Dane's orca didn't care, but the human part of his soul leaped at the idea. More books! He had already read the handful that he had over and over. He didn't like to ask Eren to bring him something so trivial, although his friend had picked up on his need for entertainment on the island and occasionally brought him an odd paperback now and then. But Eren wasn't a big reader, and Dane thought that Eren didn't really understand how quickly Dane could go through a book when there was nothing else to do.
"Where is it, exactly?" he asked. "In the boat's cabin, I mean."
"Under the berth," Mira said promptly. "It might have shifted when the boat sank. But you'd have to go inside the cabin to get it. I don't think your orca could do it." There was a slight frown on her face as she said it, as if she was still trying to convince herself that the orca story was possible.
"I can try," Dane said. "Maybe in the morning."
He had no intention of waiting for morning; what he planned to do was wait for night. Darkness would be no impediment to his orca's echolocation. And at night, he could take as much time as he needed without having to worry about being interrupted.
At the back of his thoughts, his orca was unsure. Memories of the boat's small confines flickered through his mind.I would do anything for our mate, but I don't know if I can do that.
We'll do it together,he thought firmly. He didn't normally shift to his human form that deep underwater, but he could probably handle it for just long enough to wrestle the locker out of the cabin, where his orca could reach it.
Mira's smile burst out brilliantly. "That would be wonderful. But, I mean, only if it's safe, all right? I don't know a lot about undersea salvage, but I do know that it's dangerous, especially without proper equipment. There's no need to put yourself in danger just to get my books. Promise you won't do anything unsafe."
"I'll be careful." Worried that she was going to press for his exact plans, he changed the subject. "How 'bout a salad with dinner?"
Her bright smile flashed again. "That sounds amazing. All of this looks so good."
They picked lettuce and baby carrots and new pea pods into the bowl that Dane used to carry water to the garden. As they walked down to the cabin, sunlight slanted golden through the trees. The sea was so calm that the soft, ever-present shirring of the surf against the sides of the island was barely a murmur.
"It's so incredibly peaceful here," Mira said quietly. "I keep wondering how you can bear the isolation, and yet it doesn'tfeelisolated. It feels like there's everything that you need here." She grinned. "Well, maybe solar panels and some chickens. But it's really idyllic."
"I like it," Dane said, oddly embarrassed to admit it. The island was only meant to be a place to hide. But hedidlike it.
And thoughts were creeping in around the corners of his mind, dreams of the future that, up until now, he hadn't allowed himself to fantasize about. He was imagining the cabin with a set of solar panels and a generator for bad weather, and a tidy pen with chickens for eggs and goats for milk. He was picturing a bright-colored boat bobbing at its moorings so Mira wouldn't be trapped and could go to the mainland whenever she wanted to visit a store or go to a movie or do whatever else people did when they were living normal lives.
He was picturing the cabin with shelves groaning with books he hadn't read yet, and a brand-new addition so they could have an actual bedroom instead of just having the bed in the main room of the cabin. And maybe a second addition, so they could have another bedroom, with a child-sized bed in it—
No.
He shook himself fiercely out of his daydreams, clenching his teeth. He felt almost ill. He had survived until now by not wanting those things. The moment he allowed these fantasies to take hold of him was the moment when he would start making poor decisions and get himself caught and imprisoned again.
And now, Mira's life was riding on it too.
"Are you all right?" Mira asked. He had stopped in the path, so overwhelmed by his emotions that he had, for a moment, lost track of where he was or who he was with.
"Yes, I'm fine." He sped up his steps. The sunlight was growing ruddy with sunset, the air getting chilly. "We better make that salad before this wilts."
The inadequacy of his pantry bothered him afresh as he tried to find enough different ingredients to make a good meal for her. But there was enough. Together, they made a stew from canned meat and tomatoes and garden vegetables. Mira tossed a salad. They had no proper dressing, but Mira made something astonishingly tasty from the oil and vinegar that he had for cooking, plus a few leaves of herbs that she had gathered from the garden.
"Tomorrow I'll catch some fresh fish," Dane promised.
"I'd love that. But this smells great."
They ate their stew with thick slabs of bread while it grew dark outside the cabin. Inside, the table was lit with the flickering light of the candle.
"You know, I never realized how much people must have slept before they had electric lights," Mira said. "As soon as it gets dark, you find yourself wanting to go to bed." She dropped her gaze. "You know, at some point we're going to have to figure out the one-bed situation. I can't keep stealing your bed."
"I don't mind," Dane said.
"I know, but ..." She dropped her hand; she had been fiddling with the end of her braid, twisting it. "Can't we take turns, at least? Or ... we could share, you know."
Dane's gaze snapped up to hers. There was a pink tint on her cheeks.
"I mean, we're both adults," she went on. "We can be adult about it, can't we?"
No, Dane thought.No, I can't.
