Chapter no 2
Chapter Two Lucy—the roommate who loves to hear herself sing—is rushing around the living room, gathering keys, shoes, a pair of sunglasses. I’m seated on the couch, opening up shoeboxes stuffed with some of my old things from when I lived at home. I grabbed them when I was home for my father’s funeral this […]
Chapter no 1
Chapter One As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can’t help but think about suicide. Not my own. I like my life enough to want to see it through. I’m more focused on other people, and how they […]
Acknowledgements
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have a degenerative condition called osteonecrosis. This basically translates to ‘bone death’, which sounds kind of gothy and romantic, but actually means that every step I take is painful and that I sometimes need to walk with a cane. It’s no coincidence I chose to create a protagonist struggling with similar symptoms, and […]
Chapter no 46
Pekka Rollins tucked a wad of jurda into his cheek and leaned back in his chair to survey the raggedy crew Doughty had brought to his office. Rollins lived above the Emerald Palace in a grand suite of rooms, every inch of them covered in gilt and green velvet. He loved flash – in his […]
Chapter no 45
“ The deal is the deal, Van Eck,” Kaz said over the sounds of the growing storm. “If the Merchant Council fails to honour its end of this bargain, no one from the Barrel will ever traffic with any of you again. Your word will be meaningless.” “That would be a problem, Mister Brekker, if […]
Chapter no 44
As the schooner sped south, it was as if the whole crew was sitting vigil. Everyone spoke in hushed tones, treading quietly over the decks. Jesper was as worried about Nina as anyone – except Matthias, he supposed – but the respectful silence was hard to bear. He needed something to shoot at. The Ferolind […]
Chapter no 43
The aches set in after dawn. An hour later, it felt as if her bones were trying to push through the places where her joints met. She lay on the same table where she’d healed Inej’s knife wound. Her senses were still sharp enough that she could smell the coppery scent of the Suli girl’s […]
Chapter no 42
They’d been blessed with a strong wind. Inej felt it ripple through her hair and couldn’t help but think of the storm to come. As soon as they were on deck, Matthias had turned to Kuwei. “How long does she have?” Kuwei had some Kerch, but Nina had to translate in places. She did it […]
Chapter no 41
“ Two … one …” Matthias saw Nina’s pupils dilate. Her lips parted, and she pushed past him, stepping down from the tank. The air around her seemed to crackle, her skin glowing as if lit from within by something miraculous. As if she’d tapped a vein of Djel directly, and now the god’s power […]
Chapter no 40
They emerged from the darkness, soaked, bruised, and gasping in the bright light of the moon. Nina’s entire body felt as if it had been pummelled. The remnants of the baleen clustered in sticky gobs at the corners of her mouth. Her dress had frayed to nearly nothing, and if she hadn’t been so desperately, […]