Fireblood (Frostblood Saga #2)(27)

Kai tsked. “Don’t debase yourself with lies, little fish. You’re skilled at your vocation, and I appreciate skill. Why don’t we test the dexterity of those clever fins? If you catch this coin as it falls, it’s yours. If I catch it, we’ll find that constable and see if he throws you back into the sea.”

Kai took the purse, drew out a coin, and tossed it into the air. It arced high and descended. The girl’s hand shot out and snatched it. She grinned, her face flushed with triumph.

Seeing her smile, a bolt of recognition shot through me: a sick little girl on a winter’s night when I’d run away from the abbey and ended up at the camp of some refugees who had fled the Frost King’s soldiers. The families had been on their way to Tevros to see if they could board a ship and make a new life somewhere else. But the girl had been ill with a fever and a cough. I’d tried to help by finding the right herbs to heal her before the adults had chased me off. I’d often wondered about her, hoping she’d recovered.

I took in the urchin’s flushed cheeks and the thick hair escaping from her cap. Her eyes shone with health, no longer bleary with fever, but her face was leaner, her features sharper.

“Kaitryn,” I said, remembering her name.

Her eyes widened further. She turned swiftly, but Kai’s hand shot out to grab her elbow before she could bolt. “I believe the lady knows you, little fish,” he said calmly.

“Kaitryn, it’s me, Ruby.” I stepped forward and smiled reassuringly. “I met you when you had a fever. You probably don’t remember.”

“I remember.” She stared at me for a few seconds. “They said you were a Fireblood and you’d get us all killed.”

My lips twisted. “Well, I hope that last part wasn’t true.” I continued to smile, wishing she didn’t look so scared. Or was that resentment in her gaze? “I’m so glad you recovered and made it to Tevros.”

“Tevros is a hole,” she said bluntly. “There’s hardly any work here, and no ships will take us anywhere without the coin. My parents spent all their money on herbs to cure my lungs. Then my father got sick. Least, that’s what my mother calls it, but he changed into someone else overnight. Went wild for no reason. One day, he killed someone in a fight. Went to prison and died a week later.”

I felt the blood leave my face. “Kaitryn, I’m so sorry.” There was no doubt that her father had been possessed by the Minax. Which meant that in freeing it, I had ruined her family.

She shrugged off my sympathy, but the pain in her eyes was unmistakable.

I turned to Kai. “Give the purse back to her.” He looked at me quizzically for a moment, then shrugged and offered it up.

Kaitryn’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

“You need it more than I do,” I said.

Her hand flashed out, and the purse disappeared quickly into some hidden pocket in her patched and baggy vest.

“This will keep us fed for weeks,” she said, eyes bright. “Months.”

“Listen, Kaitryn,” I said impulsively, “I’m about to go on a voyage and I’m thinking life aboard a ship would be better than life on the streets. Why don’t you come with me?”

She looked up at me, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but then a chorus of young voices came from the street and her eyes widened again. “One of the gangs. They don’t like me poaching here. Time to go.”

“Kaitryn, wait, I’d like to help you if—”

But she was as slippery as the nickname Kai had given her, a little fish that slid from his grasp and disappeared into the crowd. I rushed into the street, but she was gone.

“A friend of yours?” Kai asked as he followed me. I scanned the forest of heads, but Kaitryn was nowhere to be seen.

As we walked toward the wharf, I told him the barest details of my first meeting with Kaitryn, lengthening my strides to keep up with his.

“Ah, the little fish has had a hard time of it.” I was surprised at his regretful tone, which made me like this arrogant stranger just a little bit more. “I would have offered her a place on the ship if she’d stayed.”

“Really?”

He shrugged. “Why not? Either way, she’s gone. Along with your purse.” He looked at me askance. “Did no one teach you to guard your gold?”

“I’m not used to having anything to steal. Speaking of, I believe this is yours.” I slid the ring off my finger and he took it, our fingers brushing briefly. Though his skin was hot, I shivered slightly. It was still so strange to feel skin the same temperature as mine.

We turned a corner and suddenly we were on the timber-floored wharf set against a sparkling blue-green harbor.

I followed Kai through a moving maze of seafaring folk. They marched past carrying barrels or crates, sold fresh fish from rickety stalls, and played noisy games of dice. Here and there, families and sweethearts said good-bye before boarding ships. A young couple embraced, looking as if they never wanted to let each other go. I swallowed and turned away. I didn’t need to witness anyone else’s good-byes. I’d just endured one of my own.

We stopped at a scarred wooden door with a faded sign bearing what appeared to be a rotund weasel smoking a pipe.

“The Fat Badger,” Kai said with a flourish. “Where no one asks questions as long as your pockets are deep. Lucky for you, I didn’t give my money away.”