Rosemary and Rue

Digging into my pocket, I produced the waterlogged cell phone and tossed it onto the beach. “With what? My phone’s ruined. Have you got one?”


“No . . .”

“There you go, then. Connor, how are we getting to Shadowed Hills?”

“You have a car.”

“I can drive!” Dare said.

Connor and I exchanged a look, and he declared, “I’ll drive.” Dare pouted. Connor shook his head. “Sorry, kid. Not this time.”

Confident that Connor had matters in hand, I closed my eyes, letting myself relax. Shadowed Hills is safer than almost anywhere I know; most people have better things to do than bother Sylvester, who has a history of permanent solutions to temporary annoyances. He used to be a hero, after all, and some habits die hard. Besides, how often do you get to watch a Selkie try to drive?

Not that often, it turns out, even when the opportunity actually bothers to arise. Connor put me into the passenger seat, I closed my eyes, and we were there, exhaustion blanking out all the miles in between. I woke up when Connor stopped the car. Dare and Manuel cast worried glances my way as Connor scooped me out of the passenger seat, but I didn’t fight; I just let him carry me up the hill and into the knowe. I wasn’t entirely certain I could have made the walk.

Luna was waiting in the entry hall. There were no footmen in evidence; they had all apparently figured out that the safest place to be was far away from their worried Duchess. Her hair was uncombed, and her tails were knotting themselves behind her, winding and unwinding around each other in agitation.

“Are you all right?” she demanded, turning toward our sandy, water-stained party. The fact that I was curled in Connor’s arms probably made things look even worse, but I didn’t really have the strength to do much else. Manuel and Dare were trying to vanish behind us. Like most of Devin’s kids, they were fine when they were following orders, but they didn’t ad lib well. He never taught them how to be flexible. “Sylvester’s gone to challenge Devin for proof that you’re not dead. I hope you’re pleased with yourself.”

“Hi, Luna,” I said, smiling tiredly.

She studied me, frowning, before she said, “You look terrible. What happened?”

“We sort of fell out of a cliff and into the ocean.”

“We?”

Connor winced. “It wasn’t exactly intentional . . .” he began.

Luna ignored him. “What were you doing?”

“Running,” I said.

“From what?”

“I don’t quite know,” I said. “Mostly from the noises in the hall.”

“You fell off a cliff because you were running from noises?”

“In Goldengreen,” Connor said, apparently deciding he needed to contribute. Bad idea. Luna turned on him, glaring, and he cringed. I would’ve expected him to know better.

“Were you hurt?” she asked, turning back to me.

“Not badly.” I gestured to my bleeding shoulder. “I got shot a few days ago, but that’s mostly been healed.”

“Shot and injured enough that you couldn’t manage to make a phone call. Oh, that’s not bad at all.” Looking around us to Manuel and Dare, who were trying not to be noticed, she added, “And you brought guests.”

Dare stared at her feet, ears turning a deep red. Manuel bobbed a quick bow and mumbled, “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Luna’s icy demeanor melted fractionally as she smiled. She’s never been good at staying mad, and she usually gets that way because she’s worried about someone—frequently me. I have a talent for panicking her. “It’s good to meet you, too.”

I poked Connor in the shoulder. “Put me down.” He gave me a dirty look, but wasn’t going to argue in front of Luna. I staggered as he lowered me to my feet, and Dare stepped forward, offering me her arm. I took it gratefully. “Hey, kid.”

Leaning toward me, she whispered, “She has three tails.”