Aaron’s hands shook as he backed toward the cabin. “Marcus… what do we do?” His voice cracked, too loud, too raw. The second pirate burst from the water, hauling himself back on deck with a dripping snarl. His eyes blazed with fury as he leveled a wet, jagged blade in Marcus’s direction.
The sea around them felt suddenly smaller, the horizon impossibly far. Marcus’s gaze darted to the floating harpoon gun lying at his feet. His hand twitched toward it, but the pirate caught the movement and bared his teeth. “You move,” the man hissed in broken English, water streaming down his face, “and you die.”