You’ll be okay, I promised him. Faint pulses of indistinct emotion came back down the cord.

A moment later, Talon reemerged beside another figure, each holding a torch. The firelight illuminated a dark-haired woman with a scar across one eye. I gaped. It was the woman from the ball. Her lips pressed into a thin line as her eyes fell on Kiva, scanning her wound, before she faced Talon.

“Lower the gangplank,” she said. “I’ll wake Luan.” They both vanished over the edge of the ship.

“What’s happening, Caylus?” I asked. “Who are these people?”

“Later. Help me,” Caylus began, already sliding from his seat. He kept both hands on Kiva as he went, and I leapt down to help him lower her from the horse with my free arm. We each slid under one of her arms, but she barely supported any of her own weight, and she was muttering incoherently.

“Kiva,” I said. “Kiva, stay awake. Stay with me.”

She groaned.

Caylus and I moved as quickly as we could to where Talon had lowered the gangplank. He practically skipped down the wooden board and slid his arms under Kiva’s legs.

When we reached the top, Samra had returned with a wisp of a redheaded woman who resembled Talon almost identically save for the length of her plaited hair. She took one look at Kiva and said in a low voice, “This way,” before turning back into the cabin of the ship. We followed, taking the first turn into the now-lighted hallways and then a left into the open door of a small infirmary.

“Lay her down on the bed,” Luan ordered. “Then get out.”

“I’m not le—” I started, but Caylus was already dragging me out of the room. “Let go of me!” He reached over my head to shut the door once Talon was through.

“Best to let her work,” Talon said with a nod.

I glared murderously at Caylus and shook off his hand. Clutching Res to my chest, I stalked back the way we’d come to the deck of the ship. Voices reached me a second before I stepped out. I reflexively shrank back into the shadows and then stuck out my arm when Caylus started to go by me. I pressed a finger to my lips.

“They went farther down the docks,” Samra was saying. “They abandoned the horses here as a distraction and fled on foot. You’re at least ten minutes behind them.” Another voice I couldn’t make out answered, then Samra said, “Search the ship if you don’t believe me, but do it quickly. I’ve already wasted enough sleep yelling at those damn fools for all the racket they were making.” She moved toward the gangplank.