“Seriously?”Camila snapped, slinging her bag over her shoulder.“Handsome, rich…and did you hear what he was paying us for the Ring?We’ll never get another offer like that again.”
Desi’s smile softened.“You worry too much, Camila.God will work things out.”
“God,” Camila muttered, rolling her eyes, and stormed out.
An hour later, at a corner booth in a seaside diner, laughter rose over the clatter of dishes and the hiss of brewing coffee.Ethan was telling some ridiculous story about a charter gone wrong, Silvia was scolding him affectionately, and Daria glowed, alive and happy.
And yet Desi paid them little notice.
The Ring pulsed like a living heartbeat in her pocket, warm, insistent, whispering to her across the noise and sunlight.Every thrum of its power seemed to echo Caleb’s name, along with his last words to her….
Come back to me, Desiree Starr.
Her gaze drifted out the window toward the ocean glinting beyond the marina, its blue waves beckoning her…calling her to sail back to where theSentinelsank, cast the Ring into the sea, and fulfill Caleb’s promise to his father.
She owed him that much.
But… what if there was another possibility?
Her fingers closed around the Ring.
What if the story wasn’t over?
What if there was still a way back—to him?
♥
Desi steadied herself on the rocking edge of theSea Starras foamy spray showered over her.The morning shimmered with deceptive peace, yet her soul pitched like the sea, adrift between two worlds, uncertain which one would claim her.Fear warred with longing, love with duty.The bottle containing the Ring pressed against her side through the thin neoprene of her wetsuit, growing warmer as they neared the portal’s unseen veil.
Ethan killed the engine and raised the dive flag while Camila wrestled Desi’s tanks from the locker.To starboard, Daria tilted her face toward the sun, eyes closed, lips curved in a faint smile as the wind teased her hair.For the first time in years, color flushed her cheeks, proof that strength had returned to her frail body.How precious each breath must feel to her now.How fiercely she must savor the gift of health.
The sea stretched around them in endless splendor—blue upon blue, the faintest line of land to the west.Sunlight spilled across the water like molten gold, and the air smelled of salt and promise.
Desi bent to tug on her dive booties, her thoughts tossing like the waves.Was she mad to do this again?She could hurl the Ring into the deep and end its curse forever.Yet something—someone—called to her from beyond time.She had to know if theSentinelstill slept beneath these waters.She had to know if Caleb’s fate had changed.Or if, despite all her striving, God had sealed his course beyond her reach.
“You must return to him, you know.”Daria’s gentle voice cut through her turmoil.
“I don’t even know if I can.”Rising, Desi fastened her weight belt, feeling its tug around her hips.
Daria opened her eyes, their green depths luminous.“From what you told me, this is God’s plan for you.Caleb is God’s plan.”
Desi sank back down, shifting her gaze between her sister’s eyes, wondering how she could ever leave her now.“Maybe so, but even if I can return to him, he has to destroy the Ring.And that would mean I will never see you again.”She shoved down the pain gripping her throat.
“Not true.”Daria took her hand, her smile serene.“We’ll have eternity together.”
Camila set the BCD and tanks beside her with a thud.“I still don’t get this, Desi.You already have the Ring.Why risk your life again?We should find a buyer, some collector who pays top dollar.”
Desi bit back a reply.How could she explain that the relic was never meant to be sold.That it throbbed with a dark power that could devour any soul who used it?
“Ethan,” she called, gesturing for him to come over.He vaulted over a cooler, landing before her with that easy grin that had steadied her through so many storms.
Desi looked from him to the horizon.“If I don’t come back, I’ve put Daria in charge ofOcean’s Echo.She’s already co-owner in the trust.It’s all legal.”
Camila laughed.“Nonsense.The sea’s flat as glass.You’ll be back before lunch.”She waved a hand as if brushing off a stray thought and went to rinse Desi’s mask.
But Ethan’s smile faded.For an instant, a shadow of knowing crossed his eyes, a quiet sorrow touched with faith.“Whatever God’s will is, Desi.We’ll see each other again, either later today or in heaven.”
She threw her arms around him, breathing in the mingled scents of salt and aftershave.Once she’d thought that life here on Earth was all there was.Now she knew better.This was merely the prologue to eternity.
