Page 105 of Of the Stars and Sea

We’ve only released the mainmast sails, given the direction of the wind; Grayson didn’t want us to be pulled too far to the right. The only problem is that the currents created by the stone isles are rushing toward us, working against the sails, making the ship move much slower.

White blossoms along my knuckles as I hold tight to the railing, bracing for an unexpected impact that thankfully never comes. We break through the first threshold, drifting beyond the first isles.

Even Zaos releases a long sigh the moment we move past them, as if he’d been holding his breath the entire time, but Grayson stays quiet—pensive. His gaze shifts back and forth between the path in front of us and his men below. The bow of theCaelestiaaims straight for another isle. This one is three times larger than the two we just passed. White capped water sprays up against the gray stone, the current rushing rapidly around it.

Thinking back to the briefing session we had days ago, I remember it as one of the isles Grayson is most worried about, but looking at him now, no one would ever guess that only days ago we’d spenthourstalking about the best way to cut around it.

“Steer her starboard side!” Grayson calls to his helmsman below. The ship shifts suddenly as the helmsman guides her to the right.

Wind fills the mainmast sails and wood creaks under the strain. I hold my breath as we pick up speed, the stone isle slowly shifting to our left as the wind takes us further to the right in the direction of another isle.

There’s too many of them to avoid.

My dark hair whips around my face. I tuck the strands behind my ears as I narrow my gaze on the looming threats in front of us.

“We’re moving too fast,” I say, trying to keep my panicked nerves at bay.

Grayson and Zaos are silent next to me, but I look over and Zaos has the same worried look on his face that I know mine has.

“Grayson,” I plead. “If we don’t slow down, we’re going to hit that isle straight on. It’ll shatter the entire hull.”

“She’s right, Captain,” Zaos chimes in, though his voice doesn’t waver the way mine does.

“She’ll hold” is all Grayson says, not listening to either one of us.

I exchange another look with Zaos before we both shift our attentions ahead. Tension clenches my throat tight the closer we get to the right isle. We’re barreling toward it and once we get too close, there’s no power great enough to turn this ship away from it.

Seconds tick by and I feel that panic rising higher and higher in my chest.

“Grayson,” I whisper, but his gaze remains trained ahead. The center of his brows is pinched together and for a moment I’m not sure if he’s even here with us or if his mind has led him to some far away place.

We’re so close to the stone isle that the edge of the water surrounding it dips out of sight.

We’re going to fucking crash!

I scream Grayson’s name this time.

Another breath passes and finally Grayson yells, “Port side! Turn her port side! Hard!”

The helmsman’s hands slap against the handles of the wheel as he spins it rapidly. A deep shudder moves beneath our feet as the rudder catches and the left side of the ship dips so sharply, waves splash onto the main deck. One of Grayson’s men slips from the wetness, but another crewman catches him before he slides too far to the edge.

A loud, eerie creek sounds from below as the hull shakes even harder.

“The rock is scraping the bottom of the ship!” Zaos calls out as I wrap my arms around the railing to keep from falling over. Grayson moves quickly behind me, shielding my body with his own as he secures his arms around me.

“Check below deck! See if we’re taking on water!” Grayson orders his crew and two men dart for the hatch.

My heartbeat thuds in my ears as the screech of the wooden hull scraping against rock finally comes to a halt. Eyes widening, I watch as we glide past the stone isle to the right. It’s so close, if I were to lean out, I could actually touch it.

I rise back to my full height and Grayson sweeps my hair over my shoulder. I turn to look up at him, his arms still caging me in against the railing.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his breaths come a little quicker—the first sign of his worry since we left his room earlier this morning.

“Yes.” I sigh, trying to catch my breath. “I’m okay. We took a big hit to the hull, though. Why didn’t you turn sooner?”

Grayson points behind us. Water churns violently in our wake, but I look just beyond where the blue meets the white caps of the larger isle Grayson was trying to avoid and that’s when I see it. Just to the right of it, smaller rocks crest the surface. But we couldn’t see them on our way through because the white caps masked them.

“That entire area is made of jagged stone. The only way through is to risk the hull by steering right for the smaller isle.”

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