by JE Hunter
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Shia's in good hands,” Joanna told us when she dropped Caesar and I off at my dock.
I nodded solemnly; she might be in good hands but nothing would make up for what had been done to her. They'd ripped a large portion of flesh from her tail. I shuddered with the memory; there'd been so much blood. Hopefully she would be okay.
“Come on,” Caesar pulled me into his arms, almost cradling me as he helped me to the porch of the house. I slowed at the steps and turned around, the rest of my classmates were still in the boat, which would be driven around to the York’s dock. Joanna would see everyone back to the dorms where she could take a look at them and assess their injuries—the majority of which were minor—and likely take a moment to dole out a therapeutic talk and some hot chocolate.
But would anything make this okay? It could have been me. I could have been the one who was kidnapped. I felt guilty for that thought, because it hadn't been me, it had been Shia, and she was the one I should be thinking about right now. Yet I couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if the kurage had taken me instead. Was there a use for sea-witch flesh that I didn't know about? Or would I have just been held hostage? Ransomed maybe? Or possibly even killed.
“Nessa.” Caesar shook me. I looked up at him. His eyes were deep pools of concern, the tension in his jaw apparent. “Come inside, you need to get warm.”
Caesar guided me into the sitting room and sat me by the fire—Grandma must have left it burning when she left to join us. I sat in the chair nearest the flames and stared out the window.
“You need to take those off.”
I looked down. I was drenched from the splash of the waves and the rain that had fallen on us on our way home. I’d been too distracted to even think about trying to keep myself dry.
“Come on, Nessa. You’ve got to strip.”
Caesar's voice brought me back again, like a gentle wave on a warm day. Gladness filled me. He was alive; we all were. Somehow, everyone had made it through the day. “I don't really think that's appropriate.”
Caesar smirked. “Well, I've already seen you without your pants, and I'm pretty sure there are no surprises under there.” He looked blatantly down at my T-shirt and I couldn’t help but smile.
“After all this—that's what you're thinking about?”
He shook his head, his smile one of relief. “No. I'm thinking about how lucky we all were today, and how lucky I am to still have you here with me. And how amazing it is that you've agreed to be my girlfriend...and maybe just a little bit about how great it would be if –”
“Forget it,” I pushed away the hand he was reaching toward the hem of my t-shirt, noticing for the first time the blood running down his arm. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing. A small cut.” He pulled up the short sleeve of his shirt so I could see.
“It’s shallow, but it still needs to be bandaged. Go upstairs, there’s a first-aid kit in my medicine cabinet and a bathrobe hanging on my door. Bring both.”
“Done,” Caesar said, charging out of the room.
When he was gone it was quiet. The only sound was that of the fire crackling. I felt the heat roll off the hearth, slowly melting my icy skin. I slipped out of my pants, and pulled my t-shirt off too so I was only in my wet underwear, then I grabbed my favourite blanket—the one Caesar and I watched movies on—and wrapped it around myself. I walked to the window.
The waves seemed bigger now, and I watched them crash violently against the rocks where I'd first met Colleen, where I'd seen her turn into a selkie and this crazy life had begun. It had only been a few weeks, but tonight made it feel like I’d been a sea-witch forever, and I knew, deep down, that I’d never be the same again. I’d never be able to go back to being a normal girl. I’d never be able to forget my bond with the ocean, and I’d never be able to leave this life. I was finally, truly, a Neptunian. I missed Dad like I would miss my own heart if it were cut out of my chest, and I only missed Mom slightly less, but I felt I belonged here. For the first time, I was glad I had come to the island.
“Here,” Caesar handed me my robe. He waited until I put it on and then handed me the first-aid kit. Quietly, I bandage up his arm. Once I finished, he sat back on the couch, pulling me to his side. I rested my head on his chest.
“How can someone do that? How can anyone harm another living person?”
Caesar rubbed the cold out of my arm. “Only people who are less than alive can do such evil. But they won’t be able to do it anymore.”
“But what if more come? Will we ever be truly safe?”
“One day…hopefully. It’s something we can spend our lives working on: making the world a safe place.”
I smiled sadly. “One day.”
“Caesar, Nessa.” Grandma stepped through the door and into the sitting room.
Caesar and I broke apart. Earlier, I would have been angry with Grandma for interrupting us, but now I couldn't bring a single hostile feeling against her. She had saved us all today.
“How’s Shia?” I asked, my heart racing. Please don’t let her be—
“She’ll make a full recovery,” Grandma said, solemnly. “But she will be scarred.”
My insides expanded with relief.
“Thank you, for tonight,” Caesar said, awkwardly. “And thank you for teaching Nessa.” He squeezed my hand and gave me a long, lingering look with soft eyes, and then headed for the door. “Take care of her tonight.”
Grandma nodded, stepping aside to let Caesar leave. I let him go even though I wanted him to stay. There were too many things I needed to talk to Grandma about tonight. Things I needed to learn.
“You did well,” she said to me once she heard the door close, signalling Caesar's exit.
“You did better.” I smiled a half-smile. “I couldn't have done anything without you. They would have gotten away. Shia would be...”
Grandma shook her head. “Don’t think that. You’re all right. Shia will recover in time.” Grandma wrapped her arms around me. It was a much different feeling than when Caesar hugged me, this hug was like a pillow, whereas Caesar’s hugs were like solid ground.
“Come on, I'll make us some tea.” Grandma led me to the kitchen. I sat at the table, and waited in silence for the kettle to whistle, unable to stop the images and memories of tonight from returning. I lost myself in them, and didn't even see the oversized cup of cinnamon tea until it was clunked into existence in front of me. I lifted my head out of my hands and stared teary eyed into the face of my grandma.
“You proved yourself a great sea-witch today, Nessa.” She sat down softly on the wooden chair across from me.
I looked down with no idea what to say. That tiny bit of praise was the warmest thing Grandma had ever said to me. “I could have been better,” I finally said, turning my eyes back up to meet hers.
She nodded slowly, not with disappointment or anger, but with...respect. “You're new. There are things that I don’t even know yet.”
“Did you know about the kurage?” I asked, wondering. “Did you suspect that the hunter was Neptunian?”
“There are many tales told through the lines of redheaded sea-witches, Nessa. But that has never been one of them; a fact that I find more than a little disconcerting. And I have no idea how he got past the boundary, that also troubles me.”
A golden light glittered in my mind. I stood up. “I do.” I left the table and returned seconds later with the mysterious gold coin in my hand. “I almost forgot about this. I found it in my purse a few days ago. I thought maybe Caesar put it in there to surprise me…but now…” I handed Grandma the coin.
A soft gasp escaped her lips. “No, it can’t be. He hasn’t…” She flipped it over to inspect it more carefully.
“It can’t be what? He who?” She looked at me, her eyes dark, secretive.
“There will be a time for me to tell you, but today is not that day. You’ve been through enough.”
Her words mad
e me shiver. After hunters, kurages, and kidnappings, was it possible that there was still worse out there?
I sipped my tea, it was hot, and there was nothing I needed more than heat right now. “There are secrets.”
It wasn't a question, but Grandma nodded anyhow. “This isn’t the first time a colony of Neptunians has been found. But it has been many, many years since a Neptunian dared to steal one of our own and injure them. I fear our times of safety are no more.” Her blue eyes dulled, turning away from me and looking into the swirls and knots of the wooden table. “More than one of our own must have betrayed us for this to have happened.”
As her words registered, I felt them implanting in my bones like heavy lead droplets. “This isn’t the first time?”
She shook her head. “And it will not be the last. We will, of course, have to increase island security. I will need your help keeping the boundary strong. And we will have to look into new measures of security for the island. It would have been good to take a prisoner today. Then we could possibly have discovered what they were really after, and why.”
“He'd been following me for a while; the kurage. We thought he was just a hunter. But…it sounds like you don’t think that anymore.”
Grandma raised her eyebrows. “I’m not sure of anything, Nessa, except that I will not let another day like this happen. I promise you. You’ll be safe here.” She reached out and gripped one of my hands with hers. She squeezed. I squeezed back.
“I know.”
Grandma smiled sadly. “You will need to work hard, Nessa, to help me prevent this from happening again...”
“I will,” I felt the raw energy grow in me as I said it. I felt the ocean swell within myself. “I'll be ready. I wouldn't let those...people...horrible people...take any of my friends again. Not when I know I can stop them. This is my home, Grandma, and I want to help you protect it.”
“You will,” she said, her eyes shining with pride.