The planthat would cost me mysoul.
ChapterTen
I awoke too early. That much I could tell. Thedim morning sunrise that shone in through the windows had not yetwarmed the air. I wanted to roll over and snuggle into the thickbedding, but my stomach felt queasy. I couldn’t get back to sleep.It was the first sign of morning sickness and a part of me wasgrateful because it was a sliver of assurance that the baby wasalive and well. The other part of me cursed the thing growinginside of me because the queasiness quickly turned, and I foughtback the urge to vomit.
I rolled overand slung both legs off the side of the bed, nearly hitting asleeping Benjamin who I’d forgotten was there. I thought aboutwaking the pirate to let him know I was stepping outside for somefresh air, but something told me not to. Something deep down insidemy rolling gut.
Let him sleep,Dianna. Move swiftly and quietly.
I did asthe voice told me and tiptoed toward the door, grabbing my jacket fromthe back of a chair along the way to keep out the pre-morningchill. The door opened without a creek, to which I breathed a sighof relief, and stepped outside. The air was still heavy with thedew of the night, but the sunpowered through the dark skies and rose with vigor. Iclosed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath of air as I tipped myhead back, letting the little bit of warmth soak into my skin. Butmy nose picked up something in the air and I opened my eyes,shooting my gaze to toward the island.
Smoke.
My heart kickedinto overdrive as I gripped the edge of the railing and stared atthe rising plume of grey in the distance. Suddenly, I realized, bysome divine work of fate, I found myself completely alone and freefor the first time since I’d been brought aboard The Black Soul. Islipped on my jacket and hoisted my legs over the side. Onlyallowing myself one second to take a deep breath before I chickenedout, I flung myself from the ship and plummeted to the freezingcold ocean below. My body hit the surface of the water with a hardsmack and it sucked me under, but I scrambled back to the top andswam the short distance to shore.
My armsand legs quickly grew tired of carrying the heavy weight of my clothes andfighting against the frigid icy waters, but I refused to give up. Iknew I only had a very small window of time to escape. Beforesomeone came looking for me.
Finally, mykicking feet touched bottom and I pulled myself upright, runningthe rest of the way to the shoreline through the shallow water. Icollapsed on the sand for a moment, for that was all I could spareto catch my breath.
“Dianna!”called a voice in the distance. I looked back over my shoulder andfound no one, but knew it was Benjamin’s voice. Suddenly, theinvisible curtain that shielded The Black Soul from the worldshimmered and the head of a rowboat poked through. Even from thisdistance, I could see the panic and anger with which he paddled thesmall boat.
He was comingfor me.
I scrambled tomy bare feet and took off into the forest, dodging branches andjumping over crooked roots. If I could just get through, get to thebeach on the other side, I’d have someone to help me. My chestburned from the exasperated breaths I heaved, and my legs begged tostop. But I wouldn’t. I only ran faster. Especially once I heardthe heavy and fast crunch of footsteps gaining from behind.
“Dianna,get back here!” he growled.
I pumpedmy arms and pushed my legs to go faster than I’d everrun before. Tears brokethrough and streamed down my face. Don’t stop. Keep going. I madethe mistake of stealing a glance over my shoulder to see how closeon my heels the pirate was when my toes hooked under a rogue treeroot. I went tumbling down, smacking my face off the ground andripping the skin from knees. It hurt like Hell, but I had to getup. I had to keep going.
“Dianna?”a voice called again. But it wasn’t Benjamin. He came from theother direction.
I lifted myselfoff the ground and limped along, heading toward the voice as myeyes desperately scanned the thick forest for the source. Threedark figures blurred in my vision, coming into view, and I squintedto make out the details. They were men; one abnormally tall, oneshort, and one with long blonde hair. Adrenaline lit fire to myveins and my injured legs somehow found the will to sprint acrossthe forest floor.
Unable tobelieve my eyes, I opened my mouth to speak.
“Henry?”I squeaked out, my strained throat inept to push outsound.
They werecloser and began running toward me. I could see his face then.Those black eyes piercing through the distance, his ragged hairblowing behind while his big leather boots squashed the earth belowas he ran for me.
“Henry!”
Wecollided with a hard smack and Henry’s long arms wrapped around me,lifting me into the air as he crushed my body against his. Itwisted my arms around his neck and held on tight. Every fiber ofmy being threatened to unravel in his hold and I cried like a baby.My tears soaking into his hair, his neck, wherever my face pressed.He pushed away and grabbed my cheeks with his shaking hands.
“I can’tbelieve it’s you,” he said and crushed his trembling lips to mine.Our tears streamed down and seeped into the cracks of our mouthsbefore he pulled away again. His hands still holding me. “I neverthought I’d see you again. When I witnessed you gooverboard–”
“Shh,it’s okay,” I told him, but partially for myself. I was in shock.“I’m here. You’re here.”
His armsslipped down to my belly. “And baby?”
I smiled. “Thebaby is fine. It’s strong. Like its father.”
Therelief that poured over his face was hard to ignore. He kissed myforehead and crushed me tighter. “I would
