It was a question he very much wanted to know the answer to himself.
“That’s none of your business,” Genna snapped. “Focus on your Captain’s problems.”
Quint blinked several times, baffled by Genna’s outburst. Toran bit his lip to keep from grinning. He couldn’t recall a time someone had ever spoken to Quint in such a manner. No one had a problem with Quint. His best friend was the most agreeable, well-mannered person he’d ever met. And Genna was…not.
He twisted the end of his shirt, sending a stream of water onto the dock. Nothing had gone exactly as planned today.
“There has to be another way,” he said. “Something we missed. The Witch has been around for centuries, and no one’s found a way to subdue her? I don’t believe that.”
“Aeos was our best shot,” Quint reasoned. “They’re the only country that has been in support of the Witch from the start.”
Genna uncrossed her arms to hold a finger out. “I’m not sure I’d call wanting to use her power ‘support.’ ”
Toran nodded. “Regardless, you would think the Aeosch would have been the ones to do it.”
“You have to face facts,” Genna said. “The Witch only has one weakness. We’re lucky we know about it.”
Beside him, Quint was frowning. Toran could see the way his thoughts stirred behind his eyes. “What is it?”
Quint looked over to him. “I was thinking about what Nes said to you before she left.”
“You heard us?” Toran couldn’t help the blush rising up his neck at the thought.
“Something seemed off when the three of you returned to the docks. It’s part of my job to watch out for you, Toran.”
He met Quint’s gaze, and though neither of them said it, he could hear their usual call and response all the same.
What are you looking for?
You.
“Congratulations. You are an admirably loyal eavesdropper,” Genna said. “What’s your point?”
“She said the Witch ‘is magic,’ ” Quint explained. “What if we’re looking at this all wrong?”
“How so?”
“The Witch is drowned in the ocean because we know only by submerging her completely can she be killed. But we also know pure magic can be diluted with seawater—its potency lessened, so to speak. Maybe we should be trying to find a way to do the same to the Witch.”
Toran turned Quint’s words over in his head. They made sense. If pure magic could be diluted, then it stood to reason the Witch could be weakened in a similar way.
“You think there’s a way to use the ocean against the Witch? Other than killing her?” Genna asked.
“Not the ocean,” Toran said, Loriana’s written words returning to him. “Butsomethingto use against her.”
“Like what?”
“Like real siren hair.”
“Real siren hair?” Genna scoffed. “Toran, I think you swallowed a bit too much seawater when we tipped.”
He frowned, turning to Quint.
“I hate to agree, but what you’re proposing is impossible,” Quintsaid. “Sirens are notoriously difficult to hunt down, even more so than the Witch. They live deep in the ocean and rarely surface.”
“The only time they’re known to surface is after a shipwreck to collect the dead,” Genna pointed out.
Like Loriana’s.
