Page 74 of Saint
“I’m not talking about them.”
My eyes snapped up to meet his. “Me?”
“You,” he said. He dragged the knife down the wood once more before he abandoned it, setting his elbows on his knees. “There aren’t enough adder stones in the Narrows to ward off the kind of trouble you’ll bring us.”
“Not if I go back to theLuna.”
He shook his head. “It’s not the kind of trouble that can come and go, I’m afraid.” He smirked. “You’re crew.”
“I’m not crew.”
“You are. And not the kind that disappears at port or finishes out a contract before jumping ship. Somehow, I’m the only one who’s figured out that the moment we raised anchor in Dern a decision was being made. One we can’t go back on.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Clove hesitated, studying me before he spoke again. “It’s not just the two of us anymore.” He was missing that bitter charm now. He was worried.
“My choices are my own. He’s not responsible for what happens to me. Neither are you.”
“Maybe. But Saint’s good at paying penance, taking the blame. That’s his way.”
I wished I didn’t understand what he meant by that.
Clove picked up the knife again, going back to the wood, and I realized that he wasn’t shaping it into anything. He was just keeping his hands busy. Passing the time as he waited for Saint to come away from that window.
I’d figured out pretty quickly that there was more to Saint than the stories about a boy from nowhere who seemed determined to die in a storm. He wasn’t the fearless helmsman the Narrows thought he was. In fact, I was sure now that it was fear that drove him into those black clouds.
My eyes fell to the map case on the floor, its worn, smooth leather softened by Saint’s hands. He wasn’t just afraid of losing everything he’d worked for. Hewasthe Narrows. And if it died, he would too.
I got back to my feet, stepping past Clove and picking up the case. Saint didn’t turn to look at me as I came through the door. The little room was nothing but dusty floorboards and a pane of cracked glass that looked out over the rooftops. I could see the reflection of his face in it, but his eyes didn’t leave that view.
I reached into my pocket for the purse, pulling the cinched strings open. When the gem rolled into my fingers, it felt heavier than it ever had.
“I might not be one of you, but I’m not one of them either,”I breathed. “I never was. That’s why I came here. Why I can’t go back.”
I set the midnight down on the windowsill beside him and the dim light caught the glassy edges of the stone. He looked at it, not moving.
“I’ve been diving for my mother since I was ten years old. For a long time, I didn’t care what the gems I was bringing up in those crates meant, as long as she was pleased with me. But the older I got, the more I could see that look in her eyes and the more I couldn’t deny that it wasn’t the gem sage dredger daughter she wanted. She only loved the coin I could put in her pocket.” I swallowed hard. “I found the stone by accident. We weren’t even on a dive. And as soon as Holland laid eyes on it, I knew I’d made a mistake. For the first time, I was truly afraid of her and without even deciding to, I lied to her about where it came from.”
“What is it?” Saint asked, picking it up carefully.
“Midnight,” I answered.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Because it doesn’t exist. Not yet. It was the haul that was going to make my mother the only god to rule the Unnamed Sea and the Narrows. But I couldn’t let that happen. So, I stole it, like Zola said. And I ran.”
Understanding lit in Saint’s eyes as he turned the gem over in his hands. “So, she’s not looking for you. She’s looking for this?”
“Both, I imagine. She’s not giving up her gem sage so easily. Not when I’ve made her rich.”
He finally looked at me.
“She killed my father when he tried to protect me from her.” Saying it out loud made the pain of it drive deeper inside me. “And I decided the only way to punish her was to take back everything I’d helped her build. I came to Ceros to give this to the Gem Guild master,” I said, gesturing to the midnight. “I thought that there would be no better justice than to see her fall beneath the Narrows. But she’s always one step ahead of everyone else. And when I went to the chamber, she was already there.”
“What do you mean?”
“Her control. Her influence. The Gem Guild master is already in her pocket. And he’s probably not the only one.”
