"Lucy!" Dane exclaimed, and Mira had the urge to say something completely ridiculous like,You know this griffin?
The griffin abruptly collapsed in on itself and then stood up in the form of a compact, stylish young woman in a bright pink pantsuit. "Dane!" she said happily, and then to Mira's surprise, and apparently to Dane's as well, she bounded across the beach and gave him a hug. "We found you!"
Dane was clearly not a man who received hugs often. He patted her back awkwardly and looked like he would have preferred to push her out to arm's length. "Hi, Lucy. Were you looking?"
"Of course we were looking." Lucy ducked out of his uneasy embrace and held out a hand to Mira. "Hi, I'm Lucy Copeland-Nilsson. Are you Dane's mate?"
"I—guess? I mean, yes. I'm Mira. You know about mates?" But she immediately realized this was a silly question; Lucy was clearly a shifter, so of course she did.
"We found your note in the cabin," Lucy explained, which meant exactly nothing to Mira, but Dane nodded. "And we've been really worried. Then a couple of days ago, Bernie up at the lighthouse got a radio message, and at least we knew what direction to search. I've been doing aerial recon—and actually, I need to call Eren and tell him that I found you so he can come pick you up."
She pulled a large CB radio out of a holster on her belt and extracted the antenna to the maximum reach of her arm. "Eren? Can you hear me? Sorry," she said to the other two. "I think I'm going to have to get higher."
With that, she began scrambling up the rocks.
"That big boulder is the highest point on the island, I think!" Mira called after her. She was unsure if Lucy heard her, but the young woman went up the rocks like a mountain goat, so Mira decided it didn't matter.
Dane put an arm around Mira and kissed the top of her head.
"Eren's your friend from Black Rock Island, right?" she said, looking up at him.
"That's right, and he has a fishing boat. It looks like rescue's close."
"Oh no," Mira said, glancing around their meager camp. "How can I leave all this behind?"
"We can always come back for vacations."
She shuddered. "Sorry, I think I've had all of Casa Bunker that I can handle. I can't wait to get somewhere that has hot running water and shampoo."
* * *
As it turned out, they had a bit longer to wait. Lucy explained that Eren and his boat were still a couple of hours away, and—after asking if they needed anything—flew off to go check in with him.
The boat appeared a while later, a small dark spot on the horizon. Even knowing who it was, Mira felt a clutch in the pit of her stomach at the sight of it.But what if it's them?
It wasn't, of course. The boat chugged closer, and eventually they could make out a small blue-and-white fishing boat. They both waved from the beach, and a small figure on the deck waved back.
"That's theCodfather, all right," Eren said.
Mira laughed; she was well acquainted with fishermen's tendencies to give their boats creative names. Her lightness and delight at finally getting off the island began to fade to worry, however, as the boat grew nearer.
"They're going to have to navigate through the reefs to shore," Mira said anxiously. "And the draft on that boat looks pretty deep. I don't know about this."
"Don't worry. Eren grew up around boats. Nobody's got a steadier hand than he does. You just watch."
Sure enough, the fishing boat navigated the treacherous water around the island with no difficulty. Lucy, standing on the deck, called observations back to Eren in the pilothouse, the two of them working together as a smooth team. Then she tossed down the anchor.
"You're getting good at that!" Dane called up with a grin.
"She's a natural," Eren remarked, coming out on deck behind her. He was a big blond guy with a ready grin. "Are you two ready to end your island retreat?"
"Please," Mira said fervently.
Eren offered her a hand up to the deck. Dane tossed the bag up after her, in which they had packed their trash and everything they needed to take, then gripped the railing and swung himself up with easy grace.
Eren gave him a solid handshake and turned to Mira. "And you're—"
"Dane's mate," she said. "Mira Rivers." She shook his big, callused hand.
