Page 146 of Kai
I waited for my strength to return, knowing that I lived or died at the pleasure of the universe. Perhaps I was already dead, but cradled in the ocean’s vast hand, I spotted a single star peeking between the rushing clouds. It shone in a luminous blue, the color of Kai’s aura and Nix’s eyes. It smiled down at me.
***
Kai
I followed the current, allowing it to help me navigate faster. Taking turns, I blew my whistle and called out for Cece. I glanced at my Tak. Twenty minutes. My heart sank. Too long. Cece was strong, but twenty minutes was a long time to struggle in the ocean. Cece had just learned to swim, and she’d gone overboard with her hands tied behind her back.
Despair crushed my chest and weighed down my arms, but I didn’t slow down and I didn’t stop paddling. Memories of Malia’s empty gaze and blue lips tormented me, but I couldn’t focus on the past. I had to find Cece.
Standing up on the board, I could seeSerenity’slights far in the distance, shining like a tiny, remote lighthouse, but only because my Tak’s geolocator told me where to look. If I could see the lights, so could others. This meant that Tracker Team hadn’t been able to find us and that Li and his thugs were probably on their way.
One problem at a time. I dipped the oar in the water, propelling the surfboard forward. If Cece was dead, then the NWO would do me a favor when they showed up to dispatch me to hell. While I was still alive, I existed for one reason only: to find her.
I released the whistle from my lips and yelled. “Cece! Where are you?”
The silence of a tempered night was my only reply.
***
Cece
A whistle vibrated in the distance. I opened my eyes, and staring at the stars that had come out in mass to keep me company, diagnosed the persistent ringing as water-related tinnitus. The rain had stopped, and my throat felt raw. I was so thirsty I could’ve drunk the entire ocean if I hadn’t known better. Like I hadn’t swallowed enough saltwater for a day—
“Cece!” a voice called out.
Surely I had imagined it. Nix or Kai? I couldn’t tell yet. I’d had some interesting conversations since I fell into the ocean, but none of them had been clear, and most of them were with Nix. Not that I could understand anything he said in his angel form. But his aura? Yeah, I recognized it anywhere, anytime.
Well, look at you, Astor, believing your delusions, visualandauditory.
Oh, shut up, you shrew.
I might not be able to explain auras scientifically, but I’d learned to trust them, and I had used the auras to navigate my life lately, no pun intended.
The whistle came again, this time closer, shriller, and more irritating than before. An ear infection was my next diagnosis. God knew my ear canal had turned into a saltwater lake.
“Cece!” This time, the voice startled me. It sounded so near. And it sounded like…
Stop. Some hallucinations are okay. Others are plain torture.
“Cece!” Kai’s voice rang in the night, echoing over the now tranquil ocean. “Where are you? Cece, please!” The begging in his voice wrenched my heart out of my chest. “Please, Sorceress.” Was he crying? “Answer me!”
I’d had a conversation with my dead brother. I’d heard Kai in my head. One more exchange would not add any more madness to the inexplicable. Although I felt drained and aloof, my legs were somewhat rested. I lowered my feet, treaded water, and lifted my head.
“I’m here!” I croaked. “Over here!”
My eyes grew wide when I spotted a light aimed in my direction. At first, it was a single beam of light sweeping the surface, but within seconds, the unique indigo shimmer I knew so well formed around the familiar figure, and the golden glow ignited around the blue, blinding me to everything but the aura surrounding the man angling my way.
“I’ll be,” I muttered to myself. “Did he really find me, or is this another delusion?”
The scientific bitch that lived in my head would never let go of reason.
“Where are you?” Kai shouted. “Cece!”
“Here!” I wiggled in the water like a puppy trying to stay above the surface. “Over here!”
My voice sounded rough. I breathed in some more saltwater in my excitement. I broke into a gagging and coughing fit. Then the light was on me, shining like the morning sun. Kai dove from his board and reappeared right next to me.
“Cece,” he breathed as his arms came around me, his aura beaming. “Sorceress. Love. You’re alive!”
