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Sinking beneath the waves, she hummed a lullaby so soft it drew the fish around her, until it swelled into a call loud enough to wake the beast. She needed to protect her heart, as she had protected him all these years. Even if she hated him for using the Kraken to block his path, Gideon couldn’t leave without knowing how sorry she was and how desperately she loved him. Kennie’s cry pierced the water, and she sang a lullaby to lull him into submission, ordering him to block the path but not to harm any boat trying to leave the cove.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Gideon

Agiant tentacle flung up in front of the yacht and crashed down, hurling a wave at them that knocked the boat back toward the harbor. Gideon ran to the bow, terror coursing through him as the Kraken blocked their exit.

“Stop the engine! We need to stop the vibration so we don’t draw him any closer. We don’t want to provoke him,” Gideon ordered, running back to the bridge to his brother at the wheel.

“Are we being attacked?” Josiah asked, turning off the engine as the yacht rocked violently.

“Quiet!” Gideon snapped, gripping the captain’s chair to steady himself. Then he heard it, the soft hum on the breeze. “I don’t think this is an attack. Stay quiet and don’t turn on the lights or the engine.”

Josiah nodded, staring at the harbor. The shock of seeing only a fraction of the Kraken lurking beneath kept him quiet. Gideon walked around the deck of the ship, searching for the hum coming over the water.

Aerin. It has to be her. Only she holds such power over Kennie, he thought, but what was her purpose: to stop me, to hurt us? No. He didn’t dare to hope that she had come for him, even if the method was extreme. The moonlight glistened off the water, making it hard to see, and with the waves Kennie kicked up, he couldn’t see anything or anyone in the marina. His heart ached when he realized his hope was nothing but a foolish wish; Aerin had made her stance clear. She wanted him gone. He turned back for the bridge.

Gideon! The call over the water stopped him in his tracks. He leaned over the back of the yacht to catch the flick of a glimmering tail coming toward them. His breath hitched as he dared to hope. Why is she struggling against the waves? This distance should be nothing for her, even with the harsh current kicked up by Kennie’s sudden temper tantrum. Unless she’s injured.

“What on earth is she doing?” Josiah asked, suddenly by his side. “Do you think she summoned the beast?”

“We’re about to find out.” Gideon stripped off his long coat and dove into the water to meet her halfway.

“Are you hurt?” Gideon rasped, worried Kennie might have gone rogue and hurt her, and that she was here to warn him.

“No, I spent the last three days swimming; I didn’t have the strength to catch up to you.” His relief that she was unharmed was short-lived as she continued. “Kennie was my only chance at stopping you before you reached open water,” she panted.

“Are you out of your mind? You used the Kraken to block the cove?” Gideon asked.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t have a choice,” she said, fighting the waves to stay close to him. “You were about to leave.”

“He could’ve killed us,” Gideon argued, pushing his wet hair out of his face.

“No, he wouldn’t have. I ordered him to stop you, not maim you.”

“That’s a relief to know that the 165 f00t monster, the one who has already killed my crew once, knows when to cool his beak.” He didn’t think it would feel so good to bicker with her again.

“He really wouldn’t have hurt you. We kept him well fed over the festival. I didn’t even think he’d wake up to my call,” Aerin reasoned. “I’d never let him hurt you or your brother. I didn’t come here to bicker with you.”

“You should’ve thought about that before sending my worst nightmare after me,” Gideon started, but Aerin grabbed his shirt and pressed her lips to his, silencing him.

“Why did you come here, Aerin?” He sighed against her lips.

“Because you sent someone to fix the roof.” She beamed, furthering his confusion. “You spent what you had left in this world to help me.”

“Of course I did, because I love you and that damned drafty house. It was our home.”

“Is!” Aerin corrected, giving him the tiniest bit of hope.

“Telling me to leave, then using your song on Kennie to keep me here?” Gideon asked as she released him. “What do you want from me? I’ll give you whatever you want, but you have to tell me.”

“I was wrong. I was terribly, awfully, selfishly wrong to treat you the way I did. When you told Josiah that you wanted to stay, it terrified me because the thought of you leaving, of changing your mind after a month, a year, if you got your memory back and decided I wasn’t enough anymore, I thought losing another person I love would kill me, but since I can’t die then it would take whatever small life I’ve carved out for myself over the last seventy years.

“When you walked your brother back to the inn, and I was alone in the house again, it was so quiet and empty. I panicked, seeing what my life would be like without you again. I don’t want to do eternity without you. I’m sorry for pushing you away. I don’t want you to go. I don’t want the coffin or the house. I want you.”

“That’s a pity.” Tears fell from her eyes, and he wiped them from her cheeks. “Because we really do need a place to live if I’m going to stay,” Gideon teased. “This is not the time for jokes.” Aerin splashed him. “I’m pouring my heart out to you⁠—”

“I’ve got you, and I’m not letting you go again.” Gideon pulled her in close, letting the waves rock them as they held each other tight.