Page 111 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
This…
Thisis why she’s here.
Not to taunt me for the attachment I’ve formed with Pippi, but to see if there is still a knife in my heart. There is. There always will be. And she wants to twist it.
“I lost everything too, Onyx. When Indigo died,” I remind her.
“No ye didn’.”
“Ilovedher.”
“Enough to let her rot at the bottom of the sea.”
“I didnotdestroy that ship.”
“Liar.”
“Onyx, I swear to you?—”
“Ye haven’t changed one bit, have ye? Still insistin’—it wasyerbloody feckin’ ship, Alistair. Yer shiny new toy. Ye spent enough time tinkerin’ with it.But the one time ye weren’t on it and me sister was, it explodes. Coincidence, eh?”
I don’t know how to answer that.
So I say nothing.
Saturnhad been a ship born out of collaboration: an idea to combine the technology of Standies with the magic of Sorcerers. It was a luxury liner unlike any other, swift enough to sail theworld in two weeks, but smooth enough that its passengers would not be rollicked by the speed in which they were traveling. While aboardSaturn, guests were treated to both magical marvels, while never having to give up the convenience of their modern lives, as they do at Niverwick Isle.
It wasn’tmyship, per se. I hadn’t drafted the concept, but I’d invested in the team who had. I’d helped launch it, and had spent several weeks sailing on it, answering media questions, entertaining guests, diagnosing and fixing its kinks. It was something I had taken great pride in.
Indigo had always been curious about these ventures I often found myself swept up in. BeforeSaturn, it had been an operating system. Before the operating system, it had been medical diagnostic equipment. Before that…
I don’t remember.
But there was something.
There was always something. A project. Anobsession. Something I’d pour over and work at until it was perfected.
The dreams, as I told Pippi, that I lost myself in.
But I’ve learned that you can only pour from one cup.
And while these projects consumed my brain, I neglected my heart.
“Alistair, it’s just one night.”
“Can you be here by 3:00 p.m.?”
“Do you have to work so late? Only…the fundraiser’s tonight. I’d love for you to be there.”
Indigo’s voice fills me. Haunts me.
“We have a reservation tonight. Please don’t forget.”
“Will you come home? Please? I’m in a crummy mood and need one of your comfort burritos.”
Comfort burritos.
I’veforgotten.
