CH55
Peter's words are sharp as broken glass. “Alive? Phoebe, you can't be suggesting Marina’s sister survived what she went through. You saw the video.”
I flinch, cowed by the force in his tone, until I see himself holding Marina like she’s something fragile. He isn't angry, just protective. Still it stings that Peter would feel that I'm the one Marina needs protecting from.
I blink, trying to keep my voice steady. “I don’t have any better explanation for what’s going on than you do, Peter. You know that. I’m just laying out the facts and seeing what we can make of them.”
His jaw tightens, eyes narrowing in frustration. “I know you're willing to do whatever it takes to get your answers, but this is too much. It isn’t worth dragging all of this up for such an outlandish theory. Hasn’t Marina been through enough?”
He’s not wrong. Shame tightens in my chest, squeezing the words out of me before I can even form an apology, but Marina cuts me off, lifting a hand, her voice soft. “Hold on. Please,” she says, her eyes searching mine. “Tell me what you know.”
I swallow hard, thrown off balance. “About my grandmother?”
Marina nods, her expression unreadable.
“She—she wasn’t around much when I was growing up. She liked to be alone.”
Marina’s hand shoots out and grips my wrist, a little too tight. Her eyes gleam with an almost desperate intensity. “What was she like?”
I try to keep my breathing even as I look at her, the need so raw in her eyes it nearly hurts to meet them. “She was larger than life,” I say, my voice a little shaky. “Especially when I was younger. She never stayed in one place for long, and she liked to stay off the grid. We didn’t see her much, but she sent postcards, letters. She traveled all over the world.”
Peter’s frown deepens. “That’s it?”
“No, no,” I say quickly. “She liked to send me things from all of these amazing places. She went everywhere, hiked the Alps, sailed the Nile, explored the Amazon.”
Peter’s gaze sharpens. “Did you ever see her in or near the water?”
I freeze for a second, Wake’s words echoing in my head. Sirens can’t stay away from the sea for too long, or it will drive them mad. They lose themselves to it, and eventually stop hearing it at all. It was a death of sorts, the final step into humanity. Was that what Grandma Cara had done? Was that why she traveled so much, to keep from hearing the call?
I lick my lips, trying to focus. “Once. When I was a kid. We were visiting her in Australia and… she took us to Tasmania on a boat.”
Peter looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. Marina, though—Marina’s watching me carefully. “Did she ever say what she was doing?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “She was a scientist. She studied seismology, encouraged me to go into marine biology.”
Peter leans forward. “What kind of scientist?”
I shrug. “A geophysicist. She studied earthquakes, mostly.”
Marina gasps, her hand flying to her mouth as tears spill from her eyes. “It’s her,” she breathes, laughing and sobbing all at once. “It’s really her.”
Peter looks alarmed. “What makes you so sure?”
Marina can barely contain herself, nodding rapidly. “I could only hope Anthozoa survived the attack, but I didn’t want to believe it. After so long…”
Anthozoa. That’s her real name. My grandmother’s birth name.
Marina’s hands tremble as she grips mine tighter. “You threw her back into the sea, didn’t you?” I ask softly. “Hoping it would heal her.”
She nods. “The power of the homesea is ancient and strong. Every Enki An child knows this. In times of greatest peril, turn to your homesea.”
I squeeze her hand. “I think it worked. You saved her. She got to live a life because of you.”
Tears stream down Marina’s face as she smiles through the pain. But Peter frowns, his brows knitting together. “Then where was she? If she survived Becker’s attack and escaped Enigma, why didn’t she come back for you?”
That question lodges in my throat like a thorn, because it’s the same one I’ve been asking myself. Marina doesn’t falter, though. She places a gentle hand on Peter’s cheek, her voice filled with quiet sorrow. “She couldn't. If she knew what I now suspect, my sister did the right thing.”
I can’t help myself. “What do you mean? What did she know?”
Marina’s grip tightens on my shoulders as she meets my eyes. “There are things I can’t tell you, Phoebe. Secrets I swore to protect centuries ago, just like Anthozoa. But I have no doubt that she saw something in you. She was preparing you.”
My mouth goes dry. “Preparing me? For what?”
Her voice is soft, but her words hit like a hammer. “You know who has the answers you need.”
I swallow hard. “Wake.”
Marina nods. “Go to him. He knows what I cannot say. And Phoebe,” she adds, her voice trembling, “the gods were wise to bring you two together.”
A cold wave of fear crashes over me, making my knees weak. Marina turns to Peter, her expression firm. “Protect her. Make sure she gets to him safely. More than you know may depend on it.”
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