Page 45 of Reign of Light
I remember this feeling, this moment of realization that the waters were hiding almost in plain sight. The mountain—the crux of the island—held the secret. It felt so obvious, even though I knew it wasn’t. I know the flurry of feelings she’s having right now, but she has been here longer. No one knows how much more time it would have taken her, if she even ever found the entrance.
“A lot of us didn’t find it, Mara. It wasn’t just you.”
She turns to face me. “But you did. You found it, and you had barely gotten here. Fin too. How did you both find it after so little time, but I walked by it every single day?”
“Do you want to know the truth?” I ask, and she nods. “I asked the island to help me make a map. I hid it from Dane. It was how I noticed a pattern in the dangers; how the island changed. Then I narrowed down. And after I remembered the symbols on the fountain, I just found it.”
Her mouth falls open slightly. “I don’t remember the fountain at all. I don’t even know if I looked at it closely enough back home.”
I shrug. “Then you shouldn’t blame yourself for not finding it. The fountain was fresher in my mind than for you, and it helped me. The rest…” I trail off. It feels crazy to talk about the magic that lies in Dawnlin. None of us can explain it, or know anything about it more than we’ve experienced, but it gives me a feeling, and I don’t understand why. No one else has expressed anything similar, and I don’t want to come off as strange.
“What?” She tilts her head expectantly.
I wave the next person forward, and they start off along the ledge before I turn back to her.
“I don’t know. Sometimes I felt like the island wanted me to find the entrance, even though I wasn’t worthy. I just felt something when the pieces fell into place, and with the map…After everything Dane did, it just felt like it was meant to happen. Every step and setback and decision helped change this place, even though we are stuck here. It felt like I needed to set things in motion. It didn’t end how I expected, but it still helped in a way.”
Her eyebrows draw in, and she tilts her head. “What do you mean after everything he did?”
I let out a sigh. I’ve become close to everyone in the crew, and they don’t even know the entire truth when it comes to the connection between Dane and me. I am sure Sig knows because of Weston, but I haven’t shared everything with anyone else yet. Bringing it back to the Voyagers isn’t something I’ve even considered until this moment. Can I trust Mara to know everything?
The island trusts her.
I wave Sawyer forward and weigh my options. If I don’t tell her, she might question her trust in me, knowing I hid something important from her, which could eventually develop issues between the Voyagers and the Castaways. On the other side, the dust is gone. There’s no way to get home, and because of that, Dane isn’t coming back. Nothing will change if Mara knows the truth about his connection to me and my family. If anything, it will help explain Weston and my relationship, and hopefully keep Mara from shooting us pointed looks every time he touches me.
Fuck it, I’ve got nothing to lose.
Words spill from my mouth, the story flowing freely from the very beginning—at least the beginning as I experienced it. Dane is from home. He is connected to my mother. He manipulated me.
I tell her it was actually he who killed the last Guardian, and blamed it on Weston to control us. I tell her he almost killed Weston intentionally because of his friendship with my parents. I don’t miss a single detail, recounting it all down to the moment in the cabin when he revealed everything, and as the words tumble out of me, I watch fury rise in her face.
“That asshole!” she yells when I am finally finished. “How did he get away with all of this? How are we stranded here, and he just left after holding us hostage? How did Dawnlin let this happen?”
I shrug, and I can’t keep the sorrow out of my voice. “I don’t know. But I have to trust that what was meant to happen, happened. We’re all still alive. We’re not hunting each other anymore. Hopefully, we can find happiness here, despite everything he took from us.”
She shakes her head in disbelief. “So all this time, the Castaways were just searching for a way home?”
“Yes, that’s all they wanted. They weren’t trying to take anything or anyone. They were trying to protect the waters from him.”
“I tried to kill you,” she says, a look of horror on her face. “All because he lied to me.”
I scrunch my nose in a playful wince. “It’s probably not a good idea to remind Weston about that.”
“Yeah, I gathered. By the way he looks at you, he’d probably have my head if I hurt you. Again.”
“He was not thrilled the first time,” I say with a laugh. My cheeks heat as I remember exactly what he did with all the emotions of finding me hurt, returning to the ship. I push it down and wave the next Voyager through.
“For what it’s worth,” she turns to me, her face laced with sincerity. “I really am sorry. I know Dane was controlling all of us, but I should have known. I should have seen it. When he disappeared for so long and then came back with you, I should have known something was wrong.”
Sig’s lesson comes crashing back to me, back from when I was having this same internal crisis, back when I found out Dane had lied to me, too. The betrayal cut deeply, and that was before I knew the extent of it. I feel like Mara needs to hear the words, if only to help her grieve the friendship she thought she had over so many years. “It isn’t our fault how others treat us, especially if they try to harm or control us. What matters is that when our eyes are finally opened to it, we remember our value and don’t let it happen any longer.”
Her face hardens as if it’s set in stone. “It won’t. If he ever comes back, he’ll have all of us to deal with.”
“He will. And we’re stronger together.” I reach out and squeeze her hand, and she squeezes mine back.
Peering past Mara, I look at the front of the line to find Roley with a nervous look on his face. I smile down at him, ruffling his hair the same way I do with Fin.
“Are you ready, Roley?”
