Page 56 of These Divided Shores
“I told you, Andreu,” Nate continued, “I told you I thought it was the Grozdans taking my people before Elazar showed up. Did a head count of all the Emerdians rescued from the prison. Some of my people are still unaccounted for. If Elazar didn’t take ’em, who did?” Nate crooked his finger at Rosalia. “I’ll string you up, Rustici, I swear—”
Rosalia looked confused for as long as it took her to blink. “You’rethe one who’s been takingmyraiders! My people have been going missing for weeks.”
“I’d get more use filling my syndicate with swords propped up on bags of flour.”
Rosalia whipped out a dagger as a few of her raiders swam free of the crowd to back her up. Nate fumbled at his hip for a pistol and Pierce grabbed his arm.
Elazar had damn well nearly taken over the island—again—and these dumbasses still wanted to fight each other.
“For the love of whatever particular god you call holy,” Vex shouted, “can at least youpretendnot to be raging murderous toddlers? It’s enough that Fatemah let us in here.”
Pierce ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek. “Look who grew up since he was last making a mess of Port Camden. Feel good about yourself, if that helps. You set us to rights.”
Pierce rolled his eyes. Rosalia coughed a laugh into her hand. Vex glowered.
“Enough!” Kari stabbed a glare at the crowd. “All raider Heads and acting Heads, we will talk. No weapons. The rest of you will wait here.Peacefully.”
Rosalia barked laughter. “Who’re you? Why should I—”
Kari gave her such an intense, penetratingobey melook that Rosalia shut up.
Vex started. Maybe Kari could teach him how to do that.
14
FATEMAH LED THEway to her office in one of the tenements that overlooked the sanctuary. Nate and Pierce took over the oak desk in the center, Nate on the chair and Pierce perched on the edge of the desk with his legs crossed.
Kari and Fatemah stood on either side of the desk, while Vex, Nayeli, and Lu hovered in the middle of the room. Ben and Gunnar slipped in behind Edda and retreated to the back corner.
Vex couldn’t help it. He looked at the door.
“Of course she’d be last,” grumbled Nayeli.
“The Grozdan Head?” Lu asked.
“Rocks were younger than the last Head,” said Vex, “but I can’t believe she took over.”
“Istill can’t believe you slept with her,” said Nayeli.
Vex was choking. Or suffocating. Or dying of Shaking Sickness here and now. He doubled over, unable to look atNayeli long enough to even glare at her.
“But don’t worry,” Nayeli said to Lu. “I’d be the first one to castrate him if he had any inclination to go back to her.”
Vex instinctively pressed his knees together. “God, Nayeli—”
“What happened?” Lu’s voice was flat.
“It’s not—” Vex fumbled, still looking at the floor. “It was a long time ago—”
“Grozdans value glory over everything,” Nayeli told Lu. “Which means they have to win at every gods damn thing they do. And raiders in the Grozdan syndicate feel like they gotta prove themselves more since they aren’treallyGrozdans—so people like Rosalia? She’s heartless. Doesn’t take help from anyone outside her own circle, even worse than Cansu with accepting the Council’s authority—more because her territory doesn’t need much outside help to curb their poverty. And Vex was all too happy to let Rosalia dominate him—until he wasn’t. She had the Grozdan syndicate chase us out of Port Fausta.”
Vex winced. He’d trotted after Rosalia for three months, doing whatever she asked of him. Lose at sparring, which he didn’t mind because he wasn’t good enough to win against her anyway; give credit for raids to her crew, which cut the percentage he got in half—that sucked a bit; flirt with people so Rosalia could deck them fortrying to take what was hers. And his Grozdan wasn’t very good at the time, so when she called him mezzochi, he’d taken it as a pet name.She’d used it like that, leaning suggestively against tavern bars and stroking his temple.
“Mio mezzochi,”she’d say, and grin, and god, he still hated himself for how long it’d taken him to realize that she didn’t see him as an equal—she saw him as an easy target.
Vex gagged down his shame. “I was a different person then. And it’s difficult to have a healthy relationship with a member of a crime syndicate.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Nayeli muttered.
