Page 10 of Drift: Willa & Koy

“They’re not too keen about the Saltbloods drinking all the rye, either,” Speck added.

“If it means copper in our pockets, the crew of theWellworthycan have every last bottle of rye on this island. And I’m not changing my mind. Bruin and his guys aren’t stepping foot on that brig.”

Koy ran a hand over the back of his head, letting his ledger fall closed. He knew I was right. He had to. The bigger problem would come if I actually got what I wanted out of this deal. If more ships from the Unnamed Sea started showing up at our docks, I wouldn’t be able to control who worked on what ship. At some point, it would become like every other harbor in the Narrows, theft and rotten deals included. I just needed to keep it at bay long enough to get more ships in the harbor.

“What about this Coen guy?” I changed the subject, looking to Speck.

His eyes drifted to one of the shanties turned inn rooms at the end of the nearest dock. “He spent a few hours in here looking for someone to take to bed before he disappeared. Haven’t seen him since.”

I rolled my eyes, unsurprised.

“Took a whole bottle of rye with him.”

“As long as he paid for it,” I muttered.

“Oh, he paid for it.” Speck laughed. “About twice over. Not sure he was even looking at how much copper he was laying down.”

I turned back to Koy. “You find anything out about this guy?”

Koy checked over his shoulder before he answered. “He’s the son of some big merchant in Bastian. The navigator made it sound like he’s fallen out of his father’s good graces and somehow, they got landed with him.”

That explained the strange interaction between Coen and Dennon yesterday. Dennon was the helmsman of theWellworthy,but Coen’s father probably held a contract on the ship.

“Where are they headed next?”

“Dern. Ceros after that, then Sowan.”

“What are they doing at all these ports?”

Koy shrugged. “Maybe mapping out a new trade route, setting up new contracts? There are more and more of them every month.”

“All the more reason to make sure Jeval is on the map.”

Koy nodded.

“Just make sure they enjoy the rest of their stay, Speck. Even if you need to dip into the emergency stores of rye.”

“Understood.” He nodded, hands on his hips.

He was enjoying this. We all were. For the last year, Koy and I had done nothing but build this place from the ground up, plank by plank. We’d torn out the old docks, reconstructed and expanded them, given loans to the island’s makers to build up inventories of supplies, and even helped fund Speck’s tavern. Now, it was all very close to paying off.

I drained the teacup and refilled it, sliding it back in front of Koy. “You know, I think we just might pull this off.”

He smiled, and this wasn’t the wry, mocking grin that usually adorned his face. This was his real smile, something I’d only seen a few times before. “I think you might be right.”

I slid off the stool just as the door to the inn room creaked open and all three of us looked up. Coen was coming up the dock, disheveled blond hair blowing in the wind and shirt half-untucked. He squinted as if the sunlight hurt his eyes, but when he spotted us, his suave, cool expression returned.

“Morning.” He made his way toward us.

“Good morning.” I nodded.

He was, somehow, incredibly handsome despite the rye-soaked look on his face. Saltbloods, especially ones from Bastian, seemed to have an inexplicable ability to appear polished no matter the circumstances.

Coen gave Speck a nod, gesturing to the teapot, and Speck obediently turned on his heel, heading to the kettle suspended over the coals.

“This is Koy, our harbor master,” I said.

Coen gave his hand a shake. “Pleased to meet you.”