Page 128 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage
“You already have. In more ways than you know. And once I’m back, I’ll explain it all to you. I promise.”
“B-But…”
“Shh…please, Briony. For my sake. Stay here.”
He leaned in, letting his lips linger against hers while wishing he could simply remain there forever. But the sounds from outside pounded in his ears, making him remember just how impossible that wish was. And if he didn’t do something soon,allhis wishes for the future could perish.
*
Once Santiago was gone, Briony immediately regretted letting him go alone. She stood up from the bed, determined to get back out there.
I’m a selkie! Surely I’m powerful enough to stop this on my own. I just have to think o’ the right command fer the men to obey… I can do this! I can…
But a sudden throbbing in her head distracted her from her train of thought. The pain roared across her skull like a lion seeking to devour her. Briony pressed her fingers against her temples and lay back upon the bed, but neither action seemed to help the rising anguish.
The ship continued to shake from cannonball after cannonball, and Briony feared that Santiago’s efforts had failed. She forced her legs to move, bringing her body up and then out the door. She climbed the stairs and made her way to the ship’s stern, where the commodore was again giving orders.
Briony hoped to see Santiago there with him, but luck wasn’t on her side. Before the commodore could notice her, she turned and tried to get a good look at the rest of the deck, but then nausea hit her full force. She launched herself at the railing and retched over the side, emptying her stomach of the little it contained.
Once she was done, she turned her gaze up and glimpsed movement a ways out on the water—
She gasped.Is that—
Two rowboats sat several yards out from the ships, one with two passengers and the other carrying a single man.
POW!
The sound of the gun was quiet amidst all the cannonballs and shouting, but Briony heard it as clear as day. She watched dumbstruck as Adriano Rodriguez fell out of his rowboat and into the water. Meanwhile, Lucia sat in silent terror, her eyes shifting from the corpse now floating in the water to the man who’d killed him.
Captain Costa then aimed his gun at Lucia and beckoned for her to join him on his boat. Lucia complied without hesitation, and before long, the two of them were off, becoming smaller and smaller in Briony’s vision.
“There’s no way I’m letting him get away.” Briony lifted her hand to summon a storm, and instantly, her desire became reality as dark clouds swirled above Costa’s rowboat. She saw the captain turn back toward the ship; they were too far away for her to see him clearly, but she knew he was looking for her. And the gun at Lucia’s head told her what would happen if she allowed her storm to continue.
Briony reluctantly released the clouds, unwilling to allow Lucia to get hurt even if it meant catching the captain.There has to be another way to rescue her…
And as she watched the rowboat begin to move again, its oars sweeping through the water, the solution came to her.Maybe a solution. Or maybe ’twill just result in something worse. But I can’ allow that monster to take Lucia. Na until I do everything in my power to stop him.
Briony raced back to her room, avoiding the sailors as they went about their tasks. She grabbed her sealskin and marched to the commodore’s quarters with determination. But as soon as she opened the door, her entire body began trembling in fear.
When entering such a room, most people would have been stunned by the grandeur within. And while it had been impressive the first time she’d seen it, now Briony barely noticed the expensive trinkets and fine upholstery, for that was not why she’d come. Her gaze went straight to the room’s great window overlooking the open sea, a window from which Costa’s rowboat was plainly visible.
If I don’ do something soon, what will happen to Lucia? Costa already killed Adriano—What if she’s next? Even if, by some miracle, Santiago gets the fighting to stop, Lucia will still be Costa’s hostage, and he could still use her to escape.
She swallowed thickly as all the potential outcomes of her idea came to mind…What if I can’ do it?
Briony shook her head and turned to leave—But if I do nothing and Lucia gets hurt, or worse, I’ll have to live with that regret fer the rest o’ my life. How can I look Santiago in the eye again, knowing I did na do everything in my power to save his beloved sister?
She stood there motionless for a few moments, but in her heart, Briony knew she’d already made her decision. She took a deep breath and dropped her sealskin on the floor. Then, with all her strength, she lifted the commodore’s chair and slammed it against the window. Several spindly lines spread across the glass just before the giant window shattered and dropped into the sea.
She knelt on the floor and retrieved her pelt, running the pads of her thumbs over the softness. But when her fingers reached the two places where the bullet had passed through, she felt something strange.What? Where’s—
Briony inspected the holes, unable to believe what she felt and saw. They’d shrunk. Significantly. Almost as if they were—
Healing. And well enough that my plan might just work.
Since my human body is alive and recovering, is my sealskin doing that too? So long as it does na get destroyed, will it heal entirely with time?
With a newfound joy and confidence, Briony stripped out of her clothes. It almost felt like stripping away fear itself, for she now believed she could find the strength to do what was needed. “Hold on, Lucia. I’m coming fer you.”
