Page 73 of Voice of the Ocean

“Yes, Captain.” Nasir nodded.

The captain stood and broke away from her, striding toward the quarterdeck. “Kiyami, turn due west,” he said, expression hard.

Bastian frowned. “West? But we need to head south if?—”

“We don’t have a choice,” the captain interrupted. “We can’t risk Valencia following us there. If we head west, we can be sure she’s not behind us before changing course. It will mean l-losing time, but—” His face fell as the reality of the situation landed upon his shoulders.They weren’t going to make it in time.

Somehow this fact made Celeste feel incredibly guilty. The crew would have to waste precious hours evading Valenciabecause of her. They’d all gotten away unharmed this time. Would they be so lucky again if Valencia and her crew caught up to them? Raiden could have taken off and gotten a head start. The crew didn’t have to come back to save her. Not to mention sailing due west would lead them directly into Starian waters. Into the very heart of her territory.

A sharp sting brought Celeste back to Nasir, who had opened his small medical pack on his lap and was now applying some sort of burning liquid to her cut.

“I’m sure I’ll figure something out,” Raiden said, his familiar mask of confidence and bravado firmly in place. “And then we can all go our separate ways with riches and renown. Like I promised.” But as he turned for the navigation room, Celeste saw his face fall. And she knew as surely as the tide rose and fell that he was lying.

CHAPTERTHIRTY

“Hello, Wayfinder,” Raiden said, his voice a caress. He didn’t so much as look up as Celeste entered the navigation room. He stood at the back of the room. Head bent over a map as a solitary candle burned low on the desk beside him. “A little late. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Itwaslate. As usual, Celeste hadn’t been able to sleep. All but the night crew had gone to bed, and she sat awake, staring out at sea for hours as her mind grappled with what to do next. Until at last her legs brought her here. To him. For she couldn’t leave him alone in here to wallow any longer. She knew he didn’t have a plan for getting them to Lunapesce in time.

But she did.

Still, she hesitated.Can you trust him?

Nothing was stopping her from leaving him now. She had all she needed. She could return to Staria and be welcomed back. All she had to do was put her dagger in his heart and finish the job. Yet she knew she couldn’t—wouldn’t do it. Not now that he’d thrown everything away to save her.

And even if she did end his life herself, his ship was sailing straight toward Staria. She couldn’t leave the crew to that fate. How she wished she knew more words to write on the parchment.Turn around, she’d write.You’ll doom them all to your former crew’s fate. He had said in the hallway to Bastian that what had happened before wouldn’t happen again, but he didn’t know what she knew. He obviously didn’t know that the run-in with sirens was not an accident. It would happen again unless she stopped it. All these people on the ship—Bastian, Torben, Kiyami, and Nasir—would surely perish if she didn’t find a way to help them cross the siren waters safely. Something had to be done.

But can you betray your people again?That was the real question.

Although she trusted the captain not to hurt her, he was still his father’s son. The King of Pirates had murdered her grandmother. The siren she was named after.But I want to trust him.

Raiden looked up after her long moment of silence, so she shrugged and pointed to her mouth.

“Ah, words evading you?” he asked, reading her perfectly as usual.

But this time it grated on her. She felt heavy, as if a weight dropped into her stomach. If she trusted the humans and something happened to the sirens, she could never forgive herself. She could practically hear her sister Sephone’s voice in her head. The voice of reason.This is a bad idea, little star. Just make up a lie and send them off in another direction.

“Myfathersent us on this trip... I’m sure you’ve already gathered that much.” He sighed. The way he said the wordfatherwas curious. It didn’t sound resentful. Moreweighty. As if the word itself were the tip of an iceberg, and the mass of it could not be seen. “He told me I had to bring him the treasure on that island. But after stopping for supplies and having to lead Valencia astray”—he ran his hand through his hair—“we’re not going to make it in time.”

She, too, yearned to know what lay upon that sacred island. What secrets she could uncover. Even if she did as her mother wanted and killed Raiden, it wouldn’t change anything. The Pirate King knew of the siren’s existence and where Lunapesce was. She wasn’t fool enough to believe that his son’s death would stop him. The king would continue to send humans until he got what he wanted. But ifsheled their crew there—a crew who proved to her just how much they cared—perhaps she could protect the most sacred of the treasures from the king. Perhaps everyone could get what they wanted, and no one had to die. Maybe there was a way she didn’t have to pick a side. It was probably naive to think so. But if she could have everything she wanted, wouldn’t it be foolish not to try? Could she live with herself if she didn’t?

Approaching the desk, Celeste let her eyes roam over his face, taking in his creased brow and downcast eyes.

“Perhaps it’s time to admit I’ve failed again.” His voice was like the sound of a door being closed in the dead of night, low and quiet. The echoes of the crew he lost filled the room, suffocating them. She could see his desire to make his father proud plain on his face. It was the same feeling she had when she promised her mother to return to Staria.

Celeste stepped around the desk, coming to a stop at his side. Their bodies were so close she was certain he could hear her heart beating. She wanted to reach out a hand, to place it atop his and squeeze in some semblance of comfort. Anything to reassure him. To bring them closer. But the moment felt too delicate. And she was too afraid to ruin it. Raiden’s shoulders slumped. “He’s”—his voice wavered—“he’s all I have left.”

A crack emerged in his dark armor, giving her a glimpse of the man beneath. She’d glimpsed behind the confident and cool exterior he often wore, but this was different. As she looked at him, Celeste felt a piece of her own armor fall away. Their eyes met, and it was as if she could finally read him as easily as he did her. They weren’t so different. Not really. He may be human and she a siren, but they both just wanted to belong. She understood how it felt to not fit into the role you were given. Her hand found his upon the map. Then his fingers entwined with hers, squeezing them as though she were a lifeline.

And her heart broke. Because she knew she could take this pain away.

If she were only brave enough to trust him.

To reveal the pattern of the currents would be to hand the humans a powerful weapon against the sirens. No human had encountered it and lived. And even among sirens, only Chorus members knew it. If she told this man about the way through the siren waters... what would he do with that information?Would he use it against them?And it would be dangerous. Not only would they still be crossing through Staria but the ships were not built to withstand such currents.

But if she planned it right, by the time the Chorus discovered their ship, they’d already be gone.

Raiden drew closer, her shoulder pressing into his arm. The smell of him—salt and rum and leather—surrounded her. In all her wildest dreams, she wouldn’t have pictured this. How beautiful he was. Not just his dashing good looks, which were obvious to anyone. Buthim. His sense of humor, his loyalty, the way he took the time to really see her, like no one ever had. He was violent, arrogant, infuriating, and guarded. But tonight the things that separated them felt less important than the things that made them the same.

---