Kiela adjusted the sail, and they bounced over the waves, following the mermaid and her baby. They sailed past the orchard on the edge of the cliff, and Kiela wondered if the tree was still singing. If it was, she didn’t doubt Fenerer would show the inspector and share all his suspicions. Frankly, it was sheer luck that Radane hadn’t begun her search at the jam shop.No, it’s not luck,she thought.It’s Bryn.
She wondered what Larran would say when Radane finally came, whether she would search the cottage, and whether she’d guess what they’d removed from the bedroom—Kiela hadn’t had time to reorganize the furniture. What would she make of the pile of quilts? Would she notice the boat was gone from the cove? If she discovered Kiela had come by boat, she’d demand to know where the boat was.
A good inspector would crack through Kiela’s lies in a heartbeat.
I didn’t hide well.
She hadn’t been trying to hide; she’d been trying to escape. And once she was here . . . well, she’d thought she was too far from Alyssium for anyone to care what she did. She’d let herself be lulled into an illusion of safety, and look where it had gotten her.
“I’m sorry,” Kiela said to Caz.
“For what? You came back as quickly as you could.”
“For all of this. If I hadn’t touched the books . . . If we’d just left them behind . . .”
Caz shook his tendrils at her. “They’d have burned.”
“Then I should have just left them hidden. I shouldn’t have—”
“Meep!”
If she hadn’t cast spells, then Meep wouldn’t exist, the forest spirits would be treeless, the merbaby and Sian would have succumbed to storm sickness.It wasn’t all a mistake.Ahead, the mermaid swam toward what looked like a shadow in the cliff wall. Kiela pulled the sail tighter, and they shot through the water, following her. They sped toward the rocks.
Caz rustled his leaves. “Kiela?”
She wasn’t certain where the cave was, if there was a cave, but the mermaid—
“Kiela!”
“I trust her.”
And there it was: the cave. It was a trick of how the cliff wall was angled, combined with the color of the rock. She’d never have seen it at all if not for the mermaid. Loosening the sail, she let the boat drift toward the opening.
They slipped inside between the silent stone. Shadows closed around them, like a mother’s arms, to protect them. The lap of waves echoed within the cave.I know this place.It was her father’s favorite.
On the ceiling and the walls, painted flowers sparkled around them in a magical light show, courtesy of a spell that had been cast thousands of years ago. Marveling, Kiela turned in a slow circle as the petals of ancient roses, lilies, daisies, and flowers twinkled in every color of the rainbow, and she felt, for a brief moment, safe.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“You should stay here,” Caz said to Kiela.
“Meep,” the cactus agreed.
Kiela climbed out of the boat onto the rocks. She spotted a sliver of sunlight—the way out of the cave by foot. “I have to go back to the shop. Our only chance at dispelling suspicion is if I act unsuspicious. Wait, that’s not the right word. Guiltless? Innocuous? Innocent?” She looped the line around a jagged rock, securing the boat in place.
“And then what?” Caz asked. “Keep us plants hidden forever? Never use any spells again? Let the forest spirits lose their trees? Don’t save future merbabies or merhorses?”
She didn’t know. How was she supposed to know what would happen next? None of this was planned. She’d known what her life and her future was: the library, day in and day out, until her skeleton was swept away with the dust.
I could go back.
Back to the library. Back . . . home? Was that home anymore? When she thought “home,” she pictured a cottage, cradled by a forest, with an overflowing, barely tamed garden behind it.Don’t I want to go back to Alyssium?
Radane being here meant the empire hadn’t fallen, which could mean that the library was still there. Kiela could sail back to the capital, explain what she’d done and why. Heck, she could even be welcomed back as a hero for saving the books from the revolution.
If she left . . . She’d miss the cottage and the jam shop. She’d miss the bakery. She’d miss the cloud bears and the unicorn sightings and the mermaids. But was that enough to keep her here? This was only ever meant to be temporary.
Near the boat, the mermaid splashed her tail, and the sound echoed through the cave. Her baby cooed. He was swimming around the boat, plucking barnacles off the hull with his little fingers and showing each one to her as if it were a treasure.
