“None taken,” I said. “Like I said, I barely know her.”
“Well, look, it sounds like Nova is going to attempt this regardless, so why not at least meet up with her like she asked, and try to talk her out of it,” Zale suggested. “Maybe if we all gang up on her, she’ll realize what a truly insane idea this is.”
“I’m down,” Eva said, nodding. “We’ve got to try to stop her.”
I bit my lip. I really didn’t want to go back on my word to Nova. But Eva and Zale knew a lot more about this stuff than I did. If they were so against it, it probably was as terrible an idea as it sounded. I wasn’t sure if Nova would forgive me for backing out on her, but it was a risk I would have to take.
“Okay,” I said finally. “I’m not really sure what other choice we have. Let’s finish finding what we need here, so Luca can lock up.”
Zale retrieved a second pair of stilts where he’d found the first, and then carefully lifted the oversized tragedy mask offthe wall, while Eva and I gathered big piles of spring and winter greenery into some empty bins. Then we dug through the costumes for another long robe, and found one made of gauzy gold material. There would still be more accessories to gather, but we had a good start. We dragged the items we were borrowing to the front door, and found Luca outside waiting for us.
I started at the sight of him, wondering how long he’d been there, and if he’d been able to overhear any of our conversation. Eva threw me a sideways look that told me she was thinking the very same thing.
“All set?” Luca asked, looking between us with an easy smile on his face.
“We’ve got enough to get started,” Zale said. “Do you think we might be able to come back again?”
“Sure, sure,” Luca said. “Just let me know. I’m here most days.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a summer vacation,” Eva commented.
Luca shrugged. “It could be worse. I get to the beach a lot. It beats summer in the middle of the city any day.”
He handed Zale a clipboard, and Zale wrote down everything we were borrowing. We asked if we could alter and paint things, and Luca assured us that it was part of the deal.
He walked us back to the parking lot, hefting one of the big plastic bins onto his shoulder to help us bring it all back in one trip. I stopped for a moment, remembering that all I had was my bike, but saw with relief that Zale was pulling a set of car keys from his jeans pocket. Luca helped us load the bins into the trunk and the back of the car, and waved us off.
“Thanks for your help,” I told him as Zale and Eva got in the car. I noticed Eva watching me from out of the corner of my eye, and felt my cheeks turning pink.
“Any time. Maybe I’ll see you down on the beach. You know, we outsiders need to stick together.” He winked, which I would have sworn was the cheesiest thing someone could do, but for some reason he pulled it off.
“Uh, yeah, sure. See you around,” I mumbled, practically forgetting how to form words. I jumped on my bike and pedaled away before I could find another way to make a complete fool of myself. Before I’d even made it out of the parking lot, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Looks like someone’s got a crush.
It was from Eva. The problem was, I couldn’t tell if she was talking about me, or Luca.
When I arrived backat Lightkeep Cottage, my mom was there. She looked exhausted, but she raised her hands into the air in victory when she saw me.
“The apartment is officially empty, and everything has gone to storage,” she said with a genuine smile.
I plopped down next to her on the sofa, and hugged her. “That’s great, Mom. But you know, you don’t have to act happy about it for my sake.”
She frowned at me. “Act happy? If I wasn’t so tired I’d be throwing a party right now.”
“I know you’re glad to have all the packing done, that’s not what I mean,” I said, shaking my head. “I mean the whole moving thing. I know you didn’t want to come here. I know you love your job in Portland. I just want you to know it’s okay to be honest about it.”
My mom reached over and rumpled my hair, like she did when I was a kid. “Thanks for that, Wren. I know you think I needed to hear it. But honestly, I’m relieved.”
“Relieved?”
She took her time before answering. “I ran from Sedgwick Cove, not because I didn’t love it here, not because I didn’t think of it as home; but because I was scared that you were in danger. I should have realized we would always be tied to this place, but I didn’t want to admit that at the time. It’s exhausting, denying who you are at your core. For all the worries I still have, I’m glad we’re back. It’s… I think itwillbe… good to be home.”
I felt a warmth flooding through me. Home. Hearing that word from my mom’s lips, knowing that she meant it, that we both felt the same ties to this place—it felt like one more unbreakable thread binding us all together. The Vespers.
“Where were you off to? Rhi told me about the bike,” my mom asked.
“Pageant stuff. The costumes are just so pathetic, Mom, I don’t know how anyone can take the pageant seriously. So I asked Luca Meyers if we could borrow some stuff from the playhouse. They’ve got buildings and buildings full of costumes and props they don’t even use.”
