Gin and Ria had stolen dry clothes off a drying rack and had quickly changed.

He had given her some privacy behind an alley, though a part of himself wondered what she looked like with fewer clothes on. Heat rushed up to his neck, and he had to shake the thought away. That was not supposed to be what he was thinking of right now. He needed a plan for them to get back to The Opal. That is, if the ship hadn't left yet. But if the captain and the crew escaped, they'd likely leave Acante and wait in Basiago.

"I'm done," Ria said, coming up behind him.

He turned around to look at her. She's wearing trousers and a sleeveless top that exposed her shoulders, which were brighter than the rest of her tanned skin.

He'd nicked a straw hat from a stall earlier, which he now placed over her head. "Keep your head down."

"What about you?" Ria asked, watching him from under the rim.

"If anyone jumps me, you run." Gin smirked.

Worry framed her face, causing her eyes to glitter as if she were about to cry.

He grinned, unsure why he liked that she worried about him. "Come on," he said, leading her away from the alley and guiding her back into the market.

They moved farther from the port as he knew the people who attacked them would likely be looking and waiting for them there. He only hoped the crew had escaped and got to the ship first. If they did, the Opal would have left already. But he needed to make sure of that before they decided to head to Basiago.

That shootout was intense, and he was concerned about the captain and his brother. But he knew that Captain Zalez and Rodri would use their hydrostringere if it were life or death. The two of them would be a force to be reckoned with.

Since hydrosi were rare, any seen outside Sivona would trigger gossip. He had kept his ears out for news, but he'd heard nothing, which likely meant that the others didn't need to use their stringere. They should have gotten away. He reminded himself of that, but the 'what ifs' kept nagging.

He also prayed to the sea mother that Enzo hadn't thought to attack the ship first. Sam wouldn't be helpless, but he'd be on his own.

Gin stopped at a small door inset in a building without a mark. The street was mostly empty except for some pedlars. It was shady, too, behind taller buildings and establishments. He knocked at the unmarked door and waited.

The peephole slid open, and dark eyes gazed at him, glancing between him and Ria.

"She's with me," Gin told the person behind the peephole.

The dark eyes snapped back to Gin. "Password." The voice was of a man's.

"The lost treasure of the sea gypsy king," Gin provided.

The peephole slid closed, metal scraped over metal, and the door opened with a loud creak.

The man behind it stood tall with broad shoulders and glanced again between him and Ria, but he didn't say anything as they passed by and entered the dark establishment.

Gin led Ria through a hallway dimly lit with a light that was more crimson than gold.

He glanced back at her. "You alright?" he asked.

She'd been quiet since they changed their clothes. She raised a brow at him, and in the dim light, she looked so much younger, but the darkness couldn't hide the worry in her eyes. "Sea gypsy king?" she asked.

Gin shrugged and turned back to the hall. The sea gypsy king was a myth. That was all he knew, and it was a story for another time.

They came to the end of the hall, which opened to a small circular area. A desk where a girl in a short red dress stood. "Welcome back to the Sea Gypsy King, Gin." The girl knew him, and he knew her--Lola. The memories of the nights he'd stayed in this establishment slowly crept back into his mind, but he tried to shut them down. He wasn't here for festivities or gambling.

"Is room twelve available?" Gin asked immediately without greeting the girl behind the desk.

Lola pursed her lips and looked at Ria. Her cat eyes got even more caty. "No," she simply said without even checking the rows of keys hooked on the wall behind her.

"Thirteen then," he said, annoyed, and quickly added, "and I won't tell Jacon what you've done."

The girl's catty eyes widened and snapped to him. All attention was his. She narrowed her eyes, contemplating the threat for a while, and then her features changed into a smile. "Let me check," she said and turned back to a board of keys. She snatched one that hung under the number thirteen, where Gin saw beside it was the number twelve with an available key.

When she turned back around, he grinned at her. "It's nice you trust me to keep your secrets." He winked and watched as Lola gaped. He fished out a few coins from his pocket. "Here's a few extra. We're not here."

He then pivoted, pulled Ria by the wrist, and climbed up a stair at the corner of the room.

"What was that about?" Ria asked, pulling her arm free and coming to walk beside him.

He didn't answer.

"You and she--?"

Gin glanced at her. "No." He cut her off. Ria asking him such a thing was embarrassing. "We're not." He came to a landing on the next floor and followed a corridor until he reached a door with the number thirteen labeled on a bronze plate hanging on its panel.

Gin opened the door with the key, revealing a small but decently furnished room.

"This is a very odd inn," Ria noted as she entered first, and he followed behind her, closing the door and locking the knob.

"It's private. Only high rollers are invited to stay," he explained, moving across the room.

"High rollers? You mean people with money?" Ria asked as she watched him do some checks.

"It may not look like it, but the crew of the Opal makes a lot on the jobs and contracts we take."

"Like stealing?" she asked, and it annoyed him a little since she had hired them for a thieving mission.

"It's not always stealing." Gin walked up to the window and looked outside. The room he'd picked had a view of the port. When he looked among the line of ships docked, the Opal was not there as he suspected, and relief filled his chest. That would mean that the crew had escaped.

"You're bleeding," Ria said, coming up behind him.

Gin looked to his shoulder where it stung. A bullet grazed him there. "It's nothing," he said, stepping away from her and walking toward the bathroom door. "I'll clean up first."

"Then what?" There was a harsh question in her voice.

He turned back to look at her. She'd already removed the straw hat from her head and placed it on the bed. "We rest. In the morning, we find a way to Badiago." He tried to be calm to keep her the same way.

"But the others--" she protested.

"The ship is gone. Follow the plan. We convene in Basiago." He tipped his head to the window, and she looked out, searched the port, and then turned her gaze onto the vast sea.

"They left?" Her words were a whisper of disbelief.

He couldn't say more to console her, so he went inside the bathroom to clean up. The wound had already crusted, and there was no need for stitches. He washed off the blood from his skin and ripped off the reddened sleeves of his tunic. He had no other shirt, so he had to make do with the same.

When he came out of the bathroom, he found Ria on the floor, clutching her knees.

"What's wrong?" Gin, alarmed, knelt beside her.

"It's nothing." Ria rubbed her eyes with the base of her palm.

"Are you crying?" He wanted to reach out to touch her face.

"No. I'm just worried. I mean, what happened to Juli was probably my fault. And now this too." She clutched her legs tighter and buried her lips between the rounds of her knees.

He snorted, and she lifted her face to look at him. A glare came from her blue eyes, questioning why he'd thought their situation was funny.

He then sat on the floor beside her.

"What?" Ria asked.

"Why would you think it's your fault? What happened to Juli is Juli's fault. That was her choice. What happened today is Enzo's." His voice shook a little with anger when he said Enzo's name. They should not have trusted the Acantian, but they knew no one else who had been on Mistress Evita's island.

"You can try to convince me, but I'll likely think the same." Her shoulders lowered, seeming to relax.

"For that, I'll make sure that Enzo will get what he deserves," he told her, looking at her sideways. They sat shoulder to shoulder, but the gap between them kept them from touching.

"Maybe I should have stayed in Sivona. Maybe this was a bad idea after all." A dark sadness shaded her face as she looked down at the carpeted floor.

Gin clenched his jaw. Looking at her like this twisted something inside him and made him savage. Slitting Enzo's throat played in his mind. "The crew will be fine. They're the best crew, and Migal is military. I'm sure he has survival talents," he said.

She turned her head, and hope flashed in her eyes. She nodded. "They're the best crew. They'll be fine," she repeated.

They continue talking like this for the rest of the night, waiting for the hours to drip. And when Ria fell asleep, he felt her head fall onto his shoulder. Their shoulders then touched, and they shared warmth. He stayed awake for a few more hours, taking pleasure in this one moment of closeness with her.