Inu shook her head. “Only the gods know.”
“A similar sentiment is stated here that Ra`n chooses–she’s a Norse goddess said to control the sea,” Dilly said.
“Guess Oscar wasn’t up to par.” Val chuckled.
Oscar shot her his middle finger, but I had more pressing concerns than their bickering.
“What does that mean for Rose?” I asked.
Dilly shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but whoever wrote this book knows. I think the answer is in Angra do Heroísmo.”
“What creatures are we likely to encounter on the way, and what is the risk to Rose?” I asked.
“Storm Mares potentially. Near the Azores is rumoured to be a fire serpent, but usually it precedes a volcanic eruption, so let’s hope we don’t see that. There is also the Mist of the Enchanted Isles, but again, those usually precede a terrible ship-killing storm, so I'm hoping not to see that.”
“Excellent,” Oscar murmured. “If we see something, then we die. Excellent prognosis considering we are travelling with a mysterious magnet of a human being.”
In answer, Koinu released a bellows from behind the ship.
“I think he was offended,” Val whispered.
“Which proves my point,” Oscar said.
“Aye, but you're just jealous you weren’t chosen as a mysterious magnet,” she countered.
“Keep searching,” I told Dilly.
I was done having my bed held hostage by a cat.
Val and Oscar continued to bicker beneath the flickering light of lanterns, but I’d had enough of people and everything that came with them for tonight.
The cabin I now shared with Rose was somehow warmer and more like a home since she had implanted herself into it. I opened and closed the door as quietly as the creaking wood would allow, but truly, I doubted a tidal wave could have woken her.
She lay bundled beneath a thick array of blankets, her brown hair scattered over her pillow in rebellion. She was breathtaking. It would have been a perfect image if her arms hadn’t been tightly wrapped around a grey blob of cat that was staring at me with those eerie green eyes.
They were truly reminiscent of Edmonds, and I was beginning to think the answer to both of them was wrapped up in each other. Whatever lived inside them was a cousin to the other. I was never a man who was desperate for answers, but these past few days, they were all I could think of.
Answers meant keeping Rose alive.
That was the only truth I needed.
“Out,” I ordered the cat.
Whatever he heard in my voice made him obedient for the first time ever as he crawled out of Rose’s arms and thumped to the ground in a huff of irritation.
I took off my boots and stripped off salt sea clothes, sliding in beside her. She didn’t hesitate to scoot herself against my chest, breathing a sigh of contentment as she rested her head.
“You’re grumpy,” she whispered.
“You’re supposed to be asleep,” I said.
“You kicked out my cat.”
Fair enough.
“Sorry for the inconvenience,” I said.
She hummed in agreement.
