Page 64 of Ruin

“The Island. The man you met. The one who changed you. Did you ever go back?” she questioned, curiosity peaking in her voice.

“Once,” I said, the memory of that desolate place sending a chill down my spine. “I sailed back to the island, only to find it abandoned and uninhabitable. The path to the cabin was gone.”

“Can we at least try to go back? Maybe he knows something. Maybe he can help.” Claire’s voice was pleading now, desperate for any hope that there might be another way.

I looked into her eyes, seeing the desperation there, and it tore at me. Could I deny her this request? After everything I had asked of her, could I refuse to give her this one chance, however slim it might be? But what if it only brought her more pain, more heartache? Could I live with myself if that happened?

I took a deep breath, reaching out to take her hand, feeling the warmth of her skin against mine. “We can try,” I whispered, knowing that whatever the outcome, I could not bear to see her suffer.

“But whatever happens, I need you to understand…I cannot lose you, Claire. Not now, not ever.”

She nodded, tears glistening in her eyes as she squeezed my hand. “I’m scared, Arik,” she confessed, her voice trembling. “But I don’t want to lose you either. We’ll figure this out together. We must.”

As I looked into her eyes, I felt a flicker of hope. Maybe, just maybe, there was a way for us to be together without destroying the very things that made us who we are. But as I held her close, I knew that whatever came next, it would change both of our lives forever.

With a quick motion, I grasped Claire’s hand into mine. I could feel the strong pumping of her veins on her palm against my own, except mine were still. Claire’s eyes scanned the view of the sea as we descended the staircase, the salty air whipping warmth against our faces. She walked in tandem with me until the last step, when finally, our feet met the loose, damp sand below. We walked silently, our footsteps sinking into the sand with each step, until we reached the dock.

Hidden just north of the villa, behind a jagged cliffside and dark cove, sat my dock. The sound of an engine cranking filled my ears, causing Claire to jump. Poor thing must have been deep in her own thoughts until the crank of the engine pulled her from the sea of anxiety and confusion that radiated from her body.

“All aboard!” Sam shouted in our direction.

Picking up body language cues and reading facial expressions was a fleeting skill that always seemed to come and go at the worst times. Judging his current demeanor, he probably thought we were going out for a romantic afternoon boat ride.

Sam took Claire’s hand to lift her into the boat before quickly letting it go. Our eyes locked. His blue eyes widened with fear as he stepped back from the aft onto the maple wood planks of the speedboat.

“Wise choice,” I murmured low before jumping into the boat and reaching my hand out for Claire’s.

She looked at me, and something inside me ripped in half. Her eyes, round and filled with fear, fought against a smile that she plastered across her perfect face. I could feel her mind and heart at war, and I wanted nothing more than to be fighting on the front lines for her. As the ropes freed the boat and the engine calmed to a low purr, I flicked my wrist in Sam’s direction.

“You sure?” he asked, confusion cutting through his brow. Claire’s eyes rounded as she shot a look at me.

“Yes. The island only shows itself to those who seek it. Even more so, those who have a purpose to seek it. Sam does not have a purpose,” I replied plainly as I walked toward the captain’s chair.

“Arik…” Claire gasped. “That was rude.”

I rolled my eyes as my gaze fell onto the horizon. “Rude? It is true.”

I felt the weight of Sam’s body lift from the boat as he disembarked. Claire’s footsteps pattered in my direction until her body slid next to mine. Her demeanor was off, distant, searching. But who was I to judge, as mine was radiating a mirror image, despite my calm exterior.

Perhaps we would make it to the island and find nothing. Perhaps we would navigate the sea for hours and come back empty with every question still unanswered. Or we would find everything. At this point I was not sure which of the three would occur, nor which of the three would result in the best outcomes.

My hand slipped to Claire’s bare thigh as the sea breeze floated the hem of her dress up from her knees. I leaned back into the firm leather seat and let out an exhale as I gripped her soft skin firmly.

“Are you ready to do this?” I asked, my voice was low and comforting, bringing a stillness between us that was desperately needed.

Claire paused, her lips parted as if she was struggling with how to answer. “I think so. I don’t know what we’re doing, but whatever it is, it must be done.”

My eyes locked into hers. Gold glistened as the sunlight hit her eyes exactly right, pulling me into her sparkling pools of honey once again.

I released my hand from her thigh and placed it upon the gleaming metal of the throttle, pulling down gently as the boat eased away from the dock and into the crash of the waves. We sat in silence as I felt her emptions drift from anxiety and fear to longing and back again. As the boat met resistance from the sea, Claire grasped my arm.

“You okay over there?” I asked as my eyes locked in hers. What could have passed as the look of seasickness was just an illusion hiding her real emption—fear. Cold, unrelenting fear that seemed to vibrate into her bones, to her fingertips, and into my skin.

“Fine,” she stated, her lips barely parting as the response cut through the air like a knife. After all this time, she still had her guard up. She still did not trust me, that was for sure, and it hurt. Out of all the things in my life that could have hurt me, broke me, shattered my soul—seeing her walls up like this was the one thing that would do me in.

The boat sped forward past the last of the waves and into the stillness of the sea as the sun lowered in the sky ahead of us. Hints of orange, yellow, and red seeped into the blue of the water as if the sea were breathing in fire from below the surface.

Claire’s voice cut through the silence as she yelled over the roar of the engine. “What are we looking for, Arik?” she questioned, never taking her eyes off the horizon.