Page 113 of Dagger in the Sea

I shook my head.

“Get out of that cage, Adri,” he whispered, squeezing my hand. “Get out.”

Our gazes locked, our breaths, thoughts. We’d crossed a line together, that thick line we’d both so carefully drawn around ourselves. And it was there, in that moment, that I knew Turo DeMarco and I would keep crossing lines, keep daring each other, and I’d keep feeling this breathlessness, this terrifying and marvelous storm of risk and possibility coursing through my blood, bumping up my heartbeat.

And I was right.

31

Turo

That afternoonwe shared a pizza and too many beers in town and then went to bed early. The fatigue had finally caught up with us.

“Why don’t we wake up early tomorrow morning and see the sun rise up at the castle? Start our day off right.”

“Are you sure?” Her voice had that tentative quality, but I could tell she was excited. Pleased. And that pleased me.

“Yes.”

“I’d like that.” Her shoulders bunched together for a moment, as if she were squeezing herself. She touched my arm.“Kálli níxta.”

“Goodnight,” I murmured as she made her way to her bedroom, and I headed to mine.

Adri woke me up in the morning, a hand on my shoulder. “Turo, do you still want to go?” she whispered.

“Yes,” I replied in the dark. “When we get back, you make the Greek coffee.”

“Deal.”

We made our way through the narrow, quiet cobblestoned streets, the day’s possibilities lacing through the chilly air. Stray cats silently watched us as we strode toward the end of the town. We climbed the stone bridge, the water slapping against the rocks below us.

Once inside the castle, Adriana and I sat together, facing the sea, the lighthouse outlined by a sky aglow in burnt yellow, powdery blues, and an impossibly innocent pink. Rising to the surface, flaring all around us. It was ours, we were alone on top of the Aegean Sea.

“So beautiful,” she murmured.

The wind was gentler this morning, but when it kicked up, a light howl sounded through the ruins, making me look over my shoulder as if someone else was here with us. Ghosts of the past. Maybe our intrusion before the first light of dawn had unsettled them.

An icy chill crawled over me, and I wrapped an arm around Adri, pulling her close. Her warmth settled against me as the heavy, blood red orange ball of the sun rose steadily, swiftly in the sky, blazing the pale sea with colored light.

“Are we supposed to make a wish or something as the sun rises or is that when the sun sets?” I whispered.

“I don’t know.”

“Screw it. Make a wish anyway.”

“All right. I want to take control of myself again. Be that person I used to be. I don’t know how to get her back.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t go back, Adri. Maybe you’re someone else now, and you should findher. Embrace her.”

Her gaze slid to mine, the yellow pink light flooding her face.

“Is that a new idea, Lovely?” I whispered.

“Yes.”

I rubbed her arm. “Make something that’s yours. Make your own luck. Like your ancestor Stefanos did.”

“Have you done that?” she asked.

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