The Ship Beyond Time (The Girl from Everywhere #2)(75)

“Just a little joyride, I’m sure. But you seemed troubled at the docks,” Crowhurst added. “It was only on the walk back that I realized why. I know you’re worried about the myth playing out.”

Rotgut raised an eyebrow. “The myth?”

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Crowhurst said. “But I’ll keep a closer eye on Dahut in the future. I’m wearing the key to the gates now.” He reached up and tapped his chest; beside the flask, the key hung around his neck. “She won’t get hold of it again. Will you, Dahut?”

She looked up from her hands then, and my heart sank. Her eyes were glassy—all recognition gone. “No, Father.”

“Right.” The word barely made it past my lips; I cleared my throat. “Are you okay, Dahut?”

Her brows furrowed. She looked to Crowhurst for an answer, which he gave. “Unfortunately, she’s had another of her spells. I think the exertion aboard the boat did her in.”

“I see.” I tried to school my expression, but he was still watching me. So was Lin, I realized with a start; when I met her gaze, she raised an eyebrow very slightly and sipped her tea.

“One more thing,” Crowhurst added then. “This may be an odd question, but you wouldn’t have seen a little book with a red cover, would you? It might help her remember things.”

I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t think of a lie. Crowhurst narrowed his eyes. “I . . . I saw it on the yacht,” I blurted out. “On the bench. She left it there.”

“Strange. I didn’t see it.”

“Maybe in the cockpit? I can’t remember. But I did see it on the yacht.”

“Well. I’ll send down to the harbor. She hates being without it.” He rocked a little on his heels, his gaze steady, piercing. Inside my boots, my toes curled. Then he and I both looked over at Lin’s sharp intake of breath. She curled her arms around her belly and bent her head, wincing.

Slate sat bolt upright. “Lin, baby, you okay?”

“Apologies,” she said then, her voice breathless. “I think I need to rest,” she said, turning to Crowhurst. “Do you mind?”

“No, certainly not.” Now he was the one who looked flustered. He took Dahut’s arm and went to the door. “Shall I have the servants bring anything?”

Lin only shook her head, her expression pained. But when Crowhurst left the room, her brow smoothed. She straightened up and brushed back her hair.

My eyes widened, admiring. “You could tell?”

Bee rolled her eyes. “Everyone could tell, my girl.”

Slate frowned. “Tell what?”

“There’s something wrong,” Lin said, setting down her tea. “What happened, Nix?”

I took a breath. Where to start? “Crowhurst kidnapped James Cook to try to change the past.”

My words were met with a fragile silence. Slate was the first to break it. “Who?”

“The first European to map Hawaii! Crowhurst is trying to stop him from doing it. He has him locked up in the pit below the castle.”

Slate leaped to his feet. “What the hell?”

“That’s why Crowhurst wanted us to stay.” My face felt hot, flushed. “He wanted to see what would happen to me. Or to Lin.”

“I’ll kill him,” Slate said, rolling up his sleeves, the tattoos writhing as he flexed his arms. “I’ll choke him with that ugly chain he wears.”

Bee grunted her approval as she sat back on the chaise, stroking the scar at her throat. “Best not to leave enemies at your back.”

Rotgut waved a hand. “Excuse me, but wouldn’t it be best to focus on rescuing Cook?”

“Blake should be bringing him to the ship right now.

Lin frowned. “And Kashmir?”

I closed my hand around the pearl pendant of my necklace. “Kashmir was going to try to rescue Dahut.”

Rotgut nodded. “If anyone can rescue a princess, it’s Kashmir.”

“On a normal day,” I said. “But I don’t think Crowhurst will let her out of his sight.”

“And we have to get Cook out of here,” my father said, his voice urgent.

“There’s something else—” I began, but Slate swore again. I bit my lip, glancing toward the rippled window, to gauge the height of the sun. “It’s like Crowhurst said. I think the myth is ending.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“The myth of Ker-Ys, Dad. The flood.” I swallowed—the thought was chilling, especially with Kashmir still wandering around the castle. “Gwenolé couldn’t get past the edge of the map, so she’s on her way back to the city. And there’s a storm coming—if the story ends as written, Dahut will open the gate at high tide.”

“I thought Crowhurst changed all that,” Slate said.

“He thought he could, but there’s no evidence it’s even possible.”

“Evidence?” Lin cocked her head. “Look around. Everyone here will tell you a story about the time their fortunes changed.”

I followed her gesture—to Rotgut, who’d come aboard to escape the expectations of his former life; to Bee, who’d avenged her wife with Slate’s gun; to my father, who’d lost my mother and found her again. “But it’s not a fortune,” I said, still unsure. “It’s myth. It’s history.”