Ned's crewman made enough of a din clambering up the staircase that Charles was able to turn in time to keep the knife from getting buried in his back. Instead, Vane took a gash across the ribs which made him grunt in pain, but didn't slow him down enough to save the crewman from being run through with Charles' sword.

Pushing the corpse off his blade with his boot and sending the body tumbling back down the stair to land atop a pair of his fellow and equally dead comrades, Charles spun and sprinted for the door through which he'd heard Anne's screams and seen Ned Low disappear.

He crossed the threshold to find Low squatting above the bed and the female form lashed to it. Without word of warning or hesitation, Vane's pistol was in his hand, raised, and fired.