Page 64 of Tik-Tok

Respen knocked on the door, and a gnome with white locks of hair to his waist and a scruffy beard the same length, answered. The gnome came to about North’s belly button, and deep wrinkles etched his flesh.

“Lou, I brought someone to see Echo.” Respen ducked while stepping inside.

Lou eyed her with suspicion as she lowered her head and followed behind Respen. Herbs and something musty enveloped North as she pushed into the simple sitting room. She straightened and the ceiling brushed her head. A rocking chair stood in the corner with a fur blanket sprawled across its back. Misshapen glass bottles filled with colorful tinctures were scattered across a nearby table.

“This way.” Respen remained hunched as he guided her toward an open door.

Echo lay on the floor atop a pallet of stacked wool blankets. An empty bed, too small for anyone besides the gnome, took up one of the corners. Echo’s head turned to face them, and a weak smile spread across her lips. Sweat drenched her red hair and beads of perspiration lined her forehead. The siren appeared feeble, but she was anything but that.

“I’ll give you two some time alone,” Respen said softly. “Let me know if either one of you needs anything.”

“Eat something,” Echo told him.

“For you, I will.” He held Echo’s gaze until disappearing from their view.

The siren focused on North and her smile remained. “Don’t even ask how I am. I feel as though I’ve been stabbed in the stomach.”

“I wouldn’t dream of asking you that.” North smiled back and knelt beside her friend. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about the child?”

Echo took several breaths before answering. “I didn’t want to be treated as though I were fragile.”

“You aren’t.” North grasped her friend’s hand and gently squeezed it.

Echo bit her lip, tears filling her eyes. “I secretly feared they would have left me behind. That Respen wouldn’t have wanted me any longer.”

“Of course he would still want you!”

“I’ve never had anyone like him before. He’s happy. Scared, but happy.” Echo paused. “Once I’m healed, we’re planning to return to the island near my old home. I can’t risk the child’s life again by living on a pirate ship. It doesn’t mean we’ll never come aboardThe Temptress, though.”

“I’m going home after this, too,” North whispered, twisting her hands. “I won’t be on the ship when you do return.”

A crease formed between the siren’s brows. “Do you want to stay?”

“He hasn’t asked me.” North was told she would go home once she’d opened the portal for Tik-Tok. But a part of her thought, after everything, that he possibly would’ve wanted her to remain.

“You can always ask him.” Echo grinned. “Remember, he hasn’t done this sort of thing before.”

“Perhaps.” If she asked him if she could stay, then he might feel pressured into saying yes, and she wouldn’t linger unless he truly wanted her to. North knew her family wanted her home, but she wasn’t entirely sure what she yearned for anymore.

North continued to chat with Echo about the siren’s future for a while longer until her friend’s lids closed and her breathing became even. Trying not to disturb her, North slowly rose from the floor and met Respen back in the sitting room. He leaned against the wall in a crouched position, fiddling around with Lou’s tinctures. The gnome paced at a shelf, rearranging tattered books by color.

Respen set down the glass vials and pushed himself up to stand. “Ready?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “Thank you for bringing me to see her.”

“No.” He placed his hands at her shoulders. “Thank you for saving her. She told me what you did by distracting the creature and killing it.”

“I would have done it for any of you.”

“I know,” he said, a warm smile tugging at his lips. “Ready?”

North nodded and closed her eyes, sucking in a sharp breath as he whirled them back to the ship. When she opened her lids again, Respen had brought them to the front of the ship where Tik-Tok stood, facing them.

“Let me know when she’s ready,” Respen said, taking his hands from her shoulders before walking toward the middle of the deck.

“You’re not going to take me home?” North’s gaze flicked to Tik-Tok’s, her voice coming out more desperate than she would have liked. But she assumed he was at least traveling with her to the Emerald City.

“I feel bad enough asking Respen to take you, and he’s too exhausted to take us both. Besides, something tells me your family wouldn’t enjoy seeing my face again.” Tik-Tok picked up her luggage beside him and handed it to her, along with her axe in a strap. She attached the weapon to her back as he pushed his hand into his pocket and drew out something red and shiny. A stone heart. Tik-Tok dropped the object into the center of her palm. “Return this to Ozma. Tell her I didn’t need this after all.”

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