One Salt Sea: An October Daye Novel

Connor waited until they were gone before standing up, saying, “He must like you,” and walking over to put his arms around me. “Are you all right?”


“No,” I said, and buried my face against his shoulder, breathing in the reassuring sea-salt smell of him. For a moment, I just let him hold me, trying to pretend that everything could ever be all right again. Voice muffled by his skin, I whispered, “She took Gillian, Connor.”

“I know.” He stroked my hair with one hand, holding me closer. “We’re going to get her back. I swear to you, we’re going to get her back.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I refuse to let this end any other way.” He pulled back, just enough to press a kiss against the side of my jaw, and said, “Besides, she’s your daughter. She’s probably too damn stubborn to do anything but survive.”

I laughed a little as I pulled away, wiping my eyes with the back of one hand. “I hope you’re right. For right now, we need to find Raysel.” I took a breath, trying to clear my head. “Did she ever say anything about redwood trees? Maybe a park she liked visiting, or a place that she remembered from her childhood?”

“Raysel never talked about ‘liking’ anything,” he said, a trace of bitterness creeping into his voice. “Mostly, she just talked about how everyone was letting her down, including—and sometimes, especially—me.”

“Right.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I need to call Danny. Maybe one of Rayseline’s rocks remembers redwood trees.” Statements like that are just one of the many reasons mortal police work and Faerie will never mix.

“What can we do?” asked Quentin.

My attention snapped back to the doorway, where Quentin and Raj stood like mismatched chess pieces waiting for their next moves. I blinked as I realize how accurate that was; they were both waiting for me to tell them what to do. Oak and ash, had I acquired a Cait Sidhe Prince to go with my Daoine Sidhe knight-in-training?

I could worry about that later. “I’m going to go meet with Bucer after I call Danny. You can come, if you want to.” Seeing me shake answers out of the little weasel would be educational for them, right? And maybe showing up with a couple of unfamiliar teenagers in tow would make him more willing to talk to me.

I flinched from the thought as quickly as it crossed my mind. That was Devin’s tactic: bring the kids along, throw your opposition off-balance. Was I really resorting to his techniques? And so what if I was? If it got Gillian back, it was worth doing.

“We’ll hold down the fort,” May said. “I already called Jazz.”

“Good thinking.” I glanced at Connor, asking hopefully, “Do you want to come with us? It’s probably not going to be fun.”

“Like anything has been, this week?” Connor shook his head. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you out of my sight before I have to. I’m coming.”

“Great. I’ll meet you all at the car after I call Danny.” I turned and walked out to the hall, heading for the kitchen. I needed coffee for the drive, or I was going to get a lot less useful, very soon.

Connor followed me. I gave him a questioning look. He shook his head, saying, “I’ll get your coffee. I need to talk to you before we go.”

“Okay,” I said uncertainly, and dialed Danny’s number.

Danny’s voice boomed through the speaker after the first ring, declaring, “Danny here. Where’s the fire?”

“Hopefully, not under my frying pan,” I replied. “Hey, Danny. You get any answers out of those rocks yet?”

“Toby! You ain’t dead!” I couldn’t decide whether it was amusing or disturbing that he sounded so surprised by my continued survival.

I settled on amusing. I needed more amusement. “Not for lack of trying. The rocks, Danny. Have they said anything?”

“Not too much that’s useful, but I’m still tryin’.”

“Do you think you might have better luck with direct questions?”