A Crown Cut with Salt
The first round punched our fore ripple, hissed through nothing useful, and made Freckles swear he’d felt it part his hair.
“Hold your head still, and it won’t have to choose,” Jas advised. He waited, waited, eyes half lidded like a cat pretending sleep, then snapped the lanyard. Our chain huffed into the cold air, kissed water, and skated across the seam into the cutter’s path. The lead boat tried to lift her nose over it and failed. Chain bit bow, then dove, the cold water dragging it down where warm couldn’t help. The cutter slowed a fraction, not enough to shame her, just enough to make her pretty angle go wrong.
“Reload,” Kade said. Calm. Funeral calm.
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