Page 97 of A Curse of Salt

‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘No. I need to get back to the Blood Rose, before it’s too late.’ If it isn’t already, came a dark voice. Dread, thick as blood, simmered in my chest.

I could see Aberdeen’s frustration in the set of her shoulders, the tautness of her jaw. But I couldn’t give up. Not until I knew, not until I’d tried.

‘Take me back. Now.’ I looked over at the sailor manning the helm. ‘Tell her. Turn the ship around.’

Aberdeen’s expression was caught halfway between apologetic and resolute. ‘Ria, I can’t. We don’t belong to this world – we have to go home.’

I shook my head, over and over. ‘I won’t,’ I told her, more resolute than ever. ‘I won’t keep running.’

When she didn’t respond, my resolve hardened, frustration heating my blood. If Golde were here, Aberdeen would be dead and I’d be halfway home already. I reached into my coat, fingers curling around the rose-shaped hilt of my dagger.

‘What are you doing?’ Aberdeen whispered, eyes widening as I drew the blade out.

‘You’d better turn this damned ship around before we both find out exactly what I’m capable of right now,’ I warned.

‘You’re being ridiculous—’

‘You lied to me!’ I cried, tremors of the heartbreak splitting open inside me tearing through my voice. ‘Again. You tricked me, because you could tell the moment you set foot on that ship that it was exactly where I belonged!’

It might have been the moon, sinking towards the sea, but I could’ve sworn my sister’s expression softened. The wind died down, making it suddenly too quiet, too calm.

‘Put that knife away.’ Aberdeen sounded exhausted and imperative all at once. ‘Gods, I didn’t think even you would side with a bunch of murderers.’

I gritted my teeth, though I couldn’t exactly argue with the murderer part. My heart was pounding in my chest, my nails digging into my palms. ‘Please,’ I whispered. ‘Take me home.’

Aberdeen held my gaze. She knew what I needed – didn’t understand it, but she knew. Hope climbed through me, through the shreds of my heart, ready to wind it back together.

At last, she nodded. ‘All right.’

I exhaled, my lungs emptying like it was their first breath, like I’d been holding it for eighteen years. ‘Thank you.’

Her expression was grim. ‘I don’t know what this could cost us. I promised Bane I’d keep you away from the battle. I can’t save you again. Not if you go back there.’

‘I know.’

Aberdeen rolled her eyes with a groan. ‘Gods, Aurelia. I always knew you’d be the death of us.’

29

The solstice sun slunk above the waterline.

Aberdeen and I sat side by side, watching dawn dissolve. The hard ridge of the step dug into my back, the wood where we sat at the bottom of the stairs cold and unforgiving. As was the silence, stretched taut between us.

For a long time, the air was too thick to speak. The storm evaporated around us, fog oozing from the waves. I couldn’t shake the dread from my bones, so I just sighed, staring out at the water.

‘I am grateful,’ I mustered lamely. ‘That you’re here. That you came for me at all.’

Aberdeen bit out a laugh. ‘A lot of good it did.’

We lapsed into silence again.

With the waves rolling past and the sun pulling the shadows into its fold, winter felt like a dream – those nights with Sebastien, those days in the snow with the crew and the icy, ruthless sea. I missed Aron’s laugh and Una’s smile, Mors’ steady arms. Golde’s blade flashing in the low light. All I could feel was missing, so fierce it made me feel sick.

It might be over already. I swallowed thickly, trying to tame the roaring ache inside me. I might be too late.

They mightn’t have made it past daybreak – I didn’t know how curses worked. I only knew that death would be a mercy in their eyes; an end that was hot and fast and meant something. I might have chosen death, too, over the cold, endless depths of eternity.

But I had to hope. I had to be as they had always been – strong, ready to fight.

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