Scavenge the Stars (Scavenge the Stars #1)(88)

Then she smashed the bottle against the side of the chest.

“What’re you doing?” Cicada finally demanded.

“A test,” she said.

He came closer, eyes fixed on the pile of coins now covered with wine. Amaya’s breath turned shallow as she watched the coins, waiting to have the truth unveiled.

And then, after a couple of minutes, some of the coins began to turn black at their edges.

Amaya shut the lid of the chest and closed her eyes. A wound ripped open inside her, so sudden and painful that she had to clamp her teeth down around a scream.

“What…What does it mean?” Cicada asked.

She took a few deep breaths, trying not to remember the contempt in Mercado’s voice. “This money is fake, but it should fool whoever you hand it to.” She had been saving it for her takedown of Mercado, to potentially bribe the officers at the Port’s Authority, but Boon’s arrival had negated all her plans. “I want you to use whatever remains to get all the Water Bugs home. Will you do that for me?”

He looked toward the stairs. Above their heads, Amaya knew the other children had crowded together, crying at the sight of Nian. Cicada’s dark locks swayed as he nodded.

“I’ll do it for them,” he said.

“Thank you. I want you all out of the city as soon as possible.” She stood and squeezed his arm. “Keep them safe.” Because I couldn’t.

They returned upstairs and Cicada approached the children, speaking to them in his low, calm way. Amaya knelt and hugged Fera again, her heart splintering under the force of her mistakes. The girl barely reacted.

She had been so reckless to trust Boon. To let things get this far.

Amaya glanced at the Landless, who were quietly arguing about what to do next. She approached Matthieu, who was no longer crying but looked at her with bloodshot eyes. There was no reason for a child to look so haunted, she thought.

“The man who attacked you,” she said softly. “Did you see where he went?”

The boy swallowed and shook his head, then paused. “I…I did hear him say something to the others who were with him, when we were hiding. Something about getting to a ship.”

The spots where her knives lay against her body flared with promise.

Sometimes you can only see the way forward when all other options have failed you, her father had once told her.

She ran past the Landless, who called her name in confusion, and into the swelling night.

Revenge. It was a simple word hiding a bigger meaning, a layer of glitter over grit, a silk dress over a scarred and battered body. It was a word that pumped through her blood and set the stars on fire, and she wanted to rake her hands across the sky to grab them, to let them burn down everything in her path.

Even if she had to sacrifice the city, she would not allow Boon to get away.



It was late by the time she arrived at the docks, sneaking around its perimeter so that she wouldn’t be spotted in the filmy moonlight that occasionally peeked out from the rolling clouds. There were no dockworkers at this time of night, which made the presence of a few shadowy figures all the more suspicious.

Amaya kept a knife in her hand as she slunk closer, trying to grab snippets of their conversation. They wore masks, and she would have bet her entire wardrobe that they were the rest of Boon’s Landless crew, recruited to replace Avi, Deadshot, and Liesl. They were hauling crates up onto a small frigate bearing signs of battle damage, its hull scratched and a piece of its rail missing. It bore nondescript sails, in order to look as inconspicuous as possible. Boon had very likely stolen it.

As if the thought had summoned him, Boon appeared at the railing, calling something down to the Landless that was too soft for her to make out. The sight of him sent off a spark in her gut, and her hand tightened around her knife’s hilt as her breathing grew uneven.

The best way to retaliate against pain is pain.

She would make him feel pain. She would return to him all he had done to her, payment for his lies and deceit.

But before she could rush toward the ship, a hand caught her arm. She whirled to find Avi there, a finger pressed to his lips. Liesl and Deadshot were behind him.

“We’ll take care of the masked bastards,” Avi whispered, nodding toward the dock. “You go get Boon.”

Her brow furrowed. “Why are you helping me? Isn’t he one of you?”

“He went back on his plan and abandoned us. He killed children. He’s unstable, and he needs to be stopped.”

She looked past him to the others, who nodded their resolution. Amaya’s chest briefly tightened, suddenly thankful that she wasn’t alone. Taking a deep breath, she nodded once and signaled them to go.

The three Landless slipped out before her. They were so silent that the others weren’t aware of their presence until one turned and gave a warning cry, cut short with a gurgle as Avi slit his throat.

The dock seethed with fighting. Amaya used the distraction to run to the ship, avoiding flailing arms and waving weapons as she scurried up the gangplank, unsheathing a second knife in preparation.

It ended up saving her life. She felt and heard the whoosh of air by her head and only barely managed to block the downward swing of a short sword, its blade crossing between her two.

On the other end of the sword, Boon grinned down at her.

Amaya summoned her strength and pushed him and his weapon away, hopping backward to put more space between them. Boon idly swung the sword as he stared at her, his grin turning into a displeased frown as the sound of fighting rose to the deck of the frigate.