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

“And he was, of course, Beautiful,” Jeremiah said. “Which didn’t hurt. Books and a good heart and beauty. I’m sorry I’m not your hero. It’s all going wrong and I didn’t actually have a plan. I normally do.”


“I know. You can’tthink you’re not—”


“Around you I do things because I want to.” Jeremiah sighed, leaned into Cade a little: holding on as much as protecting, an admission. “I don’t stop to think. I followed you into the rain that first night because I couldn’t not, and you kissed me, and I wanted that. I wanted to get on my knees and into your bed, and I wanted to help you. You were hurting and I wanted to be there for you, as much as you’d let me. I know that’s a fantasy too. I wanted to be your prince for once. Without even thinking about whether that was what you really needed. Or whether I even could. Be anyone’s fairy-story. Me.”


“But you were,” Cade said, wide-eyed, “you are, you’re everything I didn’t know I—”


Chapter 22