Page 11 (1/2)

"Or it could kill me or sink the ship or create another Shadow Fold, or worse"

"You certainly have a flare for the dire"

My fingers snaked into es of the scales I had so little infore of Grisha theory was sketchy at best But this rule had always seemed fairly clear: one Grisha, one amplifier I remembered the words from one of the convoluted philosophy texts I’d been required to read: "Why can a Grisha possess but one amplifier? I will answer this question instead: What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men" I needed time to think

"Will you keep your word?" I said at last "Will you help us escape?" I didn’t knohy I bothered asking If he intended to betray us, he certainly wouldn’t say so

I expected him to reply with some kind of joke, so I was surprised when he said, "Are you so eager to leave your country behind once again?"

I stilled All the while, your country suffers The Darkling had accused s, but I couldn’t help feeling that he was right about that I’d leftand grasping tyrants like the Darkling and the Apparat Now, if the ru and Ravka was falling apart Because of the Darkling Because of the collar Because ofthe rush of sea air overas the Darkling lives, you’ll never be free And neither will your country You know that"

I’d considered the possibility that Sturreedy or stupid, but it hadn’t occurred to ht actually be a patriot He was Ravkan, after all, and even if his exploits had lined his own pockets, they’d probably done more to help his country than all of the feeble Ravkan navy

"I want the choice," I said

"You’ll have it," he replied "On my word as a liar and cutthroat" He set off across the deck but then turned back tois a powerful ene some powerful friends"

I WANTED NOTHING MORE than to pull the copy of the Istorii Sankt’ya fro the illustration of Sankt Ilya, but Ta to escort me to her quarters

Sturmhond’s schooner wasn’t at all like the sturdy merchant ship that had carried Mal and me to Novyi Zem or the clunky whaler we’d just left behind It was sleek, heavily armed, and beautifully built Tamar told me that he’d captured the schooner fro off Ravkan ships near the ports of the southern coast Sturmhond had liked the vessel so ship and renamed it Volkvolny, Wolf of the Waves

Wolves Stor At least I knehy the creere always howling and yapping

Every inch of space on the schooner was put to use The crew slept on the gun deck In case of engagement, their hammocks could be quickly stowed and the cannon slotted into place I’d been right about the fact that, with Corporalki on board, there was no need for an otkazat’sya surgeon The doctor’s quarters and supply room had been turned into Tah room for two hammocks and a chest The walls were lined with cupboards full of unused ointments and salves, arsenic powder, tincture of lead antimony

I balanced carefully in one of the ha on the floor, acutely conscious of the red book tucked inside my coat as I watched Ta herself of weapons: the brace of pistols that crossed her chest, two slender axes froer from her boot, and another fro armory

"I feel sorry for your friend," she said as she pulled what looked like a sock full of ball bearings from one of her pockets It hit the botto a circle on the planks with the toe of hed "Mal snores, too"

"Then they can perform a duet" She disappeared and then returned a moment later with a bucket "The Tidemakers filled the rain barrels," she said "Feel free to wash if you like"

Fresh water was usually a luxury aboard ship, but I supposed that with Grisha in the crew, there would be no need to ration it

She dunked her head in the bucket and ruffled her short dark hair "He’s handsome, the tracker"

I rolled my eyes "You don’t say"

"Not my type, but handsome"

My brows shot up In my experience, Mal was just about everyone’s type But I wasn’t going to start asking Tamar personal questions If Sturmhond couldn’t be trusted, then neither could his crew, and I didn’t need to grow attached to any of them I’d learned h Instead, I said, "There are Kerch in Sturirl onboard?"

"Sturs his oay"

"And they don’t … bother you?"

Taainst her bronze skin She tapped the glea around her neck, and I realized it was an amplifier "No," she said simply