“It’s a shame that’s the only advantage we have,” Nomi muttered. That, and the ugly knife in her boot. But she hadn’t told Malachi about that.

“We have more advantages than you think,” he replied. In the starlight, the circles under his eyes looked like black holes, but his skin wasn’t quite so deathly pale as it had been. And Nomi could hear his steady, strong breathing. It echoed the pulse of water sluicing along the sides. “A boat, food. The element of surprise. My brother thinks I’m dead and you’re as good as. Once we’ve connected with Dante, we’ll head to Bellaqua with his regiment. Asa will not expect us.”

Nomi made a small adjustment with the tiller. A burning ache already captured her arm, but she held firm. Malachi needed the break.

“And,” he said, a new, hesitant tone creeping in, “we have each other. Surely that can be seen as a positive, in this case?”

“I hope so,” Nomi replied, but she couldn’t keep a certain grimness from her voice and expression. Malachi had done a fair job convincing her they were chasing the same goals. But she’d thought the same of Asa. She wasn’t ready to trust anything but her own hands, her own mind, and her own resources, limited as they were.

She held on tightly to the tiller and said nothing more. At some point, she glanced at Malachi and found him asleep, slumped on his side, his head pillowed by their burlap sacks.

She spent the rest of the night alone with the stars.

ELEVEN

SERINA

SERINA SCREAMED TO keep from sobbing. She’d told these girls they were safe. She’d promised them. Doll—Doll had come to the island the same day as Serina. She’d been in her crew. They’d shared meals together, her and Gia and Jacana. And now only Serina and Gia were left. Doll had died on Serina’s watch. This was on her.

The four remaining guards shouted and laughed at her, chaotic as jackals. In a haze, she noted the missing guards: Nero, the quiet one, and Hector, the one with rotting teeth who called all the girls flower. Diego, bald and big as a house, the one who’d grabbed her hair. Was that what he’d done to Scorpion, whose cloud of dark hair looked twisted and disheveled? Had he grabbed her, strangled her, made her open the cell? But he couldn’t have… none of the girls had the keys. Only Serina did. These guards got out some other way.

Val thundered up the stairs and took in the scene. While Serina was still frozen, he ran to the weapons cache at the end of the hall.

“Still locked,” he reported back. “They couldn’t get in.”

“Did anyone see where the men went?” Serina asked him.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”