“I’m sorry.” The words felt inadequate, but she didn’t know what else to say. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. My pack doesn’t deserve your sympathy. And Lilani…” He looked over at his daughter, who was now having an animated conversation with a beetle that was crawling over a rock. “Lilani is worth a thousand packs. She’s worth everything.”
The fierce love in his voice made her chest ache.This is what a father should be.
Her own father had never sacrificed anything for her. She was the one sacrificed to his research, his reputation, his debt. She was simply a tool to him.
“There’s one person from my old life who might still speak to me,” he continued. “An elder named Torrath. He was a scholar, a keeper of the old ways. He disagreed with the council’s decision about Lilani, though he didn’t have the power to overrule them.” He paused. “If anyone knows the truth about the echo-pipes, it would be him.”
“Will he help?”
“I don’t know. It’s been a long time, and I didn’t leave on good terms.” A ghost of dark humor crossed his face. “I may have threatened to rip out several throats before I went.”
“That seems… reasonable, under the circumstances.”
“You think so?”
“I think if anyone threatened to hurt my child, I would do far worse than threaten.”
His eyes widened slightly, and she realized what she’d said.My child.As if she had one. As if she ever could.
“I mean?—”
“I know what you meant.” His voice had gone rough, and when he looked at her, there was something in his gaze that made her skin flush warm. “You have a warrior’s heart, Ariella. You’re someone who would fight for what she loves.”
“I’ve never had anything to fight for.”
“Maybe you just hadn’t found it yet.”
The words hung between them, heavy with implication. Her skin flushed a deep violet, betraying emotions she wasn’t ready to name. She looked away, her heart pounding.
“The pipe,” she said, her voice coming out slightly breathless. “You should keep it. Until we know more.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The truth was, she didn’t want to let it go. The echo-pipe felt like hers in a way that nothing else ever had—not her abilities, not her body, certainly not her future. But keeping it at the lab was too risky. If her father found it, he would want to study it. If Merrick found it, he would want to sell it. Either way, it would be lost.
“I trust you,” she said, and watched his expression shift into something almost vulnerable. “I know that probably sounds strange, since we’ve only just met. But I do. I trust you with this.”
“I’ll protect it.” The promise was solemn, weighted with meaning that went beyond the simple words. “I’ll protect it as if it were my own.”
She believed him.
Leaving was harder than she’d expected. Lilani clung to her waist and extracted a promise that she would come back soon, and she found herself agreeing without hesitation. He walked her to the edge of the cliff path, his massive presence warm at her side.
“Be careful,” he said, and the gruff words felt like a caress. “The currents can be treacherous near the base of the cliffs.”
“I was born for the water.”
“I know. But still.” He hesitated, then reached out and brushed a strand of wet hair from her cheek. The touch was feather-light, barely there, but it sent a jolt of electricity through her entire body. Her skin flared deep purple, and she saw his eyes widen in response. “Be careful.”
She dove before she could do something foolish, like lean into his touch or ask him to give her a reason to stay. She swam hard and fast, trying to outrun the confusing tangle of emotions that had taken root in her chest. Hope and fear and longing and a thousand other things she couldn’t name, all twisted together.
You can’t have this,she told herself.You’re promised to Merrick. Your father’s debts won’t pay themselves. This morning was a gift, but gifts don’t last. They get taken away.
But even as she thought it, she knew that something had changed. The empty space inside her—the one she’d carried her whole life, the one she’d thought would never be filled—didn’t feel quite so empty anymore. For a few hours, she’d belonged somewhere. She’d been wanted. And that taste of belonging was going to make everything that came next so much harder.
She surfaced near the lab and climbed up onto the dock. The sun was high now, the morning gone, and she knew her father would be wondering where she was. She knew she should go in, but instead she stood on the dock for a long moment, staring back towards the distant cliffs where Valrek’s cave was hidden.
