Page 3 of Quarter Labyrinth

I peeked at him. “You don’t plan to ever leave these shores?”

“You might be meant for the seas, but I was made for a steady home, assurance of food on the table, and a cotton bed each night.”

Any joy in the air guttered out. The words mimicked the ones he’d spoken a year ago to convince me to stay.“I can give you a steady home, food on the table, and a warm bed each night. Stay with me, Ren. Make a life here, by my side.”

A thousand storms could tip my boat and toss me into the freezing sea, and I still wouldn’t feel as wretched as I did when I’d replied,“No.”

I swallowed hard, digging my toes into the rocks to replant myself in that spot, forcing all my focus back to the slip of sea that ships could pass through. The caravel had gone and the night fell silent once more, save for the bonfire raging in the village square.

Any moment, Father would come, and Clark could untangle his heart from me.

We waited as the night darkened further, shadows melting until half of the island lay behind a veil of black. The other half—the village and the pier—remained alive as almost every islander waited for the scroll to be revealed. Everyone except us. As the night continued to set in, we remained unmoving.

“He’s going to be here,” I whispered against the sea.

“I have full faith of that,” Mother replied.

Clark nodded. “Any moment.”

Within the hour, I couldn’t see the horizon anymore.

“He’s going to be here,” I spoke again.

“I know he’ll return,” Mother said.

Clark had no reply.

An hour later, I could hardly see the narrow pass.

“He’s going to be here.” I was repeating the words to convince myself. This time, no one replied.

Another painfully slow hour passed, and the only water easy to see was the tear that slipped down Mother’s cheek. She stood, pulling her threadbare shawl tighter around her lithe frame, turning her back on the waters. “I’m going to wait in the hut where it’s warmer.”

I nodded, my throat too tight to risk speaking.

“Goodnight, Miss Allison,” Clark whispered.

She crossed the jetty and moved up the shore to where she’d built our small hut—a stone’s throw away from where she and Father landed when they first came to this island.

I’ll come for you and Serenity on the eve of her sixteenth birthday. Wait for me as the sun sets.

The note was cold in my hand. I slipped it into my pocket, then stared back to the empty seas.

“Ren…”

Clark’s voice came like a soothing breeze, and I hated that. It sounded like giving up.

“He will be here.”

“I believe you, but there’s no shame in waiting in the hut.”

“I’m not going to miss the moment my father returns. It’s probably safer for him to sail in the dark of night anyway.”That was it.He had to be careful about who might see. His enemies still lurked, searching for how to steal the Shallows, and they could try to use his wife and daughter against him. Just as they had seventeen years ago when they kidnapped Mother. Father was being cautious, that was all.

Clark’s gaze cut between me and the sea. “Those rocks are notoriously dangerous to travel through. He’d be a mad man to attempt it at night.”

I spoke through my teeth. “He’s Gerald Montclair. He can sail through anything, and he’s going to come tonight.”

He released a long sigh before resuming his vigil.

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