He reaches out to touch a small scar on his chest, and both Magnus and I quiet.
Grampy has never really talked about it, but we know it happened when he was young and fixated on the gadgets and technology in the mortal realm. He still is. Even simple things like studying Magnus’s phone gives him a twinkle to his eyes. Scars or not, that fascination never left.
“Hoping I’d tell you to go back and get her?” he remarks, clocking my sullen expression.
“You think I could?” I ask, thinking about how I’d been so wrapped up on keeping my promise, I hadn’t paid much mind to the trouble it could be causing him with the elders.
“I’ve never known you to give up, even when it ends in a belly flop. You’ve got to decide if she’s worth the sting it might leave you with.”
He’s right. I don’t think I can give up—not until I try to talk to her instead of running like a damn coward. I need to do this right, andsoon, before she packs up and I’m left with nothing more than regret and bittersweet memories.
“Now, can we please talk aboutme?” Magnus asks, crossing his arms. “I have five messages I need to respond to, and my usual charm does not appear to be working.”
Grampy laughs, tapping me on the shoulder.“I’ll handle this one,” he says graciously. “I think Gil has his hands full already.”
Chapter 15
Marina’s Journal
From the diary of Marina Brooks—age 9
I haven’t stopped looking forward to seeing him every summer. Despite my trying, friendships outside of this one haven’t come easily—nothing has come easily. Except for the days spent in the sun with a friend who “doesn’t exist.” But he’s real. I know he’s real.
Grams is the only one who listens to the stories. I see her more now, not as often as I like, but she says she’s getting better…
Only no one will tell me fromwhat.
It seems like she’s better, then worse, then better, and worse. I wish someone would tell me if she’s going to be okay.
I don’t want to lose her.
Aunt Andrea says Grams must be recovering because she doesn’t have me pestering her all the time anymore. I worry she might be right.Why would she lie to me?
Uncle Orson has been traveling more. Aunt Andrea and him keep fighting. She says I play the piano too loud. So, I wait until I’m home alone to do it. I’m alone often enough that it’s not too inconvenient.
She and Jenna go out a lot, and most of the time they don’t ask me to join them. That’s fine. I’d rather have time with the piano than them.
But now, it’s summer, and Gale’s eyes light up when he sees I’m wearing the bracelet he made for me. True to his word, it has the pearl he found. I never leave home without it.
He says I look tired.
More tired than last year; the bags under my eyes are heavy and it scares him.
He doesn’t seem like the type to be scared of anything.
And I’m fine.
I’m really fine.
In the summer sun with my best friend next to me, I doze. He sits beside me, clipping shapes into the leaves with his claws like he’s working on a scrapbook.
He tells me all sorts of things—of royal balls, friends, and castles. It’s beautiful—so beautiful I wonder if I’m dreaming.
He says I should see it for myself one day. I’d be a girl who wasn’t wanted in one world, so she made a home in another.
I think I’d like that story.
Chapter 16
