“I'm going to go get him,” Cela said grimly.
She opened the door to the guest cottage and had a mutual moment of surprise when she was confronted by Gaby with arms full of sheets.
“Oh hi!” Gaby said. “Don’t mind me. Derek’s in the house with the kids. I’m washing sheets today, and I was just going to grab yours along with mine.”
“Gaby—you don’t have to?—”
“Nonsense, I’m doing mine anyway.” Gaby took a step closer. “Oh, hon, what’s wrong?”
“Her boyfriend ran off,” Peyton said. “Back to some place called Griffin Island.”
Gaby turned to give Cela a wide-eyed, sympathetic look. She, at least, understood the impact of those words—as much as a human could. “Oh, no. How are you doing?”
“I’m going after him,” Cela said firmly. Then her resolve faltered; she hadn’t thought ahead beyond the next few minutes since seeing that note. “Gaby, I can’t take the twins with me. I don’t dare.”
“No—no, of course, they can stay with us.” Gaby dropped the sheets in a heap on the floor. “You can’t see yourself, but you look terrible. Come on in and sit down. Taking a few minutes to have a cup of tea and calm down isn’t going to change things, but it’ll let you think more clearly. Voice of experience talking here.”
Cela hadn’t meant to, but she found herself steered to a chair and plied with tea, with one of the human women on either side of her.
“Where is Griffin Island?” Gaby asked, pulling up a chair. “How are you going to get there?”
She had been thinking about flying, but couldn’t say so in front of Peyton. Flying was probably what Tyr had done. “It’s in the north Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Newfoundland. I got here on a bus—to Autumn Grove, I mean.”
“Oh, I’m from Maine,” Peyton said. “That’s where my folks live. It’s not that long of a flight.”
Cela jerked; her head snapped up. “How did you know—” she began, and then noticed Gaby was shushing her with hasty hand gestures.
“Cela, have you ever flown on aplanebefore?” Gaby asked, emphasizing the word.
“Oh,” Cela said. She knew airplanes were a thing, from movies and books, and she had occasionally seen them fly over. “Oh, no, I—I haven’t.”
“It’s definitely the fastest way to get to the coast,” Gaby said. “Much faster than buses, or—any other kind of flying.”
“You haven’t been on a plane?” Peyton asked. “Oh, the cult thing. Well, what if I go with you, then? I’m due some time off, and I’d love to see my mom.”
Cela gave Gaby a slightly panicked look, and noticed that Gaby looked much the same. “No, I’ll be fine.”
“Actually, I think it’s a good idea to have someone go with you,” Gaby said slowly. “Cela, you’ll have to navigate TSA ... and Customs, if you go all the way through to Canada. It really is hard the first time. I don’t think you should do it completely alone.”
“But ...” Cela turned to Peyton. “I can’t just ask you to drop everything and come with me. I’m talking about leaving right away. Today, if I can.”
“I’m due the time off, boss,” Peyton said to Gaby.
“I know you are,” Gaby said. “It’s fine with me if it is with Peyton. Can I talk to Cela alone for a minute?”
She herded Cela off into a corner. “She’s a human!” Cela whispered fiercely. “She doesn’t know! How can I travel with her?”
“It’s only as far as Maine. I’m serious, I think you should have a human with you to show you how everything works. You can leave her there and go on alone. And,” Gaby added, “if you want to tell her, you ...” She frowned. “No, you can’t, can you?”
Cela pulled up her sleeve a few inches to display the hated tattoo. “No. I can’t.”
Gaby gazed at her for a moment. Then she brought her chin up and gave a single brisk nod. “Then I’ll tell her now, if it’s all right with you.”
“You can’t just—Gaby, no.”
“I can tell anyone I want,” Gaby said. “Mom and Sandy aren’t shifters, buttheyknow. I’ve been thinking about telling Peyton about us for a while anyway. She’s not stupid, and I know she’s guessed there’s something going on that I’m not telling her.”
Cela threw her hands in the air. “Fine, go ahead then, if you think she’ll believe you.”
