Page 34 of A Dark and Drowning Tide

“Did Ilikethem?” Lorelei repeated. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“On second thought, no.” Sylvia deflated. “What should we do?”

“Nothing.” Lorelei pressed the heel of her boot into the broken porcelain on the ground. It gave a satisfyingpop. “We’ll be in Albe tomorrow.”

“Someone tried to kill you! I can’t donothing.”

“Well, you will have to manage it!” Lorelei paused, then regarded Sylvia suspiciously. Something had disquieted her that she could not put a finger on. “Is that why you are following me around?”

“Following you?” Sylvia laughed, far too nervously. “I beg your pardon! Why wouldI—”

“Why would you, indeed? And yet, you are. You found mewith—thebody.” Damn her voice for faltering. “And now, you have found me here.”

“Our rooms are very close together, and for some reason, you’ve made it a habit to go stomping about in the dead of night. I cannot help overhearing.”

Lorelei very much resented the suggestion that shestompedanywhere. “To do, as you’ve seen, all sorts of unseemly things. One might begin to wonder at your curiosity.”

Sylvia glared at her. “What were you talking to Adelheid about yesterday?”

“Nothing of import,” she said defensively. “Can I not speak with Adelheid?”

“You never speak to anyone without a reason.”

Lorelei could not argue with that. By way of redirecting her, she asked, “Since you’re keeping a full account: I spoke to Ludwig, too. He told me the most interesting story about you and Heike.”

“Ludwig,” she muttered viciously under her breath. “That is none of his business, and it is certainly none of yours. I oughtto—”She cut herself off with a gasp. “I knew it. You aresnooping.”

“I am not,” Lorelei said. “Please, go on.”

“You are changing the subject,” Sylvia hissed. “Will you not accept help for once in your life?”

“I can assure you there’s nothing to help with.” Lorelei was teetering on the brink of losing her patience. She could not quite remember why they were arguing. All she knew was that she did not want Sylvia’s help. She would ruin all Lorelei’s plans with her lack of subtlety, and worse,she would throw herself into danger for no good reason. She’d already demonstrated an alarming lack of self-preservation, if she went chasing both nixies and everything that went bump in the night. “Honestly. I don’t understand all this fuss. I imagine you’d be happy if someone succeeded in killing me.”

Sylvia stared at her for a long few moments. Her lips parted as though she wanted to say something. In the end, she must have thought better of it. Her jaw snapped shut. “You know, Lorelei, sometimes I think so, too.”

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off. In the heavy darkness, Lorelei was reminded of Sylvia standing by the river. Of the way she had imagined Sylvia’s white hair slipping down, down beneath its depths, wavering just out of reach. She was struck by the desire to catch a lock of white between her fingers. Instead, she clenched her hand into a fist and stared down at her own mystified expression, reflected back at her in a puddle of cold coffee.

Nine

FOR THE FIRST TIMEsince they’d left, the sun succeeded in burning away the mist. The landscape had transformed from the dismal marshes that stretched over the central empire to mountain ranges that scraped the bellies of the clouds. They were tall and jagged as a dragon’s spine, as if one had folded up its wings and laid down its head to rest. The waters beneath thePrinzessin’s hull were a clear, deep green. Light sparkled on its surface, almost blindingly after so long spent on the fathomless dark of the Vereist.

The morning after the Alp Incident, Emma told them thePrinzessinwould go no farther. Heike’s charted course guided them through the tributaries of the Vereist, which spread across Albe like veins on the back of a delicate hand.

“Shallow waters,” the captain had said. Her gray eyes were set on some far-off point on the horizon. “You’re on your own from here.”

They had three sleek rowboats readied for the rest of the journey, each of them loaded up with boxes of scientific instruments and empty wooden crates to carry back any specimens they found. Lorelei picked her way across the deck, dodging through the bustling crew as they prepared to drop anchor.

Sylvia was waiting on the deck already, her bag slung across her shoulders and her arms folded over the railing. Early morning sunlight painted her in a soft warmth as she gazed up at the mountains.Home. Itwas written in the sparkle in her eyes and the gentle smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Lorelei felt as though she were intruding on something private. It stirred up a strange brew of jealousy and wistfulness within her. What must it be like, she wondered, to feel you truly belonged to a place? She did not expect she’d ever find out.

Before she could announce herself, Sylvia turned toward her. “Hello, Lorelei.”

“Hello,” she said stiffly.

Sylvia regarded her coldly. She supposed she deserved it after their argument last night. All she could think of was the determined fire blazing in Sylvia’s silver eyes when she said,I can’t do nothing.

Strangely, guilt needled at her. So Lorelei found herself saying, “You must be glad to be home.”

Sylvia’s expression turned suspicious, but she was not angry enough to ignore Lorelei’s attempt at conversation. “I am not home just yet. We’re inWaldfläche—well-knownfor its hops, if I’m not mistaken. Still, it’s magnificent, isn’t it?”