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“That’s a ship killer,” I say.
“Not for us.” Daichi rises and walks over to where Maura lies. He scoops her up gently and starts for the captain’s quarters. The wind whips at my hair and clothes. All around me, the crew members are tying themselves off with determined looks on their faces. Maybe this isn’t a ship killer for The Kelpie, but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous.
I scramble to my feet and follow Daichi. It’s quieter inside the captain’s quarters, but all that means is there’s nothing to distract me from Maura. Daichi sets her on the bed and turns to me. “They need me out there.” He hesitates, clearly torn. “Can you stay here and keep her safe?”
“Yes, of course.” As if I would be anywhere but at her side. I barely wait for him to move before I take a place next to her. The bed swings wildly, but it’s still moving less wildly than the ship itself. We climb and fall what feel like mountains. I knew things could get bad, but knowing something in theory and experiencing it firsthand are two extremely different things.
There’s nothing for me to do except ensure Maura stays safe while we escape Atlantis. I climb more fully onto the bed and gather her into my arms. She’s still breathing, at least for now. I can’t help pressing my hand to her chest and measuring each inhale and exhale.
“I need you to be okay. You got us to the ship. You’ve saved me half a dozen times in the past couple of days. We didn’t get this far for you to die now.” My voice is ragged, and my throat feels like I swallowed embers. “We have a future, Maura. The whole fucking world has tried to stand between us, but we finally have a future. I need you to be there with me. I don’t think I can do it alone.” My voice breaks. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. “This is all my fault. None of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t stolen the piece of eight and then triggered the entrance to Atlantis. I am so, so fucking sorry.”
“Always so dramatic.”
For a second, I think I’m imagining things. But then Maura moves in my arms, and her eyes flutter open. She smiles faintly. “We made it.”
“Yeah, we got here because of you. We’re safe now.”
The ship chooses that moment to hit a dip that sends us swinging sharply; my stomach threatens to rebel.
Maura frowns. “Doesn’t feel safe.”
She tries to sit up, but I push her down onto her back. It’s frighteningly easy. “Oh, no, you don’t. You almost died. Cai has things well in hand, and ze will get us through. Trust your crew. I do.”
Almost as if my words contain magic, the intense seesawing of the ship evens out. I can still feel us skimming the tops of waves, but it’s almost as if the storm disappeared in an instant. Maybe we’re in the eye of the storm?
A cheer goes up on the other side of the captain’s door. I barely have a moment to wonder what’s going on when the door’s thrown open and Daichi bursts in. He skids to a stop. His eyes go wide at the sight of Maura awake. A giant grin appears on his face. “You’re okay, Captain.”
“Right as rain.” Maura sounds like death warmed over, but she’s speaking, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.
His grin widens. “Then I think you’re going to want to see this.”
I expect him to carry her, but he just steps back and watches as she struggles to her feet. I’m not having any of that. I duck under her arm, ignoring her grumbling, and don’t comment on just how much weight I’m taking from her. We stagger out of the captain’s quarters and into bright sunlight.
Cai gives us a grin just as wide as Daichi’s. “We missed you, Captain.” Like the rest of the crew I can see, ze is soaked to the bone, zir clothes plastered to zir body.
“I’m here now.” Maura’s voice is even raspier than mine. She leans more heavily on me. “Update me.”
“The exit spell seems to have worked.” Cai points to something in the distance. “I can’t be entirely sure until we’re closer, but I think that’s Emerald Island. The water there looks the same as the one we’re currently sailing through.”
We’re back.
Relief hits me hard enough to buckle my knees, quickly followed by dread. We’ve made so many promises to each other, but we did it in a place out of both time and space. Will those promises hold up now that we’re back in our own realm?
Maura inhales deeply. “We have enough supplies to see us through several weeks. Daichi, set course for Etra.”
She speaks so decisively, I almost give in to the temptation not to question it. But I can’t seem to help myself. “Why there?”
