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The water is up to my shoulders now. I’m so cold, but there’s also a thrill running through me at the knowledge that I’m being taken somewhere no one in my coven has ever been. No one even knows it exists, and I lean into the feeling because it edges out the pain of being lied to. It will still be there waiting for me once I’m home, but for now, I push it aside.
I know I should be terrified. My parents would never find me if something happened, but it feels vital that I go, that I learn about this part of my heritage. That I let myself be uncomfortable and see for myself the life that’s been hidden from me.
“Mortana,” Wolfe says, turning to face me. The water rolls and moves around us, but my feet are firmly on the sandy ground. I have loved this sea for as long as I’ve lived, and I will not start fearing it now.
“Yes?”
“I’m trusting you with this. Don’t make me regret it.”
I swallow hard. “I won’t.”
He searches my eyes for another breath, then nods. “Good.”
Suddenly, I realize I’ve never seen Wolfe in sunlight—the one time we met during the day, the sky was blanketed in dark clouds—and I wonder if he’s as beautiful at noon as he is at midnight. I wonder if the sun loves him as much as the moon does.
He steps closer to me, and we both drift up, moving with a wave that rolls through us.
“This is intense the first time you do it. I need you to hold on to me and not let go for anything. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, it’s coming for us.” He takes both my hands and places them around his neck. Then he gently grabs my hips and pulls me into him. “Wrap your legs around my waist.” His voice is low and rough, making my insides roll like the ocean around us.
I let the water lift my legs, drifting from the security of the ocean floor. I wrap them around Wolfe, my entire body touching him.
“Okay?” he asks.
I nod. We both breathe raggedly, watching each other.
“Don’t let go,” he says, the words more prayer than command.
“I won’t.”
His eyes are full of some unrecognizable thing—not the usual anger he carries, but something fragile. Delicate.
Then he guides my head onto his shoulder, and I wrap myself around him as tightly as possible. I wonder if he can feel my heartbeat through my chest, if he can sense that this is the biggest adventure I’ve ever been on.
“Take a deep breath,” he says, and I do.
Then we’re sucked into a vortex of water, and the only thing I can think about is not drowning. The current brings us into its center, swirling us around and around as if we’re leaves in the wind. I feel Wolfe’s arms tighten around my waist, holding me firmly against him.
We’re pulled away from the western shore, but I can’t tell what direction we’re going. Water churns all around us, rolling over my head and into my nose, forcing me onto my side and back up again.
I gasp for air and swallow water instead, choking. My impulse is to push away from Wolfe, to kick my legs and thrash my arms and get out of the hungry current. But he is steady, holding me close, letting the current carry us. I feel myself shaking in his arms, feel when his hand drifts to the back of my head.
Another wave swallows us, and all I can hear is the churn of the water. It whips us around, and we tumble through the sea, clinging to each other.
Then something changes. The current slows, pulling us along at a rate that doesn’t make me fear for my life. We surface, and Wolfe’s rough voice reaches me, his wet lips brushing against my ear. “Breathe,” he says.
I do as I’m told, drinking in the briny sea air, filling my lungs with it. But I don’t dare let go, keeping my arms and legs wrapped firmly around him, knowing with absolute certainly that I feel safe here.
That Iamsafe here.
The water pulls us along, and my ragged breaths slow down. Deepen. I try to forge it into my memory, the way it feels to be carried by the sea, the way it feels to be wrapped around this mystifying boy in the waters I love so much.
“Almost there,” he says, and I feel him start to kick. He moves as if I’m not even here, light in the water even though I’m weighing him down. It isn’t until his feet touch the ground that I slowly unwrap myself from him.
My back is to the shore, and I watch in amazement as the current swirls away from us. The water is smooth and calm again, and I feel Wolfe graze my hand.
