If Serina gave herself time to think, she’d drown in regret.

And Jacana wouldn’t be the only one haunting her. Every time Serina paused, every moment she wasn’t concentrating on the next task, she saw Oracle’s head snapping back when the bullet hit her forehead. She felt the weight of the woman’s body on her shoulder as they hiked to the summit of the volcano. She remembered Slash’s bloody corpse draped across the men she’d killed.

“Serina?” Val asked.

“I’m okay.” She realized she was leaning into him and forced her body to straighten.

They hiked slowly along the path to Hotel Misery, so slowly that when they reached the cracked marble, Anika was already shouting orders and handing out food. They continued on toward the prison compound. The building was deceptive; when she’d first arrived, Serina had assumed that’s where she would be held, in a small cell like a princess in a grim tower. But the population of women sent to Mount Ruin had outgrown the building’s capacity long before her time; now the cells were used for the storage of weapons and rations, and as the guards’ own sleeping quarters.

The few guards who had survived the uprising had been locked in their “bedrooms,” the rooms reverted to their previous use. The irony hadn’t escaped her. The weight of the keys to their cells pressed against her thigh. She slipped her hand into her pocket and around the cold metal.

“You told them about the boat,” Val said once they were away from the others. “What about Nomi?”

“I’m going to go after her, but not yet. Not until everyone else is safely on their way to Azura.” She rubbed at the back of her neck, finding a sore spot. “Anika has family she’s anxious to return to, I think. Maybe others do too. If I’m going back it wouldn’t be right to go alone, to keep the boat a secret.”

Val scuffed his boot against the rough rock of the path. “It’s small, Serina. Anika could come with us, but no more.”

“Us?” Her foot caught on a ragged edge of rock, and she stumbled.

Val pulled her closer. “I go with you. Whenever. Wherever.”

Serina’s heart turned over. “Won’t they need you to navigate? To negotiate once they arrive in Azura?”

She wanted him with her when she went to find Nomi. But she wanted every woman on this island to find safety too. She’d assumed Val would have to go to Azura with them. Maybe she and Nomi would follow, if they could.