Glancing one more time at his home away from home, Thomas hesitated. The music from the fishing village rose toward them, filled with the sound of his friends talking and laughing. A flute soared in a melody high above the singers, while the drumbeat matched the rhythm of the waves crashing on the shore.
He then looked at his son.
And he walked through. Jack followed immediately after.
With one more glance at the sea writhing with dancing serpents, Calisa stepped through into the inn. Steve clung to her shoulder as the iridescence folded around them.
In less than a breath, they were back in the Faraway Inn.
“All this time away,” Jack said to his father, “did you find what you were looking for?”
Thomas looked around him like he’d woken from a dreamand wasn’t sure if this was real life yet. His eyes swept over the closets, the laundry machines, the window with the view of pine trees. “Yes,” he said at last.
“What were you looking for?” Calisa asked.
“A remedy. To save the inn. To save Auntie Zee.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Save her?” Calisa asked. “From what?”
Thomas scowled at the portal that had consumed three years of his life and didn’t answer.
Calisa wasn’t certain whether to repeat the question or let him have a moment to cope with his obvious trauma. But she had to know: Save Auntie Zee from what? She knew the inn had to be rescued—from neglect, from entropy, from bankruptcy and closure and failure, but what was wrong with Auntie Zee?
Eyes still glued to the swirl, he demanded, “How long has Auntie Zee been missing?”
Jack answered, “She’s been disappearing for longer and longer since you’ve been gone, but this is the longest stretch by far. Nearly a week.”
Calisa shook her head. It didn’t make sense. Why would Auntie Zee take off just when the inn needed her most?Especially when Jack needed her? Had she been trying to find Jack’s father? Or just escaping her responsibilities because they’d become too overwhelming?What if Jack was right and she doesn’t want to be found? Ever?
“Has she explained why?” Thomas asked.
Jack shook his head. “You know her.”
Thomas snorted. “True.”
But I don’t,Calisa wanted to say. She looked from Jack to his father and back again. Jack was staring at his father as if he was afraid he’d vanish if he quit looking at him for even a second. She wasn’t sure he’d even blinked since they’d been reunited.
On her shoulder, the little dragon shifted his wings, and his talons dug into her shirt. She was certain she’d have holes in the fabric, but she didn’t care. She reached up to scratch Steve’s neck. “Save Auntie Zee from what?” she repeated louder.
“From time,” Thomas said.
That wasn’t an answer.
He clarified. Sort of. “From the decay of her portal magic due to the passage of time.”
Calisa closed the door with the swirling iridescent portal that led to the sea serpent world. On an impulse, she cracked it open again—still active. She closed it. She didn’t know what he meant by the decay of her magic, but that was secondary to the need to find her. “Okay, what portal would she most likely have gone through?”
“None of them,” Thomas answered immediately.
He was wrong about that. They’d searched every inch ofthe inn. She wasn’t anywhere nearby, unless she’d run off into the forest like Melidor, but Calisa couldn’t picture that.
“How do you know that?” Jack asked.
“I know her,” Thomas said. “If I had to guess, I’d say she’s been trying and failing to rescue me. She’s exhausted herself. She’s here in the inn, trying to recover, trying to find her way back to herself, embarrassed by her failure, unwilling to admit her weakness, even though I’ve told her time and again there’s no shame in not being superhuman.” He pivoted and stalked toward the kitchen. “She’s never liked to admit she can’t do something, never wanted to ask for help, never considered that she’s—”
Jack scurried after him and nearly crashed into his father when he suddenly halted. Behind Jack, Calisa peeked into the kitchen to see what had startled Thomas.
