Page 110 of Caging Darling

Sensing I’ve also been dismissed, I break away from Astor’s side and race out of the cabin after the two muses. When I catch up to them in the hallway, I reach for Phoenix’s shoulder. She flinches under my touch as she spins toward me. Guilt raps at the door of my skull. I should know better than to touch from behind someone who’s been what she’s been through.

But I’m too irate to let the guilt in.

“What?” she asks. Venus stands next to her, her tall frame towering over me. She doesn’t look nearly as feeble as she did minutes ago, and something about that irritates me even more.

“You just sold another woman into the hands of a trafficker,” I hiss. “How could you?” Phoenix stares at me, blinking, looking like she’s been slapped in the face. “We could have left you behind in the manor, unprotected from the bounty hunters, who probably already have the warrant now that the sun’s up. After all you’ve been through, I don’t understand. How could you trade in another woman for the same fate you just escaped?”

Phoenix scoffs. “Please. I didn’t do anything you weren’t already going to do.”

I jut my chin backward, and she laughs wryly, saying, “You think I didn’t see that bargain on the back of your neck when you came to the manor? Oh, sure. You tried to cover it with cosmetics, but I know a poorly hidden bargain when I see one. They make these faint ridges in the paint, no matter how well it’s applied. Trust me, you’re not the only one of Vulcan’s guests to have one. I knew as soon as your lover attacked Vulcan what was happening. Why you had asked about whether Vulcan hadany faeries who you were looking for. How dare you look at me and accuse me of trading Tink in.” She points toward the back of my neck. “You’re the one who made a bargain to turn her over, aren’t you? You tricked me into handing over her whereabouts, made me trust you with that story of yours about being held captive. So yes. I gave the Nomad her whereabouts. But only because I already knew you were going to do the same as soon as I left the room, and I have Venus to think about, too. So don’t you dare accuse me of betraying someone like me.”

I feel as if I’ve been slapped in the face. I even take a step back. The words swim in my head, and I try to grasp them, anything that will help defend myself.

“I’m sorry,” is all I come up with.

Phoenix looks surprised by this, and her face actually softens.

That doesn’t stop her and Venus from turning the corner and disappearing.

“Regretting making me go back in to get her?” Astor appears next to me, arms crossed as he watches the corner where the two muses just disappeared.

I shake my head. “No, she’s right. I thought nothing about handing Tink over to the Nomad when I first made the bargain. I don’t even think I considered to be bothered by it.”

“To be fair, you were under the impression Tink wanted you dead, were you not?”

I hug myself. “I still should have considered the consequences. What I’d be subjecting her to.” My stomach rolls over, and I feel queasy. “I was so eager to hand her over. I didn’t even stop to think about what the Nomad would do to her. What the cost would be. And it wasn’t even for a good reason. Phoenix—she did it for Venus, to help make a new life for her. I just wanted Peter’s curse gone so I wouldn’t have to question whether he actually loved me.” I laugh at myself, the sound scraping against the air.

Astor raises his brow. “Last I recalled, you were ready to die from not fulfilling the bargain before handing over Tink.”

“That’s because we got to be friends. Because she took Michael on.” I glance up at Astor. “She was still a person before any of those things.”

“Like you were a person, even before I met you? Like you were a person, before I knew what a challenge it would be to get you to laugh, how satisfying it would be to actually accomplish such a feat? Like you were a person before I knew how witty you could be when given the chance to be alone with your thoughts? Like you were a person when I tore you in half and bartered away what wasn’t mine to give?”

I nod, not daring to look at him. Instead, I focus on the glimmering faerie dust lantern on the wall. Count the smudges on the glass.

“Like that.”

“Perhaps Tink will forgive you. With time.” The last word tilts upward just slightly. Almost, but just shy of a question.

“Perhaps,” I say, my throat cracking. “With time, I mean.”

Astor stares at his hook, shining in the lantern light. “Would you trust me enough to follow me?”

I laugh. “How far are you hoping I’ll go?”

When I turn to look at him, there’s an indecipherable glimmer in his eyes. He jerks his head to the side and beckons me to follow.

I do.

We wind through the corridors of the ship, down into the belly. I assume this is where most of the crew sleeps. My heart pounds within my chest. Is Astor taking me to his quarters?

My mind flits back to his quarters on theIaso. To dining with him. To sharing about our pasts. Our fears. Our desires.

To Astor kneeling on the ground before me, slipping my ring onto my finger.There, just like you wanted.

We stop outside a door, and though Astor gestures to it, he starts back down the hallway the way we came.

“You’re leaving?” I ask, confused.

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