Serina’s mind spun. What could they do? “The plan is to wait for the next prison ship,” she said. “Overpower the guards and escape to Azura. Once the women are safe and on their way, Val and I were going to take a small boat back to Bellaqua to find you. We can use it to find Renzo instead. We’ll get him and our parents to Azura. We should all be safe there.”

Nomi picked at a small hole in the knee of her pants. “How long until the ship arrives?”

“A week. Maybe two.” Serina, thinking of Renzo trying to evade the new Superior’s clutches, found that her own hands were restless.

“That’s too long,” Nomi replied, her back stiffening. “Asa will be looking for him. He’ll kill Renzo if he finds him. We have to go soon. Now.”

“And how will we find him?”

Nomi shifted. “I don’t know. He won’t go home. I suppose… I don’t know how we find him. But we have to, Serina. Before Asa does.”

Serina wanted to help Renzo, desperately, but she’d made a promise to these women. She’d made a promise to herself.…

“We need to think, plan,” she said, hating that it felt like stalling, even as it was true. They did need a plan. “And we need to wait for Malachi to wake up. Asa thinks he’s dead; that makes the knowledge that he’s alive powerful. We need to make sure he will live before we return to Bellaqua.”

Nomi sighed.

Serina stared out at the endless darkness of the ocean, the enduring glint of the stars, and the faint twinkle of Bellaqua. She pointed. “See that? I came here so often to sit and stare at those lights, trying to imagine what you were doing. If you were happy. If you were scared.” She turned to Nomi’s shadowy profile. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand why that world would be so unwelcome to you. I understand now.”

“It was just as I expected, and yet different as well,” Nomi said. “Malachi, he… well, I didn’t realize it at first, but he was different too. You’re right about him. I can’t leave until I know he’ll live. That he’ll be all right.”

Serina remembered the intensity in Nomi’s face when she’d pleaded for his life. “Why are you so protective of him? Did you… I mean, do you care for him?”

Nomi didn’t answer right away. A glow along the horizon hinted at dawn, but it wasn’t enough light to reveal her expression.