“We’re clear. We need to move now,” she whispers and throws her legs over the side as well.
I stare down at the dark water below, watching the waves churn next to the ship as I prepare to throw myself into them. Sig instructed me on the proper form to make as little sound and splash as possible, just another element to keep us from being discovered.
“Are you ready?” she asks, her voice strong and confident.
She grew up in the water. I’m sure jumping off the side of a ship doesn’t phase her, but to me, it isn’t easy. Jumping off the cliff was a sheer act of survival, and the blood pounding throughmy veins and stifling all my fears as I ran to get away from Mara didn’t give me a chance to think about what I was doing.
I don’t have that now.
“I’m good.” I nod, keeping my eyes fixed on the surface.
“Let’s go,” she says before she steps off the side of the ship and falls, slicing through the surface with barely any noise.
I suck in a deep breath and squeeze my eyes shut before stepping off behind her. Wind whips my hair and I wrap my arms around myself, pointing my toes, trying to remember all the instructions Sig gave me before I crash through the surface. The temperature of the cool water shocks my eyes open, and I immediately begin kicking, keeping my gaze up to the surface until my head breaks through with a gasp.
We paddle to the side of the ship, bobbing there for just a moment to listen for any sign we were heard, but the night is still.
The first step, getting off the ship, is complete, and I can’t believe we actually made it with no obstacles. Sig takes off toward the beach, her strokes fluid and graceful. I follow behind, much less graceful and a lot slower, but I keep my focus on my breaths and the form Weston taught me, not letting the land out of my sight.
It feels like no time has passed before the waves are crashing over me as I crawl up onto the beach, my clothes and the sand sticking to me. Sig is already on her feet and watching the ship to make sure we still haven’t been detected.
“Hurry,” she hisses, and I scramble to my feet, stumbling through the sand toward the portal. We both barge through it, and as soon as we are under the cover of the magic, I let out a breath.
“Holy shit. We made it,” I pant.
“Don’t get too excited, we aren’t done yet,” she says. “Take your clothes off.”
She disappears around a bend in the tunnel as I rip my shirt over my head and lean down to unlace my boots. When she reappears, she has my dry set of clothes from camp, the ones we stashed away during our last shift. I didn’t want to risk anyone noticing the differences in my Castaway clothing, and trying to figure out where on the island we could be because of it.
After pulling the final lace, I kick off the boots and shimmy out of my soaking pants. She holds the dry clothes out to me and I quickly pull them on. They’re filthy and torn, just as we had discussed, to keep up the act we agreed upon.
“Recite the plan,” she says as I slide one leg into my pants.
“Take the tunnels to the far side of the island, in case anyone is out and spots me. Go back to camp and find Dane. Tell him I was taken when I was searching and held captive for a long time until I convinced them I was on their side. I fought Weston’s coercion, but made everyone believe I fell for it. That’s why Mara thought I was protecting you, to keep up my cover until I could try to escape. When I tried, they caught me and held me captive again. I broke out and came straight home.”
“Good. What if he asks you where we’re hidden?” Sig says. She stands watching me transform back into the old Lennox, at least on the outside. Her body is as tense as I feel, and I know she agrees everything is riding on this plan.
“I say you forced me to drink a potion from the island that won’t let me give it up, no matter how hard I try.”
“Right. And how do you handle Mara?”
“Lie like my life depends on it, and try to convince her my story is true.”
She nods. “What if she attacks you?”
“Defend myself, but don’t draw attention. Make sure Dane believes she’s wrong.”
“Good. Then what?”
“Stay for two days. Try to find out if Dane has learned anything about how to replenish the dust. On the second night, get him to the Voyager safe house on the beach, around the bend from the cove. I’ll wait until he’s asleep and then take the dust off him. You’ll be waiting in the rocks there, and we’ll go back to the ship.”
“Yes. I will be there if anything goes wrong.” She tosses my shirt at me, and I pull it over my head.
“You can’t let Weston ruin this, Sig. He can’t risk being discovered. He can’t come into camp, he can’t follow me around if I leave. Tell him he needs to trust me.”
She nods, her face drawn. “I will do my best.”
“Jorn will help you. Taril and Stass and Auralie too, especially if you tell them what I’m doing. They want it just as bad as we do.”
