Page 124 of Fallen Stars
“I may not know you very well,” Adrian said quietly, “and I may really dislike your…soulmate.”
“Careful,” Elara warned.
“Butthere is no denying you are good, Elara. I’m a very good judge of character. As is my ship. She’d never have allowed you aboard if you had bad intentions.”
Elara smiled. “Good or not, sometimes I just feel…trapped. Even in the open air. I’m drowning. Everyday. And it feels like all I’m doing is treading water, trying to keep my head above it,’ Elara whispered.
Adrian studied her before replying. “Well, being the Moon, I would tell you—you control the tides. Don’t you ever let them drag you under.”
Elara felt another sharp tug towards him, overwhelming in its familiarity. She staggered back a step, stricken.
“I have to go,” she mumbled, taking off.
“Elara, wait!” Adrian called after her.
But she was already running towards Isra’s room.
“I’m going to begin warding my door against you all,” Isra sighed, putting her book down as Elara barged in, Enzo soon after.
“El, what’s happened?” he said. “I saw you running.”
She put her hand on Enzo’s arm, turning to the seer. “Isra, do you think there could be a correlation between us titans and the Three?”
Isra considered her words, eyes narrowing. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it can be no coincidence that both Enzo and I were the only two in our realms who possessed the Three and that we both turned out to be titans locked in mortal bodies.”
Isra thought. “In theory you could be right. The Three was just a name given to your boundless power, powers that no other mortal possesses in such quantity. Why?”
Elara couldn’t contain her excitement as she grinned. “Because I think we may have found one of our titans.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Adrian balanced the bowl ofsteaming fish stew in his hands as he lurched onto the net before him, a pearl in his other hand.
He had found it that evening as he had been making his rounds across the deck, checking that the crew had left his ship to standard before retiring to bed.
He had one guess who could have left it, yet no clue how the mermaid would have made it onto his ship to leave her calling card.
Regardless, a thrill ran through his bones as he settled down, pulling a rope towards him. He had tinkered with a contraption of sorts—the lever system that helped them when catching crabs. It was comprised of various ropes and a small cage that usually hung by the nets, unused. But tonight, it would be.
Adrian cleared his throat, announcing his presence to the night, waiting for a response, his heart in his mouth.
There was nothing for a while but the wash of waves against his ship before a voice broke it.
“Hello, pirate,” the sweet, melodious voice crooned.
“Hello, siren,” he grinned.
He heard a tut. “I told you the last time that I’m not a siren.”
“Well, you sound like one, so unfortunately the name is sticking.”
He heard a small harrumph and chuckled.
“So,” he ventured, “one night with a pirate wasn’t enough for you? I received your little calling card.”
He set the plate carefully down on the taut net, pulling out the pearl. It was stunning—of Altalunian quality he’d bet, catching the moonlight in a display of iridescent blues and purples.