Page 71 of Found at Sea

Alek’s gaze shifted to mine, and the look in his eyes only made my uneasiness grow. “He didn’t appear until you got here.”

The unspoken meaning in his words was like ice in my veins. “Why would he want me? I’m nothing. No one.”

“Not to the captain you’re not.” Alek grabbed my hand, and I took comfort from his touch. “The merfolk would do anything to hurt him…just like he’d hurt them all those years ago. A heart for a heart.”

“I don’t mean anything to Kellan.” I shook my head and looked down at the deck, moving my foot along a tiny crack in the wood. “He gives me his body but never his heart. He wouldn’t care if I was gone.”

“If you believe that, then you really are foolish,” Alek said before dropping our joined hands and getting to his feet.

“Don’t call me a fool!” I stood and barged toward him.

“Then stop behaving like one.” He pinned me with a stare, and as he did, I saw a flash of purple. “You do not see the way he looks at you. How he searches for you when you aren’t in his line of sight. He might not have said he loves you, but his actions say it for him. Do not downplay what you two share.” I’d never seen Alek so riled up before. “I would giveanythingfor someone to care about me the way he cares for you. Anything. And you’re just dismissing it as nothing!”

“Icare about you, Al.” My voice came out feeble. Which was fitting, I supposed, because I felt so small right then. “I know it’s not in the same way, but you’re my best friend. Life would be pretty dark without you.”

“Forgive me, Fletch.” Alek regarded me with watery eyes. He sat on the stairs and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s becoming harder to control my emotions. I…I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

He was two years younger than me, but in that moment he appeared older. As if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and he was slowly being crushed by it.

I plopped down beside him and grabbed his hand, entwining our fingers. I didn’t say anything, but Alek needed to know he wasn’t alone. That whatever he faced, we’d face it together.

That evening, I entered mine and the captain’s quarters.

Kellan sat at his desk, looking as if he was deep in thought as he studied a map. His dark hair was neatly in place, and I longed to run my fingers through it to mess it up. He had me shave the sides of his hair some the other day, so now the top was longer and hung down across his forehead but not too long.

A journal was opened beside him, and as I approached, I tilted my head to read it. It was some kind of riddle.

“What’s a shade?” I asked.

He jolted and quickly slammed the book shut. “You move like a spirit. And you’re nosy.”

“Was that the curse?”

Kellan glared at me before he re-opened the book. He scanned the words a moment before placing it in my hands.

“Are you sure you want me to read it?” I asked. The temptation was great, but I didn’t want him to feel forced to share the information with me.

“Read it, boy,” he ordered, pinching the bridge of his nose. With a sigh, he focused on me. “Perhaps you’ll see something I don’t.”

I lowered my gaze to the page and started reading.

He who has wronged the sea and caused great fear

Must be tried and his heart then weighed

For if wrongs are not made right by his thirtieth year

He will become a shade

Eternal life, forever alone, no drink to quench his thirst

He will walk in shadow, from the living he’ll be apart

And alas, will he, answer for his crimes, cursed

Unless he earn another heart

Reading the riddle was unsettling. I read it several times before handing the book back to him.