He does so without question, and after waiting a moment to make sure he isn’t going against my command, I pull the shirt over my head and plop the sopping mess down on the rock. Thepants are much more of a challenge, fighting me as I try to peel them down my legs.
Standing on the top of the boulder in nothing but my undergarments makes me feel freer than I ever have in my life, but at the same time, too conscious of exactly how little I’m wearing. No one other than Tila and Addy has ever seen me show this much skin. The dark lace undergarments cover everything essential, but are much smaller than the layers of gowns and corsets I am used to at home.
And Weston isright there.
He hasn’t come near me at all since I’ve started trying to swim on my own, so I should be safe from lingering eyes as long as I stay mostly under the water. I drop back in with a small splash and crouch down so my shoulders only peek through the surface.
“Alright, you can turn around now.”
He sinks farther into the water and backs away, staying on the side opposite of the pool, giving me enough space to practice. Now that I’m not fighting the clothing and constantly being pulled down by the weight, focusing on the strokes as I make laps back and forth is much easier. With each pass, I’m becoming more and more comfortable in the water, knowing I can at least keep myself above the surface.
It feels like no time has passed at all when Weston finally speaks.
“We should get back. It’s going to be light soon.”
I finish a lap and stand, panting with exertion. A quick glance at the sky shows he’s right. The edges are changing colors, so it is time to get back. Despite getting no sleep, I don’t feel tired yet. Energy thrums through my body, along with the excitement of overcoming a fear that would have made my time on the island completely different.
Would things have turned out differently if he didn’t have to pull me from the lagoon?
Weston rises and wades closer to me.
“How do you feel?” he asks.
“I feel great, actually,” I say. “Maybe the water isn’t so bad after all.” I skate my hands over the surface and notice the change in his face softening with relief.
“I’m not as afraid anymore,” I continue. “I know it will be different when it isn’t as calm as this, but at least now I know how.”
“You’re a fast learner,” he murmurs.
I don’t respond right away, trying to find the right words to express all the thoughts flickering through my mind. Weston has now taught me skills that will help keep me safe on three separate occasions, more than anyone else, since being on Dawnlin. I know the dagger skills I never got to learn from Brynne will be valuable eventually, and I’m sure my father will be happy I know them, but learning to swim feels more personal than that.
He pulled me out of the water, saved my life, and now is teaching me how to keep myself safe, so an entirely new world opens up to me here.
It means more than he knows.
“Thank you for teaching me,” I breathe, the words rushing out of my mouth before I regret saying them. “We don’t have water like this back at home, and knowing how just…It just makes me feel a little safer here now. So thank you.”
His throat bobs with a swallow, and his voice is low and quiet.
“You’re welcome.”
A small shiver tickles my spine, despite the overbearing heat, and I look away, my gaze fixed on the water between us.
“Besides, now that I know how, aaahhhh!”
My discomfort is immediately forgotten as something brushes the back of my legs, eliciting a sharp scream from my throat. Even after having interactions with the other life on Dawnlin, I’d never considered what else lived in the sea, and this feels like an entirely new fear I’m having to process in this exact moment.
I don’t think. I just act.
Flying through the water, I try to put as much distance between myself and the invisible threat as possible. I clamber up a slick boulder, my neck craning as I look over my shoulder to make sure whatever monster lurks beneath the surface isn’t chasing me.
“There’s something in the water!” I shriek. “Something touched my legs!”
I cling to the boulder, hoisting myself up so I’m completely out of the water. My eyes scan the surface, but the pool remains still, with nothing visible except the glow of the moonlight. I strain to see, waiting for something to pop out from below, like the fins of the sirens that lured me in so long ago.
But there’s nothing. The water is calm and continues to swell and fall calmly with the movement of the sea.
Then I feel it.
