Free The Pirate's Debt (The Regent's Revenge Book 2) by Katherine Bone Page A

Quinn snapped. “Stow your oars.”
    Water swished and wood clunked as the men retrieved their oars and battened them down in the boat.
    Markwick stood with ease, his tall body one solid mass of glistening muscle as he gazed upward. Chloe followed his range of vision up the solid black wall, craning her neck, straining to see the single yellow light perched above their heads.
    Gracious, I feel so tiny and vulnerable next to this towering mass.
    A rope slowly descended from the ship’s deck.
    “Help the ladies first, men,” Markwick ordered.
    Jane whimpered as a pirate clasped her by the shoulders and she was immediately lifted off her feet. The boat swayed with the movement, forcing Chloe to clutch the gunwale out of fear that the small vessel would overturn and dump them all into the water.
    The pirate named Quinn slipped the rope around Jane’s middle. “Let loose your bundle.”
    Jane’s stubbornness ripened on a frown. “I will not.”
    Quinn didn’t ask a second time. He tore the bundled clothing from her grasp and cinched the end with a rope, then looped the satchel over his head and across his chest, pushing the bulk behind him. Without another word, he took her by the hand.
    Horrified, she cried out. “No!”
    “Shh. It’s bad enough that we need a light to guide us in the darkness, but your screams will give our position away.” Quinn cleared his throat when Jane began to cry. “Don’t be afraid, lass. Step your foot onto the battens along the hull.”
    Jane glanced over her shoulder at Chloe, eyes wide, tears streaming down her face. “What if I fall?”
    “The rope will catch you if you fall.” Quinn grabbed Jane’s chin and turned her back to him. “Step easy and slow. I’ll guide you.”
    Jane looked down at the brackish chasm between the two ships, though the pirate gripped the ropes for her ease. “I c-can’t.”
    Quinn put his hand over Jane’s. “As you climb, our crew will lift you up from above. There is nothing to fear. The rope will not allow you to fall, lass, and I will be with you every step of the way.”
    Poor Jane. Chloe had never seen her so afraid. The poor dear had never been anywhere outside of Exeter and the grand adventure Chloe had taken her on was no longer . . . grand.
    Chloe braced herself for the eventuality that her turn would come. She raised her gaze, trying to measure the distance up the Fury’s impressive heights, steeling herself for the task ahead. “Do as he says, Jane. I am sure we shall laugh about this experience in no time at all.”
    Jane’s frantic stare fell on Chloe. “Do ye really think we’ll ’ave that chance?”
    “I know we will,” Chloe said, assuring Jane and trying to keep her voice even. Inside, however, she quivered with powerless fright. Was it possible to climb such a steep structure in skirts? Were these men capable of preventing them from getting lost in the unrelenting swells?
    Jane nodded and whimpered slightly as she took the first step and began her ascent. True to his promise, Quinn stayed close to her side, speaking calmly with reassuring words meant to fill Jane with confidence.
    Chloe watched Jane’s progress until meaty arms grabbed the maid’s hands and she disappeared over the Fury’s railing.
    Markwick turned his attention on Chloe. “Your turn, my lady.”
    “I cannot help but wonder if I am trading one disaster for another,” she confided.
    “You have no choice.” He held out his hand to her. “Come. We must hurry before all hell breaks loose upon us.”
    Chloe swallowed thickly. What was he alluding to?
    “Those wreckers will not wait for you to decide,” he went on.
    Surely her mind suffered some catastrophic delay and the sight of Jane climbing the hull, knowing the girl had a fear of heights, had broken down filters Chloe usually relied upon to process the world she lived in.
    Then her mind cleared, the fog dissipated, and everything began to make sense. She lifted her hand, taking his, absorbing