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With my curiosity piqued and a terrifying hope welling up in me, I grabbed my thinnest paintbrush. I pushed its tip against the small bent lip of metal as Bellamy firmly held the compass in place. The back plate popped off to reveal a small empty space within the compass just large enough to hold something like small jewelry or a key. But there was a tiny piece of torn folded parchment instead. I picked it up, my breaths shaking and my stomach twisting in knots in anticipation.

“It just says ‘Bastian Drake.’”

“Bastian Drake?” Bellamy repeated, taking the tiny paper from my fingers.

“You know that name?”

Bellamy was quiet for a minute as suspense swelled within me. He seemed to be thinking on his response. “Yes…yes, I know that name. But I’m trying to understand why Milo would’ve—unless…”

“Unless what?” I gripped his arm, nearly begging him to go on.

“Bastian Drake was a pirate lord who dealt in…oddities…off the coasts of Cuba. Shrunken heads, magical relics, legendary maps and rare treasures of the like. He was one of the few men more powerful than my father on the high seas. That is, until my father monopolized the mermaid trade. And by then, Bastian was willing to pay him anything for a chance at immortality.”

“A siren heart.” I affirmed through a soft breath.

“Exactly. We brought him one, and he promised us the Crown of the Sea in exchange. But he double crossed us instead and failed to uphold his end of the deal. Milo was there. He knows what kind of things that man has in his possession.”

“Crown of the Sea?”

“Rumored to be the crown of a sea goddess, trapped in mortal form until it’s returned to her. Drake managed to sink a British ship and stole its cargo. On board he found a chest with the crown.”

“How exactly does Milo think this can help me find him?”

“A sea goddess, Katrina. Think of it.” A smile flashed across Bellamy’s face. “Find her and return her crown and she’ll bend the laws of time for you. She’ll have to help you if you break her binds.”

“You say that like it’s some easy task. Like all I have to do is put together a jigsaw puzzle. We’re talking about finding some mythical sea goddess in a world bigger than I ever could have imagined. Even if I was to get that crown from this Bastian Drake guy, how am I supposed to know where she is?”

“You don’t. But Bastian does.” Bellamy nudged me. “And who said anything about you doing this alone?”

My eyes widened. “You mean you’d go with me? To Cuba…to track down some immortal pirate lord?”

“Have you not figured me out by now, love?” Bellamy straightened his shoulders. “I live for whatever adventure the sea brings me next. I’m not even supposed to be here. But now that I am, I’m not going to waste it.” He put a friendly arm around me, pulling me to him as he spoke with a sly tone that grew livelier by the second, sounding more and more like his usual quick-witted self. He pointed out to the open horizon, where the morning sun had just begun to peek over the ocean. “You see, I know where Bastian is, and Bastian knows where the crown is, so now all you have to do is figure out where the goddess is.”

“Solid plan.” I shrugged, wrestling with the frightening sense of hope rising within me.

“Aye, isn’t it?” He stood up, helping me to my feet after him. By now, a faint orange glow of the sun had broken through the morning clouds, and the fog slowly lifted.

I squeezed the compass in my hand and touched the fresh scar on my face. I knew the quest sounded far-fetched. Maybe even impossible. But that wouldn’t keep me from trying. The sea’s secrets were as bottomless as its depths. And it had been on my side so far…mostly. Maybe it had another surprise yet waiting to help me out one last time.

“If you really think this is what Milo meant, I’m all in,” I said boldly. “I want to see him again, whatever it takes.”

Bellamy’s eyes narrowed with determination and a hint of mischief as he watched the sunrise.

“Then we’ll bring him back, lass.”