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

Cade said, “You stay hidden, you stay a legend, for safety. But what if you didn’t?”


“We protect our world.” The Sea King regarded him as they might a barnacle, a snarl of flotsam, an inexplicable human artifact with a robe falling from one shoulder. “That is how—”


“Yes, but you don’t, do you? If you have humans blundering in here. If you have to keep us forever so we don’t tell anyone. It doesn’t work. The stories get told.”


Cade raised eyebrows. “You can breathe on land, can’t you? Some of you can make legs or whatever.” The Sea King was in fact wearing theirs right now. “Come out. Talk to us. Be real.”


Everyone spent a moment simply looking at him.


Cade shrugged. “Why not? The world isn’t fair. We all said so. Let’s change it.”


They looked at him some more. No one waved a spear, though; so he put hands in the pockets of his borrowed antique robes, put eyebrows up, and waited.


Chapter 23