The Ship Beyond Time (The Girl from Everywhere #2)(88)

In a flash I was on my feet; spinning, I nearly ran into Blake. He grabbed my arms, steadying me—or perhaps himself. “Miss Song!” He squinted at me; his eye was swollen where Crowhurst had hit him. “We must get to the ship.”

I stared at him—in his face there was such sorrow, and I rejected it. “No!” Something snapped in me. “Let go of me! Let go!” I shoved him; he staggered back, slipping on the ice on the wall.

“Where are you going, then?” Blake said.

“To save Kashmir!” Out on the water, Rotgut called to me—there was desperation in his voice. But Gwen would help them, wouldn’t she? I started toward the stairs.

“Nix!” Blake grabbed my wrist and spun me around. “He’s gone!” I followed his stare to the city, the water swirling around the slate roofs of the houses. “He was locked in the pit. He had no picks. The water is ice cold, and you would drown in it too. He’s gone, Miss Song.”

With a roar, I flung him away and sprinted toward the stairs, but I didn’t get far. Blake tackled me to the stones, wrapping me up in his arms and crushing the breath out of my lungs. Kicking, I tried to regain my footing, but he swung me over his shoulder.

“No!” I pounded on his back. “I won’t lose him too!”

But Blake did not listen, or if he did, he did not stop, not until we reached the ship. He tossed me to the deck and leaped aboard after me. I landed in a heap.

Scrambling to my hands and knees, I felt the snapping of timbers through my palms—belowdecks, water would be pouring into the hold. The Fool had belayed a line to the Temptation, and she was ready to haul against the tide. We could not stay longer, or the storm would smash the hull to pieces. But Gwen had Cook; they did not need me to travel. Could I jump back to the wall?

“Let me go!” I struggled upward, pulling myself to my feet against the bulwark. Why was my ankle buckling? “Take Cook to London and let—me—go!”

I put both hands on the rail as another wave lifted the ship from the stones, but Blake yanked me back to the deck. Furious, I wrenched Kashmir’s knife from his belt—only then did he back away, hands up, face pale. But the wave withdrew, and the Fool swung her sails to catch the gusting wind. With a groan, the Temptation shuddered out to sea.

“No!” I rushed back to the rail as the wall retreated. “No!”

“I’m sorry, Miss Song.” Blake’s voice broke, and he could not meet my eyes. He turned to help Bee and Rotgut with the ship. But I stayed at the rail, screaming wordless rage as Ker-Ys receded. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. This was not how the story ended.

The wayward saint had returned with her warnings. The devil had opened the gates and cast Dahut into the sea. But the king was dead—who would ride away on the Dark Horse?

Crowhurst’s question had stayed with me; he had taken Kashmir’s lock picks, but where had his keys gone? The key to the treasury, the key to the manacles, the key to the yacht . . .

Kash had them. He must have. I believed it with all my heart. I watched for him, and waited. I knew he was coming. Beneath my feet, the Temptation trembled as the Fool towed us toward the gathering fog, but I kept my eyes on the sea gates as the city receded. Then Bee took my arm; I spun in shock at the touch.

“Come away, my girl.” Her voice was soft with anguish. “The ship is lost.”

“What?” Finally I tore my eyes from the flooding city, only to realize the Temptation was sinking.

The deck tilted. The sails sagged as if defeated. The ship sighed and shuddered in her grief. Her prow was already submerged, the carved mermaid figurehead greeting the sea at last. Repair would be impossible; her ribs had been snapped. She was gutted; water poured into the broken heart of her. The ship was going down with her captain.

On deck, Gwen and her crew were helping to salvage our belongings. Sailors scrambled back and forth from the Fool, hauling armloads of maps and medicine, books and baubles, crates and clothing. As I watched, Blake abandoned ship, carrying Billie in his arms. Rotgut followed, clutching his old mahjong set. And now Bee was tugging at my hand.

Still holding Kashmir’s knife, I let her lead me to starboard side, where the crew of the Fool had made fast to the Temptation. A ladder hung from Gwen’s ship; Bee pushed me toward it, but I shook my head. “Go on, Bee. I’ll be right behind you.”

She searched my face, and I could tell I hadn’t fooled her. “Nix . . .”

“Go,” I said again, my voice harsh with grief. “Captain’s orders.”

Tears shone in her eyes as she pulled me into a fierce hug, but then she released me. Taking hold of the ladder, she climbed free of the wreck, and she did not look back. So I raised Kashmir’s knife and swung it down on the rope binding the Fool to the Temptation.

The corvette sprang free, leaving the caravel behind, with me aboard.

The captain was going down with her ship.

Off the Fool’s prow, I could see the bank of fog beginning to form. I didn’t waste my time watching her meet it; instead, I clambered toward the stern, uphill against the slant of the deck. I had to use the rails to climb the stairs. When I reached the helm, I clung to the wheel.

Water crept up toward my feet. Waves broke over the bulwark, turning to a million sparkling stars. On the horizon, the city was nearly lost in the white mist, but I could still hear, very faintly, the ringing of the bells. I ran numb fingers over the bronze: regnabo, regno, regnavi, sum sine regno. I was drenched by the time the waves wrapped themselves around my ankles, and shivering as they rose around my hips.