Tɪɢʜᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ Bᴏɴᴅs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Tʜʀᴇᴇ

Chapter fifteen// Another Day

Zay
Something changed in everyone after Olvan's letter. We were all suspicious of Lizzie, who was not seen as much as before. Sabien rarely came out of his cabin, because he'd learned that his childhood friend was dead. Navia was usually with him– though she keep getting seasick and had to stay in bed. Niko and Lucia barely spoke, and Tazi was often with his spirit animal and the dolphin. Sometimes it felt like Sasha and I were the only living people aboard. Today was one of those times. I stood at the prow, my short hair ruffled by the salt breeze.

"Hey." Sasha came up beside me.

"Hey yourself." I looked up at him. "What's up?"

"The sky." He replied, his eyes on the horizon.

"Hm." I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "And with you?"

He gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I'm bored."

I sighed, touching his hand. "Same here."

His eyes lit up. "Why don't we do some of those trust exercises?"

I frowned. "You mean with Delar?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!"

"Well, uh..." I looked around. "We can do it in my cabin if you'd like."

He drew his eyebrows together. "Isn't Navia in there? I heard she's not feeling great."

I sighed. "Yeah. She keeps getting seasick, that's all."

Sasha winced sympathetically. "Poor girl."

I shrugged. "I guess. We can go to the mess hall instead if you'd like. That'll be empty."

"Okay." He agreed. We headed belowdecks, to the mess hall. It was, in fact, empty. Just like I'd said, not a soul was in there. "Okay, uh..." Sasha sat down on the floor. "Should I do the same thing as before?"

I frowned thoughtfully. "Hm. Maybe we can try something different."

"Like what?" He asked interestedly.

"Just a second..." I pondered. "What if... you always seem to be telling Delar what to do. Why don't you ask him?" I suggested.

"Ask him what?" Sasha frowned.

"To borrow his sight or something." I responded, moving away.

"Where are you going?" Sasha asked.

"Just over there." I pointed to a table not too far away. "I'm gonna do some bonding too."

"Oh." He nodded and called Delar. I hopped onto the table and released Xavier from passive. The viper curled his body around, lifting his head to meet my eyes. I stared into them, their piercing yellow reminding me of the pain Bonding Sickness brought. Xavier flicked his tongue out at me, his eyes conveying an apology.

"I'm sorry too." I muttered. "I treated you badly, just because you remind me of Zarlo." His name almost caught in my throat, and I remembered the silly name my twin brother had given his own viper. Olraz. It was just his name backwards, that arrogant prat. I couldn't resist a sad smile. Xavier nudged my chin, spiralling up my arm. We'd never been an affectionate pair, but things really had changed. "I guess you're the only family I have right now, huh?" I mumbled. The viper tickled my cheek with his tongue.

"I did it!" Sasha shouted, startling me. I spun toward him, Xavier slithering around my neck in agitation. He'd leapt to his feet in triumph.

"Did what?" I inquired. "Where's Delar?"

"Here!" Sasha pulled open his shirt to reveal a swirling tattoo of a jaguar's head on his chest. "I got passive state!"

I jumped off the table and strode toward him, a proud smile stretching across my face. "That's amazing!"

"I'm pretty sure that Delar also just wanted to get off this boat." He added with a grin, "but I can't believe I finally got it!" He took my hands and twirled me around, laughing. I laughed too, then we both realized what we were doing and jumped apart. "Ah, sorry." He muttered, his cheeks red. I stared at my feet, my face equally scarlet.

"Whoa, we having a kissy-fest in here or something?"

Both of us glanced up to find Navia leaning against the doorframe. "You're one to talk." Sasha scoffed, regaining his voice first. "You and Sabien are locking lips every second you can."

"Yeah," I chipped in, "besides, shouldn't you be in bed? You are sick after all."

She shrugged. "I'm feeling better now."

Sasha and I exchanged a skeptical look. She still looked green. "Well, you don't look better." Sasha told her bluntly. I elbowed him.

"I don't?" Navia sighed. "I hate boats."

Sasha rubbed his ribs. "Same here. Well, it's not as bad now that Delar is in passive."

Navia's brows shot up. "Passive? Congrats."

Sasha shone with pride. "Thanks."

I frowned. "You still shouldn't be up, Navia. Go back to bed. You need to rest."

Navia chuckled. "And to think," she said to Sasha, "I was taking care of her no less then two days ago. How the tables have turned." Sasha laughed.

"Oh, go away." I grunted. "And be quiet, you overgrown child." Navia turned and disappeared down the hallway.

Sasha looked down at me, "I can't believe you got better so fast."

I poked him in the side. "Well, I'm just glad you used Nectar and not Bile." I shuddered, imagining Gerathon in my head.

"Same here." He agreed. "Speaking of Bile, do you think Lizzie...?"

"Yes." I replied without hesitation. "I don't trust her in the slightest."

He frowned. "She seemed to be telling the truth though..."

I narrowed my eyes. "You believe her?"

He shrugged. "I don't know who to believe anymore. I guess we'll see. Tomorrow is, after all, another day."

I sighed. "That it is." Sasha wrapped an arm around me. I leaned my head against his bicep, since that was as high as I could reach.

Badooooooom! That's the last chapter for this book! Oh wait I lied- there's still an epilogue, so stick around! (The next book's cover and title will be posted there!) Please vote and comment!
I will, in fact, be taking suggestions for the next book's name (because I have little to no ideas ;~;) anyway see y'all soon!