Beside Merrick, Leo is watching us, his head moving between each face with worry in his eyes. I force an eyeroll of my own, leaning forward to ruffle his hair before he ducks out from underme with red cheeks. “And you? What treasures have you brought on board, Leo?”
His eyes dart to Merrick, and he shrugs. Avoiding my gaze.
In fact, all of them are. Suspicion curls at the base of my throat, tightening it, as I tilt my head. The bag slung across the front of his still too-skinny body looks empty. “No bars of cocoa?”
Merrick tries to nudge his way in front of Leo, but I hold up my hand. “You love cocoa, Leo.”
Gods know he talked our ears off about it the whole way here.
“Callan,” Merrick says softly. “Leave it be.”
I look up at him, then, shielding my eyes from the already burning sun, even though the hour is not far past dawn. Merrick’s own bag is empty.
Then to Rio. He whistles, ignoring my glare to look over his shoulder. “You know, I think Smee is calling me.”
All of them have empty bags. My throat grows tighter. “Why didn’t you get anything?”
“I believe Sol picked up some spices for Matthias. But there’s nothing we need.” Merrick’s eyes tighten as he looks down at the little boy lingering behind him. “Although Callan is right. There is always space for a cocoa bar, Leo.”
Leo merely shakes his head, not looking up.
Merrick’s gaze is resolute when it returns to me. “We all do what we can. Even if it’s not much.”
Damn it.
Spinning, I stalk away from them. My voice rises with irritation, and something deeper. “Esmeray!”
She already has her arms crossed, an amused Riordan hovering at her left shoulder as if she might protect him from my rising ire. “Don’t start with me, Callan. I didn’t see anything I liked.”
“And you?” I eye Riordan, and he lifts a shoulder with a clearly feigned shudder.
“Seems I drank a little too much last night. My stomach couldn’t face the market.”
Sol stands beside them. He meets my glare with one of his own. “Ibought spices.”
Spices that weigh less than my little finger, if that.
Running a hand over my face, I force out a breath, trying to make space for the words in my throat. “We have space for you to bring something back. Any of you.”
They’ve already been dragged along with this, with no payment in return. Access to the Terrosan market is the single benefit to being part of this crew, and they arenot bloody taking it.
“We have no wish to add more weight to your shoulders.” Esme’s words are quiet, but no less strong for the force they carry. “You bear enough, Cal.”
None of them will budge. I know them well enough.
Slowly, I nod, swallowing the disappointment that settles heavily in my gut. “I’m taking a walk before we cast off. Final weight calculations, all of you. We need to make sure the topweight isn’t enough to overbalance us while we’re still on the water. I’ll run final checks when I come back, but I want us ready to cast off.”
If we’re not careful, we’ll drown ourselves before we even reach the Never.
“Leo!” He spins at my shout, and I point to the dock. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
Merrick gives me a dry look, shaking his head as he turns away and I nudge Leo onto the gangway. “To buy you a damned cocoa bar.”
His face lights up, before it falls again and he worries his lip with his teeth. “But the weights—”
“You weigh half as much as anyone else on this ship.” My voice is terse. “So we have weight to play with.”
