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“Noah’s a good guy. He'll help you figure things out and get settled.” I reassured, breaking the silence.
“I had three centuries to get settled.” He looked down, a heaviness stirring in his voice. “I don’t need to settle. I just need to know why I was brought back.”
“Cordelia was just being cruel,” I said.
“Exactly.” I noticed his neck and jaw tighten. “And that’s why I can’t just live some mundane existence because she brought me back. I need to be something. I need to have a reason this heart beats again. I can’t chase the sea like I once did. It’s a different world now. So, what am I here? Who am I here?”
“Don’t be hard on yourself,” I said, wishing I knew how to take my own advice. “You don’t have to know it all just yet. But please don’t think you were brought back for nothing…because…because I’m glad you’re here.” I swallowed, hoping my pathetic attempt at encouraging him would have some power. The faint smile that formed across his face was a good enough sign that it did.
“I’ll always be here for you, Katrina Delmar.” And with that, he stood up and slipped out the door, and I closed my weary eyes to sleep again.
45
A Soft Farewell
Katrina
When the ship passed through the channel back to the marina in Constantine, I decided to finally come out on deck. I figured no one would notice me slip out as long as I stayed near the backside of the boat. Thankfully, I’d found some clothing in the bottom of Cordelia’s dresser that made me feel a little more like myself—a simple long sleeve blouse and a snug pair of dark jeans. I made my way to the back port side, leaning over the railing on both elbows.
The boat nosed its way carefully through a path of tall reeds and dark blue water, and I wondered who was steering. As we neared the marina in the distance, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. When I stepped off this boat, it would feel like starting everything over again. I didn’t even have my phone anymore, since it’d been lost or destroyed along with everyone else’s in our initial shipwreck.
My parents were probably worried sick, I thought. But then I remembered that time hadn’t passed here like it had for us. As far as my mom and dad were concerned, they’d just heard from me the day before. At least that was one less thing to worry about. But I wondered how I was supposed to find the motivation and morale to pick my classes back up when they started next week. Most students didn’t have to live with the weight of killing their great-grandmother, leaving their boyfriend in the 18th century, accepting that they are part fish, and realizing there is a dark half of them that will always be trying to take over all at the same time. But that’s how I would be starting my new year.
Slow footsteps caught my attention from behind. I didn’t recognize them, but I didn’t bother turning around either. If someone wanted to sneak attack me at this point, let them. But the voice of Noah stilled any intrusive thoughts I might’ve had about that.
“Um…hey,” he uttered, taking a spot beside me at the railing.
“Hey,” I replied.
“I’m glad you came out here.” He fidgeted with his thumbs as his eyes jumped from me to the deck floor and back. “Because I’ve been trying to find a chance to give you this before we dock.” He held out his hand and lying in his open palm was a well-worn compass. Milo’s compass.
“I wanted to give it to you earlier, but it felt kinda weird with Bellamy in the room. But the night before we found the trident, Milo told me to hold onto it and give it to you when the time was right.”
I reached forward with slow movement and picked up the compass. I held it in both hands as though it was a precious gemstone that I couldn’t let out of my sight. Swallowing down a lump in my throat, I looked up at Noah.
“He must’ve known what was going to happen. All along. He knew.” My words cracked. “He trusted you, you know. That’s why he asked you to do it.”
“He would’ve done anything for you,” Noah said. “You were the only thing that mattered to him.”
I was at a loss for how to reply. But I didn’t have to because Noah seemed to understand it when the only words I could mutter out were, “thank you.”
“No problem,” he said, watching the dock as we approached the port toward the empty spot waiting for us at the Tesoro Del Mar Marina. “Now you should probably go back down to the cabin before anyone notices you. We’ll come get you once everyone else is off.”
I nodded, looking back over my shoulder to see McKenzie crossing the deck toward the cabin.
“She’s probably on her way to tell me the same thing,” I chuckled. “Be good to her, Noah.” I managed to allow my siren side to jump in just long enough to make my eyes flash blue for added effect. Noah recoiled with a nervous smirk.
“Got it.” He grinned with two upward open palms in a gesture of surrender.
Clutching Milo’s compass close to my chest, I turned and made my way back to the cabin, making sure to stay unnoticed as everyone else eagerly prepared to disembark.
46
Whistle for the Wind
Katrina
That night I couldn’t sleep. I was back in my dorm and cramping lightly from the onset of a period I felt coming—which was its own relief given what happened back in Nassau and aboard the Falcon. But I didn’t want to be there in that dorm. I didn’t know where I wanted to be. I used to be kept awake by my nightmares. But now it was reality that haunted me. And now it was 4 AM and I was exhausted from my tossing and turning and the thoughts that would never stop.
