Shadows of the Night | BOOK 2 DRAFT

12

12. 

The smell of the ocean is so pungent I have to cover my nose with my sleeve. We're perched low on the shoreline, by the bugs and washed up weed, peering out at the sea fog. Eric and Malik are on either side of me, Cassia and Anastasia both back at the camp.

"It makes sense," Eric says. "I couldn't understand why their scent just disappeared, but the water masks it."

"They were smart to base themselves on an island," Malik adds. The moonlight makes his inky hair shimmer. "They can control who comes and goes."

The moon has begun its descent, and soon, day will fall over us. But we can't afford to wait another day knowing Elias is just a body of water away.

"How do we get there?" I ask.

Eric shrugs like it's obvious. "Swim."

"Ugh, yeah, that might be an issue for me."

His gaze darts to me, incredulous. "You can't swim?"

"Have you forgotten that I spent the first twenty years of my life trapped in a village as small as your castle?" I snap. "I couldn't exactly learn in an ankle-depth stream."

He looks away, but his jaw twitches, and I know it's just another thing that adds to his belief that I'm incompetent. "It's fine," Malik says, offering me a smile. "It's mostly swamp water, and the tide is out, so it shouldn't be over your head until closer to the island. We can make a raft for you to hold onto at that point."

Eric grumbles. "Not enough time. You should wait--"

"I'm not waiting here," I say.

"A log then," Malik suggests, taking a step closer to me. "And I'm a good swimmer, I can help if needed."

I almost expect Eric to shoot the idea down, but he huffs. "Fine. Let's go."

"I'll find a log," Malik says. "Need anything from the campsite?"

Eric just shakes his head. "Tell Cassia to stay put and keep an eye on the hollower."

"I don't think she could move even if she wanted to."

"Hurry up," Eric snaps. "We're running out of time."

Unaffected by his mood, Malik disappears into the forest. I nudge Eric in the side. "Would it kill you to be nice to him? He's helping us, you know." Eric doesn't even acknowledge that I've spoken. I lower my voice. "He was Elias' friend."

"I don't like him."

"You don't like anyone you've just met," I say, remembering how he treated me when I first arrived. Eric doesn't bother to deny it. It's hard not to feel frustrated with him. He's hard around the edges, even more so than usual, but it doesn't take much to look past the sharp edges and see what's beneath—pain. "Without Malik, we wouldn't have made it this far. You owe him some kindness, at least."

He snorts. "Of course you would say that."

I frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you think I'm blind?" he says. "One charming smile and he has you right in the palm of his hand. And here I was thinking you were doing this for Elias."

It feels like he's whacked me in the stomach. My eyes burn as I stare at him, speechless. His accusations bury deep in my chest and make my heart thump with pain.

"You have no right to say that to me," I snap. "Not when you don't know anything about how I feel about Elias."

"All I know is that every time I came home you were out with Bastian or Aliyah having fun, as if everything was fine when it was colossally messed up, and then Malik arrives and you get this light in your eyes like—"