Page 20 of Cursebreaker

When I open my eyes, my dagger hovers an inch from Will’s throat.

Green eyes stare back at me, wild with fear.

“Stop,” Will says through gritted teeth, closing his eyes as a tear slips onto his cheek. “Stop trying to save me.”

He scrambles backward, putting as much distance between us as his cell will allow.

“Go!” he growls at me, his voice a low, rough, rasping noise I hardly recognize. “Get out of here!”

I blink at him, my mouth gaping, but he refuses to look at me.

“Please,” he chokes out, his chest heaving with a sob. “Please, just leave me be.”

My cheeks warm as I get to my feet and meet Titus’s gaze through the iron bars. He grips the door to his cell, his brow furrowed. He grinds his jaw, but if he’s just experienced a moment of clarity, it’s since passed, because his lip curls in a sneer before he turns his back to me.

Still, I note the subtle flex of his hand, the tension in his shoulders.

The threat Will had posed to my life had freed Titus of Morana’s compulsion—if only for an instant.

“Come on,” Henry says quietly. “You two go. I’ll stay here with him.” The guttering lantern casts shadows over his scarred face as he offers me a sympathetic grin. “It’s not like I’m going to get much sleep anyway.”

I open my mouth to argue, but Jack places his hand on my back, guiding me toward the steps, and I can’t seem to bring myself to turn around. I allow Jack to lead me back to my room in somewhat of a daze, my heart still hammering against my sternum.

Did you think I couldn’t reach you here?

I held my dagger to Will’s throat. I was prepared to… to…

“It’s not your fault,” Jack says gently, but when I focus on his face, his expression is crestfallen, his lip quivering. He places his hands on my shoulders. “There’s nothing we can do for him. Not until we find the cure.”

I nod slowly, my mouth dry. I know it’s hard for Jack to see Will like this—know how helpless he must feel.

I take the note from my pocket, pass it to him. “I found this in my room.”

He unfolds the parchment, his gaze narrowing. “What’s it supposed to mean?” Something flashes in Jack’s eyes as he passes the note back to me, but I can’t read his taciturn expression.

I survey the deck before whispering, “He’s found me—the Underling general. I think he might be on this ship. Or—or somewhere close by. He’s watching me—he could be—”

“Wait—just wait a second.” Jack takes me by the shoulders again, his brows knit. “Did something happen? Why would you think that?”

“Because—” I start, but as the word leaves my mouth, I take a slight step back. Because I’m hearing voices? Because he could be anywhere—pretending to be anyone—even Jack? After all, a Shifter had replaced the maid, Sybil. What if the Underling general replaced someone else back at Castle Grim and journeyed with us all the way to the Red Island? “I don’t know,” I lie. “I just… have a feeling.”

He squeezes my shoulders, prompting me to meet his eyes, and my chest aches at the concern creasing his forehead. “You know you can tell me? Whatever it is, you can trust me. And Margaret, Charlie—all of us. We’ve got your back.” He lets out a long, low sigh. “You would tell one of us, right? If you were… having trouble.”

I hold his stare, my pulse racing. “I know,” I say, and I cough to hide the way my voice breaks. “And I would.”

He searches my face for a moment longer, and I know he doesn’t believe me, but he offers me a tight-lipped smile as he withdraws. “Sun will be up in a few hours,” he says as he looks about the ship, patting the rifle slung over his chest. “Tomorrow’s a big day. We should try to get some sleep.”

“All right,” I say, my lips twitching as I force myself to return his smile. “Good night, then.”

Jack tips his cap to me. “Night.”

I lock the doors to the captain’s quarters—check them twice.

There, lying on my pillow, is my cutlass. I snatch it up, searching my entire room for any sign of an unwanted guest but find none.

If the Shifter were pretending to be Jack, how could he have moved my cutlass? Jack was with me the entire time I was in the brig.

Did you think you were safe?