Chapter 25 The Calm Before the Storm #2
By now, Calla was frowning, an edge of worry as she flicked her eyes between Riley and the surface, and Riley took advantage of the distraction.
With a small grin, she captured the pendant between her fingers.
Her grin widened as she tugged on it, and then she kicked with her feet, turned around, and fled.
Her chest convulsed, either from choked-down laughter or lack of air or both, as Riley fought her way back to the surface.
She felt the shift in the current against her legs as Calla followed, stalking after her, and it made her heart race, the skin of her arms tingle and raise in goosebumps.
Her chest burned, the lack of air suffocating, but Riley forced herself to remember all of Calla’s lessons.
She pushed against the weight of the water, using her feet and arms in unison to rise above it, allowing the salt of the sea to buoy her back up.
With a gasp, Riley breached the surface, and laughed.
Not a full breath passed before Calla followed, the lines of her face tight with restrained anger. She grabbed Riley’s shirt, and their bodies collided.
Riley laughed again, her fist tight around Calla’s necklace.
“I do not tolerate thieves on my ship, Riley,” Calla said between her teeth.
Riley grinned. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” she said. “But we’re not on your ship right now. Captain.”
Calla’s grip twisted in Riley’s soaked shirt, tightened, bringing them closer together, and Riley had to keep herself from sighing in delight. Fuck the crew, she wanted Calla to touch her again.
“Give it back,” Calla said, equal parts warning and amusement. Her voice was harsh, but it didn’t bite.
Riley’s stomach fluttered. “What will you give me in return?” she asked, biting her lip.
Calla’s eyes glanced down. Again. As they always did. They were both panting softly, their breaths mingling in the air between them. And they were flush against each other, so close Riley could feel Calla’s every inhale, the tension in her body, her shiver as she rasped, “What do you want?”
Riley didn’t wait to be asked twice. “Kiss me,” she said.
Calla’s mouth was on hers before the words were fully out of her lips, and it was hungry.
Calla kissed her as if they were deep underwater, and she needed Riley’s breath to stay alive.
It was hard, deep, and consuming. It made Riley’s toes curl and dragged a soft moan from the very depths of her.
When Calla pulled back, Riley was so dizzy with it she didn’t even think twice before pressing the necklace back into Calla’s palm.
And then, her world tumbled upside down.
Riley wasn’t sure what was happening, except that one moment she was in Calla’s arms, breathless with the heat of her kiss, and the next she was under the surface again, gasping lungfuls of water as she struggled to understand which way was up and which way was down again and there was a dull ringing in her ears, like panic, reminding her of the storm, of when she nearly drowned, except now she was breathing in the water and–
She was breathing?
Riley blinked, stilling under the surface, and dragged in one full breath. And then another. The water flowed through her, cool and wet in her throat and lungs, and then out, and she was–breathing.
A strong grip on her shirt pulled her back up to the surface, and she was suddenly pinned under those cool, concerned eyes.
“Are you alright, Riley?” Calla asked, cupping her cheeks, and all Riley could think to do was nod. “I should have them whipped for this,” Calla grumbled to herself, and only now did Riley look around them.
The crew had joined them in the water.
Pip, Nyxen, Thorian, Gadrielle, and others. Splashing and shoving each other underwater, and filling the night with the sounds of their laughter.
When Nyxen caught her eye, he grinned at her. “We couldn’t let you have all the fun.”
“Yeah!” Pip said, shaking droplets of water out of his dripping hair, his anger with them apparently forgotten. “Captain never gave any of us private lessons. We felt like we were missing out!”
Riley and Calla looked at each other, and then they laughed. A warm, peaceful sensation fell over her like a blanket, and it felt an awful lot like belonging. If Sable had been there with them, Riley would’ve wanted for nothing else.
***
Riley’s chest was still full of laughter by the time they all found their way back on deck.
And then it sizzled out like a wet flame, because Eryx was approaching them, and they looked–wrong.
Eryx looked all wrong. Usually their demeanor was mild, aloof, but now they were wringing their hands together as Calla and Riley and the rest of the soaked crew halted to a stop.
“Eryx?” she asked, frowning. “What’s wrong?”
Eryx only grew more uncomfortable. Without a word, they pulled out the compass, opening its lid for them to peer at.
Riley’s stomach dropped.
The compass was swinging wildly. It wasn’t pointing anywhere anymore.
Brushing past her, Calla grabbed the compass out of Eryx’s hands, and stared at it.
Riley’s heart beat wildly in her chest, battering itself against her ribcage as if it wanted to break free. She didn’t understand. She didn’t want to understand. “What’s wrong with it?” she asked in a rush of air.
Eryx rubbed the back of their neck and shuffled their feet. “I think… I–”
Calla’s gaze snapped to them, colder and more striking than ever. “Out with it.”
“I think we’ve lost them.”
Riley shook her head.
No.
That wasn’t right.
It couldn’t be right.
“What do you mean, lost?” Calla asked, low.
Eryx shrugged their shoulders helplessly. “I don’t know, captain. The compass has either stopped working or the Heart’s–gone. Destroyed? I don’t know. I just know this means it’s nowhere we can reach now. It’s gone.”
The compass’ lid closed with a snap. Calla’s face did not betray a hint of expression as she looked out at the water again. Somewhere in the distance.
A long moment passed. Then, slowly, Calla’s gaze fell on Riley. Riley didn’t know what Calla saw there–panic, maybe–but her features tightened with a decision made.
“Wake up the rest of the crew,” she told Eryx. “We're going into that storm.”
“Captain?” Eryx asked, wide-eyed.
“You heard me,” Calla said, and headed for the helm with a subtle nod in Riley’s direction.
As Riley watched Calla take her place at the helm, the churning in her stomach eased. Calm settled in her chest, in her limbs, in her mind. Because Calla knew as well as Riley did that Sable wasn’t gone.
And Riley loved her for it.