More hot tears threaten to spill over, the joy and ache twinning together as I read and reread. There are no more answers in the words, so much that’s gone unsaid.
Alive.
And she’d watched me, knew me. I may not have all the answers, but I know this whole time she believed in me as much as I believed in her—and for now it’s enough.
Odi’s hand comes up, gentle, brushing my tear away with her thumb. Her own eyes glisten with emotion, and it's enough to keep me grounded, reminding me that I’m not alone at this moment.
I close the letter against my chest, breathing in deep, letting the tide crash and fall around us. For the first time in a while, I feel seen . . . by the sea, by my mother, and my heart aches at the same time it feels whole.
My arm finds its way around Odi’s waist, tugging her closer into my side as we stand on the shoreline. She fits beside me like she’d been created to. I glance down and watch her fiddle with the necklace in her palm. Then she pauses.
Before I can blink, she’s twisting to look up at me. “Rune, the necklace. It’s—it’s the shape that is missing from the key!”
I feel my eyes widen at her discovery. Shoving the letter and bottle into my trouser pockets, I take it gently from her grasp to view it closer. “We have to go back.”
Time blurs by in our race for the cavern, wild grins splitting our faces when we realise exactly what this means. The cavern yawns before us as we head down the slope. The tide is out, so there is no need to carry Odi through the water. I doubt she’d want me too since the injuries she sustained in the fight are still fresh, especially the slash across her ribs.
I hold my breath as she fits the necklace into the key. It glints faintly under the lowlight, sliding into place with a soft click, belonging there all this time. As soon as it settles, an arm extends from its rounded edge, a puzzle box finally completed.
She meets my eyes, brown and gold, steady with fire. Together, we guide the completed key towards the solid stone door. The ancient lock groans as we press it in, a shudder rolling the ground under our feet.
I offer Odi a grin. “On three?”
She smiles so big, I swear a dimple appears. “Always.”
“One . . . two . . . three.”
We twist.
The door trembles. Stone groaning against stone. I step back, pulling Odi with me. Just in case there is a trap we haven’t accounted for. The great slab parts slowly, the weight of centuries grinding away.
Odi gasps softly. Then my heart swells with awe, spilling onto the cavern floor.
SOMEWHERE WE CAN RUN
42
ODELIA
The island is a speck in the distance.
We’d left my father behind. He and his crew lay bound and prone on the shore, waiting for either luck or the mercy of whoever Rune had invited to collect them. For a blink, Ivor’s acid-gnawed skin and the new, soft thing inside me had made me hesitate, but he hadn’t been interested in final farewells, instead accusing me of being a dog at heel.
Tavi had introducedher heelto his ribs with what seemed like all the stress of the last several weeks, reminding him he’d be leashed at Stonegallows soon enough.
I’d walked away. I’ve waited to feel something, but there’s a void where the fear of him used to be and nothing has rushed to fill the open space. A weight in me has shifted. Balanced. It feels like . . . acceptance.
I trail my fingers over the intricate, splintered railing ofThe Gilded Hart, quietly reassuring her she’d done well. She creaks in response, her bones worn and weary, but not yet quiet. Despite the extra weight, she slices through the waves, gaining speed as we reach open water. Elio shouts ordersfrom the sterncastle deck while Tavi strides through the chaos around me. Bodies work in eager coordination, moving crates of coin and relics to the storage below. Rune picks through them all, collecting old, sealed kelp scrolls and the brittle art stones.
He’s tied up his hair, showing off the sharp line of his jaw and the muscle of his neck and shoulders that flex with every movement. He catches me watching and flashes a smile, and I already know it’s pointless to try and hide how my stomach flips. I would have laughed had someone tried to tell me I’d end up here, preening under the attention of handsome siren royalty.
As if he can read my thoughts, Rune’s eyes turn from playful to invitation, and heat wraps my spine, traveling to my cheeks and to a place considerably lower. The hope that has settled over the crew buzzes under my skin alongside the sudden anticipation, and I laugh, drawing grins from those around me. The treasure held a fair amount of wealth. Even split evenly it’ll be enough that those who step away will never have to sail again, if they choose.
Rune gathers his things and heads to his room, tossing a look over his shoulder that has me caught in his wake.
The door closes before I make it, and the moment I step through, he slams it behind me, careful of the wrapped gash on my ribs as he cages me with his arms and locks it behind us. My back presses into the cool wood. My heart rate spikes as his leg slips between mine and his hands bracket my hips, giving me just a taste of the sweet friction I already ache for.
“I’ve been ready to take you since thebeach,” he says.
