This time a small, strangled sound emerged from Oran’s throat in spite of his efforts to contain it. Behind them, an uneasy whisper ghosted through the crew, and Caledonia felt her stomach twist viciously. Yet through it all, Oran kept his eyes on her, and Caledonia was surprised to see that there was no anger in them. Whatever this was to Oran, some part of him felt he deserved it. With horror, she realized that this was what he’d been expecting. He’d known this was going to happen and he hadn’t warned her. He hadn’t asked for help or to stay behind. He’d come anyway.

The metal made a final, vicious shriek and Oran winced in pain.

Caledonia did not look away. Nor did she move to help. She stood under the burning sun as Oran dropped to one knee and Tassos smiled triumphantly.

“Now we are even,” Tassos said.

It was then that Caledonia realized why he’d chosen the steel hand to exact his price. Whatever had happened in their past, Tassos had endured this same punishment, and Oran had either commanded it or delivered the device. Tassos hadn’t agreed to meet them simply because Fiveson Oran stood with her, but because he’d waited a long time to see Oran suffer as he had.

Oran climbed to his feet, chest heaving, sweat beaded across his forehead and the bridge of his nose, eyes bright with pain. He let the steel hand fall from his broken fingers, flinching only slightly. It landed with a loud clatter against the metal planks. Then, with his eyes on Tassos, he kicked it off the edge. The ocean received it soundlessly, tucking it away where it would never taste flesh or blood again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Shall we talk?” The smile on Tassos’s face was both empty and cruel.

A hard lump sat in the back of Caledonia’s throat as she returned her attention to Tassos. Clenching her teeth against a sudden desire to vomit, she raised her chin.

“I’m here to offer an alliance against Lir.” Caledonia let cold anger clip her words into daggers.

Behind Tassos, Cepheus smiled, her lips curling in a practiced sneer. It was then, when her lips pulled tight, that Caledonia saw they, too, were laced with delicate orange scars, as though sliced with something as thin as a butterfly’s wings.

“Ah,” Tassos said, as if this were news. “I’m not interested.”

One turn ago, that answer would have brought Caledonia to her rage. She’d have countered hotly without a care for what happened next, because what happened next would have affected her and her crew alone. Not a fleet.

Not the entire Bullet Seas.

She let the sea air fill her lungs, let it cool her from the inside. Tassos didn’t think he had anything to gain from an alliance with her, and she was going to prove him wrong.