Page 104 of A Curse of Salt

I was ready to lunge forward and rip him apart, but Golde was already there, leaping over Sebastien with her daggers drawn.

Bane was too quick, darting to his feet, parrying her swing. His blows struck hard against her flashing steel, each shriek of metal piercing the air. They fought brutally, savagely. But I’d never seen Golde so frenzied, or so clumsy.

Bane whipped around with a blinding force, elbow connecting hard with her face. Golde stumbled back with a strangled cry, blood flowing between her fingers as she clutched at her nose. Bane stared her down, panting. Behind him, the sun sank lower, lighting up the crimson that painted the deck.

Sundown.

Golde made another run at him. But Aron was there, crashing into her, holding her back. ‘Golde . . .’

Bane spat at her feet. ‘Time’s up, love,’ he smirked.

Golde thrashed against Aron’s hold, trying to shake him off until he grabbed her jaw roughly and turned her face to the horizon. ‘Look.’

She stilled, slackening in his hold. ‘No . . .’

Golde’s voice was distant, an echo amongst the stars.

Rays of sunset curled like claws over the sides of the deck.

Steel clattered against wood and I turned to see Aron, his sword at his feet, eyes fixed on the skyline. The sun touched the edge of the horizon, sending a haze of orange light bleeding across the water, and I felt the enormity of time crushing around us. This was it.

‘I’m sorry,’ Sebastien murmured, and I could’ve sworn there was a tremor of something in his voice, a ripple of unchartered waters that sounded a lot like fear. ‘I never wanted it to end like this.’

‘No,’ I whimpered, as the sky dissolved into dusk. ‘No. Not now.’

Sebastien panted, struggling to pull himself upright. He lurched to his knees, his head hanging over his feet. I followed his gaze downwards and gasped.

The brown leather of Sebastien’s boots was turning to stone before my eyes. The world swam in and out of focus as the tide of grey crept from the ground upwards, as time began to take back what it had given him.

‘No,’ I breathed again, unable to believe what I was seeing.

His fingers tightened around mine, turning colder with every passing moment.

I looked up, searching for someone – anyone – to help.

The amusement in Bane’s eyes faded as Aron and Golde sank to their knees, succumbing to the curse I’d failed to break.

I choked back a sob. There weren’t many people in this world whom Golde would bow before, but there she was – knees meeting hard planks when I knew her heart was somewhere far away.

I could scarcely see past my tears by the time I tore my eyes from her, back to the man at my side. His gaze was fixed on Bane, harder now than ever, more grey than black.

‘We’ll finish this in hell,’ he said, voice so hollow it made me ache.

Bane dipped his head. Humble, for a man with the world crumbling right into his lap. ‘See you there, love.’

No, no, no.

A warm, gentle hand closed around my shoulder. ‘Come away, lass,’ Mors said. ‘Don’t watch.’

But I couldn’t move. It was as if I, too, were turning to stone. I wove my fingers into that familiar place at the back of Sebastien’s neck, where he’d always been warm. Where I’d held him in those rare moments I’d been able to convince myself that even the tides couldn’t tear us apart.

A single broken sob made me turn.

I met Una’s eyes, wide and full of pain. We were the same, then, as she watched the life in Aron slip away.

Aron didn’t face his king. No, as the wave of stone washed over him, he stared up at the pirate girl who’d made a home in all our hearts. I didn’t want to imagine the look of terror in his eyes as they held hers for the last time.

‘Lass,’ he groaned, his voice rougher than stone. And then so was he – stone.

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