of the document, the black ink penned in an expert hand. West’s name was listed in its ownership.
She slipped it back into the envelope, satisfied.
Behind me, West was already climbing the ladder. He disappeared over the railing as his voice echoed out. “Raise anchor!”
“See you in Sagsay Holm.” Holland turned, picking up her cloak as she made her way back up the slip.
I cursed, climbing the ladder. When I came onto the deck, Koy was draped lazily over a stack of piled rope, his hands clasped like a hammock behind his head. Willa slid down the mizzen, glaring at him before she went to the bowanchor to help Paj with the crank.
Hamish muttered something under his breath when he made it up the ladder, and we both watched West to see what he would do. He looked over Paj’s notes in the navigator’s log, but the cold I could feel creeping toward me from him made me shiver.
Hamish gave me a wary look.
“You just going to stand there?” Willa clipped.
I turned to see her standing over Koy.
He gave her an easy smile. “Yeah. Unless you want to pay me extra to crew this ship.”
Willa’s cheeks flushed with rage as she went back to the crank. Koy looked pleased with himself, tapping his fingers on his elbows as he watched her from the corner of his eye.
Clove’s warning echoed in my mind. By the time we got to Sagsay Holm, the Marigold might not even have a crew.
“What was that?” Paj asked, looking down at the dock, where Holland was walking through the archway.
West went to the helm, his attention on the sails. “It was nothing.”
The rest of the crew had no idea what had just happened. And West wasn’t going to tell them. Hamish looked utterly confused, holding the coin master’s log before him.
West handed the helm off to Paj, jerking his chin to the starboard side. “Keep an eye on him.”
He was talking about Koy, who was still reclined over the ropes, watching Willa tie off the lines.
Paj answered with a reluctant nod, and West unbuttoned his jacket and disappeared into the breezeway.
I looked back to Hamish, who raised his eyebrows. He was worried. Wondering where the line of his allegiance was. Cover for West or tell the crew about the deed?
I followed West into his quarters, closing the door behind me. He stood at the table beside his cot, recording a series of measurements into the navigator’s log. His lips moved silently around the numbers as he wrote. When he finally looked up at me, it was with the same distance that he’d had that morning in the tavern.
“Looks like we can be there by nightfall tomorrow if the wind holds,” he said, closing the book. The quill rolled across the table.
I nodded, still waiting for whatever else he was going to say. But he was quiet, going to his desk and pulling open the drawer to drop the book inside. He absently fidgeted with the maps on the desk and I stepped to the side to meet his eyes, but he turned another inch away from me.
I sighed. “You shouldn’t have done that. Given her the deed.” The sight of the muscles in his neck surfacing under the skin made me feel suddenly like my stomach was turning, my skin flashing hot. “I won’t let you lose the Marigold, West. I swear.”
He huffed, shaking his head. “You can’t promise that.”
“I can.” I caught my bottom lip with my teeth when it began to quiver.
West crossed his arms, leaning into the wall beside the window. The string of adder stones clinked together as they swung in the wind. Whatever thoughts whispered in his mind darkened the light in his eyes, making him tense all over.
“You have to tell them about the deed,” I said.
“That’s the last thing they want to hear.”
“It doesn’t matter. They deserve to know.”
“You don’t understand.” The words were just a breath.
“I do.”
“No, you don’t. You have Saint. Now you have Holland.” He swallowed. “But us? Me, Willa, Paj, Auster, Hamish … all we have is each other.”
“Then why did you force them to do this?”
He swallowed. “Because I can’t lose them. And I can’t lose you.”
I wanted to reach out and touch him. To pull him into my arms. But the walls around him were built up high. “I’m going to get the deed back,” I said again. “Whatever it takes.”
West stepped toward me. Even in the cold cabin, I could feel the warmth