Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“ A re you sure?” I asked, subconsciously tightening my grip on the soft material of Viktor’s tunic.

I couldn’t admit it aloud, but I was afraid that after what happened last time, if I let go of him, he would be lost to me forever.

“It has to be.” He nodded, looking sure of himself. “It’s unaccounted for on the map from Greenland. We thought it was on the other side of Greenland, but they must have made a mistake. Or maybe we did. You’d be surprised how often these things happen.” Viktor’s rambling told me he truly believed it, and I believed him.

I had to rub the sleep from my eyes and squint to be able to make out the shape of the island he was pointing at. It was small because we were so far away, but it was definitely an island.

“We’re here right now.” He pointed at the map, a few inches below the spot of land circled several times in red and labelled as ‘ Treasure Island ’.

“It’s too near,” I protested, my lips curving down at the corners. “We’re not even supposed to see Treasure Island from here.”

“The map must be off.” His eyes were glued to the map. “Greenland must have made a miscalculation.”

“Or maybe this isn’t Treasure Island?”

Viktor frowned. “How can you be sure?”

I pursed my lips. “What if this is just another island?” I asked, studying the map. “What if this island is like Canne? What if it’s dangerous?”

He squeezed my hip. “We’ll be more cautious this time,” he assured me. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, my siren. Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” I exhaled and leaned into his chest, needing him like I needed air. “I’m just worried.”

“I know, my siren. I’m also worried but have a gut feeling about this.” He brushed his lips against my forehead. “I might be wrong, but we can’t ignore this island. Let’s sail around it and continue forward. If the map is correct and this is just another island that isn’t on it, we’ll continue to Greenland. They’ll be able to confirm if the map is mistaken.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t wholly convinced.

“How many days have we left until Greenland?” I asked.

“Five.”

So, that would be five days to get to Greenland and then another five days to get back to this island if it did turn out to be Treasure Island. If the map were indeed wrong, then it would be a massive waste of time.

Two hours passed on our journey to Greenland, and we were close to the mystery island.

“If this does turn out to be Treasure Island, then the pirates were just rumours,” I murmured, glancing around the shore but not spotting a single ship anywhere. And certainly not one that resembled belonging to a wicked and dangerous group of pirates.

“I had a feeling that they were just rumours,” Viktor murmured, and I didn’t miss the sound of relief in his voice. “You’re still not convinced this is Treasure Island, my siren?”

“I’m not sure anymore.” I gnawed on my bottom lip. “What are the chances Greenland would fail to mention that they had another deserted island nearby?”

“Absolutely no chance.”

“It’s deserted like we expect Treasure Island to be,” I murmured. “One deserted island right next to another deserted island? What are the chances?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth, my siren,” he chuckled, and I didn’t miss the way he pressed his foot down harder on the button to make the oars row faster.

“I really don’t have a good feeling about this, Viktor.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Maybe we should just go to Greenland.”

“Okay,” he agreed but didn’t sound convinced.

Viktor and I were still torn about whether this was Treasure Island, but we continued to sail around it anyway. Another two hours passed, and the mystery island was a blimp in the background as we left it in our wake, but I couldn’t get rid of the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Do you think I’m being too cautious?” I asked. “What if it turns out to be Treasure Island, and we’re just wasting our time by not checking it out now.”

Viktor was silent for a moment, thinking hard. “The worst that can happen is that we waste some time and must come back.”

“And the best?”

“It turns out to be Treasure Island, and we make all of Barden’s dreams come true.”

“And map miscalculations? You said they’re common.”

“More common than you think,” he chuckled, the sound a little strained.

“It sure does look deserted,” I murmured, eyeing the overgrown greenery and forest which ate away at the back of the island, making it impossible to dock there and forcing us to go around to the front once again.

Viktor squeezed my hip. “What do you want to do, my siren? Air on the side of caution or take a risk and pray it pays off?”

Even though I was severely traumatised by our experience at Canne, I reached out for the wheel and turned it as far as I went. Viktor grinned into my hair as The Serpent did a three-sixty-degree turn, and before we knew it, we were docking up at the mystery island.

Viktor didn’t bother putting down the ramp for us to walk down, as it was only the two of us. There was no point this late at night when everyone was still asleep.

“There are no ships,” I whispered, my eyes trailing up and down the shore. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“Better than Canne, that’s for sure.”

Viktor pressed his hand to the small of my back and guided me to the front of the ship, glancing over the serpent mounted at the front.

“There are weeds everywhere,” he said, and I could hear the frown in his voice. “If there were anyone living here, even pirates, it wouldn’t look this bad.”

“If there were pirates here, we would have spotted their ship,” I pointed out, and he hummed in agreement.

“I really think this is it,” Viktor exhaled, and a wave of relief washed over me for the first time tonight.

There were no pirates, and there looked to be no one living here, either. This island was truly deserted.

Treasure Island.

“What’s the plan?” I asked Viktor in a small voice.

“I’m going to stay out here, just in case, but there’s nothing for us to do until the morning. We can start searching for the treasure once everyone is awake and we’ve had breakfast.”

“I’ll stay out here with you,” I told Viktor, raising my chin in defiance, telling him that there was nothing he could say or do to change my mind.

“Well, it’s a good thing we’ve got a blanket here with us, isn’t it?” Viktor chuckled and dropped himself to the deck, stretching his legs out in front of him.

I wasted no time joining him, sitting between his legs and resting my head against his chest. I sighed and closed my eyes when he threw the blanket over us, tucking me in.

Between Viktor’s arms and the blanket, I was all snuggly and warm, and I struggled to resist the wave of sleep that threatened to take me. I blinked my eyes rapidly and shifted around, trying to keep them open in case something happened, but there was no use.

It had been a long couple of days, and out here, on the deck, in the middle of the night, in my husband’s arms, I welcomed the sleep.