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

Familiar, Cade thought. Safe. Unchanging. He knew that table and the scrimshaw art and the nick in that chair-leg. He’d known them all for years.


He hooked a leg over the bench, sat down, said, “Stephen Lowell at the University’s got a book out about North Sea raiding customs, a history, if you want the scholarly background?” Jeremiah smiled at him, and reached over and tucked Cade’s hair behind his ear. Surprised, Cade put a hand up: felt the flicker of auburn strands. He’d let it grow long, following fashion; it tended to tumble into curls when not artificially straightened to a sheer flat waterfall.


“I do like books,” Jeremiah said, and their eyes met, as the world became a single moment. “Especially books about sea-shanty singing pirates. Did you finish your letter?”


Chapter 5