arms just as a fight broke out in earnest.
From the rail, Cepheus and Pisces waved their arms and shouted for everyone to stop. But it was no good. The fight had an energy of its own as several Bullets turned on Sledge, and Heron did his best to pull his Bullets away. In an instant, it was a chaotic swirl of fists, elbows, and knees and no one seemed to care who they struck or why.
Caledonia reached for her gun, ready to fire a shot in the air. Before she could, the fight surged suddenly, pushing into the railing as though the megaship itself had lurched to starboard. Pisces was knocked off balance. She tipped back, franticly wheeling her arms to keep herself upright. But it wasn’t working. Caledonia sucked in a sharp breath as Pisces leaned backward perilously far only to regain her footing at the last minute. Slowly, she pulled herself upright once more. Safe.
But before Caledonia could exhale in relief, she spotted Cepheus whirling to reach for Pisces. As she spun, her foot slipped from the rail and she disappeared over the edge. Plummeting into the shark-infested waters.
There was a gasp of silence.
Then Pisces dove into the water after her.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Oh, hell,” Heron growled, darting forward, bellowing at the crowd the whole time. “Make a hole! Gunners to the rail! Ladders over, now!”
The fighting stopped.
Caledonia reached the railing in time to see Pisces pulling a bloody-nosed Cepheus to her side. Twenty-feet away, five fins appeared in the water, cutting a swift path toward the two young women.
The air fractured around the pop-pop-pop of rifles as gunners aimed to keep the sharks away from Pisces and Cepheus.
“Where’s that damn ladder?” Heron shouted.
The gunners fired again. This time, their bullets struck home. Blood clouded the water, brilliant, wispy red against crisp turquoise blue. The sharks broke away, snapping their heads around as though they’d been slapped, but it was a temporary reprieve. Caledonia watched in horror as they whipped back around, aiming once again for the two women.
Finally, a ladder appeared. It rolled down the side of the hull, its tail landing a few feet from Pisces’s reach.
“Hurry!” Caledonia shouted as Pisces shoved Cepheus ahead of her. The woman grabbed the ropes and began to hoist herself onto the rungs while Pisces treaded water behind her with swift strokes of her arms.
The gunners fired again, their shots peppering the water far too close to Pisces. The girl never flinched. “Now, Pi! Climb!” Caledonia shouted.
Pisces was on the ladder in an instant, her body flying up the ropes as sharks pressed in below. Caledonia didn’t move from the rail until both women had reached the top, their feet firmly planted.
The deck was silent. Bullets looked from Cepheus to Pisces to Heron. No one seemed to know what to do.
Then Cepheus wiped water from her face, smearing blood from her nose and bottom lip to her chin, and held her hand out to Pisces. Tentatively, Pisces took it.
Cepheus turned and, pointing at Nettle, shouted, “The little girl is the responsibility of Captain Styx! She will mete out whatever punishment she determines is fair. Anyone else who touches one of her people without permission will answer to me!”
Caledonia’s heart was still beating rapidly in her throat, but the crowd listened to their second-in-command even if they didn’t like what she had to say.
“Back to work!” Heron moved across the deck with angry steps, directing traffic with the firm set of his brow.
With a nod for Caledonia and a separate one for Pisces, Cepheus followed, leaving only Caledonia and her crew still clustered near the rail. Sledge had his arm around Nettle’s small shoulders, and it seemed like he might never let her go again.
And in spite of the blood now clotting in her nose and the bruise clouding her eye, Nettle had a look of satisfaction about her.
“Nettle?” Caledonia asked.
“Captain,” the girl said, sure to keep her voice low. “I got it.”