“Let me show you.” Archie stood and motioned for Malachi to follow.
Ina rose with them, instinctively taking the rear. Not out of deference—out of habit. Someone had to watch the angles, the doorways, look out for spaces where things could go wrong. She let Archie take the lead without comment, even though every part of her was primed to step in if he faltered.
He led them down the hall and into his office.
“Your office?” Malachi paused inside the doorway, eyeing the bare desk, unused chair and bookshelves that were more decorative than functional. How Archie ever managed to convince anyone this was a working office was anyone’s guess.
Ina remembered standing here for the first time. She hadn’t understood what the Hideaway was then—only that it was important. That it was sacred. She’d felt it in her bones, the way sometimes children do before they have the words to explain it. Daddy had closed the door behind them and lowered his voice, and she’d known that whatever lay beyond the bookshelf wasn’t meant for everyone.
Archie’s mouth twitched. He’d waited a long time for this. Too long if she was honest. But he was here now, standing on the right side of the choice at last.
He pulled out a battered copy ofTreasure Islandfrom the shelf and tossed it to Malachi.
“Treasure Island?” Malachi caught it with a slight grimace. The pain in his ribs easing. Wolfendens healedquickly. He flipped through the dusty pages and wrinkled his nose. “What’s this got to do with anything?”
Ina reached out and squeezed his arm, encouraging patience. Malachi’s eyes flicked back to Archie, curious now, wary but engaged.
Archie reached into the shelf.
Click.
The latch released—a sound Ina had heard more times than she could count. The bookshelf slid aside, smooth and silent, revealing a narrow staircase. The light flickered on.
Archie’s eyes lit up. Malachi stared, open mouthed.
“Well.” Ina was unable to stop the corners of her mouth from lifting.
“After you.” Archie swept his hands in theatrical chivalry.
Ina tutted, but she squeezed his arm as she passed, before turning back to let Malachi pass.
“You coming?” She already knew the answer. Curiosity had its hooks in deep now.
And this time, Archie was leading him towards it—not pushing or hiding, just opening the door.
Ina followed last, as she always did. Watching, the way she always had.
Chapter 19
Archie
Archie bounded down the stairs with an energy he barely recognised. Seven years of careful silence had exploded into truth, shifting a weight he’d been carrying just as long. The bridge still needed building—tonight had only poured the foundations.
There would be more questions once the shock wore off, once Malachi had time to sit with the truth of the Selkie. Archie would answer them. All of them. He owed Malachi that much. Never again would he allow Malachi to be unprepared for whatever lurked in Latharna’s shadows.
Malachi came down slower, one hand trailing along the wall. His fingers skimmed the rough stone, as though to convince himself what was happening was real. Archie waited at the bottom, heart thudding, suddenly unsure whether to reach out or give him space. He did neither—he just stood there, letting Malachi arrive in his own time.
The Hideaway opened up around them. It wasn’t large, but it was dense with purpose. Shelves lined the walls, bowed under the weight of old journals, tide charts, weathered maps annotated in his father’s hand, and his own. Theair smelled faintly of oil, fur and something older. Something that had never quite left.
Malachi’s gaze swept the room taking in the locked cabinets, shelves and all the things that didn’t belong in the daylight before landing on Ina, who had brushed past them and claimed her corner—perched on an old cot with her back against the wall. Sightlines secured in case they came under attack, by what Archie couldn’t say. Ina was always battle ready. She didn’t speak, just watched them both, eyes bright and assessing, like a coiled spring ready to erupt in a flash.
Archie cleared his throat. “This is the Hideaway.” He lifted a hand, gestured one then dropped it again. “It’s where everything is… kept.” Saying more felt dangerous.
The truth pressed close, threatening to spill in the wrong direction. His jaw tightened. He’d avoided this door for years, turned them away from his office with errands and excuses, anything to keep them out. Ina called the Hideaway a gift, but Archie knew better. Once you crossed this threshold, you were no longer a child of Latharna, you became part of its keeping whether you wanted to or not.
There was nothing to gain by telling Malachi about the promise, about Heather standing in the doorway all those years ago, hands resting protectively over her stomach. Archie promised, not for his children, but for her, for the fear that whatever she was running from would eventually catch up if they embraced his Wolfenden heritage and remained an active part of the Otherworld. She’d lived looking over her shoulder. But Archie had spent eighteen years making sure Malachi never had to—and look where that got them.
“All I ever wanted to do was protect you,” Archie’s chesttightened. “I thought keeping this from you was the best way.”
