CHAPTER 15
Ash Beach
By dusk, the mountain had begun to glow.
Not continuously.
Never continuously.
A breach opened somewhere beneath the growing dome, and for several minutes an incandescent stream traced its way down the dark flank. From Ash Beach, it looked almost delicate.
Almost peaceful.
Naia knew better.
She stood barefoot at the edge of the black sand, boots beside her, watching the glow disappear behind a ridge.
"You're thinking too loudly."
Elena's voice came from behind her.
Naia turned.
"Didn't know that was possible."
"With you, apparently."
Elena walked down the beach and stopped beside her.
She was carrying nothing.
No tablet.
No instrument case.
Naia liked that.
"You came prepared."
"For what?"
"Nothing."
Elena looked at the mountain.
"That's becoming my favorite kind of evening."
Naia smiled.
The ocean rolled toward them.
For a while, they simply watched.
Then Elena said, "My grandmother used to hate beaches."
Naia looked at her.
"Really?"
"She said they made people sentimental."
"Sounds like a sensible woman."
"She also used to bring me to them whenever she wanted me to think."
Naia laughed softly.
"Contradictory."
"She was."
Elena's smile faded into something gentler.
"She knew I was going to become a volcanologist before I did."
"How?"
"Because apparently I spent my entire childhood asking why rocks were hot."
Naia smiled.
"I can see that."
Elena looked at the mountain.
"She was the first person who taught me that loving something doesn't mean believing you understand it completely."
Naia absorbed that.
The sentence felt strangely familiar.
Maybe because it was true of the mountain.
Maybe because it was becoming true of Elena.
She looked toward the water.
"My father thought the mountain was honest."
Elena turned toward her.
Naia had said the words before.
But tonight, they felt different.
She had opened the door once.
Tonight, she could feel herself standing beside it.
Elena didn't push.
Naia appreciated that.
"My father was a guide too," she said.
Elena's expression softened.
"I figured."
"Everyone figures eventually."
Naia sat on a flat section of black rock.
Elena sat beside her.
The distance between them was small.
Not touching.
Close.
"He knew the mountain better than anyone I knew."
Naia watched the waves.
"He wasn't fearless."
Elena waited.
"He was careful."
Another pause.
"That's what people misunderstand about courage."
Naia rubbed her thumb against the edge of the rock.
"They think you don't feel afraid."
Elena said quietly,
"What happened?"
Naia closed her eyes for a second.
She could still hear the old sounds.
The radio.
The wind.
Her mother's voice.
The terrible silence afterward.
"When I was nineteen, there was an eruption-related accident."
Elena didn't move.
Naia kept looking at the water.
"He was working above the old western route. There was a collapse."
Her voice remained steady.
"Not the kind you see coming."
She swallowed.
"The ground gave way faster than anyone expected."
Elena's hand rested beside hers.
Not touching.
Naia continued.
"They found him later."
A pause.
"I wasn't there."
That was the part that had stayed.
Not seeing it.
Not being able to do anything.
Just the knowledge that someone who had taught her how to read the mountain had been taken by it.
"I remember thinking..."
Her voice faltered.
She stopped.
Elena didn't fill the silence.
Naia breathed in.
"I remember thinking that if I'd been there, maybe I would've known."
Elena looked at her.
"You were nineteen."
"I know."
"But you still thought—"
"I know."
The words came sharper than she intended.
Elena stopped.
Naia looked down.
"Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize."
Naia nodded.
The ocean moved closer.
A wave struck the rocks beneath them.
The stone shifted slightly under Naia's boot.
"Careful."
Elena reached for her.
Naia caught her hand.
The wave surged again.
This time Elena lost her footing.
Naia pulled her closer.
Elena's knee came against Naia's thigh.
Their bodies pressed together for balance.
The wave withdrew.
Neither moved.
Naia's hand remained around Elena's.
Elena's palm was warm.
Their faces were close.
Too close to pretend this was only about balance.
Naia could see the tiny flecks of reflected orange in Elena's eyes.
Elena looked at her mouth.
Then back at her eyes.
Naia's breath caught.
She leaned forward.
Only slightly.
Elena did the same.
The distance between them disappeared by another fraction.
The ocean became a distant sound.
The mountain glowed behind them.
Naia could feel Elena's breath against her skin.
One more movement.
That was all.
Then—
The radio screamed.
Naia jerked back.
The spell broke instantly.
She grabbed it.
"Naia."
Static.
Then the emergency tone again.
Her face changed.
Elena saw it.
"What is it?"
"Swarm."
The mountain gave another distant rumble.
Naia was already reaching for her boots.
"How bad?"
"Don't know."
Elena stood.
The glow on the mountain suddenly looked different.
Less beautiful.
More like a warning.
Naia looked toward the summit.
The radio crackled again.
A new series of seismic readings was coming through.
Increasing.
Elena picked up her jacket.
"Back to the station."
Naia nodded.
They ran.
Behind them, Ash Beach disappeared into the dark.
The almost-kiss remained unfinished between them.
And above the island, the mountain was becoming harder to predict.