She’s not strong enough to do this, but she also can’t suppress the instinct ingrained in her. Durga is bonded to the Nereid. Reckoner imprinting behavior ties them to their companion ships, and she’ll fight to the death to protect hers. But in her condition, there’s no way she’ll succeed. She’s already dying. It’ll only be more painful if the pirates have a say in it.

And she’s only going to piss them off more. She’s going to give them a reason to kill every soul aboard this ship if she goes after them.

I’ve got to stop her. I’ve got to do something.

I hoist the homing beacon onto my back and take off, back down the ship’s tunnels, just as the gunfire starts. The deckhand runs after me, but I tune out the words he’s yelling—I can’t afford to think about anything but drawing Durga back to the ship. An explosion rocks the back of the Nereid and the floor lurches beneath my feet as the engines stop. We’re dead in the water.

I round a corner and haul open a hatch, stumbling out onto the lowest deck on the ship where a foldout platform lies waiting. I yank the lever that extends it and leap on as the platform unfurls, landing on the ocean’s surface with a wet slap. It rolls out in front of me, nearly fifty feet in length, and I sprint for the end of it, my fingers fumbling on the homing beacon as I go.

The LEDs snap on, nearly blinding me, and I slip, falling flat on my ass. I hold the beacon up, point it at Durga, and scream as loud as my lungs will allow, my voice harmonizing with the hum of her signal.

The pirate ship has already outmaneuvered her and docked with us, the crew swarming the Nereid like flies on a corpse. Durga’s attention flickers to me, and she draws up short. The Reckoner shakes her head, letting out a deafening roar as she wavers between heeding my call and doing the very thing she was bred to do.

Maybe it’s my familiarity, maybe it’s just a merit of her training, but Durga turns again and surges for the platform, her beak pointed squarely at the homing beacon.

“That’s right,” I rasp, dropping to my knees. “Good girl. Come here. It’s okay. It’s all going to be over soon.”

Then the pirate ship opens fire.