Page 37 of Micah

“Well, is Cam your boyfriend? A future member of this family? Or just a visitor I barely know? I would be much more formal with a guest than with my future grandson-in-law.”

Garrett mouths something, a delighted smile on his face, but I can’t make it out. My brain is still stuck on “future grandson-in-law.”

It’s Zac who answers this time. “You continue to treat him as you have today, only without the invasive interference in his personal life. He’s an honored guest in the village and a friend to your grandsons.”

Warmth spreads through me. I might have said earlier that I would be friends with Zac after I leave, but it’s nice to hear that the sentiment is returned. I’ve spent a lot of time with Micah’s cousins this week, and it’s reminded me that I don’t actually hate people.

Well, not all people. The right people are fun to hang out with. I’m not easy to be friends with—what with my lack of focus and forgetting things like their existence—but when I do see my friends, I’m always glad to have them.

Damaris mutters something, and based on the way Garrett winces, it’s not nice, but she acquiesces. “Very well. We’ll speak of something else. Cam, how is progress going in the cave?”

I perk up, relieved we’ve left talk of my sex life behind and excited that someone’s actually asked me about the puzzle. “Excellently. I found the starting point after only one day, which backs up my theory that whoever designed this wanted it to be opened.”

Micah laughs—a genuine, out loud laugh.

“What?” I ask. He’s been an invaluable help to me in these early days. The first stages of solving a complex puzzle are always harder, as I learn the vagaries and tricks of it.

“Tell them what else you found.”

I’m not sure what… oh. “You mean the thing about it being a layered puzzle?”

He taps his nose and smiles at me. It feels like an inside joke for just me and him.

“A layered puzzle?” Asher’s dad asks. “What’s that?”

“Really exciting!” I hold up my hands to demonstrate. “The wall is the base puzzle, and all the things sticking out of it are elements. Each element needs a specific component in order to unlock and allow me to move on to the next element. We already knew that before I got here. But this week I realized that’s not all of it. There’s another layer of components that go on top of the first layer!”

The silence that follows is familiar to me. It happens a lot when I start talking about puzzles.

“How would that work, exactly?” Dalia is frowning, but it’s not a scary frown. It’s thoughtful.

I beam, thrilled about the question. “There are two ways. The most common is for the entire first layer of components to be in place and then the second layer built from there. So with the first layer, I need to work out which component fits where, and then which way the element moves in order to unlock. Or vice versa,” I add, because I made the happy discovery this week that the wall puzzle has both options. It really is so much fun. “Then when the second layer goes down, it usually happens the opposite way. The layers almost act as two separate puzzles that just happen to connect.”

“And the other way?”

“That’s what we’ve got. It’s fully integrated—the element won’t unlock until both components are fitted. That means that for each element, the number of possible combinations is more than we thought at first.”

Hal smiles at me. “You seem very happy about all this. Isn’t it more work for you?”

I shrug. “Kinda, but I love it. I really wish I could have met the designer. They must have been awesome.”

“From what I’ve been told, she died a long time ago,” Damaris says gently—well, gently for her. “But if you’re right about her wanting it to be solved, the dragons will likely be eager to see it when it’s done. Perhaps they will be able to tell you about her.”

Dragons. “I get to meet multiple dragons?” I try to sound casual. I’m cool. I’m not fizzing with excitement.

“We had a call from the wing leader’s security person on Friday,” Damaris informs me. “They’ve found someone who can come and go through the contents of the cave, once the door is open. They wanted to know if he could come early and see some of the process of the puzzle solving also.”

“What?” Micah asks. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Damaris raises a brow. “I believe I just did.”

“But it’s been two days,” Asher adds, then looks at his husband. “Did you know this?” The guilty expression on Garrett’s face is answer enough. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“The council asked me not to until they’d made a decision,” he protests. “Not my fault.”

“Until they’d made a decision?” Zac gapes at Damaris. “You were going to tell the dragons they couldn’t come early?”

No way. I feel my eyes getting wide. Why would anyone want to say no to dragons?

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