water soothed her hot, salty skin. Dannika rubbed her hands together under the stream and dampened her sleeves again. “This is wonderful on a hot day.”
“It’s wonderful every day. Bex is a wizard. She made a tub once, and we used it all the time, but a tropical storm blew it away. Now we always rescue the shower.”
A woven basket nearby held an assortment of brushes and sea sponges.
Meg squeezed one. “Natural loofah.”
“Ooh, luxury.”
“My mom tries to bring a little sophistication to island life.” Meg hiked to the screen, then paused. “Hey. Do you really have, you know, superpowers? Like they said? To make a shield to protect yourself?”
“I made a little one.” Somehow. “Other women have impressive abilities. They can shield entire armies, deflect underwater gunfire, push away sharks. Anything.”
“Wow. Just imagine raising your hands and poof, bye-bye hurricane.”
“Oh, it only works underwater.”
“Aw. Well, that’s still amazing though.” Meg wrinkled her nose. “Changing back is so awful. Isn’t it?”
“It’s pretty bad.”
The woman brightened. “Isn’t it? That’s the one thing I don’t miss. It feels like you’re suffocating and drowning at the same time.”
“It really does.” Dannika splashed water up to her chest. So soothing and fresh, surrounded by the lush garden and peaceful, wet scents. “Are you saying it doesn’t get any easier? I’ve been banking on it getting easier.”
“I don’t know. I had to give it up a while ago.”
“Your kids shift so well.”
“Well.” Meg rolled her eyes. “My kids have slapping contests to see who can stand the hardest hit. They’re not the highest standard for how much something sucks.”
Ah, children.
“But, anyway, I’ll let you get your shower.” Meg climbed to the other side of the screen. “Toss your clothes over and I’ll put them in the sun to dry.”
Dannika rinsed her caftan and underclothes, tossed them over the screen, and then stood under the pleasant falling water. It pulsed gently over her bruised and battered body.
“Ooh, underwear.” Meg’s voice wasn’t quiet, but it also was self-directed, like she was used to talking to herself and not having anyone around her to respond. “I remember wearing underwear. Oh my God, a bra. So, people still wear bras.”
Rustling sounds emerged from the other side of the screen.
Then, Meg called out, “I’m right here. Say something if you need me.”
“Okay, thanks.”
The birdsong, flower blossoms scattered at her feet, and the cheery tinkle of the shells reminded her of the outdoor showers she’d enjoyed in years past in Bali.
The ordeal was over. The terror begun on the plane had finished. She could relax.
She wet the sponge and scrubbed. Its rough-soft texture made her skin tingle. The healing elixir had closed the few cuts, and the bruises had faded to a light purple already.
Dannika prodded the bruises.
She was not the same woman who’d awoken today.
Eliot’s ring was gone.
A pang of loss flooded her nose, her mouth, her eyes with prickly grief.
She sucked in a deep, trembling breath. Then she clenched her empty hands to her chest and cried.
Like the water washing away the sticky salt from her cheeks, the tears cleared the passages in her heart.
She sobbed for the husband she’d barely had, the life she’d never lived, the memories she’d already forgotten. She grieved for the girl who’d held big dreams and lost all.
A new life awaited her. One she’d already taken a big step into. And that step had loosened the stitches in her neatly tied-up emotions, unbundling hopes and fears, and exposing her raw vulnerabilities for the first time in two decades. She was ready, but the process still hurt.
And then she rinsed her face, streaming away the last of her sticky salt.
To the future.
She closed up the shower and called for Meg, who passed over her clothes. “It dries fast in the sun.”
They smelled like the sweet grass, empty and ready for her. She pulled on her undergarments and tied the caftan’s belt. The strings were stiff but pliable.
Dannika faced the beach.
She had to be stronger now. Ciran needed a powerful woman. He deserved her showing up, at full force, being her most amazing self.
And so did she.
Chapter Fourteen
Dannika’s soul glowed much brighter as she strode down the twilit path to the beach, even though her eyes were as dark from exhaustion as before, and she looked refreshed. “You’re done already?”
“The hunt was faster than I had expected.” Ciran gestured at the feast preparations, Bex and the others lowering their prey into the pit behind him. “I was—”
“Oh, no.” Dannika snatched the hand that he’d used to