Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Walking through the tunnels back to the ship is the slowest I’ve traveled since stepping foot onto Dawnlin. We have no reason to hurry. Time is on our side, and neither of us is rushing to break the news to the crew.
Weston weaves his fingers between mine as we silently traipse through the dim tunnel.
The casual comfort feels wrong after the cyclone of emotions that we just went through.
With each step, my apprehension escalates as the coming conversations play out in my mind, and I watch the faces of my friends fall.
The tears. The loss of hope. The anger. Everything I just felt, I know they will too, and the two of us are going to be the ones who have to deliver the news.
The hardest part is that we’ve done this before, except this time is final.
The dust is gone, and over twenty years of effort has been futile.
There is no returning to our world.
After letting myself feel everything, an odd sense of calm washes over me.
I know it is fleeting, and the tears I shed moments ago in Weston’s arms will not be the only ones I cry, probably not even the last of the night, but right now, I have enough strength to move forward.
Weston held me together while I shattered, and now all I can do is try to pick up the pieces until they start to heal.
Time is the only thing that will heal these wounds, and time is the one thing on Dawnlin we have plenty of.
Waves roll gently onto the beach just outside the portal, and the luminescent glow followed by the calming crash is comforting, knowing we’re almost home.
This time when we step out of the portal, it will be different.
We don’t have to be on alert. We don’t have to scan the surroundings to make sure no one spots us.
We don’t have to bolt back to the gangway.
As we cross through the dense magic, it feels like we’re stepping into a different Dawnlin than the one we left not that long ago.
Our boots sink into the sand with each heavy footfall, and the speed of our gait slows ever so slightly, as if we’re trying to avoid the possibility of having to tell anyone what happened for just a little longer.
The gangway still juts out onto the reef, and the deck is quiet, with no echo of conversation.
There’s no glow from the lanterns, only the reflection of the moonlight off the dark wood, indicating everyone is likely already below, and I let out a sigh of relief as we step onto the jagged rock.
Weston’s arm settles across my shoulders, and I sink into his side as he presses a kiss into my hair. Wrapping my arm around his hips, I look down at my feet, trying to step over the glowing creatures settled into their hidden pools.
“I feel like I could sleep all the way through tomorrow. Maybe I should,” I say, the hint of melancholy in my voice too difficult to hide.
“Sleep as long as you want. You don’t have to come to the meeting. You can stay back on the ship.”
I nudge him sharply with my shoulder. “Nice try. I’m coming.”
He lets out a huff of a half-hearted laugh. “It was worth a shot.”
“I’m not letting you go alone.”
“I won’t go alone.”
His face is stoic when I tilt my head back to look up at him. “You’re going to tell everyone? Right away?”
“I think they’d want to know. Like you said before, they deserve to. It also might be concerning if I just disappear in the middle of the day.”
“We could come up with something if you need more time.”
“I thought about waiting until I ensured it was safe for them to leave the ship, but that requires talking with Mara. So, I don’t think I have much of a choice.”
“Leave the ship? You mean live on the island?”
He nods slowly. “Yes.”
I gape at him, too distracted from the thought of anyone leaving when my foot catches on a point in the rock, throwing me off balance. Weston’s arm cinches tighter around my shoulders, keeping me from falling forward before slowing our pace down just a little more.
“You don’t think they’ll want to stay here? You really think they’d leave? This has been their home for so long.”
I feel the shrug of his shoulders. “Some might. Some might not. It’ll be their choice. Either way, I need to make sure it’s safe for them, and that they have the choice.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to go back to camp.”
A low chuckle rings in my ears over the crash of the waves, making my stomach flutter. “I’m glad to hear that because that offer is only for all of them. You don’t have a choice.”
I huff loudly. “What are you going to do, tie me up to keep me from leaving?”
We stop abruptly, and his thumb is under my chin, tilting my head back as he lowers his face.
A glimmer of mischief shines in his eyes as one corner of his lips turns up in a smirk.
“Only if you ask me to, my queen.” My mouth falls open only for him to push it closed and press a firm kiss to my lips before pulling away quickly.
“Otherwise, don’t threaten me with a good time. ”
He turns back toward the gangway and continues our trek. My feet can barely keep up with him because of the images now flashing through my mind and the heat gathering in my abdomen.
I clear my throat, trying not to be obvious about how much his words and the meaning behind them sent my head spinning.
“If you remember correctly, Captain, I already left once. I don’t think you could stop me if I wanted to again.”
“Don’t remind me,” he grumbles and pulls me more firmly to his side. “And don’t call me that.”
“Weston.” He lowers his chin so his gaze finds mine, and despite the joking I still see the hidden sadness from the day peeking through. “I don’t want to leave. Just in case you needed to hear it again.”
“Good.”
The single word is reassuring as we ascend the gangway toward the quiet deck. I can already feel the tension in my shoulders releasing the closer we get to disappearing into our room until tomorrow afternoon, but as we crest the top, ready to step onto the wooden floorboards, my stomach falls.
The deck may be quiet, but it isn’t empty.
Two figures sit in the darkness, their backs pressed against the mainmast. I know them well enough now that I don’t need any light to pick out exactly who it is.
Nerves roll off of Sig as she sits with her hands clenched, forearms resting on her bouncing knees.
Jorn sits beside her, his eyes on the stars above, and his arms crossed over his chest.
She waited for us to return.
When she disappeared below deck as we prepared to leave, I didn’t think there would be any reason that I wouldn’t want her waiting for us when we came back. She was anxious about our return. We all were, and now I know we won’t be able to move forward without telling her.
If she knows me half as well as I know her, she’ll be able to tell anyway.
I feel the moment Weston spots them, because his back stiffens and the muscles in his arm tighten against me. A lump is already forming in my throat, trying to prevent me from saying the words out loud that I know are going to devastate her, probably more than anyone else.
I am not prepared to face her tonight. I thought we’d at least have a little more time to let everything settle and tamp down the vortex of our own emotions before having to tell anyone else. By the feel of Weston’s tense body pressing into mine, it seems like he had the same expectation.
Sig glances over at us and looks away, before her head snaps back in our direction, as if she didn’t process we had actually returned. She springs to her feet and crosses the deck swiftly, relief sagging in her shoulders.
“You’re alright,” she breathes, and stops just an arm’s length away from us.
“I told you everything would be fine.” Her hands settle on her hips as she peers past us down the gangway.
Her forehead crinkles as her eyebrows raise, and she cocks her head to the side.
“Where’s the kid?” Her gaze flickers up to Weston’s face, and I know what she finds as she drags her eyes to mine before her expression falls.
“What’s going on?” Her voice wavers as Jorn strides across the deck, stopping just behind her.
“Cap?” he says, as his head tilts and his brows crinkle together. One look from each of them is all it takes to know something is wrong, and it’s a testament to how close they all are.
But it means we can’t hide anything. We have to tell them.
A single tear escapes and slides down my cheek, followed closely by another, and Sig’s stare follows their trail, watching my calm facade crack once again. She turns back to Weston, the tension in her jaw fierce despite the pleading in her eyes.
“Tell me,” she urges. Pain laces her strained voice, and I can’t help but think she’s figured it out. She knows what Weston is about to tell her, and she’s steeling herself for the blow of his words.
Weston lifts his arm from my shoulders and takes a step closer as she stares up at him, her eyes shining in the moonlight.
“He left, Sig. He used the rest of the dust and is gone.” His voice is low and soft, like even though he knows what he is saying will hurt her, he’s doing everything he can to prevent it.
“Shit,” Jorn hisses, and throws his hands up, scrubbing them through his hair.
A pained cry erupts from her throat, and she slams her palm over her mouth trying to stifle it. My chest aches as I watch her crumble, just as I had, beneath the weight of Weston’s declaration.
“So that’s it then? This is forever?” she whispers.
Weston’s jaw ticks, and he only nods.
Silence falls over us as her eyes dart away from Weston’s face, settling somewhere on his vest. Her chest shakes with shuddering breaths as she tries to collect herself, to process how her greatest fear has now come true.
“Well,” she says after a few moments. Her chin wavers, and her eyes fill with tears as her head turns and her eyes fall on me. “We tried.”
A laugh mixed with a sob erupts from my chest as I nod at her. “We tried, Sig.”