I blinked up at their worried faces, trying to focus. "I saw it," I whispered through a raw throat. "The Engine. I know where it is."
Cypher knelt beside me, his face pale. "You stopped breathing. Your heart..."
"Did you hear me?" I grabbed his coat with weak fingers. "I found it. I know how to reach the Engine."
Understanding dawned in his eyes, followed quickly by hope. "You're certain?"
I nodded, wincing as the movement sent pain lancing through my skull."
Vic appeared with his medical kit, already pulling out instruments to check my vitals. "Her pulse is erratic," he reported, fingers pressed to my wrist. "Temperature dropping."
"Get back to the ship," Cypher ordered, sliding his arms beneath me before I could protest.
He lifted me easily, cradling me against his chest as he strode toward The Night-Piercer. The crew followed behind us.
The room spunas I sat up, and I had to grip the edge of the narrow cot to steady myself. It took me a moment to realize I wasin the ship's infirmary, the small, sterile room where Vic treated injuries and illnesses.
Fragments of memory floated back through the fog in my brain. The First Dark. The crushing pressure. The Genesis Engine, suspended in nothingness.
My throat felt raw when I swallowed, and my chest ached with each breath as if my lungs were bruised. But I was alive, and more importantly, I remembered exactly where the Engine was hidden.
I swung my legs over the side of the cot, testing my strength. Weak, but functional. The floor was cold against my bare feet as I stood, steadying myself against the wall when the room tilted dangerously.
I pulled on my boots and jacket, which someone had neatly placed on a nearby chair. My fingers trembled slightly as I fastened the clasps. The First Anchor still hung around my neck, though it felt different somehow. Heavier, as if it had absorbed something during my communion with the First Dark.
The ship was quiet as I made my way down the narrow corridor. Dawn light filtered through the small viewports, casting pale rectangles on the wooden floor. Most of the crew would still be sleeping, exhausted from yesterday's ordeal and the celebration the night before.
My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since before my attempt to contact the First Dark. Tea and food first, then I'd find Cypher and tell him exactly what I'd seen.
I turned toward the galley, but paused when I heard voices coming from Cypher's cabin. The door was slightly ajar, a sliver of golden lamplight spilling into the corridor.
"—can't keep doing this, Cypher." Jask's voice, tense and low. "The lies are piling up too high."
"Keep your voice down," Cypher hissed.
I knew I should announce my presence or leave. Eavesdropping was a betrayal of the trust I'd built with the crew. But something in Jask's tone made me hesitate, made me step closer to the narrow opening instead.
"She nearlydiedyesterday," Jask continued, his voice dropping even lower. "And for what? A plan you set in motion months ago without telling any of us the full truth?"
"It was necessary," Cypher gritted through clenched teeth. "Everything I've done has been necessary."
"Was itnecessaryto arrange her father's arrest? To make sure she'd be desperate enough to take any job that came along?" pressed my hand against the wall to steady myself, and the other over my mouth to keep a scream at bay.
"I didn't know Gideon would offer her the job. I just... pointed him in the right direction. He already had her on his list. She's a skilled scavenger, and he'd taken notice long before I nudged him."
"You knew she was a rift before she did," Jask accused. "How? How did you even find her in the first place?" There was a long pause, and all I wanted to do was scream and cry and hit something hard.
"I can't tell you that. I'm sorry. Right now isn't the time."
Jask laughed humorlessly. "You're a bastard, you know that, right?"
"I needed leverage," Cypher insisted. "I needed her willing to take risks, to push beyond what she thought possible. Her father's imprisonment accomplished that."
"And now you've got what you wanted," Jask said bitterly. "But at what cost, Cypher? She trusts us. Trusts you. And Kora—" His words broke slightly. "I can't keep lying to Kora about this. She deserves to know what we've done."
"You will saynothing," Cypher's voice turned dangerous. "Not until we have the Engine and can complete our mission. After that, if you still want to clear your conscience?—"
"It's not about clearing my fucking conscience!" Jask's voice rose. "It's about doing what's right for once! We've manipulated her from the beginning, used her family, put her in danger?—"
