I looked up and met Circe抯 gaze. Her eyes were glassy with tears, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. She was trying her hardest not to cry.
揑抦 sorry,?I said quickly, heat rising in my face.
揇on抰 be,?she said quietly.
I could almost hear Mo抯 voice in my head. I didn抰 have to choose. I could have both. 揂untie, do you have Devil抯 Pet in that case you brought??
She scrambled to her feet and rushed off to get it, batting at her eyes. When she returned, she held a single bloodred thorn. She set it in my hand and I walked to the rail closest to us. As I breathed deep and let the warmth flow through my fingertips, the Devil抯 Pet burst to life. An entire gathering of the poisonous vines materialized from the single thorn. They writhed in my palm like the tentacles of some monstrous sea creature, doubling in length and thickness with every breath I took. When they were too heavy to hold, I set them on the deck and they branched out like arms, like fingers. Grasping at the rails they hauled themselves up and over. They covered the outside of the hull in hundreds of thick offshoots, sprouting crimson thorns the size of icicles and serrated purple leaves tipped in deadly poison.
揥hy didn抰 we think of this??Persephone asked, staring at Circe, who just grinned.
I let the Devil抯 Pet form a protective armor of deadly thorns that encased the entire ship, slithering across the decks and covering nearly every square inch of the exterior.
揑f sirens do come up the side, they won抰 be happy,?I said.
揟hey sure won抰，？said Marie. 揂nd I thought I was cold blooded. You got me beat.?
Persephone returned to her perch on the upper deck, and as the afternoon faded and the sky turned fiery, she called down to us.
揥e抮e approaching something in the water.?
I rushed up the short flight of stairs and she handed me the binoculars. I peered through and spotted in the distance three distinct rocky outcroppings and beyond them, more sea.
揑 see the rocks, but isn抰 the island supposed to be right behind them? I don抰 see anything out there.?I lowered the binoculars. 揑 know it抯 cloaked, but shouldn抰 we see ?something??
揕ook again,?Persephone said as Circe and Marie joined us on the upper deck.
I took another look, and this time I spotted something strange beyond the rocks. The air was blurry. The way it looks when the sun is beaming off the concrete in the hottest part of the summer, like the air had been turned to shimmering liquid.
揥hat is that??I asked, passing the binoculars to Circe.
As she peered through she gasped. 揟hat, my beautiful niece, is Aeaea.?
揧ou sure??I asked.
Circe handed the binoculars to Marie and turned to Persephone. 揑t抯 cloaked. Just like we thought, but it抯 there. I can feel it.?
I stared into the distance as the sun sank lower on the horizon.
揑t抯 nearly sunset and we抮e almost to the point of no return,?Persephone said. 揕et抯 get our headphones on and prepare for the worst棓
揃ut hope for the best,?Circe said quickly.
The mood had shifted. There was a renewed sense of hope. We were so close.
揥e抣l have to steer directly through the outcroppings,?Persephone said. 揅irce, we need a big gust and then you need to call down the broom so we can keep the sails as still as we can. Once we抮e clear, send them up again and get us to shore as quickly as possible.?
Circe nodded, set her headphones over her ears, and went to the deck to do as she was asked.
揝tay together, stay quiet.?Persephone adjusted her own headphones and went to take her place at the wheel.
Marie gripped my hand and led me to the main deck, where we watched as Circe brought in a gale-force wind, then called down the broom, letting it drift silently to the deck. The sails deflated as we glided closer to the rocks. The sun dipped below the horizon, and within a few minutes the fiery sky had turned almost purple. I touched the plastic cups of the headphones, hoping they would do their job.
Without the wind pushing it forward the ship slowed to a crawl. The hazy mirage of rippled air moved like a hulking, shadowy beast just beyond the rocks. My heart thudded in my ears and stirred a sense of terror in me. I looked down at my feet梐t the boards of the deck. In my headphones I could hear my own heart, but anyone else within earshot would have heard the beating of another. When I raised my head, Circe was staring straight at me as if she抎 come to the same sickening realization.
The Heart was beating like a drum梐nnouncing our presence to whatever creatures prowled the Black Sea.
From the corner of my eye, Persephone抯 flailing arms caught my attention. She motioned frantically to the water, and as I raced to the ship抯 rail, I caught a glimpse of long fishlike tails, streaked with green and blue bioluminescent markings, cutting through the water at impossible speeds. I blinked, and a dozen more appeared just beneath the surface梙eading straight for us.