Red-hot iron

The furious captain yelled,

• Bring me the other bitches, we'll brand them with a red-hot iron and sell them at the Barbary market.

Alicia and Min Mei were seized, their clothes torn, while Tessa and Lyta were brought in, completely groggy from the assembly-line rapes they had endured.

The red-hot iron hissed in the makeshift forge, its incandescent tip tracing orange arabesques in the humid air. Alicia struggled like a wild beast when two sailors crushed her shoulders against the deck, her nails digging into the varnished wood.

"No, not the face, not the—" Her plea broke into a scream as the hot metal cut into her left hip, the flesh sizzling with an obscene crackle. The sweet smell of charred skin mingled with the sea spray.

Then it was Min Mei, crying, begging in vain, her heart-rending sobs drowning out the sailors' jeers. The red-hot iron once again left the crew's symbol as Min Mei let out a scream that would have broken the heart of even the most hardened sailor.

The iron was returned to the brazier, and the Captain brought it close to my hips.

• I'm going to make you squeal.

The red-hot iron grazed my skin, its radiant heat sending shivers of terror down my spine. I felt first the burning air, then the excruciating contact of the incandescent metal as it sank into my flesh with a cruel hiss. My mouth opened in a silent scream, my throat too ravaged to produce anything but a hoarse rattle.

The smoldering metal sank deeper, and this time, my torn voice finally burst forth—a hoarse, feral howl that broke abruptly as my burning lungs refused to fill. The pain radiated in searing waves, as if my flesh was being ripped open with red-hot hooks.

The captain's fingers dug into my hair, forcing me to look up at him as blinding tears streamed down my cheeks.

Tessa and Lyta were brought to the brazier in turn. While I tried to plead for them, I could only utter a gurgle; my body, twisted by pain, wouldn't allow it.

Tessa was dragged to the brazier, her limp legs sweeping trails of blood across the deck. The captain grabbed the iron with a dramatic gesture, the dancing glow of the flames reflecting in his glassy eyes.

"Your turn, bitch," he snarled, roughly yanking the hair away from the back of her neck.

The incandescent metal slammed down.

Tessa arched her back from the impact, a strangled gurgle escaping her swollen throat. The burning tip pierced the skin like parchment, tracing a smoking furrow along her right shoulder blade. Her convulsive fingers clawed at the deck, knuckles whitening with the effort as electric tremors ran through her exhausted limbs. She was thrown onto me like a piece of meat.

It took four men to subdue Lyta, whose blond hair made her look like an unleashed fury. Their calloused hands twisted her arms behind her back while a fifth sailor crushed her neck against the deck, her lips against the salty wood. To punish her, the red-hot iron remained in place far too long; the incandescent tip sank into her flesh with a prolonged hiss, the acrid smoke rising in bluish plumes. She fell ****.

Then he straightened up and said,

• They're yours, guys. We'll sell them to a brothel, or better yet, the **** market, while they get used to it.