Marin agreed with Ree. “If he could take us to the next inhabited island… I mean, inhabited by people who have boats, not marmooses. Marmeese?”
“I think marmeese,” Dax said.
“Marmeese.” She rolled the word over her tongue. “If we’re talking about a long journey, I don’t think it’s practical, but if there’s someplace closer, that might be possible, and then we could bookpassage on a supply runner’s boat. Or buy our own boat.” She touched the ruby again.
Dax’s eyes flickered to her pocket. “You need that for your parents.”
“It won’t do my parents any good if we can’t get back to them.” Perhaps she could use a fraction of it. If they could find a jeweler who could properly appraise it, then there might still be enough left over to satisfy the debt. She felt a lump in her throat. It was their only asset. And it wasn’t even truly hers, since she hadn’t completed the job. If she failed to find Rijes Velk, she’d need to return it, and if she spent it without completing the job, she’d owe both Iovar and Terlu.I’d double the debt I have to repay.“Regardless, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We don’t know if there’s a useful island anywhere in range of how far Perri can transport us. If he’s willing to transport us.”
She’d never heard of anyone traveling by sea serpent before. Then again, she didn’t know of anyone except her who was best friends with a sea serpent.I can ask. If Perri says no, then we’ll find another way.It was a lot to ask, especially since she didn’t really understand why he kept sticking around and helping her to begin with. Surely whatever debt he felt for her saving him had long been paid off.
Still, she hoped he didn’t say no.
Someday she might ask too much of him. She might expect too much. He could tire of his pet human and instead swim off and find other sea serpents, find a family or start a family…
Had that happened already?
No, he’ll come back. He’s still my crew.
My friend.
She trusted that. He was her friend. Like Ree. Like Dax.
None of them seemed to blame her for this mess, even though it was her fault they’d been on a boat in a storm in the first place. She supposed they were just relieved they weren’t dead. That was, of course, why she’d kissed Dax: simple relief at not being dead. It wasn’t anything more than that.
Of course it was more than that.
But she couldn’t let it be.
He was going to return to his life at the conservatory, and she was going to keep sailing the seas. She couldn’t allow it to be any more than one beautiful moment on the sands, regardless of how either of them felt about it.
Even if he had tasted like sunshine.
Marin spent the rest of the day on the beach deliberatelynotkissing Dax,notthinking about kissing Dax, andnotimagining kissing Dax again. Instead, she planned the logistics of their hypothetical journey by sea serpent, while sneaking glances at him across the sand. Every once in a while, he’d glance back, and she knew he was thinking of her too.
It became an afternoon of unsaid words. She felt hyperaware of where he was at every single moment. Her eyes kept straying to his lips, his eyes, his hands, and then she’d force herself to pay attention to the task at hand. Getting off this island was far more important than whatever feelings she had—she knew that, felt it in her bones. Both of them needed to get back to Alyssium. They each had responsibilities that had nothing to do with how soft his lips were. And they had been so sweetly soft.
Midday, she started a fire with some dried clover as tinder and some branches from the crystal-leaf trees, which gave off glittery sparkles as it burned, and they cooked several blue crabs that they found in tidal pools, as well as fistfuls of mollusks. Marin couldn’t forage in the forest as well as the marmoose could, but she did know how to find food at the edge of the sea. Eating food that she could catch herself—or that Perri could fling up out of the sea for her—was always cheaper than buying in port; it was the reason she’d been able to pay off any of her family’s debt in the first place. She saved her precious profit for items like bread, fruit, and vegetables, as needed.
At Marin’s suggestion, Ree searched for bamboo or coconuts or anything that could be used or shaped into a vessel to hold water. Meanwhile, Dax found sturdy vines that would work as cordage,and he sat cross-legged on the shore braiding them to make them stronger while he watched for Perri. By evening, there was still no sign of the sea serpent, but Dax had woven several strong-looking vine ropes.
They slept again by the hot springs and the vents of hot air that seeped from the slope of the semidormant volcano. At dawn, they thanked the marmoose again, and ate a breakfast of crabmeat, berries, and nuts before continuing their vigil on the beach and their search for solutions.
She was proud of herself for not kissing him once.
Also, a bit disappointed that he didn’t kiss her.
It was a one-time aberration,she told herself.It won’t—can’t—happen again.He wasn’t going to be in her life long enough for her to allow it to happen again.
She tried not to dwell on how that thought made her feel.
On the third morning, Perri was back. He cavorted in the shallows with a friendly seal until the seal got tired and plopped onto a rock to bask in the sun.
Seeing him, Marin wanted to call out—to ask him if he’d foundSilver, if her boat was okay, if they were saved—but she hesitated. He looked so happy and carefree. Watching the serpent and seal play, Marin felt as if a band around her chest had released. She could breathe deeply again. She hadn’t even realized how much she was worrying about him, but after the magic storm, it was hard to feel like any of them were safe.
“Hey, Perri!” Marin waved. “Missed you!”
He trumpeted back at her and splashed happily in the waves.
