The Vanishing Deep by Astrid Scholte

Author:Astrid Scholte [Scholte, Astrid]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2020-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

TEMPEST

Monday, 8:15 p.m.

WE KNEW we were being followed as soon as we passed the Watchtower. Even in the storm, we could hear the growl of an engine, trailing us. But they didn’t have a Quicksilver.

Raylan was about to see how fast the Sunrise could go.

Our boat lifted out of the ocean with a jolt and flew along the black water.

“Ha!” I laughed, seeing the other boat disappear behind us. I threw my arm around Elysea. “Mom and Dad were right about this boat. No one can surpass us!”

She gave me a timid smile, reminding me it was too soon to talk about our parents. We still didn’t know if they were actually alive.

I returned to the console, checking that our navigation was set to the coordinates scribbled on the map. I steered the boat toward the moon.

The night grew silent; we’d outrun the storm. The stars glimmered above like a school of tiny flarefish clustered together.

Elysea huddled at the end of the boat, her hand trailing in the water. After everything she’d been through, she still wanted to be connected to it.

“You don’t fear it?” I asked.

Elysea glanced up, her face drawn. “Fear what? Death?”

I shook my head vehemently. I didn’t want to talk about death. Especially hers. “The ocean?”

She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t remember my drowning. I don’t remember being scared or knowing I would die—and that water would take my last breath. The sea is all I’ve ever known. Water is in our veins. How can I fear it?”

All this talking of drowning made me dizzy. I sat down beside her to remind myself she was still here. For just under sixteen more hours.

“Are you scared?” This time I did mean death. And she knew it.

“Yes.” She twirled a piece of her long hair around a finger.

My chest felt tight, and I struggled for a breath. It felt so close to drowning. But now that I’d started, I needed to know. I needed to know something that would make her impending demise easier to take. That was what Palindromena was for, after all. The time to discuss anything left unsaid. Time to heal.

“Do you remember anything after you drowned?” I asked.

Those who believed in the Gods below said you would be reunited with your loved ones in a realm beneath the sea. A realm where you could breathe underwater. And those who believed in the Old Gods said you would go to a place in the sky. I wasn’t sure what to believe. But I hoped whatever the truth was, Elysea wouldn’t be alone. She would be safe and happy.

“I don’t remember anything,” she whispered. “Nothing at all.”

My eyes stung, and I turned away. Was there nothing after death?

A high-pitched mechanical buzz cut through the night. I squinted to see what was behind us.

A sea-blazer.

Raylan.

Why? Why couldn’t he let us be?

“Get the ropes!” I said, jumping into action.

Elysea ran across the hull and untied the ropes from the mast while I undid my side. We let go, and the sail launched into the sky with a snap, nearly throwing us both overboard.

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