Farron.
I’m not dying, at least not yet. But Farron is lit up like one of those glowing orbs always floating around Keep Oakheart. And he’s got the horse’s full attention.
No, Fare, no. You’ve got to run…
The horse kicks away from me, trotting over to Farron. Farron lays his golden hands upon the beast’s neck. Slowly, he lowers his head, brow to brow with the horse. The creature’s moonlit eyes close.
I blink, unsure if my vision is too darkened to understand what I’m witnessing. The creature nuzzles Farron’s neck, then kicks through the dark water, looking playful. Like a foal. With one look back at me, a snort of bubbles erupts from its nostrils, and it darts off into the water, disappearing as if it were never here at all.
I shake my head. Farron, a siren in his own right, charming dolphins and dragonflies and cursed horses. Charming those beasts as he charmed me.
Farron wraps his arms around my waist and kicks. Something deep within me finds strength, and I kick, too. In moments, we break through the water. It’s calm, the surface like glass.
“Are you an idiot?” Farron cries. His golden glow fades, and now he’s wreathed in white moonlight. “Why did you jump?”
“I pushed you, you pushed me,” I say, voice hoarse.
Farron shakes his head then laughs. “I didn’t think you’d follow me.”
“Yeah, well”—I lace one arm around his back, the other through his hair—“apparently the boy I’ve taken to iscrazy.”
A grin creeps up his face. “That wasn’t crazy. Madcap, maybe. Kooky, even. But you haven’t seen crazy. Not yet.”
Farron kisses me, lips of salt and sea. An Autumn boy tasting of Summer.
A taste I would drown for all over again.
Finally, we pull away, gasping. I look to the isle. “We made it this far.”
“Let’s go get our treasure,” Farron says.
I don’t respond, only capable of nodding.
Because damn if I haven’t already found mine.
10
Farron
“Iknew it!” Dayton cries. Sand sticks to his skin, still wet with ocean water, and moonlight paints him in shimmering strokes. He’s positioned in the center of Captain Katharine’s Isle, right in the middle of a square formed by four palm trees. “I told you it’d be here.”
“You told me,” I murmur. I’m lying against one of the trees, still marveling at the turn of events. The gentle roar of the waves is the only sound that accompanies us, a soothing rhythm that mirrors the steady beat of my heart. This has to be the strangest—and most wonderful—night of my life. Never did I think I’d end up off the coast of Hadria on a supposedly cursed isle with the Prince of Summer. And that he’d be looking at me with those turquoise eyes so filled with joy, especially after I almost got him killed.
I still don’t know what came over me. Walking to the coastline. Staring into the abyss, drawn to the dark depths. Feeling like if I was losing Dayton, I could at least feel a sense of him within the sea.
But he’d followed me. Followed me all the way off the edge.
These waters, supposedly cursed by Captain Katharine, were none other than the territory of a kelpie. They’re common inhabitants in the lochs and rivers of Autumn; this one must have lost its way in the waterways between our two realms. No wonder it was so scared and angry. I’d been able to calm the beast and let it take in my scent. Hopefully that will be enough for it to find the path back to Autumn.
Dayton looks handsome beyond comprehension. His long hair is slightly wavy with dried saltwater, his skin caked in sand. Most beautiful of all is that delighted smile on his face. He should befuriousat me for jumping in. For risking my life and his. But when we reached the shore, the only thing he wanted to do was start looking for the treasure.
Now, he reaches down into the hole he’s dug, tugging out a wooden chest.
I walk over and crouch beside him. “Captain Katharine’s treasure,” I breathe. “It’s real.”
“Of course, it’s real! You need to have more faith,” Dayton says, a victorious grin on his face.
I keep my eyes on him, instead of the treasure. “Maybe I do.”
