Jess cocked his head at him and said coldly, “No point to feeding you if you don’t intend to help me. And lying to me seems to be your way of saying you intend to keep it all to yourself. Though how you plan to make it work, I can’t see. Shall I make it easier for you? I was awake that night. I saw you come aboard all bloodied. Been in a fight was my first thought, though I hadn’t heard a peep of a row, and sound carries over water. But then, as you went up the ladder, I got a glimpse of what you were carrying. Glittery red, just like I’d been told. Dragon blood. And I was, as I’ve told you, very impressed. So I followed and in a bit I saw you come out of your cabin and throw your duds overboard. And that made it sure for me. Somehow you’d gotten blood out of a dragon and not been eaten or even caught. You were pretty savvy about hiding it, too. I went through your room more than once before I found your hoard. So. Let’s just admit we’re scoundrels and be honest scoundrels with each other…or as honest as scoundrels can be. We both shipped aboard the Tarman for the same reason. And I only shipped because I was promised that Captain Leftrin was going to grease things a bit for me, but I suspect his craze for that woman soured him on our kind of profit. Maybe he was hoping to keep everything for himself, woman, dragon parts to sell in Chalced, everything. Maybe you were the one who offered him a better deal. But the agreement was that he was supposed to help me, and in return, he was going to be well paid for his trouble. Very well paid.”

His voice faded for a moment as he stooped down in the boat. When he came up again, he had a coil of line in his hand. He scowled at it and set it out beside the knife.

“Instead that son of a dog tried to kill me last night.” He lifted his hand and felt about his throat gingerly. He growled and shook his head and went back to setting out his tools. “Double twist of fate, I suppose. That wave that hit kept him from strangling me, and I’m hoping it made an end of him. Love-blind idiot is what he is. Well, with a bit of luck, he’s dead. And you’ve got your luck—you’re alive.” He held up a small hatchet, frowned at it, and then with a thunk seated it in the log beside the line.