Page 85 of Saint
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters.” She gestured to the small cabin that surrounded us. “Youneeda ship.”
As if she could hear us, the ship moaned, tilting just a little.
“Not that one,” I said.
Isolde’s gaze narrowed on me as she stepped into the room. “What does that mean?”
“TheAsteris a schooner,” I said. “Fit for mid-sized inventories crossing the deep water of the Narrows. We need a ship that can navigate the shallows of Tempest Snare.”
All at once, she seemed to put it together. “A brigantine,” she murmured.
That was exactly what I’d been thinking. Something with a low drag and rigging that could maneuver unpredictable winds. TheAsterwasn’t made for that.
A small laugh escaped her lips. “Of course.”
I stood, coming around the desk to stand in front of her. She was beginning to feel like a permanent fixture in my surroundings. A part of the landscape that made up my life. AndI couldn’t help feeling like it was rarer than that gemstone in my pocket.
“Besides, I don’t want to sail a ship you’re not on.”
“Then where’s my contract?” She smiled.
“I won’t sign a contract. Not with you,” I said. “If you’re here, with me, it’s because you want to be. The minute that changes, you’re free to go.”
She stared at me, and for a moment, I worried that she was really considering whether it was what she wanted.
“So, that’s it?” she asked. “No deals or contracts or promises?”
I followed the line of freckles across her cheek, down to her jaw. “There is one promise you have to make me.”
She lifted her chin, waiting as I reached into my pocket and pulled the purse she’d given me from inside. When she realized what it was, she looked at it, confused. “What?”
I swallowed, holding it between us. “Don’t ever tell me where you got this.”
She almost smiled again, as if it were a joke.
“I’m serious, Isolde.” My voice deepened. “Promise me you’ll never tell me. Ever.”
“Why?”
I’d thought through it more ways than one. That stone was the answer to too many problems. It had the ability to wipe the world clean before it destroyed it again. I wasn’t the kind of man who could weigh that cost or wield that power. I’d given up a ship for this girl without thinking twice. I’d give a sea of midnights, if I had to. And something told me that eventually, it might just come to that.
“There are some things I shouldn’t be trusted with.” I pressed the purse into her hand. “Promise me.”
Her eyes met mine for a long, quiet moment before her fingers wove into mine. “All right. I promise.”
She lifted up onto her toes and kissed me, arms winding around my neck until she’d rid the air of the cold between us.
This time when I held her, it felt different. Not like before, when I was trying to keep her from slipping away. Now, she was the shore. A place to come back to. And I didn’t know if it was the sea that had given her to me or if she was a fate of my own making. There was a part of me that didn’t care.
“I wanted you too. The minute I saw you.” She whispered my own words against my lips—words I’d once thought could be the end of me.
Now, I was certain they were.
32SAINT
Rosamund’s pier felt like a tomb without theAster.The wooden arches that had once bowed over the ship reached up to the high ceilings, where one of the roof sections had been left open to the dimming sky. Strokes of pink and orange swept across the clouds and a few stars were already waking.
