She rolls her eyes, but her cheeks are flushed pink.
A rock ledge protrudes out of the wall in front of us. We swim for it, and I shift back to help Odi up and out of the water. The cavern ceiling is covered in tiny specks of blue and green, glowing like a sacred tomb. A place where the sea meets the sky.
Odi sucks her breath in. “There it is.”
I spin towards the wall up ahead, to a door, massive and unyielding. And in the heart of it, plain as day is a familiar shaped keyhole.
My eyes find her, wide with wonder. “The treasure.”
SHE IS ME
38
ODELIA
The rock is wet and solid beneath my feet. Water drips from my braid and clothes, darkening it in specks as we approach. It’s quiet. Like we’ve stepped into another world. The cavern is exactly as I remember—smooth stone peppered with pillars that reach towards the ceiling. Nerves swirl in my gut, equal parts excitement and trepidation.
This is it. After everything, we’ve made it.
The door ahead is framed with stone, sealed tight, with an impression in the centre. Rune slips the key from his pocket. The pieces had fit together easily once we had them all, each slipping onto the next. It’s round, like a compass, with a pattern of waves on one side and the imprint of a nautilus shell on the back.
I let him take the lead as we approach. If there are connections to his history, his family, he deserves to find them. He deserves everything. Island after island, we fought for this. Saved each other’s lives for this. Went in by ourselves and only came back out again because of the trust that was forged in each trial.
I can hardly get enough air in as my heart picks up speed. I watch him, looking for the same tumultuous nerves. Only, he stops. I step to his side and find his brow pinched hard.
“What—” I follow his gaze, and realise the problem at the same moment he speaks.
“We’re missing something,” he says.
My stomach bottoms out. He’s right. The shape of the key is perfect, except the one cut out of the door has an extra line that protrudes from the centre. We’re missing a piece.
No.
“But that doesn’t make sense,” I say, a weight settling over my heart and shoulders even as I deny it. “We went to every island.”
Rune presses the key in the recess, to no avail. “You’re sure we addressed all the riddles?”
“I’m sure.”
He’s a calm, windless sea while I am rising panic. “You’re absolutely certain?”
“Yes!” I try to keep the bite out of my voice, but I know the riddles like I know the stars in the sky. “Can I look at it?”
I hold my hand out for the key, though I know it’s useless. Rune hands it over without question. The metal is warm. The wave pattern on the bottom matches the door. It’s the right size. There’s no way we stumbled on the wrong island with a perfectly hidden, locked door. We’ve done everything we were meant to.
I run my thumb over the nautilus shell recess on the other side of the key. I hadn’t missed a riddle. There’s no way. But we’re definitely missing part of the picture.
“Maybe it’s another puzzle,” I say, but there’s nothing else in here, no scales to balance or accidentally slip through. If there are any secrets here, the cavern isn’t giving them up.
Rune sighs. “Let’s head up for now. Maybe the secret is somewhere else on the island. We can set up camp while we figure out what to do next. Check the map again.”
I almost object, as if staying here might change the fact that there’s no clear way forwards. We’re so close, but failure already tries to envelope me in its bitter weight, smothering even my frustration. This can’t have been all for nothing. Rune deserves to make it to the other side of that door.
I hand the key back to him and move to the water, my heart sinking with every step, my mind running though every flooded cavern and abandoned temple. I shouldn’t have let this take me by surprise. Nothing has been as straightforward as it seemed. Rune scoops me up from behind, and I gasp, but settle my head against his chest as he cradles me close.
“We’ll figure it out,” he murmurs into my hair. For just a moment, I let his strength ground me. Warmth and the scent of salt cling to his skin, reminding me of the nights I’ve spent with him.
Then he slips us back in the water, and the sea stone hardly has time to activate before we’re on the other side again.
