Rook sighed.“I get the sense that there won’t be any sleep for me tonight.”
I shook my head.“I need to move east along the coast as quickly as I can.As far as Grey Spit, if possible.”
“Most of my crew is either drunk or sacked up right now.But I get the impression that you want something small and fast anyway.”
“The faster the better.”
“TheWind Runner,” Rook said.“Wicked-fast cutter, and easy to maneuver at night.Twenty gold.”
“Fourteen.”
Rook scowled.“In a hurry, but still got time to barter, eh?Fine.Dock six in a quarter bell.I’ll at least need to track down my first mate.”
“Make it in half that time, and I’ll pay you sixteen.”
“Deal,” Rook said, and we shook hands.
Rook hurried off through the front door.Since I had some time to kill, I sipped my ale, but I didn’t drink much.Best to keep my wits about me.
Rook was a friendly enough guy, and I could trust him as much as I could trust any smuggler.At the very least, we had a mutual interest in keeping our business secret and avoiding the Crown.
I took a few final sips before I headed out to make my way to dock six.
TheWind Runnerwas a fast-looking ship, around thirty feet long and ten feet wide, with a bow that tapered to a sharp point.Rook and a tough-looking woman with pale skin and short-cropped hair were on the deck, fussing with the riggings and raising the mainsail.
Rook looked up as we approached.“Kind sir, please come aboard.This is my esteemed colleague, Jask,” he said with mock formality, twirling his wrist.Jask gave a tight nod and went back to her task.
“If you’re really in that much of a hurry,” Rook added, “you can untie the mooring lines while I help Jask hoist the mainsail.”
“Will do,” I said, and began to work on the lines.The ropes were slick with spray, and the algae-covered wooden dock made footing treacherous.
“Start with the fore and aft lines,” Rook barked at me.
“Aye,” I replied, mimicking the sailors I’d heard a thousand times while growing up in the Wharf District.
I had wriggled free the aft line and was working on the fore when a familiar and very uncomfortable feeling tickled my senses.Faint but growing steadily stronger was the thrumming of a null field.
I spun on my heel and looked down the dock, and my mind filled with dread.
At the far end were a handful of Sentinels and the unmistakable profile of Syra.They were still a good distance away but were running toward the ship.Syra was covering the distance quickly.
“Sentinels are here!”I yelled to Rook and Jask.“We have to go!Now!”
But then I saw the figure running ahead of them, which I hadn’t noticed in the darkness.I could scarcely believe my eyes, and my heart dropped into my stomach.
It was Darion.
Chapter thirty-seven
Under Fire
“Cas,watchout!”Darionyelled.“Sentinels!”
I stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do.The man I had fallen for, the man who had lied to me so horribly, was running toward me, warning me of danger.But I couldn’t trust him.How did I know this wasn’t a trick?
“Of course it’s bloody Sentinels!”Rook shouted.“I should have known it would be something bad with you, Cas.”
Rook’s voice snapped me out of my daze, and I struggled with the final line at midship.“Leave it!”Rook yelled.He drew his sword and sliced the rope.
