Chapters (51)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Also by Adrienne Young
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
He swallowed. “Because I can’t lose them. And I can’t lose you.”
I wanted to reach out and touch him. To pull him into my arms. But the walls around him were built up high. “I’m going to get the deed back,” I said again. “Whatever it takes.”
West stepped toward me. Even in the cold cabin, I could feel the warmth of him. “We do this, and then we’re done with Saint.” He reached up, taking hold of my jacket with both hands and holding me in place. “Promise me.”
I looked up into his face, not a hint of hesitation in my voice. “I promise.”
TWENTY-SIX
The night sea stretched out around the Marigold like a black chasm, melting into a clear, dark sky.
Paj and Auster were gathered on the quarterdeck with bowls of stew clutched in their hands when I came up the steps from below. The silence crept over the ship, making the crush of the hull cutting through the water sound like whispers.
Hamish had been asleep in the crew’s cabin since the sun went down, and I wondered if it was because he was still undecided on what to do about the secret West was keeping. It would only be a matter of time before Hamish came clean.
The sound of Koy snoring lifted from the shadows at the bow. I could only see his crossed bare feet in the moonlight.
A shadow moved over the deck beside me, and I looked up to where Willa was perched high on the mainmast. She was settled in her sling, her head tipped back and looking at the stars.
I hesitated before I took hold of the pegs and climbed, rising up above the Marigold and into the rush of cold wind. It had the bite of frost in it, stinging as it slid over my skin.
Willa ignored me as I found a place to sit beside her. Her long, twisted, tawny locks were braided back from her face, making the cut of her slender face more severe.
“What do you want?” Her voice was hollow.
I wound my arm around the mast, leaning into it. “To say thank you.”
“For what?”
I followed her gaze up to the sky, where the clouds threaded together in wisps. “For coming to find me.” Emotion bent the words into different shapes.
If Willa noticed, I couldn’t tell. “A lot of good it did.”
“I didn’t ask him to do this. I was going to do it alone.”
“I don’t care, Fable,” she said. “You made all of this about you. The same as you’ve been doing all along.”
“What?” I sat up, leaning forward to look her in the eye.
“Since you first stepped foot on this ship, we’ve been doing what you want us to do. Actually, we were doing it before then, bleeding coin on our route to come to Jeval.”