Scavenge the Stars (Scavenge the Stars #1)(85)

The center of Cayo’s chest went cold. He imagined his eyes floating in a jar next to Bas’s.

“He…” Cayo looked around, as if the Slum King were about to materialize from the walls. “He knows I’m here?”

“No, he’s out all day visiting contacts to erase the trail. If I’d known this last night, I wouldn’t have even bothered dragging you into the kennels. It would have been better for everyone if you’d just died of exposure.”

Cayo leaned back with a sigh and closed his eyes. “I had to do it, Romara. He’s the one behind the counterfeit.”

“So’s my father, but you don’t see me marching to the Port’s Authority!”

His eyes snapped open. “What?”

“You were right, to a degree.” She crossed her legs and stared him down. “About him being involved in the counterfeit. I dragged it out of him this morning. Your father provides the coins, and mine is responsible for distributing them throughout the casinos in the Vice Sector, like the Arc. They’ve been in business together for years, apparently.”

He felt as if the air had been knocked out of him. Kamon Mercado and the Slum King—business partners.

All this time, and he’d had no idea.

“I suppose this’ll make it easier to break the news of the engagement to your dear old daddy,” she said with a twist to her mouth.

“Engage—I thought your father wants me dead?”

“That was just him being cranky. I convinced him to let me keep you.” As if he really were a puppy, or some trivial possession. “In fact, he’s agreed to speed up the wedding date to next month instead of next year.”

“Hold on…” Cayo held his aching head in his hands. His thoughts were sluggish, struggling to keep up. “How were you even able to do that? I thought that with my father in custody, he didn’t want to have anything to do with my family?”

“Ah, but your father’s not in custody anymore. He was released early this morning, thanks to a generous donation by Jun Salvador.”

Broken. This whole city was broken.

And if his father was free, that meant there would be repercussions waiting when he returned home.

Home. Soria was no doubt worried about him. He had to go and see her, and try to avoid his father, if he could.

“This will be a good thing, Cayo,” Romara said. “Together, you and I could be powerful enough to run this city. Especially now, with the prince out of the picture.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He died last night, from ash fever.” She leaned forward, eyes glittering. “Moray is poised on a knife’s edge, Cayo. It’s ready for change. We could be that change.”

His head swimming with the news, Cayo decided that Romara was a lot scarier when she was sober. He dragged a hand through his wet hair and shook his head.

“Romara…I can’t marry you. My life is in shambles. My father will very likely disown me. If it weren’t for my sister, I would have probably left Moray by now.” Like Bas.

Her head snapped back slightly, as if dodging a slap. “Are you serious, Cayo? You’re this close to achieving power, and you just don’t care?”

“I don’t care,” he agreed. “I just want to be left alone. And I want my sister to live.”

Romara looked at him as one looks at a bug, unimpressed and having no clue how he’d gotten into the house. Sighing, she rubbed the space between her eyes with a knuckle.

“You really try my patience, Cayo,” she said. “You know what? Fine. I can let you out of this engagement, but considering you need to repay the price of my dowry, it’ll cost you something.”

“Of course it will cost me.” He sighed. “What do you want?”

“The recipe for the counterfeit. Is it a type of paint? Is it alchemy? If you can get it from your father, I’ll tell mine to leave you alone, to cut you free.”

Then he would just be making the situation worse. There was no way to tell how much of the counterfeit had already spread across the city; with Romara at the helm of the operation, how much more would be dispersed? The economy would go under. They would be ripe for the picking for either of the empires.

“Come on,” Romara purred with a suggestive smile. “Isn’t there something you’re still willing to live for? Something you’d be willing to stay in Moray for?”

His thoughts flitted to the countess, to the feeling of her lips on his. Her demeanor like salt water and steel, the conviction and mystery that surrounded her like layers of a dress. He wanted to slowly peel them away, to find the heart of the girl buried underneath.

Cayo’s shoulders slumped as he said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“There’s a good puppy. Now get out before you start tossing up your stomach again.”

He stood, resigned, and was halfway to the door when she called him back. She walked to him with something held fast in her hand. When she pressed it against his palm, he could only stare down at it in confusion.

It was a black disc, just like the one Bas had given him. Like the ones he’d used as evidence against his father.

“Where did you find this?” he asked.

Romara’s smile showed her teeth. “Your countess.”