Page 87 of Stealing Tink

The Nomad lets out a shaky laugh. “How do you do that? Say so much with those gorgeous eyes of yours?”

I smile, and the way the Nomad’s gaze lingers on my lips sends a shiver down my spine.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you earlier,” he whispers. “That was selfish too. I convinced myself it was for you, to give you a distraction. But I’m nothing if not a liar.”

I scoot forward, and the Nomad seems entranced.

He leans in, his lips lingering close to mine, when a voice clears from the corner.

“Not to disturb you two, but we have company,” says Phoenix.

CHAPTER 38

Our company turns out to be the Nomad’s first mate, who remains unbearably awkward around me. At first, I’m shocked that he managed to find us, but as he and the Nomad talk, it soon becomes clear that this is one of the many hideouts the Nomad has frequented over the years.

What is perhaps more shocking is the information he brings.

Because waiting for us back on the ship are Lars and Acel.

It only takes us two hours to get back to the cove where the Gathers is docked. When Phoenix asks the Nomad why he didn’t push us to walk the extra distance rather than resting in the cave, he doesn’t answer.

“Venus was right about one thing,” Phoenix had turned to me and said. “You’re his weakness.”

Once we board the Nomad’s ship, we’re greeted immediately by Lars and Acel.

“We didn’t think you’d show up,” says the Nomad. “Not after you ran off with our faerie dust in the middle of the night.”

“You didn’t think we’d show up?” Acel says. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“You went back to the Gathers after stealing our faerie dust?” asks the Nomad. “What? Were you planning on stealing my crew as well?”

“It did cross his mind,” says Acel, looking at Lars.

I can’t tell if Lars pretends not to hear him, or is simply too caught up in the way he planned on this interaction going to notice a deviation from his expectations. “If it wasn’t for me, that Venus imbecile would have handed your faerie dust over to the Company.”

“You’re saying you knew she wasn’t dead,” says the Nomad.

“Of course I knew she wasn’t dead,” says Lars, as if the reason why he believed her not to be dead should be obvious to all of us. “Besides, if it was my intention to steal from you, I wouldn’t have come back to the ship now, would I?”

He has a point.

“All right. Now you,” he says, beckoning to me with an extended finger. “We have work to do on your wings.”

I shoot the Nomad a questioning look.

“You figured out how to make the unrefined faerie dust work?” says the Nomad, giving voice to my question.

“Obviously I figured it out,” says Lars, looking offended.

So when Lars walks down the hallway toward his lab, I don’t think. I simply follow.

“Take a seat on the countertop,” says Lars.

The metal beneath me is cold, even through my clothes.

“Now unbind your wings,” he says. “We don’t have much time.”

I’m not sure how true that is, or if he’s just feeling particularly excited and thus impatient. But I discard my shawl and let it fall to the ground.