"Does that mean you're okay with it as well?"
"Of course! Just make sure they know the rules."
"What rules?" Keoni asked, curious, and Jacinta smirked.
Crossing his arms over his chest, with a shrewd look on his face, he tapped one finger, then two fingers, then three fingers against his elbow as he listed, "Don't be a dick, don't be a dick, and finally,don't be a dick."
Keoni broke into a peal of bright, cheerful laughter, and even Jacinta's usually inscrutable face broke into a tiny smile. Keoni was like the sun, warming and lighting up everyone in his orbit.
As Keoni and Jacinta devolved into a discussion about if the Sanctuary needed some actual ground rules, I stood back and watched them as the rest of the Ocean residents retreated to whatever they'd been doing before we got there.
While I adored all the residents of the Sanctuary, there were some whom I was closer to, including Keoni and Jacinta.
Without them, I didn't think the Sanctuary would function as well as it did, especially over the last year.
God, I loved these people.
Twenty-Two
Keoni
Since there was ahigh chance the person we were headed to find would be in the water, Zephyr decided to ask Jacinta to come along, while Rei declared she'd stay home. For some reason, she wasn't a big fan of sand. She refused to enter the Ocean or Desert areas, and she wouldn't tell anyone why, not even Zephyr.
Jacinta was waiting for us with a small duffle bag slung over his shoulder when we returned to the Ocean area. Zephyr had let Touya know where we were headed so he could keep the place running smoothly in Zeph's absence.
"Shall we?" Zephyr asked, and I nodded, eager to go. I'd been on the other side of this equation once, and I wondered how it would feel to be to give to someone else what Zephyr had once given to me.
Zephyr opened a portal close to the water, and Jacinta walked through first, and then I followed after him with Zeph bringing up the rear.
"Oh wow," I murmured as a salty wind whipped across my face. We were on a small speck of an island, barely bigger than a city block. Leaves on the palm and coconut trees rustled overhead, and turquoise water crashed into the sand in frothy waves. If I played a recording of this at night, it would put me right to sleep.
What would it be like to live somewhere like this? Just me and Zephyr?
It wouldn't work, I realized before I could get far in my daydream. It wouldn't work for either of us. We both loved our family way too much to ever want to live away from them.
A vacation, though... that could work.
"They aren't here," Zephyr murmured, reminding me of why we were here. Right.
"I'll look in the water. I don't see a camp anywhere, so it's unlikely they come up often," Jacinta said, dropping the duffle by my hooves before diving into the water.
"Has anyone ever said no?" I asked, suddenly realizing that was a distinct possibility.
"A few times," Zephyr answered easily, his eyes on the horizon. I stepped closer to him, leaning into his side, and he wrapped an arm around my waist.
"Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe they weren't ready. Maybe they didn't believe me. I tried to find them again after a while, see if they'dchanged their minds, and sometimes they had. There were a few who never said yes."
I wondered what happened to those people. Were they still out there, all alone? Or had they met an unfortunate fate because no one had their back?
I hoped this person wouldn't say no.
The splash of water—a different kind of splash—made me look to the shore just as Jacinta walked out of the water, his wet hair sticking to his face while his shirt remained dry. Behind him was another person, with short black hair and vibrant blue eyes that matched the water behind them. They were naked and half-hidden behind Jacinta, who extended a tentacle to grab the duffel he'd brought. He pulled out a pair of pants and handed it to the stranger, and he quickly pulled them on.
"This is Zephyr and Keoni," Jacinta said, and I gave the stranger a bright, friendly smile as I stepped away from Zephyr and closer to him. He was stunning, and I knew from a single glance what he was: a siren. I'd only met one siren in my entire life, Mira, but sirens just had this strange shimmer about them. They sparkled like the water when the sun hit them just right, and there was no mistaking what they were.
"Hey! It's so nice to meet you. This place is beautiful. Have you lived here long?"
