Surrender of a Siren (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy #2)(65)

“Can you stand?”

She nodded, locking her knees as she rested her back against his chest.

“Was …” Her throat worked. “Was that lightning? Did it strike the ship?”

“Yes. And no.” His grip tightened over her wrist. “It struck theirs.”

She craned her neck to look up at his face. His features pale and drawn, he stared hard out over the ship’s rail. Sophia followed his gaze. At first she scarcely noticed it, the faint red glow at the tip of the Kestrel’s mainmast. The ship was still some distance away, and Sophia had to squint to make it out. But it was there. Gray’s arm went slack about her, and she took a step forward. The light seemed to disappear for a moment, then sparked feebly and glowed anew, like an ember in a dying fire. But this fire was not dying.

The captain appeared at Gray’s side. Together, the two men stared up at the red glow. “Gray, can you see—”

“Yes.”

A tongue of flame spurted from the tip of the mast. Sophia felt Gray’s whole body stiffen. Fire slithered down a length of rope, igniting one tip of the topmost yardarm.

“Damn it, why don’t they raise the alarm?” the captain asked. “Where is her crew?”

“After a blast like that …” Gray’s voice took on a steely edge. “Dead, some of them. Stunned or maimed, at least.”

A swell tipped the deck, and Sophia stumbled back against his chest. His chin scraped the crown of her head. They fit together so perfectly. Since the day he’d helped her board this ship, she’d fallen time and again into his embrace. To her, the truth was plain. His arms belonged around her. If only he would let her into his heart.

She turned her head and rested her brow against his shoulder. “Gray,”

she whispered.

He tensed and pulled back. But he didn’t let her go.

The captain cupped his hands around his mouth. “Put in the boats!” he shouted toward the men at the bow. “Brace the mainsail aback!”

“You’re falling back?” Gray asked.

“What choice do we have?” The captain scrubbed his face with one hand.

“There’s no telling which direction that mast will fall. We can’t risk the Aphrodite catching fire. I’ll put in the boats. If there are any survivors, they’ll make their way overboard.”

“Not if they’re injured or trapped in the hold, they won’t.”

“What do you propose to do, Gray?”

His reply was quiet, but firm. “Board it.”

“What?” Sophia pulled out of his grip and turned to face him.

“What?” The captain’s expression mirrored her sense of alarm. “Board a burning ship? Gray, are you mad?”

“You act as though we’ve never done it before. This used to be our livelihood, boarding burning ships. That mast is a fuse. It’ll send the whole ship up in smoke if it’s not cut down before those flames reach the deck.”

He clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder, his lips thinning in a tight smile. “Come on, Joss. It’ll be like old times.”

“In old times, any blaze we faced was the result of our own cannonfire. You know a lightning strike can spark fires all through a ship. Even now, there could be a blaze in the hold. If there’s a keg of powder, a cask of rum nearby … The whole thing could go any moment.”

“Then we’d best look lively, hadn’t we?” Gray strode toward the rail, shouting up at the sailors, “Mainsail haul! Bring her around!”

The men complied without hesitation, and the Aphrodite pivoted, coming abreast of the other ship. Sophia stood transfixed as the flames crawled across the royal yard. The furled sail took fire like a scroll of paper.

“Volunteers!” Gray lifted a coil of rope from its pin. “Who’ll board her with me? No men with wives or children.”

Levi appeared at his side out of nowhere, strong and silent as ever. He and Gray exchanged nods of agreement.

“I’m in.” O’Shea swung down from the yardarm and dropped to the deck with catlike grace. “Just like old times, eh, Gray?”

Gray shot an amused glance at his brother. “See?”

As the distance between the ships narrowed, the three men tested their ropes.

“I’ll go, too.” Davy pushed to the rail.

“No!” Sophia cried. “Gray, you can’t let him.”

“The ship could suffer my loss easier than most.” The boy stood tall, rolling the sleeves of his tunic up over his elbows. “And I’ve no wife or children, sir.”

“So you haven’t,” Gray said. “All right, then.”

The four men grabbed hold of their ropes and climbed onto the rail, preparing to swing across the gap of churning sea to board the burning ship. No anxiety showed on Gray’s face, only sharpened focus and grim determination. By contrast, Sophia was consumed with fear. She glanced up. The flames had reached the topgallant now. Dread numbed her entire body, and the bitter gale seemed to howl straight through her, whistling through her ribs and chilling her heart. She remembered the captain’s words. There could be fires throughout the ship … A keg of powder, onecask of rum, and …

And he would be gone.

“Gray!” A gust of wind took her choked sob and flung it out to sea. The captain strode forward, reaching for a coil of rope. “If you’re determined to do this fool thing, I’m going with you.”