Sharon Ede www.magethenovel.com © 2023 all rights reserved
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DURING THE VOYAGE from Venice back to Neptune’s Revenge, Umiko filled Quill in on the rest of her research, theories, and ongoing pursuit of Necro over the years.
Quill, mindful of his last unexpected encounter with Nautila, navigated towards Neptune’s Revenge in a circuitous manner, dimming the lights and reducing the ship’s speed as they drew closer to where they had last sighted Abzu’s vessel.
Thankfully, there was no sign of Nautila.
Umiko had just finished filling Quill in about Necro’s activities in New Zealand, when the Depth Charger’s radar pinged, and Quill’s eyes flicked upward through the ship’s bow window.
Still some way off, a string of lights was slowly moving towards the Depth Charger just above their location, the faint light illuminating a silver trident on the side of the vessel.
‘That’s odd,’ muttered Quill. ‘Abzu is almost always found near the bottom of the ocean. And I thought we still had a way to go before we’d have to dive. I didn’t think he’d be on the move yet.’
As they watched, the grey hulk slowed, drifted and then seemed to hang in the ocean — as if it had spotted them and was waiting.
Quill deftly manoeuvred the Depth Charger until it was adjacent to the larger ship and secured it to the bigger ship’s airlock.
Before Quill could open the door, it was flung open, and a young man with tousled dark hair and wild eyes stared back at him.
‘Jevon!’ exclaimed Quill.
‘Where’s Ambra? Is she okay?’
‘Ambra is with your mother in Venice,’ said Quill, glancing at Umiko, who nodded.
Technically, it had been the truth when he and Umiko had left, and though Quill knew Ambra was on her way to Svalbard, he couldn’t afford to have Jevon…
