*Gabriel*
I can’t sleep. The bed creaks beneath me with every shift of my weight, but it’s not the swaying that’s keeping me up—it’s Sabrina.
I stare up at the beams above me, barely visible in the dim lantern light swinging from the wall. The scent of the sea is bitter in the air, mingled with brine and tar. I rub at my sternum like I can dig it out, this dull ache that’s been growing since the moment she walked off my ship.
I thought I was protecting her, but perhaps I was protecting myself from her madness. From the part of me that wants her anyway, even when I don’t understand anything about her.
I sit up, swing my legs over the edge of the bed, and slide on my boots. The ship is quiet at this hour, most of the crew deep in sleep or still drinking themselves into it. But I know wh
