Reid paused, though concern flickered in his eyes. This knowledge of something Vaasa didn’t yet understand. “Do you know of the pirate Sutherland?”
Vaasa could hardly breathe. “Doyou?”
He gave a stern nod. “Sachia defected from his crew. Vlacik imprisoned Sachia’s brother as punishment.”
Vaasa sucked in a breath. “Sachia’s brother is in the Mekës prison?”
“Yes,” Reid said. “These pirates are all indebted to your nobles in one way or another, but it seems Vlacik has more control thanmost. In order to cut Sutherland off at the knees, we need to remove Vlacik.”
Remove Vlacik? Vaasa stood frozen, staring up at him. “Reid, what are you going to do?”
“He dies. Tonight.”
“Reid—”
“Those scars on your arms are reason enough, Wild One. This isn’t something we can negotiate.”
“Or she and Lord Karev are setting you up,” Vaasa said, heart suddenly in her throat. “If you have any hand in Vlacik’s murder, it’s a trap, one that ends in your execution. Are you sure he doesn’t know who you are? That Sachia hasn’t told him?”
Reid shook his head. “That would be a waste of Sachia’s time and effort. If she wanted to bargain for her brother by turning me in, she would have simply gone to Ozik or kept us hostage on her ship.”
“She has a history with these lords. She’s been trading with them for years,” Vaasa said.
“She hates them. I have a gut feeling, I just—”
“A gut feeling?” Vaasa pressed her fingers to her forehead, trying to stave off the headache that her own panic was causing. “You don’t know these people, Reid. If Sachia went to Ozik, it would be just as likely that he’d have her executed along with her brother. She’s avoiding being arrested by making an underhanded deal with Karev.”
Reid’s shoulders remained steady and loose. “If that were true, she never would have signaled for you to come here. She would have told me that she hadn’t found you, and she’d have led me into this trap tonight without any chance of seeing you. She’s a witch, Vaasa. An Imros witch. My mother is training her.”
A pang of jealousy hit Vaasa, foolish and out of line. Yet she centered on one truth that caused her entire stomach to drop. “Melisina is here? In Mekës?”
“We’re sleeping in a fabric shop, but she’s waiting for you. We all are. We’re going to get Amalie and Sachia’s brother out, and then we’re going to flee.”
An old, unwelcome friend, anxiety, grew teeth in Vaasa’s body. She wanted to be grateful, to feel some kind of relief, but it didn’t come.
There were so many people to lose.
She wanted to crawl out that window and never look back, just as she thought she’d do in Mireh on the night of her wedding. But this time, she would be running toward her coven, toward her husband, instead of escaping them. All their lives were at risk here, and for what? Forher?
“You should break into the prison and get Amalie and Sachia’s brother. You all can leave, you can—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Reid warned her.
Their eyes held, and he saw to the core of her. It was as if he’d already memorized every piece of her puzzle the way she tried to do to others. She uncovered the rest of the world, yet he was the only person who seemed able to uncover her.
“All right,” she said. “I have an idea, but you may not like it.”
Reid furrowed his brow but tilted his head to listen.
Vaasa took a deep breath. They needed access to the prison, a way to see each other again, and a distraction to hold off the nobility. “I’m going to let Lord Karev court me. Officially. Lead him into a proposal.”
Reid stared at her. “No. Absolutely not.”
“I don’t know what else to do,” Vaasa argued. “Ozik is going to make me accept someone’s proposal, and it may be the best chance I have of seeing you again. If I can convince Lord Karev of my intention to marry him, that I can help him with these tradenegotiations, I can stay close to you.” She thought of what Karev had insinuated the night all the lords had arrived—that she knew more about Icruria than anyone.
Reid paused for a moment, truly considering her plan, but shook his head. “There has to be another way.”
“Reid,” she whispered, voice dropping to a scandalous whisper. “I am situated perfectly to conquer our greatest enemy. To save the continent from the ambitions of these unworthy men. I told you once I would give you the Asteryan throne. Let me take it from them.”
