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Back The Abyss Surrounds Us Save as PDF
Chapters (37)
  1. Dedication
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. Acknowledgments
  37. About the Author

Once they take out the engines, they’ll target whatever artillery’s trained on us. I’m guessing that starts with whatever shelled us in that opening shot. The Splinters are probably already seeing to that. When they disable those guns, they’ll pull up alongside the ship and throw down the ladders.

And then comes the part that I don’t want to think about, but I have to, because of Captain Carriel and all of the dead crew I left behind when Swift dragged me off the Nereid. They’re going to swarm this boat, and they’re going to kill everyone onboard who fights back. Bullets will find brains, knives throats, until the decks are wet with blood. I saw the bodies last time, the crew that had put up a fight laid out in the open. This time, I won’t know what they look like. I’ll just know that they’re all dead.

Once they’ve eliminated the crew and disabled the communications, they’ll loot the ship. They’ll take every last piece of valuable equipment, tear out the tech, strip out the wires. Hina and her team will raid the kitchen, and tonight we’ll feast like kings.

No, they’ll feast like kings. I’ll be fighting too much nausea to take from the spoils.

Bao’s my only comfort as the fight grows louder and louder. He’s breathing slower now, his blowholes flaring, his sides heaving in and out. I kneel next to him and press one hand flat against the towels, feeling the steady pounding of his massive heart beneath them.

Another shell hits the ship.

I replace my hand with my head, letting the thunder of his heartbeat drown out the noise of the Minnow’s wrath. We’re alive, I remind myself. My cheek is damp against the towel, my hair plastered to my head. With my nose this close to him, I can smell the faint carrion stench he carries, and it reminds me of Durga. Of the last time I saw battle.

Of the time I was ready to do anything I could to save that ship.

Have my weeks aboard the Minnow changed me? When the Nereid was under attack, my very first thought was not for myself, but for Durga’s well-being and the passengers on the ship. But the situation I’m in is so far removed from anything I trained for. My Reckoner’s life is synonymous with my own now, and there’s a pirate girl thrown into the mix. When I forced Bao to board the ship, who was I saving?

Who was I supposed to be saving?

Another shell.

I curl up against Bao, folding my arms around my knees. I don’t want the other ship to win. I just want it to be over.

15

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