Page 183 of Storm and Sea

“Don’t miss me too much, Atty!” Marina gave him a disproportionately strong hug for her short frame.

“I’ll cry into my pillow every night you’re away.”

“Awww, big brother, I love you too,” she said, patting his cheek with a slap and skipping onto the barge’s deck. “See you on board, Nyel.”

This was it. They were going. Marina was going to finish her final semester of school. Nyel would learn how to read and write and do science and all sorts of things he couldn’t do here.

Couldn’t do with Atreus.

It was only for one semester, and deep down, Atreus realized that wasn’t a lot of time. But he’d seen things change on Baia Vita in a matter of hours. What would all winter do to Nyel?

“Good luck, ragazzo,” Giovanni said, laying a knee-buckling hand on Nyel’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you boys to it then.”

As Giovanni walked away, Atreus suddenly felt the platform grow colder. It was just the two of them now. His throat tightened, and for a fleeting moment, he was tempted to follow Giovanni without saying another word. To let the goodbye slip past him, unsaid.

“Well, I’m going,” Nyel said, clutching his bag in front of him.

“You’ll do great.” Atreus’s words felt hollow even to his own ears. “Don’t forget about us while you’re in the big city.”

“You know I can’t do that. Keep yourself busy, Atreus. Don’t get in your head,” Nyel said, then with a grin, suggested, “teach Niccolo how to fetch or something.”

“Ha. As if that cat will ever do anything he doesn’t already want to. And for the record, cats don’t fetch.”

“I saw the neighbor’s dog do it,” Nyel countered.

“That’s a dog. Dogs and cats are different.”

“Oh, right. Maybe dogs will like me more?”

“Maybe,” Atreus said, wondering if dogs would like Nyel better than cats. Niccolo always hissed when Nyel was around. Maybe it’s because they smelled similar to fish⁠—

—and were they really discussing the merits of cats versus dogs right now!? Of all the things to say, this was how they were spending their last moments? Atreus’s chest seized. Is this really what he wanted Nyel to remember when he left?

He must have taken too long to respond because Nyel shifted awkwardly. “I better go, or the captain will leave without me. I’ll see you in a few months.”

Nyel turned toward the vessel, and panic surged through Atreus. Before he could think, his hand shot out, grabbing Nyel’s wrist.

“I would have let him drown!” he shouted, unable to control the volume as the words tumbled out of him.

“W-what?” Nyel asked, eyebrows pinched.

“Edgar. During the Bayallon. When he went over, when I got to the railing I…. I hesitated. Then I saw you and—” He squeezed Nyel’s wrist tighter. “I just knew.”

Nyel stepped closer, the barge forgotten. “Knew what?” he asked, his voice soft, like coaxing a secret to the surface.

“I knew I had to save him, and I knew that everything would be okay. Even after I changed and everyone saw me for what I was…it would be okay. Even if the humans hated me and rejected what I am… I’d be okay.” He slid his hand from Nyel’s wrist and intertwined their fingers. “Because I’d still have you.”

Nyel’s thin, delicate fingers laced with his, grounding Atreus in a way words never could.

“I would have let him drown. I wouldn’t have been brave enough to jump. Not without you. So… thank you.”

The weight of those two simple words paled in comparison to the gratitude swelling in Atreus’s heart. He knew Giovanni felt it, too. So did all of Baia Vita. The island was crawling out of its grave, alive with new purpose—all because of this sireno.

Nyel’s gaze softened, and he squeezed Atreus’s hand.

“I wasn’t the one that saved Edgar, Atreus. In the end, you were the one that jumped, and it takes an incredibly brave person to do that.”

The warmth of those words filled Atreus’s chest, only to be cut short by a slap on his shoulder.