Page 53 of Voice of the Ocean

Another.

And at this rate, she was never going home.

Through the wall beside her, Celeste heard a soft knock. She stilled, her hand clamping over her mouth. The knock came again. She pressed her hand against the wall.

Another sob.

Another knock.

She sighed and, at last, knocked back.

Silence.

Then—

Twoknocks.

She sniffed, a ghost of a smile appearing in the darkness. She knocked twice.

Three knocks.

Shouldn’t he be resting?She returned the pattern.

Four.

With a sigh, Celeste realized she couldn’t avoid Raiden after all. There was no privacy on this ridiculous ship. So she wiped her face on her sleeve. And before he could knock again, Celeste slipped from her room and took the two steps to his door.

She knocked. Four times.

He opened the door.

“My hero.” He smiled.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

“Don’t look at me in that tone of voice,” Raiden said.

Celeste laughed despite herself. He looked wretched. Absolutely wretched. And yet this, too, became him. As though the deep circles beneath his eyes and the large bandage around his arm made him appear all the more interesting. His dark curling hair was mussed as if he had just woken up. His smooth skin, although a shade paler than usual, still glowed in the light from the flickering candles around his room. He stood in the door, dressed in nothing but a pair of soft pants. The shirtless male form did not faze Celeste. Siren males often didn’t wear bodices. Many females didn’t either, for that matter. And yet she averted her gaze. Her eyes landed upon the Admiral sitting upon his bed, alert and protective.Clever animal, she thought.

“I’m perfectly fine. Except for being shot.”

Celeste placed her hand to her neck and mimicked being unable to breathe.

“All right,and the drowning,” he added with a smirk.

He took a step back, opening the door wider to welcome her inside. The room behind him was filled with polished wooden furniture. At the back sat a large desk, similar to the navigation room, with scrolls and quills upon it. Beyond that was a wall of windows from which Celeste could see the twilight. Elaborate paintings of ships at sea lined the walls. And at her left was a bed nearly three times the size of her “room,” covered in rich red fabric. All four wooden posts of the bed rose high, carved with depictions of sea creatures. The effect was rather impressive. But none of it gave her any clues to the treasure. Still, she maintained hope as she strode past him into the room. Something had to be here.

As she clutched the wet parchment in her fist, part of her wondered if he did know what his father was planning.That man certainly loves to keep secrets. Raiden wouldn’t risk all their lives for a pile of gold. Would he? Perhaps he was just the selfish, cutthroat human her people believed him to be. She couldn’t tell. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he’d do something to make her question it. He was maddening. And yet he seemed to readherthoughts with a single glance.

“What’s on your mind?” He closed the door behind her with a soft snap.

Celeste crossed to the bed, reaching out a hand to scratch behind the Admiral’s ears. The dog stretched and rolled, offering her his soft belly. She smiled, perching on the edge of the bed beside the silly creature. Raiden waited, his eyes scanning her face. So Celeste handed him the parchment, and he took it without a word. He turned it over in his hands, taking in the blurred text. When his eyes caught on the seal at the top of the page, his jaw clenched.

“Where did you get this?”

She gestured toward his wound.

“Captain Clarke?” He frowned. “Did anyone else see this?”

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