Page 18 of Of the Stars and Sea

I swallow, the dryness of my throat feeling like sand. “Yes,” I whisper. The question sparking memories of a life I long ago put behind me, one I never wish to return to.

“And how does a pirate come to know the old language?” The scar over his cheek moves as he lifts a dark brow.

I look down at the mystery in my hands. Closing my eyes, I try to ward my mind against the memories that flicker to the surface.

When I look back up at Grayson, I steel my nerves. “And why should I tell you?”

His laughter is deep and smooth, reminding me of the warmth of the sea in the middle of summer. A cloak the monster wears to shield his true self from prey.

With one finger under my chin, he tilts my head back so I’m forced to fully take him in. “Seeing as how your life is bound to my wishes, I’d say that is reason enough to tell me the truth of any question I ask.”

I clamp my teeth together, not letting a word spill from my lips.

Tilting his head to the side, he assesses me. Perhaps wondering if it’s pure stubbornness or stupidity that keeps me from doing as he says.

I’m not sure which one it is, myself.

He smirks. “Fine. Keep your secrets. But you’re coming with me.” With a flick of his coat, he turns his back on me and starts walking toward his crew, leaving me with the Serpent’s Key.

“I don’t take orders from you,” I whisper menacingly. Forgetting, for just a moment, that I am at his mercy and so are the people I love.

Grayson stops mid-stride, shooting me a dangerous look over his shoulder.

He says nothing, but a shimmer of silver catches my eye ahead of him. The man who slayed Blythe’s crew member’s palms another throwing knife. Grayson shifts his attention to Amara and Wells.

My blood runs cold as ice. “No,” I breathe, but the word gets lost to the growing wind.

“You would do better to heed my command, Rowenya Stone. It would be a pity for more blood to be spilled upon the stones beneath your feet,” he growls, tossing the threat over his shoulder like it makes no difference to him if I go or choose to take my chances and run.That’s because he knows there is no hope for me. There is no world in which I get out of here alive. No world in which Amara and Wells don’t pay for the consequences of my actions.

I am trapped. With nowhere to go but onto the ship of the most notorious pirate lord and his deadly crew.

Running my fingertips over the edge of the golden box, a seed of hope plants in my chest. A seed so small its fragility could be destroyed within a second. But it’s there. Ready to grow.

“May I say goodbye?” I ask Grayson.

Holding my breath, I watch him and wait for his response. A hue of the rising sunlight shines across his devastatingly handsome face. The pink of his scar brightens a shade as dawn breaks behind me. A blue so pure it rivals the sea herself reflects back at me as I see the answer in his eyes right before he nods. He knows there is no risk in it. Not when most of his crew are at his back and there’s nowhere for us to run where we wouldn’t be caught—or stabbed in the back.

Letting out a rush of air from my lungs, heat pricks the corners of my eyes as I rush to Amara and Wells, ignoring the stabbing pain in my shoulder.

When I reach them, Amara takes me into her arms before Wells wraps his around the both of us.

“I’m sorry,” I tell them, letting the tears fall. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hush, now,” Amara says, hugging me tighter.

Snickers and crude comments flitter across the morning air from Grayson’s crew. To the hells with them. None of them know the meaning of family. The significance of losing someone thatfuckingmatters.

Amara and Wells pull away, silver lines both of their eyes. Amara wipes the moisture from my cheeks with her thumbs then holds my face between her hands. “Remember who you are. Remember who’s blood runs through your veins, Rowenya. Do not fear them. Do not let them take everything you’ve built.”

“How can I not when everything we’ve worked for—Ravendiedfor—is lost? Tothem!” I point behind me at Grayson and his crew.

Wells places a hand on my shoulder, his tone serious as he says, “We have lost many things during our time together, Captain. Many lives. Many treasures. Still, your crew would follow you to the depths of the Orrian Trench should you tell us to. And we would follow you because we have faith in you. Faith in your judgment. Let this not be the end.” He leans down so we are face-to-face, his grip on my shoulder tightening. “Let this be a different beginning—one we did not plan for, but a beginning, nonetheless.”

The morning light sends rays of gold in all directions as I move the Serpent’s Key over in my hand.

“You mean to take the treasure back once Grayson finds it,” I say, the words barely a breath.

“Onceyouhelp him find it,” Amara chimes in. “He clearly needs your help translating the old language. I’d bet my wager of the gold not a man on his crew was trained as you were. TheTrinitywill trail behind him?—”

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