With eagle eyes, Hook scans Anne’s ship, then makes another minute adjustment at the wheel, positioning the Jolly Roger like a piece on a playing board.
“Fire when ready!” he calls then turns to me. “Lass, cover your ears!”
I slap my palms to my ears and watch as Widow lights the cannon. She and the others run back and hunker down behind some barrels as the fuse burns and disappears inside the iron monster.
The explosion that follows is deafening even through my hands. The entire ship rocks violently as the cannonball takes flight through a plume of gray smoke. I can only make out its shadow as it sails through the night. It collides with Anne’s ship, sending splinters flying into the air and the main mast crashing down into the water.
“Reload!” Hook calls. “Cecco, bowse the Genoa!”
I have no idea what he’s saying, but Cecco does, because he goes to work lowering one of the sails.
Anne’s cannons boom less frequently now, but they’re still going.
“Why is she firing?” I yell to Hook.
He gives me a dark look. “She’s trying to call up hell from the depths. Let’s hope she doesn’t get it done before I sink her and send her there.”
“Ready, Captain!” Starkey calls.
Hook eyes Anne’s ship again and makes more turns, the sails singing with each movement. I may not know how any of this works, but I can tell Hook knows this ship inside and out, right down to the last timber. He can sail it in increments of inches if he wants to.
“Sink her!”
I press my fingers into my ears right as Long Tom booms again, shaking the ship and sending up another plume of gray smoke.
The cannonball rockets through the night and heads right for Anne’s ship. It’s over. She won’t recover from this hit.
A huge tentacle shoots from the water straight up into the sky. The cannonball hits it, knocking a hole in it before dropping into the water with a splash.
My mouth hangs open as a roar shakes the ocean all around us. The water begins to ripple as more tentacles writhe to the surface.
“Into the cabin, lass!” Hook unties the knot at my waist and scoops me into his arms.
“This is what’s spawning?” I scream as he bursts through the door. “Thekraken?”
“Ah, fuck!” He backs up, and I turn to find a tentacle whipping around his cabin and gripping onto the chandelier. Putting me down, he draws his sword and rushes into the room. With a few hard slashes, he cuts the tentacle to ribbons, and it splats onto the floor in strips of purple blood. He runs to the window and slams it closed, then hurries back to me. “Not safe in here.” He picks me up again, and I’m too stunned to do anything but look around as he jumps down to the lower deck, then heads below.
It’s pandemonium below deck, and Shiner is already retching into a bucket as the ship rocks violently to one side. Hook keeps his feet and runs deeper into the ship before kicking open a door and depositing me inside. “Don’t move.”
“But what are you going to do?”
He dashes away before answering.
“Hey!” I get to the door frame before the ship rocks hard again, and something bangs against the hull. From the squish of it, I can tell it’s another tentacle, a huge one.
“Powder!” Cecco yells from somewhere to my right. “Dry powder, for the love of the ocean!”
Skylights barrels past and disappears toward the front of the ship.
“Shiner, are you okay?” I stumble over to her.
She stands up straight and wipes the back of her mouth. “Been better.”
The ship shudders and creaks as another wet slap sounds against the hull.
Shiner leans over again and dry heaves.
“Will you take the medicine now?” Skylights comes back by, black powder smudged on one cheek.
