Page 114 of The Worst of Them

“He found me barely an hour ago and told me everything.” Jack’s tone had thawed, but not by much. He looked down at her, stopped, and crushed her to him with a low curse. “Hester came to the ship yesterday afternoon, frantic that she couldn’t find you.” He pulled back, his expression pained. “We searched everywhere, all night. Of all the places on this island, I didn’t imagine you’d be there.”

Alone in a jail cell, her greatest nightmare.

“Morgyn did this,” she whispered, and he winced at the strain in her voice. Now that she was not on the offensive, now that she was safe, there was enough room for thick vines of horror to twist through her, their thorns scraping against her heart and lungs to leave her bleeding. “She knew what would happen when they caught me.” A sob escaped her. “She knew what she was doing, and I think I’d rather she have just stabbed me. Not put me there. Anything but there.”

He took her face in his hands, sweeping away her tears with his thumbs.

“But you came for me,” she said. “No one…before… They didn’t…” She shook her head, unable to get the words out.

Jack understood anyway. “I will always come for you. I never would have left without you. And Morgyn…” Anger rekindled in his eyes. His voice shook as he said, “I’ll slaughter her.”

She stretched up on her toes to kiss him. Her trembling had calmed, then it subsided altogether when their lips met. Realizing this, Jack gathered her to him, letting his strength bleed into her.

By his side, she would never be a prisoner again. And if one day they would be doomed to such a fate as capture, torture, or death, at least they would face it together.

When they broke apart, her composure had returned, and she was about to tell him she was ready to return to the ship when something flickered out of the corner of her eye.

“They’re burning down the jailhouse,” she said.

Jack spared a glance up the street. Sure enough, the jail was on fire, and Frederick and Killian were nowhere to be seen.

“I’d mentioned something of the sort on our way here,” Jack muttered, “but I thought they’d understand I didn’t mean it literally.”

Flames licked up the side of the building, as bright as the sunrise.

“It’s pretty,” she rasped, and she wondered if Copson would be at all satisfied to know he’d been right, and she had indeed managed to burned down a bit of Tortuga by some hand other than her own.

It was fully dawn by the time they reached the Fortuna Royale. Copson stood at the helm, his gaze following his son as he boarded with Cecily behind him. The second Jack’s boot hit the deck, the captain called orders to hoist the anchor, unfurl the sails, and pull the gangplank.

Hester rushed to Cecily and tugged her into a tight embrace. Without a word or greeting, Cecily clung to her the same as she had to Jack because here, too, was a sense of home.

She closed her eyes, letting herself sink into the comfort of being held by her sister.

But however comfortable she may have been, it was dampened when she opened her eyes.

Across the deck was Morgyn, her face pinched with a sour look. Next to her, Fiero’s gaze traveled down the length of Cecily’s body, his expression smug as he took in her disheveled appearance.

If Cecily had any weapons on her, she might have broken away and put an end to Morgyn once and for all. But she was exhausted and couldn’t yet bring herself to leave Hester’s soft hug. A few more moments, she thought, would be enough to invigorate her. Then she would see this through and avenge herself for all Morgyn had put her through, but she was so damn tired…

And then Jack stepped between them, facing Morgyn.

All around them, sailors worked to get the ship moving. As they began to drift from the harbor toward deeper waters, Jack called to his father, “Captain, permission to uphold the articles and deliver judgment on your company?”

From the helm, Copson replied, “Proceed as you see fit.”

Fiero’s smugness fell into apprehension. “No harm, Jack,” he said, placing a meaty hand on Morgyn’s waist. “If this is about last night, we didn’t know you’d be there.”

Jack glanced back at Cecily. She recognized the severity in his gaze and remembered when he’d worn it in spite of her.

This time, it was for her.

For a moment, she was compelled to tell him that she could take care of it, that it was her fight, but Hester pulled her closer.

“Let him,” she whispered. “You’ll break the articles if you do anything.”

The compulsion cooled. She couldn’t carry out her own revenge, but here on the ship, the first mate had full right to carry it out for her. Judging by his menacing gaze, he had every intention of doing so.

When Jack leveled that glare on Fiero, the larger pirate seemed to shrink.