The linstocks were slender metal, like a sword, with a tiny hook on the end to hold their slow-burning matches. They enabled the gunner to light the cannon fuse from a distance, but they often blew out or came loose. The butane lighters made the task much easier.
He released the trigger, and the flame vanished as he handed her the lighter. “You can do the honors.”
“Really?”
The eagerness in her eyes picked at that strange ache in his chest.
“Aye.” He nodded. “Let’s fire these beasties.”
He’d set the fuses so the first was longest and the other two tapered, so hopefully they would fire in rapid succession. The iron giants were temperamental.
“Fire!” he shouted, alerting the rest of the crew to ready for the cannons.
One by one, she lit the fuses and then tucked the lighter into her pocket. He gave her a pair of noise-canceling headphones and quickly pulled his own on, too. They didn’t silence the roar, but at least his ears wouldn’t be ringing for hours.
Suddenly, the fuse disappeared inside the first cannon, and the bang sent it rocking back toward them. He instinctively grabbed her around the waist, jerking her back from the recoil just as the second cannon echoed the first, followed by the third. Firing any weapon offered a rush of adrenaline, but the cannons had the added thrill of rumbling the ground beneath his feet, too, bringing back memories of the hunt for treasure. Gunsmoke stung his nostrils as he yanked his headphones off and laughed.
She did the same, her emerald-green eyes sparkling. “That was amazing!”
He nodded, shaking his head as he slid his arm free from her waist. “Aye.”
Choking, she waved her hand to clear the air. “I’m gagging on the smoke.”
“Puts hair on your chest, lass.”
She rolled her eyes, the gunpowder dust on her face making the whites of her eyes even brighter. “My chest is fine as it is.”
His eyes dipped to said chest and back up to her eyes. “Aye. Guess we’d better get topside then.” He smiled and took her hand, ignoring the ripple of desire that zapped his senses.
When they got to the main deck, Caleb looked up, his bright-blue eyes sparkling with excitement as he tucked his GPS tablet under his arm. Keegan released the wheel for a moment and clapped. “Wish we could add firing cannons to the end of all my concerts.”
Aura laughed. “I hope we didn’t interrupt.”
Keegan gripped the pegs on the helm again. “Nah, I had to put the guitar away and get back to keeping this beast on course.”
Colton came over from the railing with a grin as he nodded to Aura. “Fine shooting.”
Her joy was contagious. Greyson could get addicted to seeing this side of her.
“I’ve fired all kinds of weapons, both mundane and magical, but that was pretty incredible.” She turned to Greyson, her eyes softening. “Thank you.”
He bowed slightly. “My pleasure.”
The others returned to their posts, and she removed her cell from her pocket. Her smile faded. “Shit. I’ve got to call in to the department.” Her armor was firmly back in place. “I’ll find you later.”
She jogged down the stairs to her cabin, leaving him in the wake of self-reflection about how incredible it felt to fire off the cannons with someone who shared his passion and respect for the deadly weapons. He already wanted to find other ways to make her smile like that again. These were waters he’d rather not explore.
He crossed the deck to Colton’s side. “Smooth sailing ahead?”
The quartermaster smirked and looked his way. “When have we ever been so lucky?”
Greyson raised a brow. “Did ye really expect we’d make it all the way to Scotland without some weather along the way?”
Colton shoved Greyson’s shoulder with a reluctant chuckle. “An old pirate can wish, right?”
Greyson looked up at the sky. “Keeps us from getting soft, I s’pose.”
“You maybe. I’ve never been soft,” Colton said with a straight face.
“Fuck you, mate.” Greyson laughed, shaking his head in mock disgust.
Caleb rushed over, his hair hiding his face as his fingers tapped rapidly on his electronic tablet. “According to the weather service, we’ve got squalls coming in from the northeast.” The navigator checked the horizon. “With our current speed, they should be upon us by nightfall.”
Colton nodded and turned to Greyson. “We need to bring up the sails and batten down the hatches.”
“Aye. I’ll find the others.”
If they’d had a full crew of forty or more like they did in the 1700s, they could’ve waited until the rain hit before tying up the mainsails, but with their skeleton crew, the work would take over two hours.
At least it would give him something else to think about.
…
Aura sat on her cot and pressed Agent Bale’s number. He answered on the first ring. “Agent Henderson?”
“It’s me. Sorry, I missed your call.”
His keyboard clicked in the background. “Kingsley told me he didn’t have all the feeds from the ship yet. I was concerned.”
“They should be running now, sir. It took me longer than anticipated to find placements where they wouldn’t be discovered.” She left out the sexy pirate distraction. “Let me know if any of them are malfunctioning.”
“Good.” He paused, and the keyboard clicking in the background stopped. “Once you dock in Glasgow, you’ll need to get to the rendezvous right away. The sellers are getting jumpy. We wired a deposit, but now that the local authorities are investigating the damaged tower at the harbor, they’re eager to leave town. We can’t lose the sword.”
No doubt the authorities were trying to explain how an ancient storage tower suddenly had a diagonal slice through it overnight. What could cut through stone like that?
Nothing they could explain with science, that much was sure.
Her question was why. They had to have known it would draw unwanted attention. Maybe it had been a test to see if the mythical sword was real. That made more sense. It could’ve been that they didn’t expect it to work. Hard to say.
She closed her eyes, the weight of the mission settling back onto her shoulders. Reality. “I’m ready, sir.”
“Is Greyson?”
Her eyes popped open when Agent Bale said his name. Heat crept up her neck to her face as the kiss up in the crow’s nest filled her head. She remembered the way he’d held her while he’d been suspended upside down in the ratlines to keep her from falling.