Once upon a time, on a rocky island with enchantment under the ocean ... Cadence Bell left the windswept Northern Isles and his parents’ inn for the theaters and royal masques and glitter of Londre, swearing he’d make his fortune as a playwright and poet, trading fish stew and rain for fame and adoration and a place at the Queen’s Court. Now his parents are gone and Cade’s inheritance brings him back home, where he’d never wanted to return. But magic lurks beneath the waves, a stray pearl might be a key to another world, and even the quiet local schoolteacher has secrets of his own. Jeremiah Carver never meant to hide secrets. But he promised to tell no one about the other world he’s seen, and he keeps his word. Even if that means concealing magic from Cadence Bell. Which is difficult, since Cade’s not only a dazzling literary success, but also the person Jeremiah’s loved from afar since their years-ago childhood. And he’s afraid he’s falling for Cade all over again now. When Cadence falls under the siren spell of the ocean’s magic, Jeremiah has to make a choice and return to a world he’s left behind once before to rescue his heart from the sea.

Cadence and the Pearl

“Gwen said you went for a walk,” Jeremiah ventured, hand tugging the blanket more securely around Cade’s shoulders and then resting on the closest one, not quite an embrace. “If you don’t want company I can go.”


“Where wouldyou go?” Cade waved an irritable hand from under woolen conquests. “Stop that. We’re at the most godforsaken spot in the most godforsaken end of the northern earth; where can any of us go? Besides the fishing fleet, I suppose. If you like mackerel.”


“I don’t mind mackerel,” Jeremiah said. “It’s a fish. Your hair looks cold.”


“My hair is wet and full of salt. I know, I know, it’s my own fault, yes I’m coming back, Rhys has probably set the common room on fire by now.” He picked his way up across rocks, with Jeremiah’s help. “How’re your students? Any interesting ones?”


Chapter 3