Fable (Fable #1)(73)
West’s gaze met mine, and I blinked slowly, hoping I would remember it forever. Exactly as it was, his sun-painted hair waving in the green light and the complete quiet of the sea. I gave him a smile before I looked back to the locker, lifting its lid with a creak. But his hand came down, holding it closed.
His callused fingers slid over the wood before they wound into mine slowly, pulling my hand from the trunk. I stilled, my heartbeat breaking into an uneven gait, the feel of his touch moving up my arm and spreading like the feel of sun on my skin.
He looked at me with a hundred stories lit behind his eyes.
Then he was coming closer. The air burned hot in my chest as his hands lifted and touched my face. His fingertips slid into my hair as he pulled me toward him and before I could even think about what he was doing, his lips touched mine.
And I disappeared. I was erased.
Every day on Jeval. Every night in the belly of the Lark. It all flickered out, leaving only the hum of the deep. Leaving only me and West.
Bubbles ran up between us as I opened my mouth to taste the warmth of his, and the whole sea fell silent. It swelled. I kissed him again, hooking my fingers into his belt and trying to pull him closer. Trying to feel him in the cold water. When I opened my eyes, he was looking at me. Every speck of gold in the green glimmered, the sharp angles of his face softening.
His arms slid around me, and I folded myself into him, finding the place beneath his jaw, and he held me. So tight. Like he was keeping me from unraveling. And he was. Because that kiss broke open some dark night sky within me filled with stars and moons and flaming comets. That darkness was replaced by the blazing fire of the sun racing under my skin.
Because the most deeply buried truth, hidden beneath everything my father taught me, was that I had wanted to touch West a thousand times.
THIRTY-EIGHT
We made it out of the Snare just before sunset, with soft winds and clear skies.
Auster pulled the kelp from where it was caught on the corners of the last basket and tossed it overboard before he opened it. Inside, the last of the small chests were stacked carefully.
I braided my wet hair over my shoulder, feeling West’s eyes on me for just a moment before he disappeared into the passageway. As soon as he was gone, I turned toward the water, touching my mouth with the tips of my fingers as the tingle on my skin resurfaced.
Since we’d come back up onto the ship, I hadn’t dared to even look in his direction, not wanting the memory to fade from exactly as it was still living in my mind. I wanted to remember it the way I remembered the gleam of my father’s rye glass in the candlelight or the shape of my mother’s silhouette in the dark.
I wanted to remember him kissing me in the deep. Forever.
I’d keep my end of the deal we made when I came onto the crew. I wouldn’t bring the moment up here, to this world, where it would be crushed beneath the weight of the Narrows. But I also wouldn’t forget it. Not ever.
Auster stacked the chests into my arms, and I followed him down the steps, where West was standing in the doorway of the cargo hold. He moved aside, pressing his back against the wall so I could pass, and he looked over my head, careful not to touch me as I sidestepped into the room.
The hull of the ship was alive with the light and hum of the gems, their individual songs blending together until it was just one deep, reverberating sound. Hamish sat in the center of the floor beside Willa, parchments strung out around him as he made notes in his book. I found a bit of empty space in front of them and set down the chests, opening the first one. The lantern light fell on dozens of large peacock pearls, still glistening wet.
Willa started the count, and I opened the next lid. Inside, crude, misshapen pieces of gold and palladium were mixed together.
“Is that…” Willa’s mouth dropped open, picking up a single stone from a smaller box beside her. She held it between two fingers.
“Black opal,” I finished, leaning forward to examine it. I hadn’t seen one since I was a little girl.
West crouched down beside me, taking it from her, and his arm brushed against mine, making me feel like I was tipping to one side. When I looked up, Willa was looking between us, her brow wrinkling.
“What do you think it’s worth?” he asked.
I didn’t know if he was asking me or Hamish, so I didn’t answer, picking out the pieces of palladium one at a time and setting them before me.
“More than two hundred coppers, I think,” Hamish said, making another note in his book.
West reached in front of me for a purse Willa had filled with polished serpentine, and the smell of him washed over me, making me unsure whether the pricking moving over my skin was the gems or if it was him. I pressed my lips together, watching his face as he leaned over me, but he didn’t look up.
“So, how does it look?” Willa asked, peering over Hamish’s shoulder, to the filled page he was writing on.
“It looks good.” He smiled. “Very good.”
West let out a relieved breath. “What’s the plan?”
Hamish slapped the book closed. “I think we can get away with trading a quarter of it in Dern if we’re careful. We should end up with more than we need to pay the debt to Saint and square up with the merchants at each port. The rest, we can drop at the cache and trade bit by bit over a longer period of time. We’ll have to keep it small at each port to avoid notice. Go in two groups so that we don’t leave the ship.” He reached into his jacket, pulling out the red leather purses I’d seen them use in Dern. This time, there were six instead of five. “No more than six hundred coppers’ worth in each purse. Not too many gems, not too many metals, and make sure to put a few low-value pieces in each one. We have to be smart if we want to keep the merchants and the other crews from getting curious.”