Page 43 of Cursebreaker

I did it. I found the cure.

But I lost Will.

And I’m not the only one.

“How is Titus?” I ask carefully, bracing myself for whatever causes Jack’s expression to turn fearful.

“It worked,” he says, wincing. “He’s no longer compelled. But he doesn’t want to be let out of his cell. Diana, Rook, and Gabriel are with him. They’re trying to persuade him to rejoin the rest of the crew, but—” Jack cringes. “It might be best, for now, if he stays where he is.”

Numbness spreads across my chest. “Why? Did he hurt someone?”

Margaret snorts.

Jack’s brows pinch. “Other than you?”

I look between the two of them, my pulse hammering. “That wasn’t—he didn’t—” I shrug out of Jack’s hold, clear my throat. “I need to talk to him.”

“Az,” Margaret says, her tone softening. “Maybe you should give it a few days.”

I start for the door, my head light. “I need to talk to him,” I repeat.

Jack seizes my wrist, his grip gentle. “Titus—” He sighs, refusing to look me in the eye as he lets go, rubs his palms over his face.

Margaret takes my hand in both of hers, her expression pitying in a way that makes me feel as if the floor had given way beneath me. “He asked that you not be allowed in the brig. He said he doesn’t want to see you.”

“Are we really going to do this again?” I rest my hands on the hilts of my daggers, squaring my shoulders at Gabriel, who stands blocking the entrance to the brig.

Voices carry from below.

Gabriel grinds his jaw. “Now’s not a good time,” he says gently.

I don’t budge, holding his stare. It’s not long before he sighs, stepping aside, and I descend into the brig.

Rook leans against the bars of the cell opposite Titus’s, his arms crossed over his chest, and Diana sits atop a barrel, sharpening a blade. When I enter the brig, followed by Gabriel, Diana’s back straightens, her eyes widening, and Rook takes a hesitant step toward me, his expression solemn.

Titus’s feet are all I see, sticking out from where he sits, slumped against a barrel in his cell.

Diana frowns as she follows my gaze to Titus, and the irritation that pinches Rook’s mouth slackens, giving way to a look of… pity?

My skin itches, my cheeks warm.

“I thought I said I didn’t want her here,” Titus says flatly.

I laugh in disbelief, my resolve sharpening. “I’m the captain of this voyage,” I snap. “You don’t tell me where I can and can’t go on my ship.”

“Your ship?” he scoffs. “The Starchaser is my ship.”

Rook clears his throat. “What do you say we give these two a minute to talk?” he asks with a panicked look at Gabriel and Diana. “Before they start comparing the lengths of their swords.”

“I prefer a dagger,” I say at the very moment Titus says, “She prefers a dagger.”

Rook lets out a low whistle, and Diana and Gabriel exchange an exasperated glance before ascending the stairs with Rook close at their heels.

Titus doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak.

Until I jingle the keys I stole from Gabriel’s belt, and his shoulders tense. Before I can wedge the key into the lock, Titus moves at a speed my eyes can’t detect, reaching through the bars to knock the keys out of my hands.

I stare at him in open-mouthed shock. “Really?”