Page 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Any sane crew would stop and wait it out. As the hours wore on, the rain and winds worsened. It was clear none of the crew liked the idea of pushing forward into a current in this weather, but they had no choice. If they stopped now, all would be for nothing. So they soldiered on through the battering wind and rain, doing their best to keep the masts from being blown over and using a push broom to sweep the water from the decks.

Every minute or so, Celeste found herself scanning the rough seas. She couldn’t help herself, even though siren territory was still hours away. They needed to be moving as quickly as possible. If they ran into the Chorus... there was no hope of her protecting all of them. She had barely managed to rescue Bastian, Raiden, and the Admiral last time. But the storm made spotting anything impossible. Rain dripped down from her hair into her eyes, blurring her vision. She wiped them furiously, scanning the same place again. Scouts don’t swim this close to the current , she reminded herself. The risk of being dragged into the rushing water and displaced far away from Staria was too great. And a long journey alone for a siren could often be a death sentence, with so many ocean predators. Although the Song would help fend off the occasional shark or jellyfish, a siren’s voice tired after strenuous use. Not to mention any loss of focus would result in the Song being undone.

The ship swayed dangerously in the wind as Kiyami fought to keep them on course. Celeste began to pace beside her.

As if hearing her thoughts, Raiden appeared to check on her, his brow creased with worry. She pulled a face, sticking her tongue out at him just to see him smile. A rough wind sent the ship toppling sideways, knocking them to the floor. Beneath, Celeste heard shouts from Torben and his men. They shifted cannons to try to help balance the weight of the Red Revenge . Eventually, the ship straightened. The crew regained their footing. But it was a harsh reminder that there was only so much they could do. The Goddess of the Sea decided their fates.

“We’re entering the current!” cried Kiyami at the helm, waving her hands in the air to get Bastian’s attention. The winds were too loud for them to hear each other. Bastian waved back, signifying he had understood her, and began running between crew members, spreading the word. Raiden drew closer to Celeste beside the wheel, his rain-slick hand finding hers. She sent up a prayer, asking for protection.

The ship groaned as it lurched forward, picking up speed. While they entered the current straight on, the rough winds blowing against the starboard side made the entrance clumsy. The ship tilted to the left as it surged them forward at twice the speed they had been moving seconds before.

“Hang on!” Kiyami cried, pulling at the wheel with all her strength. The ship adjusted, only to fall in the opposite direction. A flash of light flared in the distance, illuminating the dark clouds.

“Kiyami!” cried Raiden.

“I’ve got this,” Kiyami grunted, gripping the wheel with white knuckles.

As the great ship dipped further, Celeste’s feet slipped beneath her. She lurched, grasping desperately to catch ahold of something to steady her. A strong arm looped around her waist. Raiden pulled her into his chest, his grip tight.

“Hang on,” he said in her ear.

Nodding, she laced her arms around his torso, pressing close to his warmth. Her thick jacket sagged with water, the white dress beneath now clinging to her shivering body.

With a grunt of effort, Kiyami turned the wheel further left and held it in place. Another flash of lightning cracked through the clouds above.

Then, mercifully, the bow began to turn left.

The ship righted. Barrels settled back onto the deck. Celeste’s grip on Raiden loosened.

“That was close, Highness,” shouted Bastian.

Raiden grinned. “I like to keep things interesting.” He turned to Kiyami, clapping her on the back. “Excellent job.”

The latch at the center of the ship popped open, and Nasir emerged. “Everything below is secure, Captain,” he reported, his dry clothes soon soaking wet as he walked toward them.

For days, Celeste had dreaded this moment, but they’d survived the first test. She really had done it. They all had. A giggle slipped past her lips, tension releasing all at once. Raiden looked over at her, lifting a brow as she continued to laugh. But soon a smile broke out across his face. He looked so unlike the loathsome prince she had once believed him to be. If she didn’t know better, he could have been just another young siren in Staria. His body shook with laughter, arm still warm against her back. Neither of them noticed they were still holding each other.

With a firm pull, Raiden tugged Celeste into his chest, resting his chin on her sopping-wet hair. Then he thrust his free arm into the air and let out a whoop of victory. The crew cheered in response, the sound rising above the storm. Nasir began to sing, a boisterous song of victory. Bastian clapped his hands. Kiyami stomped her feet. And Torben’s head popped up from belowdecks just as the Red Revenge was slammed by a colossal wave.

The ship jerked sideways.

Celeste’s body sailed backward into the mizzenmast like a rag doll. Water poured across the deck. Thunder clapped. Then a horrible cry cut through the sound of the wind. Two words that no sailor ever wanted to hear.

“Man overboard!”

“Nasir!” Torben roared.

Celeste sputtered, coughing up salt water as her eyes blinked open. Nasir was overboard . The world shifted sideways, becoming a blur of sea and rain and the sound of Torben shouting. Screaming. No . It couldn’t be happening. Not Nasir. Hissing through her teeth, Celeste lifted her throbbing head from the deck. And that’s when she saw Raiden leap to his feet and run.

“Kiyami! Keep the ship steady.” He threw commands over his shoulder as he moved. Nothing of the laughing boy remained. He was her captain again. “Torben, don’t you dare leave this ship. You aren’t a strong enough swimmer. That’s an order from your captain.”

Torben roared with anger. “Try and stop me!”

But his men were on him in a moment, restraining him. The Yenrian bellowed, punching and kicking in an effort to get free. Still, the men held.

“I don’t see him!” Bastian cried as he and Raiden scanned the churning waters.

The wheel spun wildly out of control, the ship turning quickly left. Too quickly. And Kiyami hadn’t gotten up from her place on the ship’s deck.

Heart hammering, Celeste pushed herself to her feet. Pain shot down her back from where she had collided with the mast. She stumbled, surprised, but limped to the wheel. With inhuman strength, Celeste caught the spinning wheel in her hands. The ship jerked to a stop, the weight of it straining against her muscles. A grunt escaped her lips. Then slowly, laboriously, Celeste began to right the ship.

The wheel was more difficult to move than she expected. Celeste repositioned herself, using her legs to help push the wheel back and back and back. Raiden discarded his heavy belt to the deck, his sword and pistol with it. Next went his boots.

“Raiden! Wait!” cried Bastian, but it was too late.

Without a look back, Raiden dove. His arms reached above his head, pointed as a blade, before he disappeared into the black water.

And suddenly she was right back where she started. Except she couldn’t see if he reemerged. Because this time she was on the ship. This time she watched from the other side. Her throat went dry as paper. Try as she might, she couldn’t see what was happening below, not without leaving the wheel. They could be drowning . She knew she shouldn’t think such things. Raiden had swam well enough that night. But Nasir was so heavy, and the water was so rough.

A hand rested on her shoulder. Celeste turned to see Kiyami, expression solemn as she rubbed a bump forming on her head.

“I can take it from here.”

Celeste nodded numbly, backing away from the wheel as her friend took control. Then she was running down the stairs, stopping only when she reached the ship’s side.

“Nasir!” Torben cried, searching the waves as his body sagged beneath the weight of his men. His voice was hoarse from screaming the name again and again over the howling winds. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked so helpless and small. It was unnerving to see this hardened man fall to pieces before her. His normally red face, full of passion, shone pale and white as the rain dripped down from his braided hair into his eyes. Celeste peered down into the violent waters. She waited. One minute. Then two. But no one emerged.

“Celeste! Help me!”

It was Bastian. His free arm waved frantically from the main deck as he struggled to pull free the waterlogged rope ladder. Glad to be useful, Celeste ran to him. The ladder itself was curled tightly, secured by intricate knots to the side of the ship. While Bastian’s wet fingers worked on one of the knots, Celeste fumbled with the other. The knot did not yield.

Over and over, her fingers slid against the fibers of the rope. What little composure she had began to slip away. Bastian moved to the next knot, but she couldn’t get past her first. Tears gathered in her eyes. She felt her magic building in her stomach. Pulsing. No... please no... not now . Beside her, Bastian unraveled his third knot. But Raiden and Nasir were nowhere to be found.

Crying doesn’t help.

The voice was her mother’s.

I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.

Calm down.

Then a new voice.

She’s a danger to herself and others.

And suddenly she was nine cycles old again, pressed flat against the wall outside her father’s study. Tears sliding down her face as her teacher, the most recent in a line of many, informed her parents that they could not train her. That she should never sing. That her voice was dangerous. That she was too uncontrollable. Too unstable. Too... human . But after days at sea surrounded by them, being human held new meaning.

I can’t lose them. Not after everything. I can’t lose anyone else . She thought of Sephone, the only one who ever was able to withstand her moods, sent away just as she needed her. Of Maeve and her look of disappointment as she watched Celeste throw everything away for a human she didn’t know. And even though it ruined her life, she’d do it again in a heartbeat. Again and again and again.

At last the knot loosened in her hands. Her fingers flew to the next knot, and the next. And as she finished, Bastian unfurled the rope ladder onto the sodden deck beneath them.

“I found him!”

It was Raiden. Celeste’s shoulders sagged in relief. The Pirate Prince splashed clumsily in the waves as they crashed over him, using all his effort to keep his head above water. But he was alive . And beside him, a large, limp body floated, supported by his arm. Nasir . From this far away, she couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not.

With newfound speed, Bastian gathered the rope ladder and flung it overboard. It landed with a wet slap against the side of the ship. Raiden pulled Nasir forward, swimming for the ladder. Lightning flashed against a wave gathering behind them, growing in size every second.

“Look out!” cried Torben, but his warning was swallowed by the wind.

The great wave slammed against the ship, swallowing the two men in its path.

No... no... please no.

Celeste’s fingers pulled at her belt buckle.

“Stop! It’s too dangerous,” Bastian said, rushing forward. She didn’t care. The belt fell to the floor at her feet. “Celeste, stop!” Bastian tried again, but Celeste ignored him. She tore her heavy coat from her shoulders and had one foot upon the railing when Bastian’s hands closed around her wrist.

“Enough!” he bellowed. This time his eyes blazed. “Don’t act like you’re the only one who cares about him!” Bastian’s usual calm demeanor cracked. “We can’t sail this ship safely through this current without you. If you drown, we’ll all die.”

Celeste stilled. The thought hadn’t crossed her mind. No one had ever relied on her before. Not like this. All her life she had been the little princess. No one needed her for anything. She was a liability. A danger to herself and others.

All she’d ever wanted was to be needed. To be useful. It hadn’t occurred to her until now. She’d always thought it was some great adventure she was chasing. Some sort of glory . But it was so much simpler than that.

Celeste let her foot fall back to the floor.

“Oh, thank God,” Bastian said, his anger dissolving. Celeste watched in shock as his shoulders shook and his eyes watered. “I have to get home,” he said through his tears. “I can’t leave them.”

His family . Celeste remembered. Unlike the rest of them, Bastian and Kiyami actually had loved ones to go home to. How could she have forgotten? Only thinking of herself. Of Raiden. She had forgotten about the others. Selfish . Celeste wrapped her arms around Bastian’s shoulders. We’ll get back to them , Celeste told her friend in the way she tightened her grip.

As if he understood, Bastian squeezed back. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“I hate to break up what I’m sure is a wonderful moment...” came a shout from below, breaking the two apart. “But I could use some assistance!”

Raiden.

Celeste’s heart swelled as she looked down and saw him clinging to the rope ladder with Nasir under his arm. Nasir was coughing but awake. Alive . Torben’s men released him, and he leaped into action, racing to the ladder and dragging it up over the deck one rung at a time. Bastian and Celeste joined him, and inch by inch the ladder rose until the two men fell upon the deck of the ship.

Torben swept Nasir into his arms in an instant, pressing his forehead to his husband’s.

“I thought I’d lost you,” the Yenrian whispered.

“They’d have to kill me first,” Nasir replied thickly, still coughing.

Tears gathered in Celeste’s eyes as she watched them. Her instinct told her to stop, as it always did, but it was interrupted by a new thought. To feel is human . The word was no longer an insult. The once barbed weapon she used against herself to punish her frailty had finally lost its teeth. To feel is human . It was—a fact? A truth . And beautiful.

And then Celeste felt a pair of eyes on her.

She turned and met Raiden’s gaze steadily. He stood at the banister, chest heaving as his white shirt clung to his muscled chest. The same familiar crooked smile hung on his lips as he gazed at her. And the raging world fell away. She stepped forward. Slowly at first, then faster. His smile widened. He opened his arms. And she flew into them. He pulled her close, warm despite the cold ocean water.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting, love,” he said into her wet hair.

She squeezed him tighter in reply.

The ship beneath them rocked. The wind howled. And Celeste held Raiden.

And it was okay.

She was okay.

And she felt the last shred of resistance fall away. Celeste cared for him. She couldn’t pretend otherwise anymore. And maybe—just maybe—it was okay that she did. Because although he made her angry and afraid and sad and happy and every stupid little feeling all at once, it was all worth it. She’d rather live with the fear of losing him than live without letting herself feel this —whatever this was—for as long as she had it. And whatever happened, she knew she could weather the storm.