Blackhearts (Blackhearts, #1)(98)

to keep them.”

Before David could argue any further, they heard voices

as the door opened and out stepped a woman. From the slant

of her shoulders and her slow gate, she appeared to be elderly.

As Teach peeked through the scorched wooden slats, his pulse

raced. For a moment he thought it was Margery, but the woman

before him didn’t limp. And Margery was still at the estate.

“I’ll be back soon. Make sure you have everything cleaned

up,” the woman said to some unseen person holding the door

open. “We don’t want to leave a trail.” Where was she going at this time of night?

“Nobody could blame us for what we did,” a man’s voice

answered, followed by a hollow laugh. “She deserved what she

got, thinkin’ she’s better than the rest of us.”

He’s a dead man, Teach thought as the door closed and the old woman walked away, mumbling to herself.

“Would you like me to go with you, sir?” David asked.

Teach was already standing, his muscles tensed. “No. You

go after that woman. Tell her Master Drummond found out

what they’ve done and Margery sent you to warn her.”

“But, sir, do you intend—”

“Yes, I do,” Teach growled, heading for the door. Tempted

to kick it in, he instead opened it carefully, not wanting to alert anyone inside to his presence.





3 5 4


A single candle cast an eerie glow in the dim hallway. The floor was scarred and buckled, the corners laced with webs.

Dust covered everything, and a faint acrid smell still hung

in the air. Teach heard a soft scuffling sound and the telltale squeak of a rat.

The first room he encountered was empty. The sound of

movement came from the back of the house. Stealing forward,

Teach came face-to-face with a large man, his physical stature almost equal to Teach’s.

“What the devil do you want?” the man demanded.

“To take back what you took from me.”

The man charged at Teach, but Teach flipped him over his

shoulder and slammed him to the ground, the force of it shaking the house to its rafters. Clipping Teach’s ankle, the man pulled him down. The two wrestled and grappled, until Teach managed to catch the man in the stomach with his elbow. Moaning, the man rolled to his side. Teach reached down, gripped him by his hair, and pulled him to a kneeling position before delivering a crushing blow to his face. His opponent fell back and didn’t move again.

Teach heard a tread on the floor above and hurtled up the

shadowy stairs, his heart hammering. He’d just turned onto the landing when a shot rang out and the wood paneling near his

head splintered. Dropping down, Teach saw another man, equal

in stature to the first, fumbling to reload the pistol in his hand.

Jumping to his feet, Teach rushed at him and slammed him





3 5 5


against the wall. The pistol fell harmlessly to the floor. “Where is she?”

“Don’t know who you’re talking about,” the man spat back.

Teach drove his fist into the man’s stomach. “Try again.”

“Bugger off!”

Once more Teach connected with the man’s middle. Doubled

over, his opponent barely managed to gasp his reply. “She’s—

gone. To—sea.”

“I don’t believe you,” Teach said, delivering a swift right to his jaw.

Blood dripped from the man’s lip where it had split. “She

is. I swear it.”

Grabbing the man by his shirtfront, Teach smashed his head

against the wall. “You were told to take her to the White Stag and then to the Deliverance. That ship still sits in the docks.”

The man stuck out his jaw, his lips pressed tightly together.

Teach felt his self-control slipping. “Tell me where she is,”

he growled, pressing his forearm against his opponent’s wind—

pipe. “Or I swear I’ll kill you.”

“You’ll—never—” the man gasped, his eyes bulging from

their sockets as Teach leaned all of his weight into his choke hold. “The Prov—i—dence.”

“She’s on the Providence?”

Nodding, the man drew in a deep breath as Teach released

the pressure slightly.

“If you value your life, you’ll take me there.”





3 5 6


Giving Teach a surly scowl, the man’s gaze shifted, looking over Teach’s shoulder. Teach ducked, but it was too late, and a crushing blow was delivered to his head. As he staggered backward, the darkness swirled around him, and he sank to his

knees before falling forward, face-first.

“Sir! Sir, wake up!”

The earnest voice pierced Teach’s clouded mind. Stirring

in confusion, Teach cracked his eyes open. In the dark a young face swam in and out of focus.

“Are you all right, sir?” It was the young groom, David.

Teach’s ears rang. He rolled over, and white and blue sparks

obscured his vision as he attempted to sit up too quickly. His stomach felt as if it were caught in a vise, and the pounding in his head was incessant.