I don’t know what to say. I knew she cared for me, but I didn’t expect her to come out and say it like this. Sleeping with her arm folded around my waist feels like an eternity ago, a frozen moment in time that I can’t fathom going back to. After everything that happened this morning, what did she think this would accomplish?

“Swift,” I start, but I don’t know what to finish it with.

“Forget … forget I said anything. It was off base. I—”

“Swift, I’m a goddamn prisoner on this ship.”

“I know. I—”

“We aren’t on equal footing, not in the slightest. You realize how messed up this is?”

“Cas, I didn’t mean I want to—”

“I’m in no position to be thinking about any of that shit right now. I’ve got bigger problems to deal with than you and your feelings.”

“I know,” she snaps, and there’s the thump of her fist again.

I hear voices farther down the hall. People are starting to disperse from the trainer deck and move back to their stations. The Minnow will be underway soon.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I said anything. Forget it,” Swift groans. And then her footsteps fade down the hallway, and I finally let my grip slip from the handle of the door.

I guess I’ve been fooling myself into thinking it couldn’t get much worse, but clearly the Minnow has surprises up its sleeves that I couldn’t predict. This morning, I had Swift and Bao—the girl and the beast, the beings whose lives were entangled with mine, who were completely on my side. Now Bao’s a maneater, and Swift …

Well, she probably doesn’t want anything to do with me at this point.

I can’t go back to the trainer deck. Not after what happened today. Code’s blood probably still stains the floors, and there’s no way I’ll be able to sleep in my nest there without nightmares of Santa Elena and a raised knife. And Swift’s bunk is out of the question.

There’s one room on this ship that I know is completely unoccupied, that I know locks from the inside. I shudder at the thought of it, but with no other options, it’s only a matter of seconds before I’ve hauled open the hatch of the janitorial closet and dashed down the hall to the row of trainee bunks. Code’s is the leftmost door, positioned closest to the aft of the ship, and of course the door’s unlocked, because I deserve some luck at this point. I swallow the images that haunt me, step inside, and slam the hatch behind me.