*Isla*
It’s the middle of the night when we arrive at the docks. Earlier in the day, Antony had abandoned the car, thinking we were being followed, and we’d all gotten on a train to Port Westerly. It hadn’t seemed like a good idea to me because in a car we could change courses. A train was kind of stuck in one path, no matter what.
But like most things on this trip, I’d left it up to my cousin to decide what he thought was best.
Now, we were making what he described as a short walk to the dock from the train station.
Two hours after we’d left the station, I finally saw water and smelled the breeze coming off the sea.
Yeah… short walk.
“It’s dark,” Poppy points out, as if we were not aware. “Aren’t we going to have to find a place to sleep for the night and catch a boat out in the morning?”
Antony scoffs. “Yeah, sure if you’re going away on holiday or to visit family in a regular port of call. That’s not how things work when you’re going to Maatua, dummy.”
“Dummy?” Poppy is ready to fight. As usual. “I’m not dumb!”
“All right. Let’s not fight.” This time it’s Ben who is the voice of reason. “What are we going to do, Antony?”
“I’ll take care of it.” Again, this is his standard answer, and it makes me leery. I don’t like leaving things to him when he’s already lied to me so many times, and I have no idea whether or not I can truly trust him.
Once we get closer to the dock, it’s clear we’re not at the usual port where the big cruise ships come in and out. No, we are at a much smaller port—if we can even call it that—and the loan boat floating out there against the brine-covered piers is only big enough for a few people.
“Wait here.” Antony gestures for all of us to stay on the beach while he goes out to discuss something with the people on the boat. Are they even awake? I look up at the moon, which isn’t full yet, but it will be soon enough. The Blood Moon will be upon us before we know it. I’m not sure how long it will take to reach the islands.
Nor am I sure about the sea itself.
Poppy is having similar thoughts. “Mystica, is this sea calm?”
“Oh, no, dear,” the older woman says with a laugh. “Not often.”
“Well… isn’t this boat a little small then?” Poppy points out.
The healer shrugs. I can see how tired she is in her eyes. “I reckon we’re about to find out. Don’t worry, dear. This trip is blessed by the Moon Goddess herself.”
“How do you know that?” Ben asks.
Mystica’s smile brightens. “I just do. Your sister has a job to do. She is the princess, and the only one who can save our people.”
Ben looks at me. I don’t feel much like a princess at the moment. I feel like a pregnant woman who really needs to sit down.
We wait for what seems like an hour before Antony comes back. It probably wasn’t actually that long, but I’m so tired after all of this travel, I just need a chair or a cot or something.
“All right,” my cousin says, rubbing his hands together. “We are ready to embark.”
“Wait—what?” Poppy asks. “You honestly expect us to get on that tiny boat and float into the middle of the angry sea?”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do, but Isla and anyone else who wants to come to Maatua needs to get on that damn boat right now. Captain Dave isn’t going to wait all fucking night.”
“Captain Dave?” Poppy repeats. Then, even more sarcastically, she asks, “We’re leaving our lives in the hands of someone named Captain Dave?”
But it isn’t Antony who replies. It’s a large, older man with a patch over his eye and a gnarled left hand who comes up behind him. “You got issues with that, young lady, your ass can stay here.”
He looks every bit like a pirate to me….
Poppy is taken aback. “N-no. That’s fine. Captain.”
Antony chuckling at her doesn’t help matters any. Poppy lifts her middle finger at my cousin, and he blows her a kiss.
I can hardly wait to be in close quarters with these people for however long it takes to get to the island.
As we walk toward the plank, er, dock, Antony falls in step beside me. “I just need the money. Half of it. To give to Captain Dave.”
I stare at him for a long moment, trudging through the sand as I do so. “Uhm, okay. I don’t have it, though. Poppy does.”
“Are you shitting me?” He runs a hand through his hair, and I almost laugh.
“Yeah. Maddox doesn’t give me cash or coins. Why would he?”
“Well, can you get it from her?” He turns and looks at Poppy like he knows if he has to ask her for anything, she’s likely to bite his head off. Literally.
I’m amused but I do it anyway. Poppy hands it over, shaking her head, saying this is a waste of money and stupid. I don’t remind her that she’s had plenty of time to back down before now.
On the boat, I hand the coins over to Dave. “You got the rest for when I come back to get you, right?”
He eyes me with his good eyeball, and I nod. “Yes. Of course.”
Giving each of us a careful gaze, he nods and signals for us to go onto the boat. “Cots are downstairs. Buckle up for a wild ride.”
Just exactly what I wanted to hear….
I make my way down to the bunks with Poppy, Mystica, and Ben, while Antony helps Captain Dave and the other boatman, a guy named Jude I wasn’t introduced to but heard being shouted at, get the boat ready to leave.
I feel the boat’s engine start up and then we are moving. I’m sitting on a cot so uncomfortable, it may as well be a rock. The blanket tossed at the foot of it smells like a mix of sweat and puke.
This is going to be the most uncomfortable trip of my life.
Poppy doesn’t sound much happier than I feel when she says, “This is a mistake. A huge, giant, awful mistake.”
I think she’s right, but it’s too late now. I’m in it up to my eyeballs, and unless I wanna swim back to the dock, I’m going to Maatua.
That idea is a little exciting for me. I want to go to Maatua. I wanna see the island where I grew up, where I should be princess. I wanna save my people and make the world better for the people who should’ve been living there, peacefully, all of these years.
But it won’t be easy. I realize that now. I was foolish for thinking that it might be easy.
Lying down, I stare up at the ceiling of the little boat only a few feet above my head. I use my backpack as a pillow and don’t bother with the blanket. I’ve done plenty of hard things in my life, and this one won’t be easy. But I can do hard things. Especially when it’s for a good cause. I close my eyes, but I know I won’t be able to fall asleep.
The rocking of the boat might be soothing to some people, but to me, it’s just a reminder of all of the space I’m putting between myself and Maddox.
* * *
*Maddox*
Ordinarily, getting a call like the one I received a few hours ago from Trinity wouldn’t alarm me. I’d just assume it was some sort of a misunderstanding, a lack of communication between the staff members back at the castle, but when she told me that she didn’t know where Isla was, I felt a fear flicker inside of me like nothing I’d ever felt before.
After the way those other girls had ganged up on her, threatened to harm her, I had an awful feeling that something was wrong.
Immediately, I’d left the meeting I was in and headed back to the castle without even an explanation to the Alpha I’d been visiting.
On the way back, I’d tried to contact Seth to have him go check on her, but even getting him on the mind-link was hard. He kept telling me how busy he was with different emergency activities happening in the castle. By the time I could’ve actually told him to just go see if she was okay, I was already almost home.
Flying into the castle, I stormed to her room, still using the mind-link to attempt to reach her, but I got absolutely nothing in response, which was terrifying. The last time we’d been in this situation, she’d been in harm’s way, nearly killed.
“Your Majesty,” Trinity says, falling into step as we march down the hallway. “I went into her room. I didn’t see anything out of order, but she’s clearly not there.”
“Nothing at all?” I ask her. “And you can’t find Poppy either?”
“No, my King,” she replies.
My heart is pounding in my chest.
I nearly bust down the door to her bedroom. Everything is in order. Everything looks like she left it exactly where it belongs—almost too perfect.
And then… my eyes fall on a book sitting on her nightstand. The jade green book cover stands out to me. I know what the book is before I even go pick it up. “Why is this here?”
“What is it?” Trinity asks.
This book has been outlawed in our lands for decades. I don’t understand how she would’ve gotten it.
Nothing is making sense.
Except… surely not!
Could Isla have gone to Maatua while I was away? Would she be capable of sneaking out of the castle when Seth was meant to be watching her?
I turn to Trinity. She is staring at me wide-eyed, confused.
“I believe that Isla may have gone home,” I explain to her. “To Maatua.”
Trinity’s mouth falls open. “Wh-what? But how? Wouldn’t Seth know?”
“No, I guess not.” If I can trust anyone in the castle, it’s my Beta. “Trinity, I need your help.”
“Of course, my King! Anything you need, I’m here for you.” She puts her hand on my arm, and I’m thankful I have a second person in the castle I can trust.
I have to find Isla before it’s too late.