I have a desperate desire to lean back as she leans close to me.
“A little creature hooted in my ear.” She winks.
“Oh,” I say, then bite my bottom lip.
“What did you do, V?”
“Nothing nefarious. Just informed her the imitation she’s been doing of my kind was wrong.”
I fight off a snort as I pass Lyrica the parchment and pen.
“I hope he didn’t startle you too much.”
“No, of course not. This is the best day of my life. Do you know how many tunes I can make from the pitches of his hoot? I can’t wait to return home and practice.”
She gives me a large smile, then shocks me still as she wraps her arms around me. There’s no one in my line of sight that I can ask for help with my eyes.
“Lyrica, shall we?”
A breath of relief flees me as Otiero steps up and offers her his elbow. With another wink and a giggle, the Goddess of Sound releases me.
“Ms. Godrun,” he says, tilting his head.
“God of Creatures.”
With that, the two of them starshoot off and my shoulders slump as Yemi, Havar, Sevryn, Doren, Seismet, and Verlet surround me.
“Did she just sign as well?” Yemi asks.
“Yeah. Did you all see V talk to her?”
They all shake their heads.
“She kind of wandered off singing and skipping through the grass and we let her be. I never would’ve guessed she was so…”
“Whimsical.” I finish for Havar and everyone chuckles. “I’ll take whimsical over evil any day, anytime.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, our next stop is going to be smooth sailing,” Doren says, raising his eyebrows. “Get it, smooth sailing?”
There’s a beat of silence before everyone bursts into laughter. The sounds settle inside my chest like a comforting blanket.
I do hope he’s right, though.
The closer to tomorrow morning we get, the harder it is to keep up this fake-ass brave face.
I stand at the edge of the shore with my eyes closed as the last warmth of the setting sun brushes against my skin. The tide drifts in and out in slow, steady breaths. The sound wraps around me as the realm quiets.
Salt lingers in the air, grounding and familiar.
For a moment, I let myself sink into the calm, into the rhythm of something that doesn’t demand.
It just exists.
Yet, it’s damn deadly.
The memories of the last time I stood at the edge of this sea play through my mind and I allow them to. That quest feels like it happened an eon ago, yet the emotions, truths, and revelations that came from that trip are still so fresh.
So much has changed since then.
