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He’d show the you can do," Louis said "It’s already sinking Ghost has scuttled it"
Jackthe i fro explosions had originated, hating everyfor some miracle that would allow him to save even one life
Gunshots erupted nearby, and he turned left just in ti fro just as the decks were alain as they landed Louis stumbled back from the wheel, dark patches stitched across his chest and neck As he went down, Jack heard the twoto each other, and one of the the deck
As he saw Jack and raised his revolver, his head snapped forward and he fell The gun skittered into the sea, and beyond hi the rail, the other ai his rifle His chest and stomach ith blood
The other man turned and ran He al just at the last moment, and his eyes were open in terror
He’s seen what they really look like, Jack thought Seen the beast And theat Jack’s heart
"Louis!" Jack shouted, wondering how it had co down the barrel of a revolver and asking a olf to save his life The man would die one way or another, of that he was certain But Jack had no wish to go with hirasp Sweet, tortured Sabine
But Louis could not help Dead or not, he had fallen to the deck and lay still, blood pooling on the planks around hi across the deck, sliding beneath one of the secured skiffs The man from the steamship fired, but the shot ide
A shape leaped from the Weyden and knocked thewith a terrible thunk, and then Johansen picked hiain Jack would never forget the sound thatsolid wood He hoped death came quickly
Another shape dropped down from the Weyden It was Finn Hethe ht at Louis, who lay still, blood running in rivulets across the deck Then Finn looked left, and fro place, Jack saw the sailor’s eyes There was murder in them, but murder of a different kind This was not bloodlust; this was revenge
He didn’t see rated, Johansen swung the ainst the mast one more time, and another voice screaht then Jack was sure that the loudest noise was his heart
From beneath the skiff he watched Finn take five quick, silent steps across the deck to Johansen Just as the firstof broken bones and ruptured flesh that had once been a man, Finn threw his arm around Johansen’s face, pulled his head back, and slit his throat with a knife that glinted silver in the sunlight
Johansen struggled and thrashed, and Finn slashed again and again Then he started stabbing the silver blade into the first mate’s heart
Jack closed his eyes, but he could not shut his ears against the terrible sound There was hissing and gurgling, and then grunting as Finn dragged the bleeding man across the deck He heaved Johansen over the rail, and the firstup into his murderer’s eyes, and then Finn sliced his knife across the rail’s upper surface and Johansen’s fingers, and he fell between the ships
The Weyden rose, the Larsen fell, and hulls ground together as the vessels danced close
Finn glanced around again, guilt and delight drawing his grin, and there was soan to distort, his jaidening and his nose lengthening His hands turned to claws, teeth growing thick and long, and there was a sheen of fine brown hair sprouting across his face, following the contours of his ugliness He still stood upright, but his legs changed shape, forcing hihed, and it sounded more like an aniht, and actually seeing what these things ht the true terror ho at the salt air, alert and searching, and Jack realized that the monster had somehow sensed his presence Was it his scent, or had he made some noise? Jack didn’t know--perhaps Finn sirew as he watched the way the rowl issued froht If Finn saw him, he would not escape But there ays for him to remain unseen In the frozen north he had learned a subtle sort of ic froe to use He closed his eyes tightly, clearing his thoughts and exhaling as he reached out with his own spirit When he sensed the voracious beast at the core of the olf, it was all he could do not to recoil Instead, he touched Finn’s essence, bared his own teeth, and let himself feel the bloodlust and the violence that boiled inside the monster Finn’s heart beat wildly, and Jackin his own chest
If Finn sensed anything now, it would be another wolf, another monster, but Jack hoped he would sense only his oildness He had ed his presence with Finn’s, becorunting decisively as his concern abated He was convinced his crime had no witness
Someone shouted, and it was a voice of authority Ghost Finn darted away, snuffling heavily as he flitted past the s with revulsion as he let the persona of the ash froiven hiusted It ht have saved his life, but the idea that he could so easily match his spirit with that of a monster disturbed hi, he pushed hi place just in ti ten feet across and up onto the Weyden’s stern deck Ser vessel was canted at an unnatural angle away from the Larsen
"Back to the Larsen!" Ghost’s voice called "Hole the lifeboats, and leave the rest to their fate"
Finn had returned to the sinking ship just in time to be ordered back to his own--so that no one would ever know he had been apart fro party
Jack stood and ran to the stern, where Louis was slowly hauling hi wheel He had been shot at least four tirimace