She could only be glad that, broad as he was, the corridor was too narrow for him to easily strike her. To do so, he'd have to risk letting her go.
Cursing freely, he half carried, half pushed her on before him. Alathea fought and twisted furiously, but did no more than slow him. His strength was overwhelming, suffocating; the notion of being trapped beneath him sent panic sheering through her.
Two yards from the open door, Crowley halted. Before she realized what he intended, he flung open another door concealed within the paneling and started to push her through.
Alathea saw the bed fixed against the wall.
She grabbed the door frame and redoubled her resistance, but inch by inch, Crowley forced her forward. Then he slammed his fist down on her fingers locked about the door frame.
With a yelp, she let go, and he thrust her across the threshold.
Footsteps pounded overhead. They froze, and looked up.
Alathea sucked in a breath and screamed for all she was worth.
Crowley swore. He shoved her into the room.
She tripped on her skirts and fell, but immediately scrambled up. "Gabriel!"
Crowley slammed the door in her face.
Flinging herself against the panel, Alathea heard a key scrape, heard the lock fall home. She crouched and put her eye to the keyhole.
And saw the paneling on the corridor's opposite wall. "Thank God!" Crowley had taken the key. She reached for a hairpin.
Outside the door, Crowley stared at the ladder. Footsteps moved over the deck above, checking one hatch after another.
"Gabriel?"
A smiling sneer curved his lips, then he laughed, turned, and strode for the open cabin.
Gabriel found the main hatch. He hauled on the heavy cross bolt and heard it grate. Swearing under his breath, he shot it fully back. Chillingworth appeared and helped him lift the hatch cover, easing it over. They looked down on a circle of lamplit corridor and the rungs of the ladder leading down. Looking at Chillingworth, Gabriel shook out his hands, then signaled that he was going down. His face felt expressionless. He had no difficulty acting nerveless. His blood was ice-cold, his veins chilled. He'd never known fear like this-a cold cramping fist closed about his heart. He'd known Alathea forever but he'd only just found her. He couldn't lose her now, not when he'd finally bitten the bullet and opened his heart-and she'd been poised to give him hers. No-he thrust the idea aside. It was unthinkable.
They were not going to lose each other.
He grasped the hatch's rim and swung himself into the hole. Locating the rungs, he quickly descended. He was so tall, he reached the floor before the corridor came fully into view. Stepping onto the lower deck, he looked straight along its emptiness-directly into the maw of the pistol Crowley had pointed at his heart.
Gabriel heard the trigger click. He dove for the floor.
The corridor wall exploded outward. A door swung across, blocking Crowley's shot. Alathea burst into the corridor. The door panel splintered beside her shoulder. She instinctively ducked.
The percussion of the shot boomed and echoed, the sound bouncing deafeningly around the corridor.
"Get down!" Gabriel roared.
Alathea looked at him, then at the door. They both heard Crowley curse, heard his pounding footsteps nearing. Alathea shrank back along the corridor wall.
Crowley slammed the door shut. He didn't look at Alathea but at Gabriel, coming to his feet, the promise of death in his eyes.
Crowley turned and raced back to the main cabin.
"Wait!"
Alathea heard Gabriel's bellow but she didn't even look back as she raced straight after Crowley. He would need to reload. Gabriel was unarmed. She could at least slow Crowley down.
She rushed into the cabin, expecting to see Crowley at the desk or bed, frantically reloading. Instead, she saw him fling the pistol across the room as he strode past the desk. Reaching the wall, he grasped the hilt of one of the twin sabers hanging in crossed scabbards between two portholes.
The saber left its sheath with a deadly hiss.