Gideon called out: “And tell Harrow the next time one of her spies gets in the way of a job, I won’t be so gentle with them.”
William paused before the door, which hung open, revealing a steamy boiler room beyond. “For someone running out of chances, you make a lot of threats. Don’t forget what the punishment is for sympathizing with witches. They don’t carve a letter into your forehead anymore and send you on your way.”
No. With Cressida on the loose, they couldn’t afford to be so lenient. Now, sympathizers were taken out back and shot.
“Screw this up,” said William, “and it’ll be over for you. When it is, I’m coming for your little Moth.”
It took everything in Gideon not to raise his gun and fire.
TWENTY-NINERUNE
CLOUDS OF STEAM PRESSEDin on Rune as she listened to William’s footsteps thud away from the cargo hold. The metal wall was hot against her back, but the rage in her heart was hotter.
Gideon’s words rang in her mind:The only person I’m planning to betray is Rune.
She’d suspected as much. Of course she had. She’d simply hoped for something else.
Hope is for fools.
How many times did she need to learn that lesson?
Rune’s heart pounded as Gideon stepped past her, following William out. The steam mostly concealed her, but if he wanted to find her, he could. All he had to do was turn around andlook.
But Gideon didn’t look. Just followed William through the boilers and up to the level above. Their feet thudded on the metal catwalk overhead while Rune waited for her heart to calm.
This is good,she told herself.It’s a reminder.
Gideon was her most dangerous enemy. He would only ever hand her over to those who wanted her dead. Everything she’d admitted to him tonight didn’t matter. He didn’t care. All that mattered to Gideon was stopping Cressida.
His plan was like a bucket of ice water, waking her up.
She couldn’t lower her guard with him again. If she wanted to stay alive, to do what she intended, she needed to cut outthese deadly feelings at the root. If Gideon was plotting to betray her, she needed to betray him first.
Rune pushed away from the wall. Steam swirled around her as she made her way back through the boiler rooms. Trying to come up with a way to outwit the Blood Guard captain.
When she returned to their cabin, she found it empty and remembered what William had said about Gideon and Abbie.
Did he go to her room instead?
She shoved the thought away.
Abbie can have him.
She didn’t want to sleep in Gideon’s shirt again, but neither could she put on the silky thing she’d packed for a weekend getaway with Soren. So she climbed into bed in her shift.
When the door finally opened—minutes or hours later, Rune couldn’t tell—Gideon stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
Where were you?she wanted to ask, but she pretended to sleep instead. Because did she really want to know?
She felt his attention fix on her, steady and intense. Beneath it, Rune’s throat went dry as sand. She desperately wanted to swallow, to moisten her mouth, but feared that small sound would give her away.
She kept her eyes shut and her body still, but she couldn’t stop her pulse from racing at the clinking sound of his belt unbuckling and the rustle of his clothes coming off, piece by piece, then dropping to the floor.
When he pulled back the sheet she slept under, Rune tried to think of something else—anything else—than a mostly naked Gideon getting into bed with her. Not so long ago, Gideon and Abbie had been alone in this room, doing Ancients knew what. The mattress dipped beneath his weight. Rune stiffened to stop herself from sinking with it and dipping toward him.
The room fell silent.
“Rune?”
