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Sabine stood and lass for Jack, and when he smelled the fruity aroma, he could only take it from her and drink It was one of the finest wines he had ever tasted He wondered where Ghost had stolen it

They sat together again and ate and drank I’ve got to knohat she’s hiding, he thought The only way off this ship for hi her to Ghost’s brutalities was too awful to bear She was conflicted and suffocating with guilt, as much a victim of the wolves as he was, if notabout her…

He’d felt it the first tiive it a name

"You’ll tell me one day," he said

"If I do, it may be the death of you"

"I’ve died before," Jack said He felt Sabine staring at him but kept his attention on the heavy door, their only protection against the horrors beyond

The ship’s angways, and olves howled at the bloody moon

When the door handle creaked down, Jack opened his eyes

A moment of confusion struck him, so intense that his heart stopped in his chest That fa--I’m on a ship; Ghost taunts me; they’re killers, monsters, olves; I am Jack London--was overshadowed by other, less obvious facts

So that ht flickered and danced as the door behind hiitated sea breeze forced its way in

"Sabine," he whispered, rolling away fro to the floor He bumped his head, saw stars His vision cleared in a second or two, by which ti past hiht, and though there was dread in his heart, he had faced ht to the last drop of--

"Cluhed loet, as if so was stuck in his throat

Jack sat up and leaned against the cot, looking at the open door Daylight shone in, weakened by its journey down through the deck grilles But even filtered like that, Jack could always discern dawn’s light

He had slept all night A bottle rolled on the floor, set dancing by the ship’s gentle movement There was a speckled stain of wine on the planks, but he remembered that he and Sabine had drunk most of it, and eaten the cheese and fruit, before tiredness had taken the her to hiht He wondered if she re held

Ghost stood just inside the doorway His glance flickered froain, and Jack had never seen such a smile on the bastard’s face Usually his humor was at other people’s expense, and such humor was honest This sht and sharp,them in what must have see, and despite the savagery of his monstrous species, it was clear he was not as emotionless as he had portrayed himself

The captain wore only torn trousers His chest and shoulders ide and muscled, hairy, and there was blood spattered across his chest as well as his chin and neck Jack closed his eyes and turned away

"The crew’ll be wanting breakfast, young Jack"

"Haven’t you eaten enough?"

The captain’s sery was s he pretended--perhaps even to hih," he said "You and the lady Sabine were comfortable, I take it?"

"Very," Jack said He heard Sabine’s sharp intake of breath, perhaps as she re the cot

The moment the word left his lips, Jack realized it had been athe intimacy implied by the position in which Ghost had found thes Sabine ht not have for the captain of the Larsen--and Jack was still not entirely certain how she felt--it was clear that Ghost coveted her attentions

Ghost glanced around the roo bottle and the cru about the way he stood that Jack hated--the casual grace of his stance, the way he did little to hide what had happened to hiance to Ghost that contradicted the intelligence he tried to project, an egotistical certainty that he was right

Sabine stood and walked between them

"I need to track the Weyden," she said "I had dreaed course"

"Jack--there’s so"

"Then you’d best confirm our route," Ghost said

"I’ll need access to your charts, of course" She stood before Ghost, staring at hilared over her shoulder at Jack

Jack pulled hi not to wince at the stiffness in his liht, and he almost spoke his conviction But it occurred to him that the displeasure he’d seen in the captain’s eyes was a vulnerability he e

Ghost was jealous

"Very well," Ghost said "We’ll spend theJack … breakfast and coffee for the ht find around the ship" He grinned, turned to go, then feigned re one final point "Oh, and Jack--there’s so A special store I’ve put aside"

Ghost backed frorand wave of his hand Jack could sether more animalistic The dried blood on his chin flaked And there was soht between his teeth

After the woman had passed him by, Ghost’s smile remained but was surrounded by htly today, young Jack," Ghost said "There are no cages at sea"

Kelly and Vukovich were sitting naked in thetheir faces and bodies with damp, dirty cloths They were streaked with blood Vukovich looked up at Jack and away again, disregarding hie in expression Kelly did not even lift his head He siain and again He seemed almost to be in a trance

The scent of wet fur was stronger than it had ever been, and Jack aled Behind hialley was through the ht perhaps he’d pushed his luck enough this

It was a month until the next full moon, and suddenly those four weeks felt so precious He was certain that in aside of that locked door It was a countdoard freedom or defeat, and defeat at the hands of these creatures could ," Vukovich said, the first time Jack had heard him speak He had a clear, sharp accent, eastern European or Russian, and he was pointing below the mess table

Jack nodded and approached, and from the stink he already knehat he was about to face Meat, that’s all, he thought Just re to look beneath the table, he prayed that there would be nothing recognizable