Page 56 of Oceansong
“We’ve tried to talk to them before, but if there is a way we can understand them, I’ll consider it,” Bàba said, and Angie gave him a grateful, relieved smile. “The more we keep this up, the more people we lose, too.”
“No, absolutely not.” Emily folded her arms across her chest, her countenance hardening. “How could you ask that? Zixin, you know as well as anyone why we’re doing this. Them killing us is exactly why we need to hunt them down. What makes you think they’ll stop if we will?”
“We can just catch one and learn how to talk to them.” Angie was repeating herself from their staff meeting almost two months ago.
“I agree, and—” Bàba started, but Beau cut him off.
“You forget what they did. They killed my boy. My teenage son was fuckingimpaledby those bastards.” His voice cracked at the wordson, and Angie’s heart dropped. “If they hurt or killed one of your daughters, would you not want the same? What, you would just talk to them, and everything will be okay?”
Bàba paled.
Beau continued. “And Angie, who’s side are you on?” His cheeks flushed. “Speaking of which, where were you when my son was murdered? He said he was meeting you that morning.”
“Don’t question her loyalty,” Bàba cut in. “I’d trust her if I were you. She’d never go behind my back.”
An invisible razor drove itself into Angie’s heart.
“I was going to meet him. He wanted to have breakfast together, and we planned to talk about my school. But, when I got to the docks, he wasn’t there. I found him.” The memory made tears well up behind her eyelids, and she swiped at them.
Beau studied her as if searching for cracks in her story.
Emily touched his arm, and he slid his gaze to his wife. “We should go,” she said, her voice hardly above a whisper.
The door shut quietly behind them, leaving Angie and Bàba sitting in silence.
When her shift ended at seven p.m., Angie waited at the same spot she saw Kaden last. Bàba and Nick were holed up in the central meeting room and showed no signs of coming out anytime soon, no doubt planning their retaliation.
Her skin crawled thinking of what they were discussing.
Minutes passed, and Kaden didn’t show, but a familiar rowboat approached her from the horizon. She fixated on it as it moved closer to her, until it finally wedged onto the shoal.
Kaden peeked over the surface, and angled his head toward the boat. Angie’s shoulders collapsed in relief, and after ensuring she was alone, she climbed aboard.
He took his time, meandering underwater, back and forth, back and forth. Angie’s hackles lowered. She’d expected a rough ride not unlike when she nearly hit floating ice, but now, the gentle bobbing and swaying and soft breeze melted the tension in her body.
She stretched out her legs and her eyelids fluttered close.
The boat slowed to a stop. Jolting awake, Angie rubbed her eyes and ran a finger over a deep vertical indentation in her forehead.
Great. She must have fallen asleep with her forehead on the rowboat’s edge.
Her hair was a tangled mess from the wind messing it up, there was a dent on her forehead, her eyes were bleary, and her lips were dry.
They stopped at a remote piece of land nestled within a fjord. Landmass surrounded them on both sides, bases for towering granite walls dotted with bright greenery. In the distance were mountains nestled within a blanket of fog, the epitome of nature’s masterful craftsmanship. Angie’s fatigue vanished as she took in the awe-inducing sight.
Kaden climbed ashore first and held out his hand as Angie stepped off. She lost her footing when the boat rocked with the waves, landing into his waiting arms.
“You planned that, didn’t you?” Angie grunted, sitting back up and dusting sand off her jacket and out of her hair. The sight of him set her aglow, sitting coyly and with hooded eyes, one arm draped casually over where his waist transitioned into his tail.
“Perhaps.” With a tender sweep, he brushed a strand of hair away from her face, his palm lingering on her cheek. His gaze trailed to her forehead, and his playful smile returned.
“Wait, that stupid dent is still there? Damn it.” Angie rubbed her forehead. “I was tired, and I fell asleep. Okay?”
“You’re still beautiful, and I doubt I will ever stop finding you so.”
She rolled her eyes, her cheeks flaming. “Flatterer.”
“Is it flattery if it’s the truth?” Kaden stroked her cheek with one hand and let his fingers slide behind her ear. He smirked. “No gills to worry about jabbing my finger into.”
