The Kinchin Cure (ePub)

The pirates weren't supposed to learn about Cata's machine. Her girlfriend Tempe's bargain with the captain was simple: water for food. A machine that provides clean water is too tempting to pass up. It's too big to steal, so the pirates settled for burning down the warehouse and kidnapping the inventor. Too bad they kidnapped the wrong kid.

Tempe and Cata need to retrieve their boyfriend Rat before the mutinous pirates learn he's an aspiring toymaker. They already weighed anchor, but Cata's got a plan. They'll need the deposed pirate captain and the bay's man-eating mermaids. The mermaids are game--they're always hungry and traitor tastes good. The captain wants his damned ship back, and he'll return Rat when he gets it. While they wait, Cata and Tempe are homeless, hungry, thirsty, and they still have all the old worries: The lady in rags who steals stray children. The murderous tickers that run on stolen hearts and twisted magic.

They aren't sure where to start until they meet Iratze. She's hunting a magic thief. The thief filled corpses with disease and stolen magic: her magic. And they've been sending their monstrosities out to kill the city's merchant elite. Iratze thought it started and ended with the creatures, but it turns out the tickers run off the same magic. It started years ago with children the lady in rags thought could go missing and never be missed. Cata and Tempe never thought they'd get a chance to stop the lady in rags or get rid of the tickers. Turns out they can stop both at once.