Chapter 24: Don't
The air in the vault of Flynt Locke was no longer stale; it was charged with a cold, electric fury that radiated from Elena in waves. As Smith and Blood Beard began to cautiously approach the glittering mounds of silver and the chests overflowing with jewels, Elena stood like a statue carved from the very mountain itself.
The grief that had shattered her moments ago was gone, replaced by a searing, white-hot rage. Every memory of the farm—the long hours of labor, the meager meals, the way she had carefully tended to Jackson’s needs when he was weary—now felt like a mockery. She had been a servant to a man who had been holding her price tag in his pocket for years.
"Elena," Kai said softly, his voice echoing off the gold-encrusted walls. He reached out, his fingers brushing the sleeve of her tunic.
She spun around, her eyes flashing with a predatory light that made even the seasoned pirate take a half-step back. "Don't," she hissed. "Don't act as though you’re my protector now. You bought me, Kai. You participated in the trade. You handed over the gold that paid for my betrayal."
"I did," Kai admitted, his voice low and ragged. "And if I could go back to that harbor and put a bullet in that man’s heart instead of a chest of coins, I would. But I didn't know you then. I didn't know the fire you had."
"Well, you know it now," she snapped, turning back to the hoard. She grabbed a heavy, gold-hilted dagger from a nearby pedestal, unsheathing it with a sharp shink. The blade was obsidian, dark and unforgiving. "We aren't just loading the ship for your sake anymore. We’re loading it because I’m going back. I want to see his face when he realizes that the 'burden' he sold is now the master of the very legacy he was too small to imagine."