Page 82 of By the Moonbeam and the Mist
“Oh? Let’s hear it.”
I was ninety-nine percent sure I was going to say no, but…
“I’ve got to go to Alderwick,” Steeler said, “and I was wondering if you’d want to come with me.”
I uncrossed my arms. Blinked at him.
“MyAlderwick?”
“Is there another village of that name?” Before I could smack him, he added, “We can’t let ourselves be seen, of course, since I’m supposed to be a pirate on a ship and you’re supposed to be a student at the Institute, but I’m looking for something that I think might be there, and I—” He raked a hand through his hair, as if suddenly nervous. “I thought you might want to join me.”
I was still blinking stupidly at him.
“You need my help finding something in Alderwick?”
“No, I don’t need any help at all. But considering that you only found out recently that I’mnotthe monster attacking villages, I figured you’d want to be there to see with your own eyes that I mean no harm.”
Confusion was only settling deeper and heavier into my chest.
“But you could have just gone and not told me,” I said slowly. He had his Walking power. I hardly ever saw him anyways. I would have never known.
“And how would I have earned your trust back that way?” Steeler asked.
Earned my trust back. The confession that he was trying to do exactly that rippled in the air between us, and I suddenly didn’t know what to do with my hands. Maybe he didn’t have hope I’d ever fall in love with him, but he had hope that he could repair some semblance of trust between us—and I wasn’t sure I wanted to douse that.
I glanced at Garvis. He gave a shrug with just thetiniesthint of a coy smile.
Spark, I could practically hear him saying.
“Yes,” I told Steeler. “I would like to go with you.”
The lighthouse windows were still flickering with shadows of Terrin, Dazmine, and Felicity behind us, but when he followed my gaze, Steeler said, “Don’t worry. It shouldn’t take too long. We’ll be back before moonrise.”
I didn’t allow myself to think on it anymore.
After taking his hand and allowing him to pull me through that gut-wrenching darkness, I stood to face my home village for the first time in more than a year.
CHAPTER
27
Alderwick looked the same as I’d remembered it from afar.
A wide dirt street split the many cottages and shops, leading to a village square that more closely resembled a lopsided circle. The jungle was thick here, blocking our view of the clouds and the sky above it, but all the windows down below twinkled as merrily as stars. Smoke twirled from a few chimneys—including my own.
Steeler had dropped us off at the top of a slope overlooking my old house. Even though I was sure nobody would see our silhouettes melting into the darkness of the trees up here, I could easily see the shape of the cottage I’d grown up in surrounded by all those lights down there.
My heart tugged violently as a figure flitted within my old kitchen window—stumpy and flat-footed, that had to have been Don.
And following him a second later, more slender and graceful… Fabian.
Homesickness welled in my throat. My fathers were so close.Soclose, and I couldn’t go down and talk to them. Couldn’t knock on the door or let them know I was here, watching them putter throughout the house I missed with every aching heartstring. My Wild Whispering power didn’t sense any spiders scuttling along the many branches and leaves surrounding us, but there were other ways for the Good Council to spy on its citizens.
Beside me, Steeler leaned against the trunk of a kapok tree and folded his arms, staring down at the village below.
I cleared away the burn in my throat.
“What are you looking for?”
