Scavenge the Stars (Scavenge the Stars #1)(87)

And lying near the stairs…

“No,” she whispered, rushing forward. She sank to her knees in the blood that had spread from Spider’s body. He was on his back, his arms spread at awkward angles, staring lifelessly at the ceiling. A bullet wound marred his thin chest.

Spider. Only eleven years old, and yet he had never complained. He had helped Cicada in the kitchens and had been teaching Fera how to swim.

Not Spider—his name was Nian. He was a boy named Nian who had been taken from his family, and now he was dead.

Avi joined her. He stared down at Nian, horror tightening his mouth. Deadshot raced past them, up the stairs. “Liesl!” she called, desperation cracking her voice. “Liesl, where are you?”

“What the fuck happened?” Avi asked hoarsely. “We were…We were just here. Who…?”

But Amaya knew. The coldness within her thawed to simmering rage, and she gritted her teeth even as she kept staring at Nian, at all the possibilities of his future that had ended with his final breath.

“Silverfish!”

She whirled around. Weevil stood in the entrance to the kitchens, pale and shaking and eyes wide as coins. He sobbed and ran to her, grabbing her with scratched-up hands. She barely caught him, so stunned at the sudden burst of life when all around her screamed death.

“Matthieu,” she whispered. “Matthieu, tell me what happened. Who did this? Where are the others?”

He hiccuped and wiped his face with trembling hands. “That man,” he choked out. “The one from the ship.”

The confirmation stoked her rage into a furnace. Boon. She would find him and rip him apart, feed his bones to the gulls.

“The others hid,” Matthieu said, tugging her toward the kitchens.

She and Avi followed him inside. The pantry door was wide open, and inside lay Cricket’s body, slumped against the shelves. Her blood flecked the jars and vegetables around her. Avi swore and Amaya felt herself grow distant, unable to properly digest what she was seeing. She could not give in to grief now; it had to wait until this fire within her was extinguished.

Matthieu pulled open a segment of the floor, which Amaya guessed was used for storing root vegetables. It blended in so well that she hadn’t even noticed it until the boards came apart, revealing the rest of the Bugs underneath.

“Thank the gods.” Avi knelt to pull them out. Cicada helped him from below, lifting up the smaller Bugs, his face tight and blank with shock.

As soon as Fera was out, she scrambled to her feet and raced for the entryway. “Nian!” she called.

Amaya ran after her, but it was too late. The girl froze at the sight of his body, her own held stiff. Slowly, so as not to scare her further, Amaya crouched and wrapped her arms around the girl, rubbing her hands against the cold skin of Fera’s arms.

“I’m sorry,” Amaya whispered. “I wasn’t here to protect you. I’m so sorry.”

Deadshot reappeared at the top of the stairs. “Liesl!”

Amaya turned her head and saw the girl standing in the entryway, gaping at the scene before her. Her glasses were askew, the hem of her dress stained. Before she could say anything, Deadshot bounded to her and wrapped her up in her arms with a relieved cry.

Amaya stood but kept her hand on Fera’s shoulder. Fera was still staring at Nian’s body, her eyes glassy, uncomprehending.

“What happened here?” Amaya demanded. “Did you know this would happen?”

Liesl untangled herself from Deadshot and took a few staggering steps toward her, out of breath. She saw Nian and put a hand to her mouth.

“Answer me,” Amaya growled.

Liesl lowered her hand and shook her head, tears shining in her eyes. “I didn’t know. None of us did. I left the estate because I had word that Boon was in port, but he wasn’t supposed to arrive yet, so I went out to get information.” The tears fell from her eyes, and she heaved a shuddering breath. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, Amaya. None of this was in his plan. He lied to us.”

“Why is he here, then?” Avi asked as he left the kitchens. “His name hasn’t been cleared yet.”

Amaya thought back to her conversation with Mercado. “Because he has other business,” she said. “He’s behind a counterfeit scheme. All the money he told us to use? To distribute throughout the city? It’s fake.”

Liesl swore. “Of course it is. I should have known better.”

“We need to leave Moray,” Deadshot said. “If Boon is planning on ruining the city, then we have no further business with it.”

“What about our cut of the money?” Avi demanded.

Amaya looked down at Fera, who had started to cry silently. Amaya wiped a tear away with her thumb, her insides twisting with guilt. She had wanted to protect them from Zharo, but was this much better?

“Cade,” she called.

Cicada came to her, tall and silent, the oldest of the remaining Bugs.

“Come with me,” she said. “Please.”

The two of them went down to the cellar beneath the estate, where they had hauled in the chests full of Boon’s gold. Amaya lit an oil lantern and examined the chests, unadorned and unassuming.

Cicada watched silently as Amaya went to the shelves of wine and selected a bottle at random. Opening a chest, she examined the contents for a moment, the coins gleaming in the lantern light.