Augustus had been aboard theEntiamost of the day with no sign of returning anytime soon. Given what she’d just learned, Selene couldn’t wait. She had to talk to him.
A jostle to the shoulder brought Selene back to the bustling docks and the young Perean woman she’d brushed too closely.
“Apologies, miss,” the young woman said, giving Selene a warm smile as she proceeded around the dock workers.
“My fault,” Selene murmured, struck by a sudden surge of emotion and utterly fixated on the woman’s slightly rounded belly. In the depths of her chest—in her very soul—a profound connection intertwined with the burgeoning life.
Noi.
All the breath left Selene’s chest. She’d felt it for weeks now—a strange pull toward Perean’s expectant mothers. All of them at the same stage, as if something beneath the surface had whispered it into their wombs at once.
This particular young woman was no different.
So why did it feel like her friend wasright here?
Impossible. Noi was dead. Selene had knelt beside her as she lay dying. Her blood pooling on those gold-veined temple floors.
“Don’t worry about me. Panos is waiting. He’s already here. See?”
Hot tears pricked Selene’s eyes. Was it possible?—?
No. She refused to believe Noi wasn’t with Panos in the Valley.
Selene and Augustus were the only two souls reincarnating in Perean. No one else. Nothing had changed.
“Are you all right?” Felix asked. The pirate’s sheer size cast her in a complete shadow. His tunic sleeves were rolled to damned near his shoulders, accentuating the size of his substantial biceps.
Selene shook free of her thoughts. “Just thinking about Noi. I miss her.”
Pavle, who had only been steps behind Felix, frowned and nodded understanding. He didn’t talk much—if at all— thanks to losing his tongue during the torture inflicted while a slave in the Tineian Empire.
Felix followed Selene’s stare to the pregnant woman who was now passing the grilled fish. “That woman made you think of Noi?”
She understood his confusion. Noi hadn’t been pregnant, nor had she been Perean. She’d been a tiny, fierce pirate with black hair and dark eyes. “Yes and no. I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
Felix smiled and cupped her shoulder. “No need to. Sometimes grief walks in wearing a different face.”
Pavle pointed at the water and said something to Felix about the tide. Selene was beginning to understand him better, but not very well.
Felix didn’t have any problems translating. “Tide will be turning soon.”
If they had to row against it, it would take them twice as long to reach the ship.
Selene stared across the water again, heavier than before. She needed to talk to Augustus, but now…
She looked down the docks—the woman was gone now. Selene could probably catch up…
And say what?I think your baby is a reincarnation of my friend.That was ridiculous, even considering how true it was for her and Augustus.
No, she had to focus on the path ahead. Augustus and the mysterious people on the Trayterre Isles. That, at least, was a mystery they could solve together.
Lili greeted Selene at the top of the ladder and helped her over the side. Climbing that ladder was the first time Selene regretted her lack of pause in getting here—she should have changed out of the dress.
“What brings you here?” Lili asked.
Selene glanced around the empty deck as Felix and Pavle boarded behind her. “I needed a change in scenery. Where is he?”
“Captain’s quarters.” Lili bit her lip. “He’s been in there a while. I kind of pushed him into it since—you know—he can only avoid them for so long. Now I’m wondering if I did the right thing.”
