Page 78 of Voice of the Ocean

Calm down.

Then a new voice.

She’s a danger to herself and others.

And suddenly she was nine cycles old again, pressed flat against the wall outside her father’s study. Tears sliding down her face as her teacher, the most recent in a line of many, informed her parents that they could not train her. That she should never sing. That her voice was dangerous. That she was too uncontrollable. Too unstable. Too...human. But after days at sea surrounded by them, being human held new meaning.

I can’t lose them. Not after everything. I can’t lose anyone else.She thought of Sephone, the only one who ever was able to withstand her moods, sent away just as she needed her. Of Maeve and her look of disappointment as she watched Celeste throw everything away for ahumanshe didn’t know. And even though it ruined her life, she’d do it again in a heartbeat. Again and again and again.

At last the knot loosened in her hands. Her fingers flew to the next knot, and the next. And as she finished, Bastian unfurled the rope ladder onto the sodden deck beneath them.

“I found him!”

It was Raiden. Celeste’s shoulders sagged in relief. The Pirate Prince splashed clumsily in the waves as they crashed over him, using all his effort to keep his head above water. But he wasalive. And beside him, a large, limp body floated, supported by his arm.Nasir.From this far away, she couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not.

With newfound speed, Bastian gathered the rope ladder and flung it overboard. It landed with a wet slap against the side of the ship. Raiden pulled Nasir forward, swimming for the ladder. Lightning flashed against a wave gathering behind them, growing in size every second.

“Look out!” cried Torben, but his warning was swallowed by the wind.

The great wave slammed against the ship, swallowing the two men in its path.

No... no... please no.

Celeste’s fingers pulled at her belt buckle.

“Stop! It’s too dangerous,” Bastian said, rushing forward. She didn’t care. The belt fell to the floor at her feet. “Celeste, stop!” Bastian tried again, but Celeste ignored him. She tore her heavy coat from her shoulders and had one foot upon the railing when Bastian’s hands closed around her wrist.

“Enough!” he bellowed. This time his eyes blazed. “Don’t act like you’re the only one who cares about him!” Bastian’s usual calm demeanor cracked. “We can’t sail this ship safely through this current without you. If you drown, we’llalldie.”

Celeste stilled. The thought hadn’t crossed her mind. No one had ever relied on her before. Not like this. All her life she had been the little princess. No one needed her for anything. She was a liability.A danger to herself and others.

All she’d everwantedwas to be needed. To be useful. It hadn’t occurred to her until now. She’d always thought it was some great adventure she was chasing. Some sort ofglory. But it was so much simpler than that.

Celeste let her foot fall back to the floor.

“Oh, thank God,” Bastian said, his anger dissolving. Celeste watched in shock as his shoulders shook and his eyes watered. “I have to get home,” he said through his tears. “I can’t leave them.”

His family. Celeste remembered. Unlike the rest of them, Bastian and Kiyami actually had loved ones to go home to. How could she have forgotten? Only thinking of herself. Of Raiden. She had forgotten about the others.Selfish. Celeste wrapped her arms around Bastian’s shoulders.We’ll get back to them, Celeste told her friend in the way she tightened her grip.

As if he understood, Bastian squeezed back. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“I hate to break up what I’m sure is a wonderful moment...” came a shout from below, breaking the two apart. “But I could use some assistance!”

Raiden.

Celeste’s heart swelled as she looked down and saw him clinging to the rope ladder with Nasir under his arm. Nasir was coughing but awake.Alive. Torben’s men released him, and he leaped into action, racing to the ladder and dragging it up over the deck one rung at a time. Bastian and Celeste joined him, and inch by inch the ladder rose until the two men fell upon the deck of the ship.

Torben swept Nasir into his arms in an instant, pressing his forehead to his husband’s.

“I thought I’d lost you,” the Yenrian whispered.

“They’d have to kill me first,” Nasir replied thickly, still coughing.

Tears gathered in Celeste’s eyes as she watched them. Her instinct told her to stop, as it always did, but it was interrupted by a new thought.To feel is human. The word was no longer an insult. The once barbed weapon she used against herself to punish her frailty had finally lost its teeth.To feel is human. It was—a fact? Atruth. And beautiful.

And then Celeste felt a pair of eyes on her.

She turned and met Raiden’s gaze steadily. He stood at the banister, chest heaving as his white shirt clung to his muscled chest. The same familiar crooked smile hung on his lips as he gazed at her. And the raging world fell away. She stepped forward. Slowly at first, then faster. His smile widened. He opened his arms. And she flew into them. He pulled her close, warm despite the cold ocean water.

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