Page 20 of A Dark and Drowning Tide

If the body was warm, the timing didn’t make sense. It seemed unlikely that Sylvia would murder Ziegler, return to her room, change her clothes, and return to the scene of the crime looking for all the world like she had just rolled out of bed. And even if she did, why circle back to confront Lorelei? Sylvia was smarter than that.

But it wasn’t just that. Lorelei knew, deep as marrow, that Sylvia was innocent. Her conviction needed no logic, only years of observing her. SheknewSylvia. Her tells and her fears. The way she wrote and how it exactly mirrored the overexuberant way she spoke. The way she took hertea—witha teeth-rotting amount ofsugar—andher favoritecolor—amethyst,notpurple—andthe tenderest spots to dig the knife of her words. She was irritatingly forthright. When she was happy, she laughed. When she was sad, she wept. She wouldn’t know subtlety if it threw a dueling gauntlet at her feet.

No, Sylvia was not made for cold-blooded calculation. She was too loud, too earnest, tooheroic. She had been a soldier, but Lorelei imagined she had done her duty romantically. Riding into battle astride a warhorse in gleaming armor. Dragging her comrades off the battlefield. Perhaps taking down an entire battalion with nothing but her saber and an improvised soliloquy about the inevitable tragedy of war. But the thought of her killing someone like this, in such an ignoble way . . .

It simply wasn’t in her nature.

“You’re not capable of it,” Lorelei said reluctantly.

“Neither are you, as much as you’d like people to believe otherwise.” Sylvia’s lips curled in an almost-fond smile. “I’ve seen what true monsters look like.”

To know Sylvia saw through her was almost too mortifying to bear. That old, petty part of Lorelei wanted to loom over her, to threaten her, to do anything and everything in her power to prove her wrong. But shewas too exhausted to argue anymore. All she wanted was to be alone and to sleep for a decade. “Then I believe it’s in our best interests to vouch for each other.”

“Yes, you’re right.” She drew in a deep breath, as though steeling herself. “Just this once, I can find it in myself to speak to the quality of your character. It will take some effort, but I believe with enough preparation Ican—”

“What are you talking about? No speeches will be necessary. We simply need to tell them we found her body together.”

“But that’s a lie!” Sylvia protested. “And frankly a difficult one to believe. What would you and I be doing together in the middle of the night?”

No, she would not dignify that with an answer. Something so horrible did not bear consideration. “A little white lie in the interest of protecting each other. It will be our secret. Surely your honor can withstand that.”

After a brief eternity, Sylvia threw up her hands.

“Fine.” “Fine.”

It sunk in then exactly what Lorelei had done. If anyone found out they were covering for each other, it would be far worse than the alternative. With this tenuous pact, she had put her life in Sylvia’s hands. And Sylvia had given hers to Lorelei in turn.

In the pale moonlight, with the fog pressing its fingers longingly against the glass, Sylvia still looked like a specter. Like something that might slip through Lorelei’s fingers if she held too tight.

***

Lorelei and Sylvia had gone door to door, collecting the rest of the crew until they stumbled out into the hallway, bleary-eyed and still in their nightshirts. Once she delivered the news, there fell a silence so complete, Lorelei wondered if they’d heard her at all.

And then chaos erupted.

“How?”

“When did this happen?”

“Where is she?”

Lorelei let their questions wash over her with a cool, cultivated detachment. Gas lamps burned dully in their sconces, softening the edges of the darkness. Dawn had only just begun to spread cautiously across the sky, like a pearl of blood dropped into water.

“We don’t have any answers yet,” Lorelei said, firmly enough to slice through the noise. “Von Wolff and I found her together ten minutes ago.”

Sylvia looked physically pained. Lorelei’s heart skipped as though she had missed a stair in the dark. For a moment, she wondered if she would back down and let Lorelei be caught in the lie. A thousand horrible futures spun out before her, all of them ending with her swinging on a gallows rope.

If Sylvia truly wanted to ruin her, it would take so little.

“Indeed,” Sylvia said. Lorelei nearly crumpled to the floor with relief. “We thought it would be best if we all discussed it together. It seems there was,ah...foulplay involved.”

“Foul play?” Johann asked, interest clear in his voice. “You believe she was murdered?”

“There is a stab wound on the body,” Lorelei replied stiffly.

A tense hush fell over the group. Ludwig looked ill, but the others’ faces were entirely unreadable.

“Well, then,” Johann said. “Let me take a look.”