Chapter 33
SHE CAN’T SEE IN THE DARK
RUNE
The ruin rises out of the ground, like some half-drowned beast, its gritty exterior painting a picture of old stone that looks like withered bones draped in vines thick as ropes. Bright green moss and ivy choke the decaying surface, spilling down broken arches and crumbling walls.
I flick my gaze to Odi. She stands rigid a few paces away, eyes fixed on the ancient pile of rubble in front of us.
There’s no door, just a vast mouth gaping open towards the sea, daring us to step inside.
It took the two of us a few hours to find this last location, arriving just as the sun hit the highest peak in the sky. The journey had been mostly silent, and easy enough to navigate given it’s just the two of us.
I hadn’t allowed anyone else to join the search party.
Tavi wasn’t pleased, but she just has to deal with it for now. At least everyone is safe on deck. I can handle Odi on my own.
Thankfully, we’d only crossed paths with one red, spotted botang python—as long as my leg and as thick as my arm—and a group of carnivorous apes that were feasting on something unidentified but definitely fresh. We didn’t wait around long enough to find out what it was either.
I shove my hands into my trouser pockets, feeling for the smooth shell that’s no longer there.
“One and one may enter,” Odi recites to herself. “One and one may die. Soul the sole preventer, it and the divide.”
What the riddle means is beyond my understanding, yet there is one line that has me concerned. One and one may die. All I know of that is I won’t allow it to be true. I can’t let it be true.
She looks at me, and my chest twists. All the fire that used to blaze in her eyes is gone, snuffed out like a flame starved of air. And I know all too well who shoved her into that box.
My dagger sits snug strapped to her thigh, glinting under the harsh light of the sun. It was the best way I knew how to offer a truce. I jut my chin towards it. “Don’t go losing that. I’m going to need it back.”
She rolls her eyes. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Together, we step inside. The cavern stretches enormous, the ceiling lost in shadow. The waxy vine that covers the outside clings to the walls inside too, with sporadic sprigs of tiny white berries scattered here and there.
I curse under my breath. We’d brushed past them on the way in, and I should have known better than to get close. I can still see the white dusting of their residue on the sleeve of my shirt.
The world tilts ever so slightly at odd angles. Soulberries. Damn. Too many and they’ll rot a siren from the inside out, leaving me swimming in visions until I can’t tell sky from sea.
With a sigh, I run a hand through my hair. “I might start seeing things soon,”
Odi whips her gaze towards me. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Hallucinations,” I mutter.
Her brow pinches. “Rune—”
I shrug. “It’s nothing to be concerned about. Won’t kill me.”
At least . . . I don’t think so.
Odi folds her arms across her chest, squinting as she digests my words. “How in all eight seas did you manage that?”
“Brushed up against some soulberries a while back.”
“Why haven’t they affected me?”
I shove my hands into my trouser pockets. “Poisonious to seafolk only—especially sirens—land dwellers figured it out ages ago. Used them against us whenever steel alone wouldn’t cut it.”
“So why didn’t you say something before?”
I shrug again. “Didn’t recognise them until it was too late. We eradicated most of the vine years ago. I wasn't expecting to see it here.”
“Rune . . .” Her voice is laced with concern, stoking the embers inside my chest that still burn for her.
“I’ll be fine. Just ignore me if I say anything odd.”
She doesn’t respond, but I don’t miss the way she looks at me. Like she wants to say a million things, but instead she says nothing.
Water laps against the edges of the cavern, black and bottomless, encircling everything but a single strip of land that cuts straight down the centre.
I take a step forwards, but don’t miss the sound of Odi’s breath escaping her lips as we near the edge. One wrong foot would have us in the water, and who knows what creatures lurk in the inky depths below.
Despite the undeniable tension between us. My hand still itches to reach for hers. To lace her fingers through mine so she feels a sense of peace. To assure her that we’re going to get through this, no matter the cost.
But I can’t do that.
I pause as I glance over my shoulder. Odi stops behind me, brow pinched. “Have you seen something already?” she asks, flicking her gaze around the eerie space.
I huff a soft laugh. “No. I just wanted to remind you, that if there’s water, don’t forget you have Soraya’s sea stone.”
Her brown eyes travel over my face, as if she’s searching for what used to burn bright between us. The crimson vessel in my chest aches and my fingers twitch once again. But I force them to stay by my side. It’s better this way.
Odi nods, and we resume our walking. The pathway is narrow at first, just wide enough for two feet side by side. It spreads wider the deeper we go until it broadens into a platform pressed against the far wall.
My head spins, stomach pitching, as the effects of the soulberries set in, but it’s not enough to obstruct my plans. I’ll push through it like I always do. Besides, it’ll wear off soon.
The platform is paved with old, moss-covered stones.
On the wall are symbols etched into the rock, similar to the ones on Odi’s map—the water elementals.
Every heartbeat sends a wave of heat through me, tipping the world on its axis.
I shake my head, trying to free it from the blurring that creeps into the corner of my vision.
“Are you alright?” Odi asks, her voice soft, but concerned.
I nod. “I’ll be fine.”
Two plates sit before the wall, similar to the last temple, their carvings clear despite the years of wear. One bears wavy lines of water, while the other, swirling strokes to represent air.
It’s not hard to figure out who will stand where. No doubt the minute we step onto the plates the wall before us will open.
I point at the plate with the air symbol. “I’m going to take a stab in the dark, and say that’ll be for you.”
Technically, anyone who can shift from sea to land could take the place, but if she were to take the one with the water symbol, something in my gut tells me it won’t work out well. These temples were built by sirens and water elementals after all.
Odi steps around me, and it takes all my self control not to let my knuckles graze against her. I have to remember who she is. What blood she shares.
She peers down at the symbol, then looks to the plate nearest to me. Before I can stop her she plants her boots firmly on the flattened stone.
“Odi—”
Her breath catches as the stone shifts, sending a puff of dust into the air. I lunge for her, grabbing the outstretched hand she’s using to steady her balance. The moment our skin makes contact, I regret it. Because the pleasure of it is too much to bear.
The plate settles, and Odi remains upright. “You worry too much.”
I roll my eyes, then reluctantly drop her hand, stepping sideways to the stone with the water symbol. My gaze finds her, I take a breath in, and then step forwards, setting my full weight on the stone.
For a heartbeat, I think I’m right—that a hidden door will split open in the wall before us, granting passage deeper.
Instead, the floor shifts.
There’s a sharp crack, then the stone drops away. Odi gasps, arms flailing as her plate tilts, and before I can reach for her, the ground gives way beneath my own feet.
“Rune!” she cries out, her voice strained.
Heat spears through my body. “Odi!”
We’re swallowed whole, each of us sliding into separate tunnels carved smooth by ancient hands.
The stone is slick, rushing me downward in a violent plunge, the roar of the cavern above already lost. My stomach lurches, heart hammering, and the last thing I see is Odi’s braid whipping out of sight as the darkness takes her from me.
Fuck.
The tunnel drowns me in icy-cold, black water before I can catch my breath. My chest lurches, panic spiking, and instinct claws its way up my spine. In a heartbeat, my body shifts, siren form ripping through me, fins cutting the current, my darkvision spilling open to the gloom.
“Odelia!” I call out, hoping she can hear me.
The muffled sound of my own voice bounces off the walls.
I spin around searching for her. But I’m met with nothing but the darkness of the tunnel.
My throat burns with the thought that she might’ve dropped into the deep just as I have.
All I can hope is that she’s remained calm, she has the sea stone afterall.
Water elemental markings are carved into the surrounding walls. The most I’ve seen on this treasure hunt so far. I should be excited. I should etch each one to memory, but the moment Odi disappeared from my sight, something in me broke.
I rake my hand along the marking, darting for the tunnel on the far side of the wall. It slopes ahead, deeper into the gloom. Panic presses at my chest like a weight, heavier than the body of water I’m encased in. I push myself harder, swimming down.
The tunnel is like every other siren ruin I’ve crawled through—ledges that rise and drop, ramps where humans would’ve cut stairs. No straight path, no mercy, just the sea’s own labyrinth.
I shove forwards, every beat of my heart hammering her name. If Odi’s down here in the dark—if she’s fighting for her life—I have to reach her. It’s not supposed to end like this.
The tunnel bends sharply to the right, spilling me into another room. Shadows dance across my vision. Blonde hair, blue eyes, laughter I’ve not heard in months. Dash? What is my little brother doing down here?