Her head snaps up, the hope returning to her face. “What?”
Weston told me to trust him, begged me to, and I do, but I can’t live with myself if I give up and don’t try. This may be the only way I can truly help the Castaways, and I’m the only one who can do it.
There is no other choice, but he doesn’t have to know.
“He may have said no, but this is our only chance. I think our plan will work. Now we just need to figure out how to sneak me off the ship.”
“Are you sure? This isn’t a game. He will figure it out, and when he does?—”
I shake my head. “I will deal with him when that happens. The bigger issue is you. He will befuriouswith you.”
“I’ve had twenty years of dealing with that man’s emotions. I can handle his mood.”
Taking a step closer, I grip her arms tightly and drop my voice even lower. “He can’t follow me, Sig. You can’t let him. It will ruin my chances if he tries to come after me.”
She lets out a huff. “I may need to enlist some help on that.”
“Do whatever you need to do. Just wait until after I’m gone, so no one gives it away.”
I’m sure Jorn would help with whatever Sig needed. They might be the only ones who can actually get through to Weston and convince him to let me do what needs to be done.
“Agreed,” she says with a nod. “When are we doing this?”
“I don’t know. We need the right opportunity, but we need to be ready.”
She clasps my shoulders, drawing us closer. The earnest confidence in her face fills me with warmth and anticipation.
“You can do this, Lennox. I know you can.”
“Thanks, Sig. No matter what happens, I’m really glad I met you.”
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” she says, shoving me off so I almost stumble back into the stream of water. “We’re still trapped here, remember?”
I chuckle. “Hopefully not for long.”
We figure out more details in the next few minutes before deciding to separate. Time is ticking, and the longer we talk about it, the more risk we have of anyone walking in and overhearing us.
Once she leaves, I strip down and stand under the warm flow of water, letting it ease the tension in my neck and back, even if only slightly. Now that I’m alone, I can sit with my thoughts and our plans.
Weston’s expression when I said I needed to go back to the Voyagers replays in my mind, over and over again. The shock, the hurt, the anger. Tenderness wasn’t something he often shows to people, but he showed it to me tonight. He cared about my past and wanted to do anything he could to right it. I think he feels some responsibility for it, because maybe if he’d been there, my father would have been different.
But if he’d been there, there would be no Weston, not the way there is here.
Even though he still pushes me away.
The way he held me, the way he looked at me, was only what I’ve ever read about in books, the way I’ve always wanted a man to look at me, and be unafraid to touch me. He could have kissed me, and now, I don’t know if he even wants to talk to me.
But more than that, I need to mentally prepare myself for what is about to come. After telling him I trusted him,disappearing and going back to the Voyagers, back to Dane, will hurt Weston. I don’t want to hurt him, not after everything he’s done to keep me from being hurt, but it is the sacrifice I have to make.
I’m doing thisforhim, for everyone here who deserves the chance to get home. Dane can’t keep holding us here against our will, and he can’t find out about the location of the waters.
So, I have to try, not just for me, but for every single Castaway that had their hope and life taken away.
I close my eyes and let the water fall, remembering all of my training, both physical and mental. I can do this. I can convince Dane that I’m back, that the Castaways kept me hostage, and that I wanted to return to them. If I can convince Dane, Mara will have no choice but to follow, and if she doesn’t, at least Weston taught me how to disarm someone if she tries to stab me in my sleep.
Now I just need to find the strength to walk back into camp, to be with Dane the way I was before, and most importantly, figure out how to leave Weston behind.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
