Taken by You Read Free

and she stepped out onto the deck, determined to find out what their chances were of escaping the pirate ship.
    “Luaca, where are you going?” Carlotta’s voice rose on a note of panic.
    “To speak with the captain. I can’t stay here and do nothing, wondering what’s going to happen to us.”
    “You are doing something, child,” Father Sebastian chided. “You’re praying for a miracle.”
    “I’ll be right back,” Luca said, unmoved by the priest’s words as she closed the cabin door firmly behind her. Flames and soot shot up from various places on the tilting deck, and noise from the roaring cannon was nearly deafening as she dodged debris and bodies to reach the captain.
    Suddenly a cannonball from the Avenger ripped across the deck, slamming into the magazine located next to the cabin where Carlotta and Father Sebastian knelt in prayer. The resulting explosion sent Luca frying across the deck. Picking herself up, she cried out in genuine alarm and raced back to the shattered cabin. The door hung askew on broken hinges and she forced it open, throwing aside smoldering wood and rubble until she found the bodies of her two traveling companions amid the wreckage.
    “Captain, help me!” she cried as she tried to find a spark of life in Carlotta’s limp body.
    But Captain Ortega had problems of his own. The Avenger was closing in fast and his ship was sinking. He could see the pirates preparing grappling hooks and boarding planks and knew that he, his crew, and his passengers faced certain death.
    To Luca’s horror, Carlotta was beyond human help. Luca turned her attention to the priest. He still breathed, but barely. The rise and fall of his chest was so ragged that Luca feared his death was imminent.
    Father Sebastian opened his eyes and saw Luca bending over him. He knew he had little time left on this earth but he was at peace with himself; he had devoted his entire life to preparing to meet God. His last few moments were spent in fear over Luca’s fate. Her father had entrusted her into his care, and he prayed for enough time to impart important words of advice to her before death claimed him.
    “The enemy, they are boarding?” he asked, his eyes already glazing over.
    “Si, Padre,” Luca said sadly. “Captain Ortega never had a chance.”
    “Listen carefully, child, for I have little time left.” Luca bent close to hear Father Sebastian’s dying words. “You must not let the pirates defile you. Choose death over dishonor. In time you will be ransomed, but only after you have been violated ruthlessly. You will lack the innocence Don Diego demands of his wife and the mother of his children, and unfortunately you will no longer be suited for a holy life among the pious at the convent With my dying breath I implore you to think carefully, then do what your conscience demands.”
    Luca stared at him, aghast. “You would have me kill myself, Padre ?”
    Father Sebastian was beyond answering as he slipped serenely into death, but Luca knew that was exactly what he thought she should do.
    Luca rose unsteadily to her feet suddenly aware of the acrid stench of smoke and blood and of the fierce battle being waged between her countrymen and the English pirates. The ship was burning, listing to the starboard and in danger of sinking, yet Luca stood amid die smoldering shambles of the cabin with two dead bodies at her feet, unable to kill herself as Father Sebastian hinted. Had she not left the cabin when she had, she would have joined diem in eternal rest.
    Abruptly the terrible noise of battle subsided, and she heard the deep booming voice of an Englishman demanding surrender. Then she heard a name that sent chills down her spine. His name came to her on the smoke-filled winds of fear and dread, passed from mouth to mouth. El Diablo. Moments later that same deep voice ordered the ship searched for plunder, and Luca knew that she had little time left in which to make a choice between death or ravishment by