Chapter 42 · Crown of Lead and Gold

"Sit down, Lucian."

"No."

He already had one hand braced on the headboard, knuckles gone pale. Pink was seeping through the gauze wrapped under his ribs. Three days since the harbor burned. Three days since a sniper round went through him instead of me.

"You've got a hole in your lung," I said.

"Had one. Doc patched it."

"Doc said bed rest. I was standing right there."

"Doc works for me."

"Doc works for me now."

I said it before I thought. Then I heard it. So did he.

His mouth twitched. It wasn't a smile. It was worse. It looked proud.

On the floor, the pieces of our contract were still scattered across the oak where I'd thrown them. Three hundred sixty-five nights, torn into confetti. Nobody had picked them up. I think we both liked looking at them.

The phone on the nightstand buzzed again. Fourteenth time since midnight. Corvo captains. Dock bosses. Two of the old families, calling polite and scared.

Lucian looked at the screen. Then at me.

"They're waiting on you," he said.

"On you."

"I told them to ask my wife."

My stomach dropped. A good drop, and I hated how good it was.