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“If I recall things correctly, we didn’t exactly leave you. We had no wind and no motor. We had no way to rescue you. And, if I’m correct, it was you who got yourself thrown overboard in the first place. You fired on Liannan and angered the drakon. Not too smart, but then you never were, were you?”
    â€œI SAID SHUT UP!” Daran yelled, and hit Shakes on the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking him out cold.
    Liannan’s eyes welled with tears, but they didn’t fall.
    Farouk was less restrained and addressed the younger brother. “What do you think’s the matter, Zed?” he asked. “Daran afraid of the truth?”
    â€œCan’t believe you went back to this sorry excuse for a crew, man,” said Zedric, shaking his head. “Told you to stay with us. Now look where you ended up.”
    â€œI’d rather die a man than live a slave,” said Farouk. “That’s all you are. Avo’s slaves.”
    â€œOh, you’re gonna die all right,” muttered Daran, as Zedric raised his club.
    â€œAnd I’ll show you a man,” Zedric growled, swinging as hard as he could.
    But nimble Farouk ducked from the blow, and when Zedric missed again, Farouk laughed until Daran came to help, catching Farouk right in the face with a hard punch.
    Farouk fell to the deck. Wes winced.
Two down and two chained.
Only Brendon and Roark left. He’d have to count on them for backup.
    Wes kept still, waiting for the right moment to strike. Whatever he planned to do, he’d have to do it fast—once the element of surprise was gone, he’d be at a disadvantage. He slowly clenched his fists, one after the other now, testing his reflexes.
    â€œForget the midgets,” he heard Daran say. “I want her.”
    Her.
    He meant Nat.
    Of course.
    Wes kept his eyes closed and gritted his teeth. It took all of his willpower not to rise and hit him in the face. Daran had it in for Nat from the beginning. Wes had always known that he’d been obsessed with her for being marked, being different.
    But that wasn’t all. Daran also hated her for being beautiful and not returning his own attraction. Wes knew the type, the thugs in New Vegas who catcalled girls only to slash their faces when the girls didn’t respond to their advances. Those who would destroy what they could not have.
    Daran never had a chance with Nat, whether Wes was around or not, and knowing that only made him hate her even more.
    â€œTime to stop playing around,” Daran said. “Finish what we started back there on the water.”
    Wes raised his eyelids a little more to see what was happening, his heart beating painfully in his chest.
    Daran now had Nat in a close embrace, his mouth against her ear.
    Wes bristled.
    â€œI heard the marked are good luck,” Daran whispered. “Maybe I’ll cut out your eyes and string them on a necklace.” His hand cupped her chin, and turned her to face him. “What do you think? Or make a belt out of your hide? Carve a buckle from your bones?”
    Nat remained silent as stone, gazing at him with contempt.
    â€œBut before I do, I think . . . I think I’d like a taste of what Wesson had,” he leered.
    Wes felt his strength returning as his fury grew.
    Don’t even think it.
    â€œWe’ll share,” said Zedric eagerly. “Both of them,” he said, seeming to find courage in his brother’s perversion. “Come,” he said, pulling Liannan up by the hair and laughing. “Or should we make the little ones watch?”
    I’ll kill you both, with my own hands.
Wes kept still, his eyes trained on the knife tucked inside Daran’s waistband.
Closer, closer,
he thought.
Come closer.
    â€œMake them all watch,” said Daran, his long pink tongue tracing a line from Nat’s neck to her collarbone. “If only your boyfriend wasn’t dead so he could see this,” he