“Um.” He scratched at the back of his head.
My stomach dropped. I’d never seen him hesitate like this. Maybe he was about to tell me there could never be anything between us, that it was just sex.
Oh, blood and earth. I’d actually fantasized about him and me having a future together. How stupid of me. I’d been a fool to think we could be together. Of course we couldn’t. Penn knew that, and he was about to bring my fantasies crashing back down to reality.
“It’s fine,” I said airily. “I understand. You have needs as a man, and I fulfilled those needs, and now it’s time to get back to work. You don’t have to say anything else.”
“Lilypad—” he started.
“No, really.” I couldn’t bear to hear him say the words, so I kept talking. Well, rambling. “It was stupid of me to think there could be anything more between us. That you would ever want to explore more with me. You’re the king of thieves and I’m the princess of Elwen?—”
I stopped when I noticed that huge smile on Penn’s face. “You are not and will never be someone who just fulfills my needs.” He pressed his forehead to mine.
I huffed out a laugh. “Well, that’s good.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. I couldn’t believe I was so happy, that I could be so happy with so much going wrong. But with Penn by my side, I felt like everything was possible. If I was Penn’s weakness, then he was mine.
I threw my arms around him, and he tightened his around me. “So about what I wanted to tell you?—”
I gasped, not even hearing him, thoughts stuck on that word. “Weakness...” My mind raced, the word playing over and over. “Gabrielle said the pirate lord’s weakness was water, the ocean. She said it was his greatest fear.”
He frowned. “The pirate lord of the Dark Seas is afraid of the ocean?”
“That’s what she said. What better place to hide his most treasured weapon than where he most fears?”
“What are you thinking?” Penn asked slowly.
“I think we went to the right location. We just weren’t looking the right spot. It’s not on his ship. It’s in the ocean.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
We wasted no time getting dressed and sneaking out of the castle, both of us careful to make sure the guard posted outside our door didn’t see us. We’d had to use the window to get outside, which was only slightly terrifying, but now our boots pounded the sand as we raced back to the place we’d gone yesterday.
Today, clouds gathered in the sky above, threatening rain. We needed to beat the storm, which would only make the sea wilder.
“Gabrielle told me about a spot,” I said, “the most dangerous place on the entire coast. Where the sea is at its most vicious.”
Penn nodded, and I could see the excitement lighting his eyes. I couldn’t believe this might be it. That we might find the weapon today.
We reached the rocky shores and picked our way over the slick rocks, just like yesterday, Penn holding my hand every step of the way.
We reached the edge of the rocks, ocean waves rolling big, the skies puckering above. Wind roared around us, and both of us were already soaked by the spray of the sea.
“Where is it?” Penn yelled. “Where’s the spot?”
I looked around. “Gabrielle said it was in a place where the ocean is at its full strength.”
We both turned and, unlike yesterday, continued along the rocks and around the shipwreck. Once we got to the other side, I gasped. Bones and skeletons scattered along a sandy beach, and soon I saw why. A wave three times my height crashed down with a thundering sound that shook the ground. It was unrelenting, wave after wave after wave pounding the little shore. And there right out in the open sat a treasure chest.
“Huh. She really is taunting the pirate lord.” Penn wiped the spray of water from his face. “Now how are we going to get it?”
“I think it’s time to use your earth magic,” I said.
He stroked his chin, then nodded. “It’ll be the least risky way to do it.”
I arched my neck, looking at the cliff that towered over the shore. “What if we come from above? You can create a vine to wrap around me and drop me down. I’ll get it, and then you can reel me back up.”
“I’m not going to put you in that kind of danger,” Penn said.
