“What a shame for you. Get in. I won’t say it again.”

This was a nightmare. Just another nightmare of Sewel. I firmed my grip on the knife. Then a sound tickled my ear.

A voice was calling in the distance. So faint, I thought I’d imagined it. Then I heard it again. Not just one man’s voice—several.

“I gave you ample time,” Sewel said, and the skiff rocked as he pushed himself up.

I had only one move now. I dove at him, aiming the knife at his neck. He lurched aside. The blade sank into his shoulder. He roared with pain and swung, his fist crashing into my temple.

I flew back and my head cracked against wood.

“Damn it, Francisca! You bring me to this!” he yelled. His face appeared over me. His hands closed on my throat, squeezing. “This is your doing!”

I fumbled through the wet straw for the knife I’d dropped. I couldn’t get any air. I felt myself fading. Floating away into darkness.

Sewel’s head snapped up. Dazed, I heard the voices in the fog again. He released me and moved away.

I rolled to my side and grabbed my throat. It felt broken. I couldn’t swallow or draw breath. My lungs spasmed, starved for air, death a quiet grip on my body that refused to let go.

Sewel was frantically loading ball and shot into a pistol.

“What in the hell have you done?”

“Ahoy!” someone yelled. “Who’s there? State your name!”

The gunboat sliced through the fog like a spear. So close I could see the buttons on the coats of the marines standing at the bow. There were three of them, and they raised muskets in perfect unison, as though in a drill.

“Bring to, or we will shoot!” yelled the one in the middle.

Sewel ducked behind the gunwale, curses spitting from his mouth.

“You’re going to hang,” I rasped.

“No, Fran. That I will not do.” He peered over the gunwale and fired.

The sound of the discharge exploded in my ears. I slammed my hands over them and hunkered down. The marines fired back, raising a thunderous noise. Wood popped and shattered all around me. The skiff shuddered and shook. I curled into a ball and prayed for my life.

At last, silence returned. Gun smoke seeped into my eyes and my nose. Scratched in my throat. I’d gone numb everywhere else. I couldn’t even tell if I’d been struck by a bullet.

Water. The river was pouring in through holes and soaking my petticoats.

“Stand down!” yelled a voice. “Or we’ll blow you to pieces!”

I squinted, trying to see through wafting fog and smoke. Sewel was on his back, furiously reloading the pistol.

I dug through the well, my hands pushing aside wet straw as I searched for my pocket watch. Everything else I could blame on Sewel—the murderer, spy, kidnapper who’d brought me out here. But the code sheet in my watch could destroy me, Townsend, and our entire ring of spies. Possibly much more.