Page 7 of Drift: Willa & Koy

“You ready?” he asked.

There was still the hint of that apology in his eyes from when he’d embarrassed me last night, but his nerves were as shaky as mine. A lot could hinge on this. If the helmsman had a good experience, he’d likely return. He may even spread the word about the small but economical port developing in the wide stretch of barren water that connected the Narrows and the Unnamed Sea. If hedidn’thave a good experience, that information would travel, too.

I fell into step beside him and Ailee followed.

“Ship’s name is theWellworthy. Port of origin is Bastian, the helmsman’s name is Dennon. My guess is they trade mainly jewelry and gems, that kind of thing.”

“And their route?”

Koy scanned the docks around us as we walked. “That’s the strange part. They’re not on a regular route. I got a glance at the navigator’s logs when he was marking coordinates and it looks like they’ve been stopping at every port there is. Ship’s riding light in the water so I don’t think they’ve got much inventory.”

“So, what are they doing?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care, either.”

I nodded, agreeing.

“Hey.” He stopped, waiting for me to turn.

It wasn’t until then that I got a good look at him. He’d cleaned up his boots and put on a clean shirt. I lifted my eyebrows when I saw that he’d even tucked it in.

“Look,” he said, glancing at Ailee. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“It’s fine.” The words came out curter than I meant them to. The words had been somewhat unforgivable, but even thinking about the feeling of his touch on my face again made me flush.

“No. It’s not. I know you can handle yourself, but you don’t always have to. You said yourself that we’re partners, right?”

I looked into his eyes, trying to read him. “Yeah.”

“That means that we need to trust each other.”

“I know.” I sighed.

That wasn’t the problem. There was something about Koy that felt solid and steady to me. He was a knot that wouldn’t easily break. In the last fourteen months, he’d proven that I could trust him, but if he had his brother watching me, then he didn’t feel the same about me. I couldn’t exactly blame him.

“From now on, I’ll let you handle the Jevalis.” I said.

He gave me a skeptical look.

“I mean it.” I lifted my hands in the air. “I’ll back off.”

“Thank you.”

“And Icanhandle myself.”

A smirk broke on his lips. “I know you can.”

Beside us, Ailee’s lips were pressed together in a flat line. She was looking between us, waiting.

“You ready?” Koy said, eyes lifting to the other end of the harbor.

I exhaled. “Ready.”

When bay twelve came into view, I picked up my pace, pressing through the crowd. A man and a woman were already waiting at the mouth of the slip, their fine jackets and shiny brass buckles noticeable on the dock of Narrows-born traders.

Koy waved to them as we approached and I reached to the back of my belt. “Shit,” I whispered, my steps slowing. “I forgot my ledger.”

“No, you didn’t.” Ailee was beside me a second later, my ledger and a sharpened pencil pressed between her hands. She discreetly handed them to me before finding a place at my back to stand.

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