"No! Xavier! Xander!"
I screamed, reaching for the rope ladder still swinging against the ship's side.
But behind me, Cassian held me back with both arms, his grip unyielding as he signaled to the pirates who had climbed aboard the longboat, clinging to whatever was left of survival.
"Go. Now."
"Let me go, Cassian!"
I thrashed against him, struggling with everything I had left. But my body — already drained by blood loss and pushed to the brink by battle after battle — was breaking down. I was too exhausted to fight.
Cassian didn't loosen his hold. He said nothing, only pulled me tighter into his chest. As if afraid that the moment he let go, I would dive straight into the sea and swim back to them.
I stared helplessly as the Black Leviathan drifted farther and farther away from me, shielding me from the storm of cannonfire. Flames began to catch, then spread across the deck like a ravenous hunger.
