Against Dark Tides by Sager Clare

Author:Sager, Clare
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

Catching Up

Vice stomped through Nassau, jaw ticking, teeth grinding. Even fearsome pirates scattered at her approach, backing away against walls to let her pass.

Good. If only everyone would piss off in the same way.

When she’d found the door to Perry’s cabin slightly ajar, she’d gone to push it open. But then she’d heard Knigh likening seeking her forgiveness with apologising to the sea and had paused with it half-open, a slight smile in place. Neither of them had noticed her.

Maybe if they had, they wouldn’t have gone on.

She played a part in it, too.

Was he right?

Oh yes, because she asked him to arrest her. She’d practically begged him to have the Navy lock her in an iron cage.

How dare he?

And Perry! That was the kicker. Not a word you’ve said is wrong.

She shook her head, veins searing with rage.

Knigh had already betrayed her once, so his words shouldn’t have been a surprise. But Perry? Of all the people in the world, Perry had her back.

Or at least that’s what she’d thought.

Idiot. You can’t trust anyone.

Not even those two.

Talking about her like she was a child who needed managing. Like they were the wise parents, and she needed to learn a lesson at the knee of their astonishing wisdom.

Talking about her feelings as if they could know what she thought or how she felt. As if they could understand a bit of it.

She huffed a tight breath, chest aching and heaving, knuckles and palms sore from her bunched fists.

It wasn’t as if she understood her feelings half the time herself.

Her head dipped.

Much easier not to bother.

A familiar form ahead—all compact muscles, face creasing with a smile that flashed against his terracotta skin. Waskar—a friend and sometimes more.

The way he peered past the man he was speaking to, eyebrows rising, was an invitation. Ordinarily, yes, he would’ve been an ideal candidate to drag into a tavern and drink away the evening with, before wheeling back to his rooms to screw away the night.

Not today.

She winced and ducked into an alley, angling away. No particular destination in mind, she twisted and turned through the streets and lanes, always putting noise at her back.

Quiet. Her feet understood—she needed quiet. And this clear, cooling air as the sun set. Already her boiling blood had eased.

A long walk, then she’d loop back and hit a tavern. Rum would soon make her forget Knigh and Perry.

And what she’d said.

When she’d realised what they were discussing, she’d been frozen in place. The world around her had cracked, like it was made of thin ice and someone walked across it. Her heart had stuttered in its beat.

The pair of them locked in such a deep conversation, so united in her terrible flaws.

When was the last time something had hurt that much?

The spell had only broken when they’d looked at her. Had they seen how she’d felt? The raw flesh beneath the tough shell their words had cracked apart?

Her first instinct had been to run away. But that would’ve been admitting weakness, letting them win.

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