There were so many parts of this town she hadn’t noticed before. From the regular patrol that traveled in teams of three to the holos posting the time in orange numbers against blue walls. It was time for her crew to report to the mess hall for breakfast, after which they would return to their ship and begin repairs. She would be missed, if she hadn’t been already, and once Sledge knew she was gone, someone would come looking. She was sure of it. She just wasn’t sure it would do any good.

As they cut toward the middle of town, Sister’s tower rose high above them. Its stones were a pale blue and with sunlight painting gold along its edges, it looked like a sword forged from the sky. Toward the tip, a slender balcony wrapped around it in a ring, giving a view of both the harbor and the city itself.

Gloriana turned down a narrow alley and suddenly, Caledonia knew that the tower was their destination. Her mouth turned sour, and for an instant she considered sliding her blade into Gloriana’s side. If she were Pine, she’d have done it the second Gloriana said her name. But it was a plan with no strategy behind it. And this way, she stood a chance of seeing her girls again.

If she couldn’t save them, she could at least die with them.

They came to a door in the side of the tower. Not the main entrance, Caledonia noted, but one that was so infrequently used its hinges whined in protest of opening. Inside, a dim hallway led directly into a stairwell.

“Down,” Gloriana said, pulling the door shut behind them.

The stairs coiled down into another hallway that stretched in two directions. It was unnaturally quiet here with several feet of stonework blotting out the world above. They were very, very alone.

“This way.” Gloriana led them to another doorway beyond which was a small, square room piled high with books.

Caledonia momentarily forgot herself, greedily taking a book in her hands and turning it over. The book was unbroken. Whole. A book with a beginning, an end, and all the pages in between. On the Mors Navis they’d never been lucky enough to find a book that wasn’t damaged in some way, but Pisces used them regardless, teaching the girls to read and fill in the blanks for one another.

This room must contain dozens of books. Dozens of stories trapped down here, uncared for and unread.

“We can talk here,” Gloriana said.

Caledonia dropped the book and spun to face her captor. “Talk?”

“About how you’re not a Bullet.”