Chapter 37 · Black Water Crossfire

The first burst took out the windshield.

Glass sprayed across my arm like thrown salt. I kept one hand on the throttle and my head low, and the stealth tender kept screaming across Bleak Sound.

"Bia!" Mia was wedged behind the seat, the sidearm shaking in both fists. "They're on both sides!"

"I see them."

I did. Two gunboats, searchlights white as bone, swung in from east and west like a pair of closing jaws. The lane to open water was a slot now. It got thinner every second.

Lucian slumped against the bulkhead beside me. His shirt was black from collar to belt. Every breath made a wet tearing sound, like paper going down a drain.

"North," he said.

"North is the pier."

"Yeah." Red on his teeth. "Two Corvo fuel barges. Moored nose to tail. There's a gap."

"That's not a gap. That's a coffin."

"Then drive it like you want to live."

I wanted to hit him. I also wanted to press my mouth to his forehead and check if he was still warm. I did neither. I cranked the wheel hard.

The tender slammed sideways over a swell.