Scavenge the Stars (Scavenge the Stars #1)(25)

Finally, she spotted the cavern she’d seen earlier and ducked inside, her heart racing and her head throbbing in time with her pulse. Silverfish carefully wended through the crates and barrels, many of them labeled with goods such as spices, dried meats, oil. Stolen from merchant ships, no doubt. But one barrel in particular caught her eye. Its lid was partially open, revealing a yellow mound of gold pieces within.

It was more wealth than she had ever seen in her life. More than her debt—more than enough to cover the costs of several Water Bugs’ debts, if not all of them. Entranced, Silverfish raised a shaking hand and touched the cool surfaces of the coins, feeling how they slid and tumbled against each other, listening to the satisfying clinking sounds they made. Golden senas. It had been so long since she had seen real money, but she remembered what Rehanese currency looked like.

A memory broke across her like a wave. Her mother and father had taken her to the public gardens one hazy morning, the fog burning off to reveal a blue sky overhead. The sunlight had filtered down onto the plants around her, splattering the path like golden paint shaken from a brush.

But something along the path had actually glinted gold in that light—a sena coin. She had bounded toward it and picked it up, showing it to her parents with pride. They had looked at each other, debating whether to let her keep it, until her mother had said that it was hers—but only if she put it away in savings. It had been confiscated by the debt collectors years later.

Where Boon had been able to get this, she had no idea. But that didn’t matter; all she had to worry about was stuffing her pockets and getting out of here. She grabbed handfuls of the coins and stored them wherever she could: her pockets, her boots, her underthings.

She was so preoccupied that she didn’t hear the footfalls behind her until it was too late.

Boon grabbed her wrist and spun her around. She palmed her shucker and aimed to stab him in the chest, but her other wrist was caught in a similar viselike grip.

“Let go of me,” she growled.

Boon looked unimpressed. “You really think I wouldn’t notice some of my gold gone missing? You could have just asked for it, ’stead of sneaking around like a thief.”

“And be indebted to you? No thanks.” She twisted out of his hold, breathing heavily. She’d exerted what little energy she had left, and her hands shook. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Avi leaning against the cavern entrance as he looked on. “Where did you even get all this gold? Are you a pirate?”

He gave a sudden, loud laugh. “Hardly. I can help you, you know, so that you don’t gotta resort to this. But you’ll have to let me.”

Her whole body was shaking now. She could feel the gold weighing down her pockets, but they all knew she didn’t have the means to run.

“I meant it, you know,” Boon continued. “Whatever you want is yours. But you have to know what you want.”

What did she want most? She didn’t have to think long about it.

“I want to kill Captain Zharo,” she rasped. “I want justice for the life he took from me. I want him to feel fear. I want him to suffer.”

Boon clicked his tongue a few times. “I think you’re setting your sights too low, Silverfish. The captain isn’t the one you need to target.”

“He ruined my life!”

“He may’ve made it miserable, but he’s not the one who ruined it. If he’s gone, someone else is just going to take his place. What you need is to aim higher. You want to kill a snake, cut off its head.”

“You mean the merchant who owns the Brackish?” Silverfish shook her head. “Whoever he is, he’s too powerful.”

“That’s why you need me. You’re inelegant, impulsive. What you need is a back door.” His head twitched a couple of times as he jerked his thumb at his chest. “And I’m the door.”

She scoffed. “So what’s this great idea of yours?”

“The merchant’s name is Mercado. Kamon Mercado. We find his weak spots, exploit ’em, and tear down his whole empire. Take away the things he holds most dear.” Boon grinned, all sharp edges and violent promises. “We make him weak, and then we take him for everything he’s got.”

“Kamon Mercado,” she repeated slowly, testing the sound of it. “Are you sure?”

Boon gave that loud bark of a laugh again. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that money-grubbing bastard. The gambling halls, they’d cleared me out, and I was strapped. But then I get an offer: Mercado says if I work for him on one of his ships, and if I rack up enough coin, my debt goes poof.” He wiggled his fingers on either side of his head. “All gone. Bye-bye.

“But then the ship gets caught by the Port’s Authority. And surprise, surprise, what did they find in our holds? Not the goods that were written in the ledgers, but the real backwater market stuff, all the fun things that’re illegal in Moray. Mercado had me smuggling goods from the Rain Empire that he later sold up to the gentry, and Mercado, bastard that he is, played like he knew nothing about it.” Boon bared his teeth like a sick dog. “Me and the rest of the crew were exiled for life.”

“That’s when he came to me,” Avi cut in. “I used to be Landless, until I found a loophole that restored my name and allowed me back on the continent. But it required going after the right people, so I know a thing or two about revenge.” He grinned. “Now I make it my mission to help other Landless folks get their status back.”