The coat Stone wore grazed my sleeve when he walked past, and his scent traveled by like a gypsy. He smelled like Christmas morning—of pine and gingerbread and mistletoe.
“Is anyone missing you?” I asked, walking up beside Stone, then instantly regretted my question. The sea had given him tome. In my twisted head, there was only one version of Stone.My Stone—the one with no past and created by the tide, shaped by waves, and kept safe by snowfall. Did I want to know anything more than this? We were slowly learning each other, and I couldn’t imagine him with anyone else.
Although, the last thing I needed was another intruder coming into my town, asking questions, or causing chaos.
My neighbors had enough to worry about.
He walked quietly beside me.
I tried again. “Do you remember anything, like how you got into that coffin in the first place?” I’d put off the daunting question long enough.
He still didn’t say anything, walking beside me with his attention in front of him.
“Please,” I said, placing my hand on his arm.
He stopped, peering down at me with gloved fingers curling around the bag’s strap. I lifted my head to meet his gaze.
“I’m risking a lot by taking you to the island. The least you could do is answer me. I don’t like surprises, and the last thing I need is unexpected company.”
He adjusted his stance. “It was mostly Mother and me, and, if you must know, she poisoned me and laid me to rest in a coffin at the bottom of the ocean.” Sadness curved around his eyes. I was stuck in them, watching flakes cling to his lashes as his gaze fell over me like the breadth of the blackest night. “No one is searching for something that no longer exists.”
My heart leapt into my throat. My breath came out in a shallow shudder.
Stone averted his gaze and resumed his pace.
“Yourmotherdid that to you?” No wonder he couldn’t trust me. No wonder he refused to drink or eat anything I’d given him for days. Stone kept walking. I grabbed his hand to regain his attention. “But why would she do that to you?”
Stone looked down at our joint hands. He froze before meeting my eyes. The moment sharpened. “I suppose some things aren’t meant to be born.”
“Who’s down there?” someone shouted from above the cliff’s edge.
With eyes wide, my first instinct was to push Stone out of sight.
I shoved my palms into his chest, and his gloved hands came over mine as he took many steps backward, taking me with him. Our bodies collided against the cliff, invisible to Irene.
I placed my index finger on my lips, urging him to stay quiet.
Stone’s questionable eyes darted across my face.
“Adora, is that you again?” Irene shouted from above.
I sank deeper into Stone and pulled his hood over his white hair, trying to hide our faces under it. He stood so still, his mouth only inches from mine.
I felt the shape of him press against me.
I felt his every cool breath graze my lips.
“You don’t want to cross her,” I whispered with a mischievous grin. Sneaking around the shore with a strange man ignited a spark within me. “She probably smelled your blood from a mile away. Rumor is she snacks on wounded travelers with a dry sense of humor. Skins their flesh and roasts them over a fire pit like a pig on a spit.”
The corner of Stone’s mouth twitched.
For a moment, I thought I’d see a smile.
“I know you’re down there!” Irene shouted again, calling back our attention. “Come out so I can see your face to be sure.”
Stone’s black eyes shifted between mine. “She sounds hungry.”
Another smile broke out of me, and it seemed I’d been smiling more with him these past few days than I had in a long time. “Famished.”
