I sat back heavily, opening the torn skin with my fingers to inspect it. It wasn’t deep enough to see bone, but it needed to be closed. Another wave of nausea washed over me and I fell back onto the hot deck, running my hands through my hair and trying to remember what had just happened.

The crew of the Luna stood around me, staring, but Ryland was nowhere to be seen, probably still cowering on the reef and waiting to find out if I was going to snitch.

Koy came over the railing a moment later, landing with two heavy feet beside the foremast.

“What happened?” Clove said again, taking a step toward him.

But Koy was looking at me, and I put together the question in his eyes. He was playing by the rules of Jeval, waiting to see what I’d say first before he answered.

“I ran out of air,” I said hoarsely. My throat was on fire. “Lost my belt and couldn’t cut myself from the line I anchored to the reef.” I glanced back to Koy.

Clove followed my gaze to him, his mustache twitching. “Who saw it?” He turned in a circle, watching the faces of the other dredgers on the deck. But no one answered.

“What do you care?” I snapped, getting back to my feet. I steadied myself against the mizzen, breathing through the urge to retch again.

The knotted rope was still heavy on my hips, the length of it trailing over the side and disappearing into the water. I pulled, winding it up until the end fell onto the deck, and I crouched to pick it up. The fibers were sliced cleanly, not frayed.

It was the work of a blade.

I stood, the rope clutched in my hand as I looked to the bow. Koy’s eyes dropped to the deck and he turned, fitting his belt back around him. The last thing I’d seen before I blacked out was his face, peering up over the reef. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that he’d cut me loose.

I snatched a knife from the belt of a dredger standing next to me and sawed at the rope around my waist. One of the strykers came up the steps from belowdecks with a tin box of needle and thread in one hand, a bottle of rye in the other.

He reached out to steady me, but I tore my arm away. “Don’t touch me,” I snarled, snatching them from his hands and pushing past him to the archway.