I wondered if he was wishing he’d made a different decision that night at the barrier islands. I’d freed him from Saint, but I’d dragged him into the Unnamed Sea and put him at the mercy of Holland. I’d nearly lost the Marigold, and I could see what it did to him, not having any control over what was going to happen.

The shadows caught the cut of his cheeks, and for a moment he looked like a spirit. I clenched my teeth, a stone sinking in my stomach. Underneath the anger, fear was writhing. I was scared that this was just who he was. That he’d signed the contract because he wanted to be that person Saint made him.

I could love this West. The one with a dark past. But I couldn’t tie myself to him if he was walking back into it.

“I need to ask you something.”

He crossed his arms over his broad chest, as if he was bracing himself. “Okay.”

“Why did you sign the contract? Really.” I wasn’t sure how to ask it.

“Because I was afraid,” he answered instantly.

“Of what?”

“You really want to know?”

“I do.”

He blinked, quiet, and I found myself dreading what he might say. “I’m afraid that you’re going to want what she can give you. What I’ll never be able to give you.” The look of vulnerability that flashed in his eyes made me swallow hard. “I don’t want you to work for Holland because I’m afraid you won’t come back to the Narrows. To me.”

Emotion curled thick in my throat. “I don’t want what Holland has. I want you,” I said, unsteady. “She can never give me what you can give me.”

His cheeks flushed. It had cost him something to be so honest.

“I don’t want you to work for Holland, either,” I said. “I don’t want you to be that person anymore.”

“I won’t have to if tomorrow goes as planned.”

“Even if it doesn’t go as planned. I don’t want you to work for her.” I took a step toward him.

“I already signed the contract, Fable.”

“I don’t care. Promise me. Even if it means leaving the Marigold. Even if we have to start over.”

The muscle in his jaw ticked as his eyes met mine. “All right.”

“Swear it,” I said.

“I swear it.”

I let out a relieved breath, the tension coiled around me finally loosening. But West looked miserable. He rubbed his face with both hands, shifting on his feet anxiously.

I knew what that look was. It was the feeling of being trapped. Of having no way out. I knew because I felt it too. “My father said that the worst mistake he ever made was letting Isolde step foot on his ship,” I said lowly.