had already been packing for my now-absurd search for a dragon and still have enough to get me safely to Shell Rock, Issa’s tribe down the coast.
She offered for me to stay there the day she delivered Leith to us, and I didn’t take her up on it. Idiot. I wanted to, but finding a dragon—that horrible hope—had been on my mind. Now, I wish I had left with her days ago.
I wish it more than anything.
Pain lances my chest, a cold sting in my veins. I should’ve gone with her when I had the chance. Keeping my tears at bay—Zaeyr and Delina don’t deserve them—I make for the door and through the thick jungle trees.
Days ago, they were lit up with banana-bee candles for Delina and Leith’s mating celebration.
There’s branches, broken trees everywhere, some huts are destroyed, the bonfire is in disarray. But my people are all back, cleaning up the mess.
A twinge of guilt stabs at me, asking me to stay, to deal with my hurt like I always do, to put my tribe first, but my body continues to the lift, hands reaching for the lever that rolls it up.
Throwing my satchel on it, jumping before it’s even fully to the top, I hear Zaeyr behind me.
“Aida!” he roars, seeing me. “Do not go down!” He’s a god in fury, like the terrifying dragon he is inside—his long white-blue hair rippling outward—and my hands falter. But the image of him and Delina flashes in my mind and I release the ropes. The last thing I see before the cliff blocks my view is him running toward me. “No!” he yells.
He’s still at the top when my feet hit the sand. I tie the rope into a knot so he can’t bring it up.
“Aida!” he screams, his dark voice carrying in the ocean breeze. The lift shakes and rattles as I back up and he tries to make it rise. “You will pay for this!”
“Aida, stop!” Delina appears on the cliff next to him.
“To the deep with both of you!” I curse them, picking up my spear and throwing my bag over my shoulder and running down the coast. It’s childish, but it gives me satisfaction. Zaeyr’s voice carries behind me and I tune it out, knowing that if I don’t, I may turn back and allow him to hurt me again.
Rounding the bend—where the cliff walls that keep the jungle separate from the narrowing beach—I run head first into Leith.
He falls backward into the grass, dropping a basket of plants. “Oww!”
“I’m so sorry,” I breathe, flustered, helping him to his feet.
He eyes me in the dawning cloudy light. “Aida? You’re awake? Delina said you were seriously hurt.”
My eyes narrow as I catch my breath. “Why are you out here alone?”
“Delina sent me to get healing supplies to help you,” he says, brushing the sand off his legs. “And I’m not alone. Elae and Jye are with me.” He points to the water where two mermaids watch us. Bright red and yellow tails rise from the water to wave at me.
“You shouldn’t be alone out here, not even with them. What if something came from the jungle? What if a naga was on the hunt?” All thoughts of Zaeyr and Delina fall from my head for a moment as my mother’s words about duty return.
“I can take care of myself,” he snaps. “I’m sick of everyone babying me. First Issa, now you? I’m not a child!”
Startled, my mouth purses. “That’s not—”
“Treat me like a man.” He shoves the basket of plants at me. “Here, this is for you. Though I don’t think you need it.”
“Leith, I’m sorry. The tribe—”
“To waters with the tribes!” he fumes. “I always thought you were better than them, Aida.”
“I’m sorry.”
He peers at me, and I remember that, just a month ago, Leith and I were going to be mates. The loss I felt when he was taken away… It blooms with the anger coursing through me now, but instead of envy, love settles instead. Familial love, brotherly love. Leith with his boyish features and wavy shoulder-length hair.
The way I feel about Leith is nothing like the way I feel about Zaeyr.
“It’s okay,” he says, forgiving me. “I should get back to Delina anyhow. She’s probably worried about me by now. And you know… you berating me will be nothing in comparison to what I’ll hear if anyone else catches me alone.” He chuckles, but there’s no mirth to it.
My mouth shuts tight. He