“I can point you in the right direction. How you get there afterward is no matter to me.”
“So, you’re just going to let me go?”
He crossed his arms. “You are not my prisoner, and as far as I can tell you have not wronged me or my men. Once we disembark, you’re free to leave. I simply put you in here to keep you safe. The men haven’t been to port in quite some time.” I gave him a questioning look, which he answered with a quirked brow and lop-sided grin. “You’re the only female they’ve seen in months. By taking you into my quarters, I communicated to them that you were mine and they would be remiss if they so much as toyed with a strand of your hair.”
“I’m not yours.”
“I know that,” he said slowly.
Okay… He already thought I was stupid, so I might as well ask my true question. “This is going to sound strange, but what year is it?”
His brows drew inward. “Pardon?”
“Yes, the year, please,” I maintained, crossing my arms to mirror his self-assured stance.
“For the next thirty days, it is seventeen-seventeen. Now, I’ve given you the information you craved. Would you please be so kind as to give me your name?”
“Why do you want it?”
He gritted his teeth. “Women are the most impossible creatures in existence. I want it because I will quickly tire of calling you Miss.”
“If you’re letting me go, I won’t be here long enough for it to wear on you,” I countered shrewdly.
“My crewman jumped into the ocean for the sole purpose of dragging you out, despite his fear of you. I think the least you could offer for such an act of valor and chivalry is the courtesy of your name.”
I weighed the options of lying to him and giving him a false name, but in the end decided against it. He knew Enoch and he already didn’t trust me. Maybe he’d reconsider taking me to him, or at the very least get word to him that I was here…wherever here was. “Eve.”
“Eve,” he repeated quietly, staring at me in a way that made me wonder what he was thinking.
“Land, HO!” a man bellowed from above deck.
“Duty calls,” he said with a quick bow. “I will return shortly, Eve.”
He closed the double doors, pausing and glancing through the crack between them when I called out, “What’s your name?”
A storm of emotion rolled through his gray eyes. “You may call me Edward.”
Chapter Two
Eve
My hand tech was down, but I expected as much. I just hoped that in time it would reboot like it had before. If it didn’t, I’d give it a good whack and see if I could jumpstart it.
In the meantime, the ship slowed and then stopped as men shouted orders to one another. From the windows, I watched as they scurried and climbed up the masts. What started out as a mad dash slowly faded away into quiet, as the men finished their duties and set off toward freedom.
A while later, Edward strode past the windows. A key turned in the lock and he pulled the doors open. “My men have been dismissed. I’ll be happy to see you off the vessel, Eve.”
“Thank you.”
He gave a slight bow as I crossed the room, never taking his eyes off me. His hand was on the hilt of his sword, but not in a relaxed position. He was about to pull it on me.
I stopped, keeping enough distance between us that he couldn’t reach me with a swing of the metal. “Come along.” He waved me forward impatiently, gripping the handle. The blade raked against its sheath as he dragged it out a few inches.
Reaching into the tear in my gown, I pulled out a stake, gripping it tightly in my hand. His eyes locked on the sharpened wood. “You do know Enoch,” he breathed.
Edward stepped forward, placing himself between me and the door. But there was more than one way out of this room. My eyes flicked to the windows. “Don’t!” Edward yelled. “Look, I was just testing you. To make sure you were who you claimed. Here. I want you to have this.”
He tossed a small, dingy brown bag to me. I caught it and then backed away, putting even more distance between us as I loosened the drawstring and examined its contents. The small pouch was stuffed to the brim with coins. Gold and silver, each bore a different nation’s engravings. I glanced up at Edward, waiting for an explanation.
“You’ll need it to buy yourself a new gown. That one is ruined,” he remarked. “And you’ll need food, shoes, and a place to stay temporarily. That should be more than enough to survive on until you can find Enoch.”
This was a lot of coin. Would it take so long to find Enoch, or were things expensive in this land?
“You said you’d tell me how to find him.” I closed the pouch, tying the strings tight.
Edward quirked a brow. “You’re welcome for the coin, by the way. Enoch’s estate is just on the other side of the tallest point on the island. You won’t be able to miss it.”
“How far away?”
He shrugged. “Depends on how fast you walk and how motivated you are to reach it.”
Jerk. I rattled the pouch. “Thank you for this. And would you thank the boy who pulled me from the water? I would do it myself, but if he’s scared…”
“Best I handle that. I promise to convey the message for you at my first opportunity. The lad’s already left for town, in any event. He’ll spend every coin I gave him on even more rum in an unfruitful attempt to erase you from his memory.” Edward shook his head and braced his hands on his hips. “However, I am afraid you are someone he’ll never forget.”
I held up the bag. “This seems like a lot more than I need.”
“I didn’t give you the coin out of the goodness of my heart, Eve, if that’s what you’re thinking. I gave it to you because I need something from you in return.”
I swallowed as he slowly approached. “What’s that?”
He stopped in front of me and reached out, flicking the bag. The coins clinked together inside. “When you find Enoch, I want you to tell him that I rescued you. Lie to him and tell him I was the one who plucked you from the sea and breathed life back into you. Then, I want you to tell him I gave you that coin and told you how to find him.”
“Why?” I asked warily.
“Because I need you to bat your pretty eyes at him and ask him to consider the debt I owe him paid.”
“Your debt must be huge,” I mused.
“Yes, it is.”
Tension thickened the air between us. What did he do to Enoch that was so bad, he’s willing to give me this much silver and gold to erase his debt?
“The island of Brutulo is a very isolated, savage place, which all reputable cartographers refuse to draw on their maps of late. Plenty of unmarked graves have been dug in her sand. It isn’t a place for a young woman such as yourself. You’d be wise to remember that, and to make your way to Enoch as fast as you can.”
Duly noted.
Brutulo Island. Seventeen-seventeen.
“What country do you sail for?” I asked.
He stiffened. “I am no longer beholden to any country or monarch. I am a free man.”
“A pirate?”