Sebastian’s expression softened slightly.
“You saved the ship.”
Eva shook her head.
“Not yet.”
Another massive wave rose ahead of them.
It looked like a moving wall of black water.
“Hold on!” someone screamed.
The wave crashed over the Hunter Shark.
The entire ship vanished beneath water.
Men shouted.
Wood cracked.
For several terrifying seconds, everything disappeared.
Then the ship surged back upward through the foam.
Half the deck was flooded.
One of the masts had splintered.
Tom staggered to his feet, coughing.
“This damn storm—”
Lightning flashed again.
And in that blinding white light—
A second ship appeared.
Ghostlike.
Huge.
Directly in their path.
“Ship ahead!” Eva shouted.
Jack’s head snapped up.
His eyes narrowed.
Through the rain and darkness, the massive silhouette became clearer.
A merchant galleon.
And it was drifting helplessly in the storm.
Loaded.
Heavy.
Perfect prey.
Several pirates noticed it too.
Excitement erupted instantly.
“Treasure!”
“Merchant ship!”
Tom grinned wildly.
“Even better!”
Jack’s smile spread slowly.
“Seems fortune loves us tonight.”
Eva stared at him in disbelief.
“You can’t be serious.”
Jack glanced at her.
“What?”
“It’s a suicide mission,” she said.
“That ship’s twice our size.”
“And half as maneuverable.”
Jack turned the wheel slightly.
“We take it.”
The crew cheered.
Sebastian sighed softly.
“Pirates.”
Eva grabbed Jack’s arm.
“You’ll kill everyone!”
Jack leaned close to her ear.
“Storms hide everything.”
His voice was low.
“No witnesses.”
Then he shouted,
“Prepare to board!”
The pirates roared.
Grappling hooks were thrown across the stormy gap between ships.
Ropes tightened.
The vessels slammed together with a thunderous crash.
“GO!” Jack bellowed.
Pirates surged across the ropes like wolves.
Eva stood frozen.
Her chest tightened painfully.
The scene unfolding before her was too familiar.
Screaming.
Chaos.
A helpless merchant crew.
Just like the night her parents died.
Sebastian’s voice cut through the noise.
“Eva.”
She looked at him.
His chains rattled slightly as he stepped closer.
“You don’t have to join them.”
Eva looked at the boarding pirates.
Then back at the merchant ship.
Another scream echoed across the storm.
Something inside her hardened.
“No,” she said quietly.
“I don’t.”
She grabbed a fallen cutlass from the deck.
Sebastian watched her carefully.
“What are you doing?”
Eva met his eyes.
“Stopping them.”
Before he could respond, she sprinted across the grappling rope.
Straight toward the merchant ship.
The pirate crew hadn’t noticed yet.
They were too busy fighting.
Eva landed on the deck of the galleon.
Chaos surrounded her.
Pirates clashed with frightened sailors.
Blood streaked the rain-soaked wood.
A terrified cabin boy ran past her.
Eva grabbed his arm.
“Hide below deck,” she ordered.
The boy nodded frantically and vanished.
A pirate turned toward Eva.
“What the—”
Her cutlass swung fast.
The pirate dropped instantly.
More pirates noticed.
“TRAITOR!” Tom’s voice roared from the other side of the deck.
Eva spun just in time to block his attack.
Steel clanged loudly.
Tom’s eyes burned with fury.
“You’re dead!”
Eva pushed him back.
“Maybe.”
The storm raged harder.
Lightning illuminated the battle like flashes of hellfire.
And across the rope between ships—
Jack Hunter watched the entire scene.
His expression unreadable.
One pirate approached him cautiously.
“Captain… the girl’s fighting us.”
Jack’s lips curved slowly.
“I can see that.”
“Aren’t you going to stop her?”
Jack tilted his head thoughtfully.
The rain dripped down his scarred jaw.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Jack’s eyes gleamed with dark amusement.
“Because now I’m curious.”
He watched Eva duel Tom across the merchant deck.
Her movements were raw but fierce.
Untrained.
But determined.
Jack chuckled softly.
“She’s finally showing her teeth.”
Another flash of lightning split the sky.
And for a moment—
The storm.
The battle.
The two ships locked together in chaos.
All of it felt like the beginning of something far more dangerous than a simple pirate raid.
Because Eva Thorne had just chosen a side.
And Jack Hunter intended to make her regret it.