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 stared at jumpers in his wardrobe for some time. Practical, heavy-knit, weather-proof, all of them. Thick and tough.


He couldn’t be anyone other than himself. He did put on the deep dark sapphire one that he’d always secretly thought looked nice with his eyes, though.


He walked down from the village to the shore, to the sprawl of rocks and Cade’s aquatic fantastical construction where a new play had be performed in two weeks. He saw a particular large stone; he’d spent a lot of time there, these past days. He grinned at it, and went to meet it.


Waves burst and thundered and thrummed like the soul of the world. The sky stretched out above, shimmery as a pearl.


One wave poured itself into the bottomless blue pool beside the spill of rocks, and perked up and became a sea-prince, carrying clothing. His tail—wearing that, then, not the legs yet—flashed black jewel-like scales through water, slippery and beautiful.


Chapter 45