As an added torture, I thought about how close I was to Jade. I’d sent Reynolds to Harbour Island, which sat on the northern tip of Eleuthera. If the flagship anchored close to the shore, I could make the swim and walk to there. How long would Reynolds wait for me?

How long had we been waiting here for Ashley’s return?

He was hunting the pirate who hunted him. How would that end? While Ashley stormed the brothel in New Providence looking for Priest, would Priest sneak aboard HMS Blitz in the harbor? Would he kill Ashley when he learned I’d been imprisoned elsewhere? Or would he die during the confrontation, surrounded by hundreds of Ashley’s soldiers?

That terrified me more than anything.

It had been my choices in life that brought this situation upon me. Not Priest’s. If he died trying to rescue me, the guilt would destroy me. The possibility of any harm coming to him or Ashley hurtled my pulse into hopeless panic.

From the time Ashley had handed me over and thence—in the brutish but fashionable way of the Royal Navy—consigned me to this hole of death, the grief I’d felt then still panted in my heart. Though my tears over his rejection had long since subsided.

I couldn’t blame him for doing his job to the utmost. I couldn’t accuse him of betrayal, either, for he’d never promised me freedom or happiness or even life. How many times had he told me I would stand trial? He’d specifically warned me he would hurt me again.

There had been no trickery or lies on his part. He’d voiced exactly how this would end and followed through on his word.

I hated him for it. Despised him to the depths of my heart. I had no choice. I needed an outlet for my helpless rage, and he was it. The longer I sat in solitary darkness, the more my thoughts suffered for it until one succeeding woe swelled up another and another and another and…

To my horror, the two lieutenants returned.

They forced the rag back into my mouth. A cravat was wrapped around my eyes and head, hindering my eyesight. Then I was conveyed from the foul-smelling hole and into fresher air. They didn’t take me far. Only a few feet beyond the door of my confinement.

Without my sight, I tripped over planks and cables, stumbling in the shackles. My pulse thundered frantically. My breath beat wetly against the gag as fear ruled every step.

I tried to fight, but one of them held me fast by the hands and laid me face down upon a barrel. He secured the restraints on my wrists and ankles to something on the floor, while the other man dumped water onto my back and callously scrubbed me from head to toe.