Page 137 of The Sea of Zemira (The Zemiran Chronicles 1)

She was all alone with him. Completely.

“Are your men joining us?” she asked, sitting down on the sand, leaning against a piece of driftwood.

Elijah shook his head. “I do not have the right to put men in danger when I can do something myself. They will stay there off the shore, and you and I will go get the weapon.”

The siren scrunched up her face and placed her hand against her hip, hiding the fact that she was looking for the satchel. To her relief, it was wrapped around her slim waist, keeping the ruby safe and hidden.

“This is Crotona, isn’t it?” Nola asked as she looked back at him.

The sky was gloomy; only the moon reflected off the water, giving her a short moment of serene peace. The shore itself was wide-open, minus a few overgrown palm trees leaning into each other. And other than the quiet whisper of the waves colliding with the sand, the atmosphere was nearly soundless. There was no buzzing from insects or chirps from birds within the trees. It was as if no life resided there.

Nola’s eyes again looked back at Elijah’s brooding features. His messy hair and dirt-stained clothes caught her a bit off guard, given how tidied-up he appeared the last time she saw him. However, even the darkness did not hide his beauty.

A large bag draped over his left shoulder, partially opened. At the tip, stuck out part of a bow.

My father’s bow, she assumed. The one he bargained for at the market for a meaningless conversation with me.

Elijah huffed. His steely blue eyes gave her a piercing stare. It was a gaze that sent chills up her spine and would not break.

“It’s going to get dark soon; we won’t be able to see. We need to get moving. Get up!” the prince said again when she did not move. His hand reached out.

“You think this is the way, Elijah?” Nola’s voice wavered, not acknowledging his hand. “What exactly do you think is going to happen here?” She got up on her own, but not because he was ordering her to do so, but she felt an object press sharply into the bridge of her back.

She turned to look down. A seashell stuck through the fine, jet-black sand.

We are on Crotona Island,she thought. We are going to die here.

She looked over to the rocks lining the water coming to a steep rocky path.

He sighed. “In and out, and then you can return to your pirate.”

Elijah’s words caused panic to clutch at her chest. “Lincoln—”

He held up a hand. “I know who he is,” he said, “And no, I did not hurt him.”

She swallowed.

He could be lying, she thought.

Nola glanced at him; Elijah’s expression was entirely unreadable. His sullen eyes told one story, but his cynical grin said another.

He wants me to fear him,the siren thought.

“May I ask you something?” she said.

He nodded—still, no words but a somber grimace over his lips.

“How did you know about the ruby, or—”

“Key?” he interrupted.

The siren gave a brief nod. “What is it to you?”

“When a pirate does your dirty work, you have many eyes and ears out in the sea. Wentworth used to have a map before the famous Captain “Dragon” Lincoln stole it from him.” He stepped closer to her, but she did not move back. “My birth mother’s ancestors charmed the ruby. I’m connected to its power, and it is that power that will guide me to the weapon needed to activate it.”

He pointed to where the satchel was under her shirt. Nola’s face blushed.

He knew where it was all this time! She thought.

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