Auster didn’t say exactly how he’d escaped his family when he and Paj left Bastian, and I didn’t ask. But it was clear that it was a past Paj didn’t want to revisit. He forbade Auster from taking us to Lower Vale, and only relented when he realized that Auster would go without him.

Now Paj had another reason to be angry, and I was more convinced by the minute that the break among us might be too great to be repaired. I hadn’t meant to pull them into Holland’s war on the Narrows, but West had made sure of it when he commanded them to Yuri’s Constellation. The only thing to do now was to see the plan through and hope we could salvage what was left of the crew after.

If Bastian had a slum, Lower Vale was it, though it was nothing to the stench and filth of The Pinch or Waterside in Ceros. Even the pigeons perched on the rooftops looked cleaner than the ones in the Narrows.

West walked shoulder to shoulder with Auster, shooting a warning look to the people on the street around us who were staring. They watched Auster as he passed, whispering to each other, and I didn’t know if it was because they recognized him or if it was because he was so striking. Auster had taken care with himself when he got ready in the crew’s cabin, brushing through his thick, dark hair until it lay over his shoulder like melted obsidian. His shirt, too, was clean and pressed. He was always beautiful, even after days at sea with no washing. But this Auster was magnificent. He was breathtaking.

Paj looked different too. There was an emptiness in his eyes that I hadn’t seen since the day he dared me to fetch a coin from the sea bottom at the coral islands. “I still think this is a bad idea,” he grunted.

That pushed Auster over the edge. He suddenly turned on his heel and Paj almost slammed into him as he came to an abrupt stop.

Auster looked up into Paj’s face, his mouth set in a straight line. “Are you finished?”

“No, actually, I’m not,” Paj growled. “Am I the only one who remembers what it took for us to leave these people behind? I nearly died cutting you from your deranged family!”

“If you’re scared, you can wait at the tavern.” Auster shoved him backward.

“It’s not me I’m afraid for,” Paj answered, and it was so honest and plain that it seemed to make the street noise stop around us. Paj’s face softened, his mouth turning down at the corners.

Auster took the sleeve of Paj’s shirt, as if to anchor him. “If it’s Ezra, we’re fine.”

“And if it’s Henrik?”