Revenge (Book 3 in the Rise Trilogy)

A Judgmental Captain, Another French Accent, and a Couple Blown Up Ships

A Judgmental Captain, Another French Accent, and a Couple Blown Up Ships

"NO! DON'T KILL HIM!" I thrash and scream and I sit up. "DON'T DO THIS! THERE IS ANOTHER WAY!" I scream until my throat is raw as I watch the scene unfold again in my mind. I no longer feel the weight of Haytham on top of me as I'm driving my hidden blade into his neck and now I only feel the thin blankets that cover my body.

I guess I never mentioned that when I have my visions and dreams about the past, I always have them from Connor's point of view. But they are always so real, it's like I'm actually there. Feeling everything he feels and seeing everything that I can't bear to watch anymore.

"RILEY! Calm down!"

I feel somebody trying to grip my body, but I shove them away as I keep my eyes tightly closed to keep from seeing the blood that rests on my uniform and hands. I continue to stare at Haytham's dead body with a pain I can't describe growing inside me.

"Riley, wake up! It is a dream!"

Whoever has me won't let go and I feel as I am losing energy as they hold me tighter. "No," I whisper, very breathless. "He can't kill..." I trail off as I finally come back to my senses and open my eyes.

Connor's big golden brown eyes are all I see as I tremble with shock and fear that my dream is real while looking at him. Slowly, my swimming senses and emotions, stop and I remember we are back on the Aquila sailing towards Chesapeake Bay.

"Can you hear me, Riley?" Connor asks me as he holds my face in his large hands so I will look at him.

I nod as I continue to shake and whimper. "I... I wish this nightmare would stop," I whisper.

Connor continues to look at me with concerned eyes as he slowly pulls me into his firm and warm chest. "It will be okay," he says back as he strokes my hair.

We pushed our beds together again since Connor still feels the need to make sure I am okay with everything that has happened to us lately. I enjoy the company while I sleep but sometimes I feel as if I am a nuisance to him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Connor breathes after several minutes of silence between us after he has laid us back down on our beds. I thought he had fallen asleep on me.

"Later," I breathe as I snuggle closer to him. "I want you to discover for yourself what is happening to me."

.....

"Lafayette promised me a fleet beyond compare, and two captains without peer! Instead I find myself greeted by one old ship, a little girl playing dress-up and a boy in costume!"

I clench my fists at the fancy French dude in front of us. "I promise we are all you need, Admiral," I say through my clenched teeth.

The man chuckles down at me. "I doubt this very much. But beggars do not choose, hmm?"

"And the ships we require?" I ask.

"They are yours... provided we survive this," The French Admiral replies. 

"And what would you have us do?" Connor asks the man.

"Hold the bay while I engage the main fleet. Should any British ships dare approach, destroy them! They must be kept from Yorktown."

"Easy enough," I say before Connor and I slowly walk off of the Admiral's ship and back to the Aquila.

As we take to the high seas in the Chesapeake Bay, we are followed by two other frigates that will aid us in defending the bay. There's silence between the crew and the upper deck as we approach the nearby targets coming for Yorktown.