I almost miss it entirely.
Looking out at the flaming torchlights bouncing off the rippling bay water, she adds, “Too long.”
My face furrows. I echo her words back to her.
“Here,” she says, then tosses her waterskin to rest on her bag. “Too long in world.”
The nod I give is faint.
It has been a very long time.
Months upon months since I saw the fae walking down the road in darkness, and Ramona was killed.
I feel the sadness come over me, like a weighted blanket around my shoulders.
It feels like a lifetime ago.
“It’s almost over,” I say, and my voice surprises me, how thick and hoarse it is, like I’ve just coughed up a lung.
I reach for Samick’s waterskin beside the satchel. “Just a couple more weeks, and I’ll be back with Bee, and you’ll be… I don’t know, wherever you want to be.”
I drink.
But as I lower the waterskin, I notice that Mika’s face has turned to me—and there’s a small, slick smile painted on her lips.
Just the sight of it crawls over my skin. “What?”
Her smile stays glued onto her glassy face. “You not see friend again.”
A frown creases my face into something incredulous. “What?”
Her shrug is silk and ribbons, just like that smile. “Samick keep you.”
The waterskin sloshes under my tightening grip.
“Samick willkeepme?” I echo, uncertain, a chill rising in my chest. “He won’t take me to her?”
I need to be sure I’m understanding her clearly through her broken English and harsh accent.
But a part of me wishes I didn’t ask.
Because Mika nods, and her smile fades, not with sadness but into something tranquil.
Her gaze slides back to the bay. “Ísalf choose.”
She stares with longing, like all she wants to do is go in the water, wash, or maybe the sight of it reminds her of back home, a place she misses.
But I don’t give two shits about her sadness.
Her words are sinking in—and I’m sinking with them. A cold dread, like liquid metal, pools in my gut.
Then, slowly, my spine slumps, my shoulders droop, and my fingers slip away from the leather waterskin until it drops from my grip.
I fall back onto my bag and stare up at the orange glow pressing against the darkness.
I can only feel my heart beating in my ears. Not fast. Not rapid. Just strong.
The noise of the bay is muffled.
