Page 110 of Fallen Stars
Adrian closed his eyes again, content to just listen to her voice.
“I know the feeling.”
“So, sailor… What are you doing out on a deck at such a late hour, interrupting my wallowing?”
Adrian grinned. So the mermaid had a dry wit too. “I have some new guests on the ship. Let’s just say we aren’t settling in well together.”
“Ah yes. I spend my days entertaining people, fixing other’s messes, constantly surrounded and suffocated. I know the burden well.”
“So that’s why you’d rather keep the barnacles on the bottom of the Starred Siren company?” Adrian grinned.
He heard nothing for a while and settled into the silence, realising that he had never found such company in it before. Adrian was usually used to filling it with a flirting sentence or a joke. He was in the midst of drifting off, halfway between the dreamlands and the waking world when the beautiful, soft voice spoke again.
“Does the sailor have a name?”
Adrian really smiled now. “He does. It’s Adrian.”
There was more silence, and Adrian dreaded if perhaps by some bad luck the mermaid had heard of him—how he’d been exiled.
Anxiety gripped him, and he wasn’t sure why; he’d only just met the mermaid—and met was a strong word.
But finally, he heard the voice carry on the wind. “Nice to meet you, Adrian.”
“And do you have a name, mermaid?”
The mermaid was quiet for a long time before she replied. “Oceanne.”
Adrian tilted his head back, a smile playing on his lips. “Oceanne,” he whispered back.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Elara knocked gently on thedoor before her. She heard a shuffling behind it and glanced back at Enzo, whose eyes were burning a little brighter.
Finally, the door swung open.
“Aren’t you two meant to be in the throes of passionate lovemaking right now?” Isra muttered, rubbing her eyes.
“Sorry, Iz, I know how much you need your beauty sleep, but this couldn’t wait,” Enzo replied.
Isra frowned, looking between the two and seeing the grave expressions before standing straighter. “What’s happened?”
Elara pushed into the room, followed by Enzo as Isra shut the door.
“This happened.” Enzo unfurled his hand to the small octopus now trailing around his arm.
Isra staggered back. “What thefuckis that?”
Elara bit her lip. “Enzo created it.”
“What?”
“Iz, I’m not crazy, I swear. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but Elara saw it too. It was just a piece of art, carved into the headboard. But my power experienced a surge as I was holding the headboard…”
“Nice,” Isra snorted, winking at Elara, who couldn’t help herself smirking back despite the revelations.
“And then before I knew it, it had come to life.”
Elara’s mind was racing as she recalled the story that Eli had told her of their creation. She could see plainly that magick in front of her now.