Catherine narrowed her eyes, trying to make out the face on the deck—but before the figure could fully come into focus, movement from the side of the ship caught her attention.
Sebastian.
He didn't hesitate. He didn't slow down.
In a few swift, fluid motions, he scaled the side of the vessel, his body moving with a precision that spoke of training far beyond what most would expect. It wasn't reckless, it only looked that way. There was control in the way he gripped, in the way he propelled himself upward, as though this was something his body remembered even if his mind did not.
Within seconds, he was on the deck. The next moment, one single punch, and the man on the deck fell like a cut pole.
Catherine's breath caught, her gaze sharpening as she tracked him. "Was that a gun?" she asked quietly.
She had seen it, a brief glint of dark metal against his back. Subtle, but unmistakable. She had grown up around weapons enough to recognize them without needing a second glance.
