CHAPTER 55
It was a long paddle. The wind and waves fought her at every step. A second’s rest and she was pushed back a dozen feet.
Suddenly, there was a head floating beside the boat.
“Kallias!” she practically chided. “What are you doing? I almost hit you with the oar!”
“What am I doing? What are you doing? I didn’t see a shipwreck.”
She kept paddling, now trying not to swing the oar too close to him. “There was a small dinghy like this one. It’s moving towards the lighthouse, but I’m not sure if that’s from the current or someone rowing.”
“You don’t even know and you’re going after it?” He was as incredulous as he was chiding. “Daria, please,” he practically moaned. “Please go back. I’ll check it out.”
She shut him up with a look.
“Fine,” he huffed. “At least let me help you. I can go see—”
“What if they see you? Kallias, I’m fine. These kinds of waves are nothing, I promise you.”
Rejected, he huffed a pout but seemingly relented. “Fine, but I can still help,” he said, going to the back of the boat and starting to push.
“What if a wave slams the boat into you?” she cried. “Really, I can handle it.”
But he was pushing like his life depended on it. “I’ll be fine,” he called. “Like you said, these waves are nothing.”
She wasn’t so sure of that when it came to him and his safety, but she let it go. It looked like she had plenty of room for her oars even with him back there, and the faster this was over with, the faster they both could be safe. “Can I still row?”
“Please do.”