Page 27 of Reign of Light
“I could have walked!”
His boots barely hit the reef before he’s swinging me backward and sliding the front of my body down his until my feet are planted firmly on the ground.
“Where’s the fun in that?” His eyes sparkle as he brushes my hair off my face before weaving his fingers through it at my nape. Tilting my head gently, he leans down, stilling me with the press of a scorching kiss. His lips part mine, and I match his movements, taking every deep stroke of his tongue. I can feel his smile, and the absolute bliss of the moment makes me forget about everything except the press of his body against mine and the taste of him on my lips. When his other hand finds the small of my back and pulls me in closer, I oblige, and fist his vest in both my hands.
The loud clearing of a throat nearby breaks my focus, and seemingly his as well, as both of us stop moving and he pulls away with a grumble. My eyes flutter open in time to watch him raise an eyebrow as his head turns only enough so he can speak just past my lips.
“Yes?”
“Is someone going to explain to me what the fuck is going on?” Mara says.
With all the excitement of watching the crew leave the ship and frolic on the beach, I completely forgot she was standing there, and I can only imagine what is running through her mind now.
“No,” he growls, and turns back toward me, his lips pressing firmly into mine again before I break away. Flattening my palms on his chest, I push him back slightly, and shoot him a look.
“Yes,” I say.
He sighs and straightens, then wraps his hand around mine before striding across the jagged reef. He pauses just before Mara, tugging me to his side as he looks her over. He looks more annoyed at her interruption than his typical captain glare, and I bite the inside of my lip to hide my smile.
She doesn’t waver. Her head swivels between the two of us, then down at our joined hands before her gaze tracks up to Weston again. “Well?”
“The ship has been here as long as I have,” Weston explains. “No, you couldn’t see it. Yes, we all could. You can only see it now because the island must trust you.” She opens her mouth to ask something new, but he doesn’t let her get a word in. “Any other questions will be answered later. Right now, I’m going to spend the day with my crew. They’ve waited long enough to be on that beach. They deserve it.”
Weston starts off toward the shore, leaving Mara staring after us.
“Wait!” she yells, and I hear her footsteps pound as she chases after us. “Why does it need to trust us?”
“Later,” he commands over his shoulder as our boots hit the sand.
The beach is chaos as everyone revels in the freedom from the walls of the ship. Sig and Jorn must have swum to shore through the cove and now are traipsing through the waves, letting them crash over their bodies. You would never believe Roley feared the Castaways just days ago as he and Fin still run around the beach, weaving through everyone and laughing boisterously. Stassia still lies in the sand with Auralie beside her, smiling up at the sky.
Weston’s grin hasn’t faltered as we stand taking in the scene, witnessing the way everyone seems so carefree. It’s the complete opposite of the palpable tension every time they left the ship during the daylight hours. The sight is gratifying, especially with as much suffering that I’ve had to endure over these past days. But instead of watching each of them, I turn and watch him. I don’t want to miss seeing him realize he doesn’t have to protect them anymore.
That he can just be.
A call rings out over the commotion, and both of our heads snap toward it.
“Hey Cap!”
Weston’s smile fades as the captain’s stern protectiveness is in control again, and his eyes move in the direction that Fern points.
Standing on the edge of the cliff, watching everything from above, are the rest of the Voyagers.
They peer over the edge, and the beach falls silent, until all that’s left is the crash of the waves.
“Mara, you kept your word, correct?” Weston calls. My eyes stay locked on the cliff, despite the sound of what I assume is Mara shuffling through the sand.
“I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t,” she says as she tromps toward the stone staircase. “It’s alright! Everything is fine!”
It feels like I am back in the training ring, the standoff between the Voyagers and the Castaways so strained that each is waiting for the other to move first. I watch as some of them break, turning to the side and murmuring to each other. Gauge lifts his arm and points across the beach toward the cove, where the ship that they’ve now also spotted sits empty.
“The island trusts them too,” I breathe, letting out a sigh of relief.
“He must really be gone,” Weston says. “Now there’s no doubt he was the one Dawnlin was protecting us from.”
The sinking realization that Weston is right makes my stomach churn. The islandwasprotecting us, and it was from the Guardian. The man manipulated and coerced every one of us, all to get what he wanted. He violated his position as the Guardian, the person who was supposed to protect the healing waters from someone like himself. But a flicker of hope lights in me knowing that despite all Dane did, every single person here was still trusted. He didn’t destroy the good in us permanently.
The silence is thick as the Voyagers glance between us and the ship, piecing together that we were right under their noses the entire time.
