The storm crept into Clearwater Bay without warning, black clouds rolling in like soldiers on a march. By dusk, the waves battered the old pier where the Aurora Bell strained against its moorings. The ship groaned like a wounded beast, its rusted hull trembling with every swell of the tide.
Harper Lane stood on Deck 5, lantern clutched tightly in her hand, staring at the words that had been scratched into the steel of Hold 7 only a night before: WE ARE COMING.
The phrase replayed in her mind like a curse. It wasn’t just graffiti—it was a threat. Someone else knew about the vault hidden deep in the belly of the ship, the vault filled with priceless art, stolen relics, and history that powerful people had tried to erase.
Victor Hale had warned her. He said the Aurora Bell wasn’t just a derelict cruise liner—it was a vault, a graveyard of secrets buried under salt and silence. And those who wanted those secrets kept buried were ruthless enough to kill.
That night Harper didn’t leave. She barricaded herself inside the ship, dragging broken furniture across stairwells, chaining ballroom doors shut, and hiding the captain’s journal and her catalog of treasures under a loose floorboard in the navigation room. She told herself she was just buying time. She told herself dawn would bring clarity. But when the low growl of a motorboat echoed across the bay, her blood went cold.
She snuffed the lantern and pressed her face to the porthole. Three men climbed aboard from the starboard side, dressed in dark clothes that clung wet to their frames. Their movements were efficient, practiced. One carried a crowbar. Another had a shotgun strapped to his back. They weren’t scavengers. They were professionals.
Harper’s chest tightened. She grabbed the fire axe from the galley, its blade dulled with rust but sharp enough to do damage, and gripped it until her knuckles turned white.
Then she heard a voice.
“Harper.”