Gavin’s gaze narrowed. “I’m emoting here. Where was I?” He shifted, voice softening. “For coming back to us—” His fingers brushed along my neck. “To me.”
Bowen cocked his head. “Uh, oh. Gavin’s getting sappy. We’re doomed.”
“No.” I leaned into Gavin’s side, his arm tightening around me. “We’re family.”
A beat of silence passed, then our glasses clinked and our voices echoed. “To family.”
Not just a crew. Not just survivors. But a family found, and that was worth its weight in gold.
My gaze drifted to the empty seat beside Bowen. An untouched mug of ale sat in front of it. Five chairs, four occupants. A bittersweet pang caught in my throat. We couldn’t change the past or reclaim the years lost, but that time had cemented our bond. And for that, I was grateful.
Cass took another gulp from her glass, then dug into her dinner. She licked sauce from her fingers and regaled Bowen with the details of her latest botanical serum.
A man with a lute wove through the tables, collecting coins for a song, and I nudged Gavin in the ribs.
“Maybe he knows your poem. Give him a copper, let’s see if he knows the tale of the Man from Ever.”
Gavin winked, waving the bard away as he flipped a goldcoin heads-up onto the table. The coin’s edge caught the firelight, making it glint.
“That poem needs a new verse.”
He leaned in, his shoulder brushing mine, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Then he whispered the poem, his rough tone curling around me.
“There once was a man from Ever,
Who’d thought he’d lost his damn mind forever.
Until a woman from the sea set him free…
And now he follows her wherever.”
Heat flushed across my cheeks, but I didn’t pull away. The chair creaked softly as I looped my arms around Gavin’s neck and kissed the smirk off his face.
“Charming till the bitter end,” I said, nuzzling my chin against the coarse stubble on his jaw. “Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll immortalize your words in my book.”
He dragged me into his lap, splaying his hand across my back. “A whole book about my ruthless charm? I told you, Mare. You can't resist me.”
Cass groaned. She tossed a crust of bread at us, then pushed aside her plate. “Take it somewhere private, you two. I’m trying to eat.”
Gavin cocked his eyebrow. “Careful, Cass. Marin is casting villains in her book.”
“Actually,” I said, unable to stifle my grin. “I have a different story in mind for Cass. A tale for the ages.”
Cass winked. “I like them tall, dark, and good with their hands, extra gold if they’re not afraid to get dirty.”
Bowen choked on his drink, coughing into his elbow as Cass slapped him between the shoulder blades.
“Leave it to Cass to write her own story.” With a laugh, I slidoff Gavin's lap, then squeezed his knee. “Come on. We have one last quest, and I want to finish it before dark.”
We left Bowen and Cass behind in the warmth of the tavern, trading firelight and laughter for the cold, windswept air at the edge of Bowen’s estate.
A row of stone markers, fenced in by an iron rail, overlooked the churning sea. The sunlight dipped below the horizon, casting its final rays in a wash of fading orange.
I knelt in the grass beside a freshly settled mound of earth. Three smooth stones were stacked one on top of the other, marking the grave.
Gavin stood behind me, arms folded across his chest as he peered at the stones. For a moment, both of us were silent, then in a quiet undertone, he said, “Reid’s last words were that he was sorry, for everything. He wanted to ask for your forgiveness. He wasn’t the same man when I saw him. The guilt was in every line of his face. Every breath.”
I ran my fingers gently over the stones. It was strange to have held hate in my heart for so long, only for it to vanish so quietly. What remained wasn’t anger, just a hollow sadness. Not for what he’d done, but for what he never got to say, and the life he didn’t get to finish.
