Omega’s Gamble by Claire Cullen
Chapter Twenty-Four
Raine foundhimself upended into the bottom of a boat, struggling to right himself as his hands were caught and his wrists bound in front of him. He tried to pull free but only succeeded in earning himself a blow that made his head spin.
“What have we got here?”
A gloved hand under his chin yanked his head up, and he came face to face with a pirate. There were lines of dirt caked into the man’s weather-beaten skin, but his eyes held an intelligence that made Raine’s stomach churn. There was a hint of recognition in his gaze, though Raine hoped he was imagining it.
The man let go of Raine’s chin and turned his head to yell, his voice carrying.
“Back on board, all of you.”
Men leaped into the boat, setting it rocking. A few pirates turned the nose of the boat outward and pushed them off before clambering in themselves. And then they were on the water, headed for the open ocean.
Raine dived for the edge of the boat, intending to throw himself overboard and take his chances in the shallow water. Rough hands caught him and yanked him back, throwing him facedown onto the floor of the boat. Before he could push upright, a boot slammed into his back, pressing him down. He lay there, struggling to draw breath, his heart racing. His bound hands were pinned beneath his chest. Above him, the pirates shouted to each other.
This was bad. Really, really bad. No one knew he’d been on the beach, they hadn’t seen the pirates land. When he didn’t come back, they’d look for him, but the incoming tide would hide his trail. They wouldn’t know he’d been taken.
Wriggling around, he managed to push his arms forward so that his hands weren’t pinned beneath him. He swallowed a sob, his gaze focusing on something very close to his face. Slowly, he reached out, tracing the symbol with his finger. It was carved into the wood, done with skilled, sure hands. Not just any pirate boat then. A spelled one. He was in real trouble now. Unless…
The glove was still on his hand, the disc pressed to his palm. If he could twist his hand around enough, he might be able to…
The burn of the rope wasn’t as bad as the pain in his wrist as he wrenched hard, desperate to get a little slack in his bindings that he could take advantage of. The shouts grew louder and the boat tipped ominously, sending water sloshing over the side. It soaked into his pants and cloak, the freezing cold making him shiver.
He tried to turn his wrist again. It hurt, but there was just enough give in the rope to twist his hand outward. He stretched out his fingers, the disc flat against his palm, and slammed it down as hard as he could into the spelled wood.
There was a bright spark of light and a shudder ran through the hull beneath him. The boot left his back as a sharp pain dug into his hand, forcing a cry from his lips. He rolled onto his side and yanked his hands to his chest. He shut his eyes and breathed through the fierce sting, opening them almost immediately as freezing water rushed past him. He lifted his head and stared at the spot where he’d just been lying. The glove had worked, far better than he expected. He’d anticipated a hole the size of his fist. Instead, it had cored a circle as big as his head through the wood. Within seconds, the water was an inch deep, and then another, and another. Uh-oh.
Above him, the pirates’ shouts grew frantic as they realized they were in trouble. Hands jerked him upright, pushing his fear of drowning to the background. His hand pulsed in pain and his heart thundered in his chest as he watched the pirates attempt to bail out the boat and stem the flow of water. But it was obvious, even to Raine, that it was far too late. They were sinking.
A roar of anger made even the boat shake. Raine whipped his head around, his attention drawn away from the impending disaster and back toward the shore. That… that was a polar bear. Huge, angry, and racing down the sand and into the water.
If the pirates were panicking before, it was nothing compared to their reactions when they spied the bear heading straight for them. Raine tried to stand, unsteady on his feet as the boat rocked viciously. The pirates fled, shoving past each other as they jumped over the sides and into the sea. One of them knocked into Raine, sending him crashing into the side of the boat just as everything tipped sideways. He was knocked over the edge and into the water.
He didn’t go down easy, fighting and kicking to stay afloat as the pirates struck out toward their mothership in the distance. But with his hands bound and his waterlogged clothes dragging him down, he had no chance. Within moments, he had sunk far below the boat. The water was everywhere, the world turned upside down. Raine couldn’t even see the surface, let alone fight to get to it. Fast running out of breath, he kicked out in desperation, pulling hard at his bound hands. Death by drowning had never been a fear of his but now it looked like a certainty. That calmness he’d heard people talk about… well, he didn’t find it. The harder his lungs burned, the deeper he sank, the more frantic he became. His glove worked! He wanted to live, damn it.
And then, just as the lights were starting to dim, a new fear arose. Death by drowning was eclipsed by the sudden terror of becoming a polar bear’s next meal. The bear swam toward him, powerful and graceful beneath the water. It was all he could do to try to curl up, shielding himself as the huge bear bore down on him. He was done for. Really and truly done for.
Until he wasn’t.
A huge paw swept under him, hauling him through the water. He was thrown onto a broad, fur-covered back. He clung to it with his bound hands as the bear swam on, breaking the surface seconds later.
Air. Cool, clear air. He gulped a breath, and then another, cut short by a cough that wracked his body. For a moment, he lost his grip on the bear’s fur and slid ominously sideways until he managed to grab hold again. Once he was steady, he lifted his head, surprised to see they were moving closer to the shore. Shivering hard, he just held on tight.