The beloved brig, Sneaky Lass, now rests in pieces at the bottom of the sea. Her captain and crew may have escaped victorious but are not unscathed, and the mood is hardly celebratory.

Michael Mason, surgeon for the enemy ship Three Queens, faces an uphill battle as he holds the precariously balanced life of Sneaky Lass captain, Bennett Holt, in his hands. He finds his vow to save lives is in direct conflict with his personal feelings about the surly captain and the secrets Bennett asks Michael to keep.

Bennett mourns the loss of his health, but more so chokes on the damage to his pride. Having not completed his mission to destroy Captain Gates, he fears appearing weak in the eyes of the Sneaky Lass crew. Worse still, each day, infection draws on his strength.

Jane’s tenacity is what pulls Bennett to her, like a sailor drawn to whiskey. If he doesn’t die but doesn’t recover, can he live with tying Jane to the half-man he will become?

Leaving the safe shores of Alouett aboard the new Sneaky Lass, a renamed captured navy frigate, Bennett, Jane, and the crew hope to catch full sails as they make haste in search of a mythical bloom somewhere to the south. A bloom that could save Bennett from the infection ravaging his body and mind.

Jane watches Bennett grow weaker through the distance he forces between them. She busies herself with the mission, but her mind is filled with wondering if a man who could so easily push her aside is worth her heart. Even so, saving Bennett is her priority even if being with her is no longer his.

Bennett might be bitter about her part in catching his quarry, but Jane has come to learn surviving this rough world means relying on others; even if they are crazy allies and ghosts from the past. Will their efforts be enough in the face of cruel gods and wicked fates, or will the casualty list grow longer still?