In the kitchen, I make myself a strong cup of coffee topped off with a generous pour of whiskey. Once I finish it, the pounding in my head has receded to a dull ache. I lean back in my chair, stretching and yawning, when I notice Corvus watching me from the doorway to Apollo’s room, claimed as his own for now. I finish my yawn and dump my empty mug in the sink.

“You need something?” I ask, parsing through fuzzy memories of our conversation last night. It was a bad idea to talk to him while I was so drunk, but I think I did a decent job of throwing him off my trail. If I don’t want him getting suspicious, it’s better to play nice, and pretend the mere sight of him doesn’t feel like ripping off a freshly formed scab. I still can’t believe he and the rest of my siblings left me to fend for myself on Deva, and then he had the audacity to question me when he finally showed up.

For a moment, Corvus looks like he’s about to say something. But then Lyre comes out of her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes on her way to the kitchen. She pours herself a cup of coffee and leans against the counter, lingering in the space between me and Corvus, watching him.

He shakes his head and moves toward the cockpit for his shift at the wheel. As soon as he’s gone, Lyre looks at me, lifting her eyebrows. I turn away and search the pantry for something to settle my stomach.

“What was that about?” she asks.

“What was what about?”

Rather than respond to the question, Lyre narrows her eyes at me while I tear into a sheet of algae.

“I think we need to talk about Corvus,” she says. “Can we trust him? Because I’m starting to think he might be dangerous.” Before I can interrupt, she hurries onward. “To himself most of all.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

She hesitates.

“I didn’t want you to be angry with him,” she says, “but he got into this bar fight on Deva. You’ve seen how he’s been acting. It’s like he doesn’t care what happens to him, and—”

“Stop.” My head is starting to pound again, and I have enough to worry about right now. “Let me deal with Corvus. It’s not your problem.”

“It’s a problem for all of us.” Lyre folds her arms over her chest. “He’s our brother.”

“Well, we’ve got worse issues to deal with,” I say, and hold up a hand to silence any further argument. “Enough. I don’t want to hear anything more about it. Go tend to the engine or whatever it is you do.”