Page 76 of A Wrecking of Salt and Fire

The air thickened even more, it felt damp and soothing and ticklish along her now cooling skin. Her chest began to move at a more normal speed, and she fluttered her eyes open, adjusting to the darker tone of the room. It no longer burned with the light and fury of a star in the night sky.

“Thank you,” Katrin said, her voice still breathy. She slowly released the grip on the dresser, where handprints now lay singed into the faded wood.

“I guess congratulations are in order.” Ander faked a slight grin, but his brows were still threaded closely together.

“There’s nothing to congratulate me on. I—I can’t control it. There’s too much built up anger and resentment for what is happening on Cyther. The only person who ever helped me was my mother.” Her head hung low. “And you know what’s happening to her—what happened to her. What good is being a god if I can’t even help the people I love?” Katrin did not mean to crack at that moment. Did not mean for the words to flow out of her with tears streaming so hard her eyes felt raw and burned.

Ander turned somber, his hand reaching out for hers. “You are helping the people you love, Starling. More than you even understand. You are fighting for the cause, for peace, for the little bit of good that is left in this world. You are elpís, you are hope. And Kora—Kora is not dead, I promise you that.”

Katrin’s eyes began to itch as the salty tears continued cascading over her cheeks. She felt the captain’s thumb grazing below her eye, wiping away the little drops of agony she had let loose.

He should not have promised that. Could not promise that. Katrin had seen the golden bangles upon her mother’s wrist, and had felt a strange lure and pulse coming from them. Now she knew why, what they did, what pain they could cause.

The princess collapsed to the floor, her body convulsing so uncontrollably she thought she might actually die from the pain. “Even if that’s true, Ander, how can I really help if I can’t use the only thing I have without burning down everything around me? I’ve only ever seen flickers of the starlight, once in the alley with those men, and once—well once when I was very angry at you.”

“Is that so?” Ander seemed to grin, an odd response to knowing she wanted to singe him to ash. But the smile was a distraction, one that caused her trembling hands and heaving shoulders to still.

“You can ask Thalia about that one…I think I scared Mykonos right out of her slumber in your quarters.” Katrin’s face scrunched. She stared up at Ander’s sea-torn eyes and her breathing began to regulate. The princess needed to focus on him, on something other than the feeling of utter helplessness that clawed in her mind.

“I see. I guess that explains the burn marks on my favorite chair,” he chuckled.

Katrin squeezed her eyes shut once more. “Sorry.” She was almost embarrassed remembering the moment—almost.

“Well that is pretty easy to fix—the power that is, not the chair. Unfortunately, that was an heirloom of my family. Don’t fret, we just need to find your point of focus. Something that grounds you.”

“Like a mantra?” Katrin asked. She had used those before to calm her anger, to lull mind back into focus.

“No, this has to be much more personal. Something that could lead you through the darkest of nights. The only thing that will always give you a glimmer of hope, even when all feels like it’s lost. Your northern star.”

“Like home?”

“Yes, Starling. Something that makes you feel home.”

An odd feeling washed over her. A memory maybe, or a familiarity with the words she spoke. Something clawed at the recesses in her mind, but she could not make it out, could not remember why her heart tugged just a little at what he said. Northern star.

“How do you know so much about controlling powers?”

A vein in Ander’s neck twitched, his mouth shifting to the side for a moment. “I had a friend once. God born, like you. He struggled with letting his emotions get the best of him. Got too cocky in his ability and wielded power with no restraint. When you do that—one of two things happens, you either burn out or the power begins to take over. You no longer control it, it controls you. He retreated into a very dark place for a while, until—well until he had a reason to fight back. Until he had some—something to fight for.” His expression went glassy as he stared out the window.

“And this friend of yours? Where is he now?”

“Lost—he is lost at sea.” Ander’s eyes darkened a mix of swirling blue and silver as he clenched his fists so tightly Katrin thought he might pierce his own skin.

“I am sorry to hear that,” she replied, laying her palm against his back, feeling as his muscles tensed beneath her. He reached for her hand, intertwining his fingers in hers.

“I am sorry too.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Kohl

They were close. Kohl could feel it in the depth of his bones, like a song crying out for his ears only. Skiatha and The Prince of the Lost Isles. He would leave them all in ruin.

A tug continued pulling low in his gut. Of regret. Of desperation. For his father’s men who had not stood a chance against the vicious creatures of the deep.

Kohl was still grateful for whatever force allowed him to remain on the ship, to avoid a fate many sailors must face when traveling by those jagged shores. For allowing him to make it this far, this close to finding Katrin, whatever state she may be in. He kept the compass tucked away in his pocket, away from prying eyes and sticky fingers. Its low hum and light heat grazing against his hip, a continuous reminder of the power thrumming in the small device. The wonder it could cause when little bits were released. A shroud to encompass The Hydra as it sailed through the wards and the veil surrounding the isle that should not exist.

Thick fog lifted from the sea below them, burning off as the day dragged on. Kohl remained on deck as the view before them came into focus. There was only sea by endless sea. A glassy crystalline turquoise blue. The calming color of the seas he would see around Alentus, not what he expected here. Twinkling light radiating off the waves as they peaked and rolled toward nothingness.

---