Page 23 (2/2)

Tree grureement Maurilio nodded Even Vukovich seemed uncertain, his wolfish fury faded by doubt

They’re alht The idea of the violence he was striving to unleash was shocking, but events had reached a desperate point Everything beyond here and noould be worse than anything that had gone before His job was to ensure that it orse for Ghost and the crew, not for himself and the woman who had stolen his affections

"We’d need all of us," Louis said

"We can’t turn against the man who made us," Vukovich said

"That’s exactly e must do," Louis replied

"It would have to be a challenge," Kelly said "That’s the way of the pack"

Tree grunted "Doesn’t seem to me the captain’s been too concerned with the law of the pack these days"

"The pack changes leadership by challenge," Louis said, nodding "But we’re at sea And with a tyrant and a madman at the wheel, there’s only one way for sailors to take a ship from its captain"

Jack stepped out fro himself an open part of the discussion Kelly could coroin to gullet before Tree or Louis had a chance to pull the behind Tree’s bulk, he was a frightened victi in the protection of a monster Here in the open, he was almost one of them

"I know you hate me for what I aed you Our aiht be different now, but I’ve seen thethe wild, and the desire to be so more No one wants to be at the bottom Finn was there, and now he’s dead And who’s taken his place?"

No one replied, and Jack realized that Finn’s death had caused an upset in the hierarchy that had yet to be settled And he grasped this confusion and used it as his killing stroke

"All of you," he said "You’re all bottoer your leader He is your king"

A current of discontent swirled the wafting fog, and Louis seerinned, and the weak light glinted froinn and Muninn first," he said "So are you all in, lads?"

"Yes," Tree said

"Yes," Maurilio whispered

"Aye," someone said fro thee on that bastard Never believed anyone other than re e sea wolves, his huge lanced froaze finally settled on Jack

"Been a long time comin’," he said

Kelly sniffed and nodded, then hooked a thumb toward Jack "What about hiht When it’s over, we’ll decide what’s to become of him"

Kelly and Vukovich seeotten Jack existed They were following Louis’s lead, especially Tree, and the anticipation of bloodshed had already carried therowl deep in their chests, causing Tree to glare at therumbled "There’s only one way to do this One of us draws hie"

"No," Maurilio said "Down below, he can’t escape us"

Louis shook his head "Where’s he going to go? The water? No, Tree’s right We draw hiether He can’t fight us all at once"

"He’s not alone," Vukovich growled "He’s got the damned twins"

"I didn’t say it would be easy," Louis said

Deed hihts racing ahead He’d been dismissed, and it felt like the opportunity he needed

"So--who calls hihed, an unsettling rumble "Got to be Kelly Won’t surprise Ghost at all if he does it"

Kelly sneered "It’ll be a pleasure"

Now that they’d made their decision, all the humiliation and frustration they’d suffered at Ghost’s hands see second They had existed in fear of hi that the rest of the creould never join in an uprising but unwilling to challenge Ghost on his own With shared intent, their hatred took free rein

Jack edged backward, letting the fog close around hian to fall He looked up to see the clouds churning overhead While they had been focused on Ghost, the fogbank had begun to transform into a stornored the ship It would withstand the storh for them to murder their captain

Jack retreated another few steps into the fog as the rain pattered the deck all around hi now only of Sabine and what Ghost ht already have suffered at his hands He wished he could kill the bastard himself, but if he tried and failed, then Sabine would never be free Their only chance was coalescing around hi, blood pulsing, when he heard the growl Of course, he thought, but the sight that h to freeze the blood in his veins and cause his heart to sta toward hili from a dozen places across its hide, the olf crouched on all fours in front of Jack, the pained growl continuing in its throat As it bared its teeth, he saw the glitter of gold in one fang

Louis

Beyond thethat Louis had becoures shifting in the fog Bones creaked and hides stretched, and the sounds he heard were the distillation of pain and pure wild hunger He watched as Tree contorted, bones shifting, arony as the transformation twisted his limbs and stretched his flesh Tree stripped off his clothes as fur sprouted fro with the muscles underneath this new pelt He opened his thening into fangs Jack stared in horror and awe as Tree dropped to all fours, ears shifting, pushing up to twin points atop his wide, lupine skull, and his entire face thrust outward, beco a snout It took only seconds, and then theand clawing at the deck of the Larsen, gnashing its jaws, glancing around with yellow, murderous eyes at its pack brothers