Page 81 of Voice of the Ocean

“Almost there!” Bastian cried.

But the ship was not righting itself. It tilted further left, its port side dipping lower with each passing moment. Raiden’s jaw clenched, and he grunted, using all his weight to turn the wheel. Still nothing. Waves slapped the side of the ship, washing over the side and onto the deck.

Celeste’s feet began to slip. The floor beneath them was tilting. Its angle grew with each second. Her free hand found Raiden’s arm as she attempted to steady herself. But he was sliding too.

His eyes went wide. “We’re capsizing!”

Another wave hit the side of the ship, knocking them both to the deck. They tried to find their feet again, but the ship was now slanted at a forty-five-degree angle. Crew members screamed. The cries of doomed men. Celeste and Raiden plunged down toward the roaring black ocean below. Raiden’s arms wrapped around her waist. They jerked to a stop, the ropes that bound them to the ship pulled taut.

“Celeste? Are you okay?” Raiden’s voice was in her ear.

She nodded. But it was a lie. With no one at the wheel, the ship had no chance to right itself. It tilted further. Sinking. Celeste looked around her for the crew and saw them clinging to the ship, fear in their eyes. Nasir gripped Torben’s arm in one hand, the other wrapped around the railing. Bastian was nowhere to be found.

“Baz!” Raiden cried out. “Where is Bastian?”

Torben pointed to a rope. The end of it sank into the waves below.

Raiden cursed. “And Kiyami? Kiyami’s below!” It was too late. No one could do anything to help her.

Setting his jaw, Raiden looked toward the spinning wheel above them. “Hang on, love,” he whispered into her ear.

Celeste wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as his arms released her. Raiden gripped the rope holding them in place and hauled them upward, fist over fist. A wave crashed over them, leaving them gasping. Raiden’s arms shook. Beneath them, water poured over the deck and into the hold. Half the ship was already submerged. They inched toward the wheel, Raiden grunting with the effort.

“It’s too late, Captain!” Nasir cried. “We can’t right it! The ship’s going down!”

“I can fix it,” Raiden insisted, releasing one hand to reach for the rope above. They were only a body’s length from the wheel now. But his grip slipped. The two went sliding several feet. Raiden cried out as his hand burned against the rope, stopping them short and sending them swinging.

“No!” he grunted, but Celeste could see the fight leave his eyes as he gazed at what was left of his crew. They looked back to him, waiting for orders. For him to save them from what was surely a watery grave.

“Abandon ship!” Raiden called.

Celeste’s stomach twisted painfully at the words. Surely he couldn’t be serious. They would die. Be swept into the current and drowned.

Around them the crew began to move, to untie themselves. Celeste shook her head.

“Celeste, there is no other way,” Raiden said, his voice unnervingly gentle. “The ship is too far gone. If we stay any longer, we risk being dragged down with it.”

Still, she resisted. There had to be another way. This couldn’t be the end. He couldn’t just give up like this. They had almost made it to the wheel.

“Take your rope off,” Raiden ordered.

Fine. With one arm still wrapped around Raiden, Celeste reached for the rope at his hips.

“No,” he said, eyes hard. “I’m going down with my ship.”

All the air left her lungs.No...

“I won’t abandon my ship again,” he said. “I’ll hold you while you get the knot undone. You need to hurry. The next wave will?—”

Celeste cupped his cheek in her hand, and tears sprang to her eyes. Her captain, who lived with the knowledge of all the people he’d led to their deaths. Cursed with a doomed mission from his father. She pressed her forehead against his. Rain slid down their faces. The ship lurched.Would any of the others make it? Was Kiyami already lost?Raiden’s arms pulled her closer against his warm chest, fingers pressing into her skin. Holding her. Saying goodbye.

“Please, Celeste. You need to get away.”

His hands reached for her rope, and he began to pull apart the knot. Tears fell down her cheeks in streams. She wrapped both arms around his neck.I can’t let him go, she thought, anger weaving into her grief.Not after everything we’ve done. Everything we’ve sacrificed.But her power as a siren was useless here. She couldn’t sing the sea into submission. Only the Goddess could do that.

Could she sing to him? Convince him to remove his rope and let them both take their chances in the sea together? But even as she thought it, she knew Raiden would never forgive her. He wished to go down with his ship. He’d hate her for taking this final stand from him. And she couldn’t live in a world where he hated her.

She couldn’t live in a world without him either.

---