He recalled the fortune cookie quote Tin had given him before the dive that left X stranded on the surface. They hadn’t seen each other for almost a decade until their reunion in Florida, when X was a half-crazed shell of his former self. Since then, they had made up for lost time, but that time was fraught with harsh reality.
Devastating dives.
The battle for the islands.
Death and suffering.
His drinking again.
All those moments had led X to tonight—to this very spot, where he was lucky enough to see Michael and Layla joined together in the sacred tradition of marriage.
Rodger and Magnolia waited hand in hand. She had buzzed her head and wore a bandage over the burn wounds on the right side of her forehead.
Rodger pushed his glasses up and smiled as X walked over.
Les stood with his wife and daughter, holding their hands. Eevi and Samson had also come. And there were the ever-present Victor and Ton, keeping to the shadows to watch for threats.
But so many were not here tonight—people they had lost who would have loved to see this union.
X led Miles over to the gathering.
“Welcome, King Xavier,” Imulah said.
X almost choked up as Michael and Layla turned to face him.
They both smiled, but there was still tension in their faces—concern over what came after their ceremony. X vowed to live in the moment and leave the worries for tomorrow.
“We are here to celebrate the union of two beautiful people tonight,” X said. “Two people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing since they were children.”
He stepped up in front of the altar, under the fronds of a palm tree.
“Layla Brower and Michael Everhart, it is my honor to oversee this ceremony. You are beautiful inside and out and have always put others before yourselves with your kind and selfless hearts.”
He let that sink in.
“Tonight is about you, and I hope you can put aside all other thoughts and focus on each other right now. For this is a night that you will never forget.”
Michael looked at Layla and smiled. Her dimpled grin widened.
“Gather around,” X said.
Everyone moved closer, and he thought back to his own wedding. He wasn’t even sure how long ago it was—probably thirty years by now. A distant memory, but one that still lived in his mind.
His wife had looked so beautiful that day, and they were so in love. Long before the diving turned him into a drunk and, at times, an asshole.
Accept your past without regrets, he reminded himself.
X opened the book. Clearing his throat, he read the passage about love.
“Love is kind. It does not envy…”
He handed the book to Imulah and moved to a tradition his people had come up with over the years.
“Layla, Michael,” X said, “tonight your hearts become one. Wherever one of you goes, the other follows, even if not in physical form.”
They placed their hands over each other’s heart.
“Repeat after me,” X said. He waited a moment. “I, Michael Everhart, promise always to put you first and take care of you as long as we live in the sky…”
Several chuckles sounded.
“Sorry,” X said. “I guess we’ll need to change some words.”
Michael and Layla both smiled even wider.
“As long as we live,” X corrected.
Michael repeated the words, and Layla did the same.
“I want to make another promise tonight in front of you all,” Michael said. He looked to X for permission.
“Go ahead,” X said.
“Layla,” Michael said, meeting her gaze once again, “I promise the mission to Africa will be my last as a Hell Diver.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. She nodded once, then twice.
“Put your hand on top of each other’s,” X said. They did, and X put his left hand on top of theirs.
“Let us all pray for their love and safety,” he said.
The small crowd bowed their heads.
X waited another beat and took his hand away.
“And with that, I present you all with Michael and Layla Everhart,” he said.
Clapping rang out, and several cheers.
Miles wagged his tail and barked.
Michael looked to X and mouthed, Thank you.
“Don’t look at me, kid—er, man,” X said, correcting himself again. “Kiss your bride!”
Michael leaned in, kissing her gently on the lips.
To no one’s surprise, Rodger did the same thing to Magnolia, and to everyone’s surprise, she didn’t slap him.
Samson walked over to the table, grumbling about being hungry, while the lovebirds embraced. X smiled and cried at the same time as he sat with the others for their banquet, just as they did before a dive.
Only tonight X wasn’t going to get plastered and make bad decisions. Tonight, he was going to be the king that his people needed before the most important missions of their lives—and perhaps the most important mission since the end of the world.
TWENTY-SIX
The rain sounded like hundreds of fingernails tapping on the glass. The noise stirred Ada awake. The first thing she saw was two large, gleaming black eyes staring back at her.
Startled, she let out a cry that prompted a shrill yelp in reply.
She had slept so hard that at first, she didn’t remember where she was, but the sight of the baby monkey brought everything crashing down. The creature she had rescued from the island hopped off the bunk and onto the deck of the rocking boat.
“It’s okay, Jo-Jo,” Ada muttered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She sat up and checked her wrist monitor, shocked to see she had slept for several hours. It was no wonder, really. She had expended much energy launching the boat after first killing a pack of Sirens.
The launch had gone better than expected, but she had worked for hours to rig the other sails, and one still needed patching.
She was lucky to be on the water. Lucky to be alive and off that nightmare island. Lucky to be going home.
Now she needed to figure out where home was in this vast sea. And for that, she needed the boat’s GPS.
The monkey grunted and then whimpered. Ada reached out with a gloved hand.
Jo-Jo reared back, baring a slight underbite. The creature’s hair was bristly, almost like spikes. She had yet to touch it with her bare hands, fearing that it would transmit some disease.
A long groan sounded across the vessel’s twin hulls. The monkey looked left, then right, and climbed Ada’s leg to perch on her lap.
The creature let out a purring sound as her gloved hand stroked its back.
“You don’t like boats, huh?” Ada said. “That makes two of us.”
The monkey just whimpered.
She had no idea what Jo-Jo wanted, so she dug through the supplies she had stowed in front of the control panel.
Digging into a pack, she started with food. The little creature didn’t seem to want any more fish jerky. She tried water next, mindful of what little she had left. But it wasn’t that, either.
“You must just be scared, then, huh?” Ada said.
Lightning forked outside, followed by a loud thunderclap. The monkey didn’t seem to care about the noise, but every time a wave jostled the boat, it cried out.
Ada picked up the animal again and sat down on one of the chairs in front of the control panel. The screen was cracked, and the controls to the sail wouldn’t work without power.
The monkey went limp in her arms, and she didn’t dare move. She held it for a few minutes until the bristly back moved rhythmically up and down.
Ada gently set the baby monkey down on the pad and covered it with the blanket she had salvaged from her boat. With the creature asleep, she changed into her suit. She had managed to sail out of the obstacle course that was the harbor, but if they were going to find their way home, she must get the battery online.