Defiant: 5 (Noble Passions) by Sabrina York

it.”
    “You dangled Ned over the rail,” she reminded him.
    “We always dangle someone over the rail. It makes the other
captives more cooperative.”
    “I see.” She sipped again and studied him. “Was anyone else
hurt?”
    “Only a few of my men. All negligible.”
    “And our crew?”
    “A sailor took a ball in the leg. He’s with our doctor now.
And another has a nasty cut but I daresay he won’t lose an arm.”
    “How gruesome. Does that happen often in your business?
Losing an arm?”
    He chuckled. “You sound far too eager about a potential
maiming. Rather bloodthirsty of you, you know.”
    She swung her legs. “This is an adventure, after all.” She
took another sip. “Did anyone else get hurt?”
    “Some woman.”
    “Lady Prudence?”
    “Is that her name?”
    “I believe so. Did someone skewer her?”
    He threw back his head and laughed. “I don’t like the light
in your eyes. And no. She fainted and hit her head.”
    “A pity.”
    “A mercy, actually. She’d been screeching.”
    “She does screech.”
    He dropped in his chair and studied her as he sipped. “I
daresay you would make an excellent pirate. Once you’re grown, naturally. Have
you any interest in joining my crew?”
    Ah. La! Had life been different… “The thought of sailing the
seas and plundering treasures does appeal.”
    “There is not often treasure but adventure does abound.”
    “Thank you for the offer. I will think on it.”
    “Do.”
    They both sipped as silence surrounded them. Then Sophia asked,
“What will you do with us?”
    He tapped his glass with a long finger. “I will ransom the
others, I suppose. Dreary business. Moncrieff’s brother, however, I have in
mind an exchange.”
    “An exchange for what?”
    Ooh. She did not like the way his eyes glinted. “Why, an
exchange for Moncrieff, of course.”
    * * * * *
    Ned was miserable. The brig, as the pirates called it, was
little more than a tiny, airless room with a moldy mattress on the floor and a
bucket should he need to avail himself. Other than the dim light from a small
window by the ceiling, it was dark. His shoulder ached from when the pirates
had pushed him in, hard, and he’d hit the wall.
    But that hardly signified. His true misery was in the
thoughts circling his head, his worry for Sophia. She was in the hands of
filthy pirates. In the chambers of their captain. It was a matter of time
before someone discovered she wasn’t a boy at all.
    Dread churned in his bowels.
    Dear, sweet Sophia, ravaged by that filth.
    His pulse spiked painfully in his temples when he thought of
it.
    And worse, there was nothing he could do to save her.
    He’d tried the door, beat on it and scratched at the lock
until his fingers were bloody, but it was secure. He wasn’t going anywhere.
    Though he had never amounted to much in his life, he’d never
really felt a failure. Until now. Now it seeped into him and through him,
soaking him with a sense of worthlessness. Never before had he felt so
powerless. Never before had he felt such bone-deep remorse.
    Sophia was the love of his life, the everything of his life,
and he was unable to keep her safe.
    He felt great guilt over Percy as well. His friend could be
dead by now for all he knew. Percy had come on this adventure only because Ned
had asked.
    Adventure! Hah! Disaster was more fitting.
    He hardly cared what happened to him. He would do anything
to save the others. Sophia most specifically. He settled onto the mattress,
though his belly roiled at the thought of what vermin might be living in it, and
tried to rest. He could do nothing for anyone if he was exhausted.
    When they came to bring him food—if they came to bring him
food—he intended to rush the guard and escape. He wasn’t sure what he would do
once he was free but it had to be better than this.
    It was hours before anyone came, and then when they did it
was not what he expected. His heart lurched as the door swung open. He leaped
to his feet,