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

He murmured, a forlorn tatter of a promise, “I’ll still try to save you…”


Jeremiah, rather unexpectedly, laughed.


“No. Sorry. It’s just…” Jeremiah got up from the table; it made a peach-and-ivory backdrop behind him. “You sounded like me.”


“Ludicrous giant martyr that you are,” Cade complained, without heat, with miserable belated recognition. He knew the emptiness in his chest now. He knew it too late; all he could do would be to offer himself up in place of the sacrifice, to let Jeremiah be free. “Coming after me. Sucha nice boy.”


“Yes,” Jeremiah agreed, reaching out, brushing a bit of sea-foam or lace or broken shell from Cade’s hair, tucking it back behind one ear: an echo. “Both of us. We’re terrible at this, aren’t we?”


Cade’s hair wanted to be touched more. “What happened? The first time you were here.”


“I’m not good at telling stories. Not like you. And I promised I’d keep their secret from anyone not—”


Chapter 21