I’m just about to haul myself up when her hand comes down on my shoulder, twisting me away from my beast and back to face her. Swift presses her forehead against the helmet that shields mine, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she whispers, “It’s not goodbye until you’re out of sight.”

And then, just like that, she turns and sprints off the trainer deck before I can get a word in.

I push off the ground and scramble onto Bao’s head, cursing pirate girls under my breath as he bucks underneath my weight and pulls back out of the rear port. I check the respirator around my neck and slip my goggles up over my eyes.

The piece in my ear crackles on. “So now that that’s over with … ”

Varma.

“You, uh … you heard that, then,” I say just before setting the respirator in my teeth.

“Funny thing about these comms—they pick up anything that shakes your bones. You’re lucky the captain put me in charge of your line,” he says, and I can feel the laughter he’s suppressing. I clench my jaw. As we slide away from the ship, Bao rears, lifting his head until we’re level with the main deck.

Santa Elena stands there, dressed to the nines in her own elegant, bulletproof armor. Her chin lifts, a vicious grin spreading across her face as she watches her handiwork rise up to meet her. The sunset blazes at her back, casting her long shadow out to touch us, as if marking us as inevitably, unquestionably hers.

And though part of me is certain that after tonight, we’ll be free of the Minnow at last, another part knows that this boat will last with me to the end of my days.

“Inbound is ten minutes out. Splinters away at my mark,” the all-call announces, and here atop Bao’s back, I finally have the vantage point I need, the one that lets me see right into the navigation tower where Lemon bends over a microphone.

The white hulls snap off the sides of the Minnow, and a swell of nostalgia sings through me. Bao’s upper body plunges back down toward the water; my stomach swoops as I crouch, winding my fingertips in his plates. His blowholes heave beneath me, drawing a quick breath before he submerges. The waters churn around us, and I fight to keep my hands rooted when they crash over me.

“Cas, you there?” Varma’s voice mutters in my ear. “Captain wants you to keep him submerged until she says otherwise. We’ll draw them in, then you do the rest.” He says it as if it’ll be easy.