Triple came up on her other side, slid her round body between two tines, and hopped up onto the railing. She leaned out over the water, letting her sunny hair flutter like the tattered rags on the bones around her. Caledonia chose to keep her feet on the deck, locking a glower on her face. The moment the Bullets noticed them, however, she struggled to maintain her composure.

The first to see her seemed to stare right through her. Then, suddenly, his eyes focused on her face and widened. He threw an elbow into the side of the Bullet next to him and nodded. His companion’s reaction was similar, a flash of shock accompanied by a rip of tension.

Caledonia stared back, her pulse pounding in her ears, a thin sweat cooling her neck. Every instinct telling her to fight, fight, fight. The sound of Sledge greeting the tug captain was lost behind the roaring in her own ears. They’d seen her, they knew her, they were going to come for her. She was sure of it.

A hand landed on her own, rough fingers pressing against her knuckles. Pine casually pushed his body in front of hers, bending so his face was very close to her own.

“Relax,” he said, his voice low and warning. “At least take your hand off your gun.”

Her gun? Her gun.

Without realizing it, she’d wrapped her fingers around the weapon at her waist. Pine tipped his head forward, waiting while she forced her hand to relax beneath the gentle, constant pressure of his own. She was letting her nerves get the better of her.

“Thank you,” he whispered, and she was surprised to realize he meant it. “You good?”

“Steely,” she replied, drawing a long breath to ease her nerves. If she pulled a gun on another Bullet clip, it wouldn’t matter if she’d been recognized or not. This would be over.

He nodded, stepping away but staying close, a shield on her left side. “You’re just another Bullet to them. So just . . . act like it.”

She ground her teeth together, letting her discomfort show. The ships were only yards apart now, and their Ballistic was eyeing Sledge with suspicion.

“Why don’t you have any recruits aboard?” he asked, a snarl in his voice. “You called in from the Northwater two days ago.”

Sledge’s answered rumbled across the gap. “We called in a sighting of a rogue ship. We gave chase before gathering the taxes, engaged them, and ended up exactly as you find us now.”

The Ballistic narrowed his eyes. To Caledonia it was a gaze of deep suspicion, one that had her hand reaching once more for her gun. But Pine didn’t move, and she forced herself to remain still. These were Bullet cues. She needed to let the Blades interpret them.

“And the other ship? How’d she get away from you?” This question was laced with judgment.