“You’ve given him something to be afraid of.” She finally looked at me. Her eyes met mine, and I could see a thousand words she wasn’t saying in them.

It was the truth. And this was exactly why Saint lived by his rules and why he’d taught them to me.

Below, the door to the helmsman’s quarters opened, flooding lantern light onto the deck. West came out of the breezeway, and even from high up on the mast, I could see the exhausted look on his face.

“I need to talk to you,” he called up to us before looking up to the quarterdeck. “All of you.”

Willa studied her brother before she unfolded herself from her sling and climbed down. The crew gathered around the helm quietly, all shooting glances to one another as West tucked his hair behind his ear. He was nervous.

“I need to tell you something.”

They all waited.

“When Holland came to the docks, she took the deed to the Marigold.” He said it all in one breath.

“She what?” Paj’s voice didn’t sound like his own. It was desperate.

Tears were welling in Willa’s eyes again.

“She demanded the deed and I gave it to her.”

Auster grimaced, as if the words didn’t make sense. Beside him, Hamish stared at his boots.

“When we get to Sagsay Holm, we’ll get it back from her.”

“And then what?” Paj’s deep voice echoed.

“Then we go home,” West answered.

“Just like that? As if nothing happened?”

West was silent for a long time and they waited for his answer. When I was sure he would finally speak, he turned on his heel, headed back to his quarters.

The crew stared at each other.

“So, we work for Holland now?” The edge came into Willa’s voice.

“We don’t work for her.” I ran a hand over my face.

Auster cleared his throat awkwardly. “Sure sounds like we do.”

“We’ll get it back,” I said, desperate for them to believe me. “Holland wants me, not the Marigold.”

Hamish fidgeted with the thread unraveling at the hem of his vest. “I’m tired of getting caught up in your family’s business, Fable.”

“Me too,” I muttered.

I could hear it in Willa’s words. See it on each of their faces. They’d spent years being controlled by Saint, and now Holland held the most precious thing in the world to them—their home. I hadn’t saved them with the Lark. I’d trapped them. With me.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Yuri’s Constellation was invisible in the dark. I stood on the railing at the bow of the ship, watching the moonlight on the surface of the sea. Even from above, I could feel them—the soft songs of the gemstones hidden in the reef below.