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“It really worked,” I said.
Henrik let out a chuckle. “You said you believed me.”
“I believed you. I just don’t believe what I saw.”
Henrik stopped and looked up at me, breaking into a giddy smile and laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, never seeing him in such a state.
“Oh, it’s fantastic!” he cried, rocking back onto the ground. “Now they know I’m not crazy! They all saw it from themselves, didn’t they?”
He threw his head back and laughed, as if he was releasing the tension from every nerve in his body. He was half hysteric, this new side of him making me unsure of how to react.
When he finished laughing, which was some time, he stopped to stare at me with gratitude, tears streaming down his face from laughter.
“Thank you, Esmeralda,” he said. “Because of you, my name won’t be stained any longer.”
My heart pounded as he smiled, but my joy in his praise was short-lived.
“But now…” I started.
I didn’t know how to finish. Henrik caught my meaning and nodded solemnly.
“Yes,” he said. “The spirit world is now reopened.”
“What closed it in the first place? What happens now? Will they come after us again? Will they go after other sailors at sea? What about the navy?”
Henrik waited until I finished asking questions, but shook his head. “I don’t have the answers to everything. I just know that our worlds were separated for a time, and now they are reconnected again. Now there’s nothing holding back the sirens and merfolk from judging the sea again.”
“Is it only the sea they judge?”
Henrik nodded. “From what I understand. I was once told that the spirits don’t destroy men on land—men on land destroy each other. The sirens and merfolk wait until men are secluded. Then they strike.”
I swallowed. If a siren was to look into my soul, what would they see?
Also, what would happen to the men on the ship? To Luc? To Adrian? To Henrik?
Henrik stood, sitting next to me on the sofa and folding his hands in his lap. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and staring at the wall in thought.
“This will be a terrible shock for the people who disregarded the warnings all these years,” he eventually said. “We can only hope those in spiritual positions can lead them in the right direction.”
The emotional distance between his face and his words was painful. I rested a hand on his. His fingers wrapped around mine as he hung his head. We sat together, hand in hand, in complete silence as the weight of the new world weighed on both of us.
Adrian threw the door open, looking at us both. His eyes rested on our hands linked together. Under Adrian’s intense gaze, I started to pull my hand back, but Henrik held it fast.
Adrian rolled his tongue against his lip.
“We had a few injuries,” Adrian reported. “I’ll need you to look at them. You have the most experience with this kind of thing.”
“And Luc?” I asked eagerly.
Adrian’s eyes flicked over to me and he nodded softly. “He seems stable.”
Henrik nodded, squeezing my hand before coming to his feet and getting ready to leave. Adrian grabbed his arm before he got all the way out the door.
“I’m sorry,” Adrian said, his voice saturated in earnestness.
Henrik stopped, but didn’t look at him, only nodding before he left again. I saw the pain in Adrian’s eyes once more as Henrik stepped out.
