Simonus grunts. “Check your own damn mattress.”
The floorboards screech as he backtracks out of the cabin, and then the door thwacks shut.
Although my lungs burn, I wait to feel the boat bob before I release my breath and suck in a fresh lungful.
I’m still gulping down air when the boat comes to another standstill.
My impatience to emerge from the black hull is mitigated by my fear of getting caught by a passing patrol. So I wait.
Seconds slip into minutes before the rug finally rustles, and the round hatch is lifted. Gasping in a breath that feels like pure sunshine after so much darkness, I sit up and almost knock heads with Antoni. He rises from his crouch, tension creasing every smooth plane of his face.
I pant as though I’ve just risen from the depths of Mareluce. “I’m sorry”—another pant—“I squeaked.”
Antoni offers me a hand, which I greedily take, very much done with small cavities. “I would’ve squawked in horror too had I heard Dargento was sweet on me.”
I shudder, my skin feeling dredged in cobwebs.
As I take in the empty room—Antoni must’ve tossed the barrel overboard . . . smart man—he says, “You mentioned crossing Monteluce on horseback. Where are you getting your horse from?”
“I—um. . . in the forest.”
He cocks an eyebrow that gets lost behind a wavy lock. “In the—” He sputters. “You do realize Rax is all forest, and a large one at that?”
I swallow and nod, praying that vision I had of Bronwen and the crow will come to fruition. And soon. Gods only know what monsters lurk in these woods . . .
He kicks the rug back into place over the closed hatch. “You’re just going to wander the woods until a horse magically appears?”
I turn away from his cutting tone. “I’m fully aware of how daft it is thanks to Giana.” Steeling my spine, I trudge up the stairs, but stop and dig a copper out of my pocket that I extend to Antoni. “Thank you for the risks you took. I’ll never forget your kindness.”
He stares at my coin, then up at me. “What the fuck is that?”
“Payment. For taking me across.”
“Put that away.”
“You did me a favor. A dangerous one at that. It’s the least I can do.” It’s also the only thing Icando. I’ve got nothing else to give him. Well, besides food, but I doubt he needs any.
Actually . . .
There is something else I can give him. Something Nonna has warned me against, but I trust Antoni not to use it wickedly.
I descend the three steps and rest my palm against his bicep. “Tiudevo, Antoni Greco.”
He inhales a sharp breath that I attribute to the pain of my bargain sinking into his flesh. But then his eyebrows tip toward one another.
“Does it hurt when it appears?” I peek down at my chest, wondering if a glowing dot has materialized on my smooshed chest. I can’t feel anything.
The slant of his eyebrows deepens. “It usually does but . . .”
“But what?”
“No bargain inscribed itself on my skin.”
“How is that possible?” I hook my index finger into my crushing chest strap. Although I don’t manage to pry it far from my skin, I do manage to cop a look at my cleavage. No dot glows.
“Are you certain you’re Fae, Fallon?”
I roll my fingers into fists as doubt insinuates itself into me anew. I blast it away. After all,bothmy grandparents saw me emerge from Mamma. “Maybe it didn’t take because I’m defective.”
