Another wave slammed into the boulder, spraying me with cold, salty mist. I took a breath and tried again. My fingers brushed a corner of the bag and then pinched it. With a gentle yank, the bag fell, but my grip didn’t let it go.
“I got you,” I whispered. Happy tears ran down my face as I drew the bag to my side and shuffled back. My mind swirled with the belief that everything in my life was coming back on the right track. Not all was lost.
“What the hell are you doing there?” Hunter shouted, walking toward me.
I lifted the bag, triumphantly. “This is my dad.”
“Just stay there. I’m coming.”
“I’m okay.” I scrambled down, jumping from one rock to another, to the next one, and then?—
Two black snakes with a dark red stripe along their length struck my leg.
Once.
Twice.
A scream tore through my throat. Fear and pain pierced through me like a spear, and then a numbing sensation spread like wildfire over my body. My fingers let go of the bag, and I tried to grab the edge of a rock, but I missed it and stumbled face-first into the sea. Water rushed into my nose, my mouth, and pooled in my ears. The sandy bottom was within my reach, and I knew what to do. I needed to get up, but my arms and legs didn’t respond.
I couldn’t move. I was drowning. An image of Bambi in the storm flashed before me. Her eyes swam with fear when she knew her fate. My throat clogged.
Strong hands yanked me out of the water and carried me to the shore.
“Why would you go there?” Hunter demanded, his voice distant.
Every breath was a struggle.
Was I even breathing?
He eased me onto the sand, then disappeared from view, leaving me staring at the purple skies with amber hues. Hunter reappeared and took my face into his hands.
“Blink if you can hear me.”
I closed my eyes but couldn’t reopen them. My chest was heavy, and at the same time, a sensation came over me like I was falling through space.
“Sydney, goddamnit, look at me!” Hunter shouted.
My eyes fluttered open.
Hunter moved my hair off my face, his eyes full of concern. “Damn you. Don’t scare me like that.” He collected me in his arms, then pushed to his feet and carried me to the hut.
“If you continue getting hurt, I’ll run out of medication before I can send your annoying ass back home.” He lowered me onto the bed and propped my head on the pillow. “Keep looking at me. Watch what I’m doing. Listen to my voice.”
The fear of dying and poison (literally) paralyzed me. Bitten twice. Was it bad? An overdose of venom. I couldn’t deny that, aside from the horror of this situation, I felt weightless and relaxed. My eyes closed again. If death finally found me, this was a peaceful, painless way to go. Well, sort of.
The weightlessness vanished, and I plummeted through the darkness. A flicker of gold flashed like a match struck in the night. The arrows on Hunter’s tattoo caught and sliced my skin on my shoulder, my arm, the side of my torso. My back collided with a three-masted ship topgallant yard. Pain. So much pain. My limp body slid down the topsail. I twisted and turned, my hands grasping slacks, but they slipped through my fingers like sand. I crashed on the cold metal of the magnetic needle of the compass. Nausea threatened to overtake me as the needle spun out of control, making meridian lines blend, but the etched digits of two, three, six, and nine over the cardinal directions flared on the gold sundial.
2. 3. 6. 9.
N. E. S. W.
ChapterFourteen
Blinking in a dimly lit room, I took a breath, expanding my lungs as much as they would go. I wiggled my toes. The fabric rubbing against my skin brought me great relief. I could move. I could feel. I was alive.
Hunter slept next to me on his back, his left hand rested on his chest, and his right arm stretched out and under my neck. The light of a nearby lantern on the nightstand cast a serene glow on his dirty-blond hair and days of stubble. My fingers wanted to trace his face, but I was afraid to wake him, so I allowed my eyes to do it instead. I’d been in his arms yesterday, but sadly, I hadn’t been able to appreciate the touch of his skin to mine.
Stupid snakes. Well, stupid me. My eyes flickered to the green bag with my dad’s ashes safely stowed on the desk by the window. Hunter had rescued it. I smiled and nestled my head into the hollow of Hunter’s shoulder and placed my hand on his chest. Night birds cooed, and the wind sang a lullaby, chaos replaced by peace. I was content.
