The beast was beyond words as he held onto her like she was his life raft in the streams of sand. “We’ll meet you at the ship,” Reece called since these two—about to be separated during a dangerous time—clearly needed a second.
The rest of us made our way onto the docks. The ochre and gold sands swirled and pulsed about three feet below our platform. It had been a long time since I’d seen a sand river, and as I stared into the tumultuous depths, I felt a ridiculous sense of home.
"Missed it?" Reece’s warm drawl reminded me that he was the bastard who’d stolen this stream from me. For a beat I was tempted to push him in, only there was no time for pettiness.
"Not for a second," I said baldly, meaning not one word.
He called me out straight away. "Liar. The circle around your iris darkens to a deep pink when you're sad. No matter how well you've schooled your face, I can always tell."
Dammit. This fucker. "You don't know me anymore," I snapped, feeling trapped. "Don't presume you do."
I strode away, but I heard his last words. "I know everything about you, Lale. Everything."
Whether that was true or not, the real question was… how the hell could I survive multiple moons on this ship with him?
29
The rivers of the Desert Lands varied in colors. The ones that led off this fast-moving sand waterway were ochre like the Ostealon. As we crossed the docks, moving to where all the big, golden vessels waited, I noted that the swishing and swirling of the sands below was growing stronger. Generally, this part—the bay before the rivers—should be relatively calm, but this moon it was wild.
Tsuma’s stolen energy was already stirring the tides as it swelled deep in the power that ran below the deserts. As we all stared, a creature leapt out of the sands as if trying to escape their new fury.
Mera and Shadow had caught up at this point, and my friend almost fell off the docks at the sight of the dark red, heavily boned beast diving deep. "What was that?" she gasped when Shadow caught her and pulled her back. “It almost looked like a skeletal dolphin.”
"It's anechinat," Reece said, his gaze focused on the vessels as he used his years of expertise to find the fastest and most stable ship for this mission. "It's scary to look at but is harmless."
"It has no external flesh," Lucien explained, leaning out from the docks too. “I remember the first time I saw one in a sand bay near Reece’s home; I near jumped out of my damn pants.”
Even Reece managed a laugh, despite his focus, as he pushed us further into the shipping docks. “The bony exoskeleton protects the internal components. So it looks like a skeleton, but that’s just the shell."
Mera's eyes grew wider as she tried to lean out from the ochre dock again, its compacted sands holding her with ease. Shadow didn’t care though, reaching out to grasp onto the back of her tunic to keep her from tumbling forward. "Not too close, Sunshine. If we're lucky, one will jump while we're travelling."
That seemed to mollify Mera, who fell back into line behind the rest of us.
When we were about halfway through the hundreds of ships, Reece ground to a halt. “Oh, yes,” he said softly. “I was hoping she’d be here.”
Peering around him, I saw a huge vessel, tinted both red and gold, indicating this was a Rohami ship. "The Odessa,” he told us, “is one of the fastest ships in the world, and since I have full permission to use whatever is available… let’s get onboard.”
"Like you care about permission," I muttered, thinking of all the shit I’d seen him get away with over the years.
My words had been too soft for most to hear, but when his lips twitched, I knew he’d caught my comment. But… whatever. It wasn’t like he was unaware of my thoughts toward him. I did manage to keep further comments to myself, though, as I followed him down a ledge designed to give us access to the side of the ship.
I’d been on a few of these transports before, but nothing the length or breadth of the Odessa. When Reece stopped about halfway along the dock, he said, "This long, sleek shape is how she's so fast. But with the addition of a slightly deeper hull, we can plow through the more treacherous conditions of the East River."
“Especially once that energy really swells into full force,” Len added, his concerned gaze on the rowdy sands edging up the side of the docks.
"How do we get onto it?" I asked.
From what I could see, the ship was anchored by two streams of energy, one off the front and another at the back. I could use my wings and ferry everyone over, but there had to be another way for the wingless Desertlandians.
"We use this platform," Reece said, leaning down and retrieving a large board I hadn’t noticed hanging over the side of the dock, attached through energy streams like those holding the ship.
The platform was heavy and solid, made from the same hard material that had lined the dance floor in the main tent, and Reece showed no strain as he spun the long length around and placed it into a small groove etched into the side of the boat. The other end landed on the dock itself.
"All aboard," he said, jerking his head to indicate we should get moving.
Since I was the closest, I hurried up the platform, adjusting my stance to move with the sands lifting the ship. It was an odd sensation as my center of balance shifted constantly, but I figured it out fast and, in no time, was up on the deck. Moving out of the way, I marveled at how the pamolsa oil and sand created a waterproof but nonslip surface, the shiny length filling this level of the huge vessel.
This world might prefer its lack of “technology” but that didn’t make them primitive.
