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“It matters to me. If you say they’re alive, then I believe they are as well. I have considerable resources at my disposal and would love nothing more than to help you search for them.”
“Is that part of your three-day ocean excursion?” she says with a wry laugh. “Comb the entire ocean, find lost expeditions. And what shall we do on the third day?”
I pretend to think about it. “I don’t know. I hear playing on a beach is a popular choice.”
She laughs with tears shimmer in her eyes. “Well, I’ll at least be able to promise you one of those three things. One cove that I often track for the sea turtle migration is along the way and that might be a good place to stop in the morning or by the end of tomorrow.”
I quickly calculate. That would just leave one extra day as a buffer before my borrowed magic runs out. “I am at the mercy of your itinerary.”
Minato
Next Day
“Areyou done playing tour guide, sir?”
“May I remind you that the only reason you’re alive is because of me?”
“Psh. Needing to listen to your clumsy advances to your already fated soul mate, I would say our balance is even. By the way, have you discovered why exactly your soul mate lacks all memory of you?”
The concern in Maru’s tone is not lost on me. If this has happened to Kaia, would this happen to others who have been fated? Is this the reason some have yet to find their mates through these long lonely years?
Unfortunately, I have little in the way of good news for him. “No, and that troubles me. She should have full knowledge of me, of us, and she does not.” Even more troubling is the fact that I can’t even connect with her at all, even in dreams.
I scanned a few of her journals, hoping she would reveal an event, but she hadn’t documented our relationship together. The only thing was her travels with her parents.
I relay that information to Maru. “Even if you do not uncover the cause, at least you know she is well.”
“Yes, but I fear that without a connection, I would lose contact with her once more. With the threat around her and her lost memory, I refuse to part with her.”
“And what will you do when you can no longer maintain this ridiculous human form? Take her in your tentacles and go overboard with her? I can hear the conversation now, ‘Let’s go under the sea, it will be a great splash.’”
I don’t dignify that comment with a remark. “Just get us to that damned island. Maybe since it was the last place, she remembered her parents discovering, it might unlock something inside her mind.”
“That won’t be a problem. It’s a straight shot. I’m surprised it had been left uncharted?”
“Perhaps it was on purpose. It could be the reason her parents are missing, and the source of her amnesia?”
“Or it could simply be a stop not worth noting.”
“Highly unlikely,” I add.
“Agreed, but we need to be prepared for all angles. “
“Am I interrupting a conversation?”
Kaia’s luxe voice cut through despite the roaring seas and engine noise. Maru’s image has disappeared in the waves. I make a show of tapping my phone as if to end a conversation. “Nothing important. How are you feeling?
The answering smile washes away all my pent up frustration. “Better now that I can see with my own eyes that we are headed toward a land mass. I was thinking I was going crazy when our own equipment couldn’t seem to pick it up.”
“Is that normal, Ms. Solis? Shall I contribute even more funds to upgrade some of your equipment?” I add, to lighten the mood. Though she smiles, it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. I want to smooth the worry from her brow.
“Honestly, it’s not normal, and I know that the equipment onboard is state-of-the art. Some things are custom, to be honest. Jailah and the others…they’re not just expert oceanographers and navigators. They’re also some of the most advanced engineers that my parents could recruit. Many of the modifications to this vessel they created under my father’s supervision.”
Before I can continue this line of questioning, Jailah waves at Kaia for attention. “Speaking of which, gotta see what’s up.”
I watch as she retreats for yet another emergency. Thinking back, Jailah had been the main voice of dissent throughout this excursion. Doubting the mechanics, the sensors, the maps…it was as if she was trying all she could to avoid this adventure.
I reach out to Maru. “I think there could be another reason this has turned into the voyage of the damned.” I share with him my suspicions that Kaia may have a traitor among her own crew. With a little bit of back and forth, we come up with a plan for me to have a little bit of alone time with Kaia.
