Chapter 30: The Dead Reckoning

Paralyzed with fear, Charlisse searched the crowd for any sign of Kent.

Thunder roared. The building shook and lanterns swung from above. Light and dark oscillated over the scene, casting monstrous shadows onto walls and floor. Lightning flashed outside the windows, momentarily transforming the figures within into skeletons.

Something landed on her back. Chattering, it climbed onto her shoulder. Charlisse screamed and turned to see a pair of beady eyes. The little monkey scolded her before scampering down her arm, across a table, and onto the shoulder of a burly pirate, who looked up to see the cause of his pet's agitation. A sinister leer upturned his lips. He stood. Several men around him approached Charlisse. I'm going to die. Squeezing her cloak tightly around her neck, she prayed to become invisible.

"What 'ave we got here?" one of the men said. "Come for a bit 'o fun, miss?"