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“Good. Nearly healed.” I angle my thigh to show him. The way his gaze lingers and then slowly drifts up to my face sends an unexpected rush of heat through me.

He clears his throat, then shifts his attention to the table. “Nice camera.”

“Thanks. Some guy told me I should get to know the island more.” I roll my eyes, but a smile tugs at my lips. Baking with Karmela has put me in a much better mood.

“Smart guy,” Luka quips. “Can I see?”

My mirth immediately fades. The only person who’s ever seen my photography is Lily. Even though the topic sometimes came up with guys I dated, I never showed any actual photos to them—it felt too personal. But now I’m struggling to think of a decent excuse with my camera right beside me.

“Sure,” I reply, a little breathless. I raise my camera and pull up the first photo. As Luka moves closer, his salt-and-smoke scent wafts over me. It’s sharp but enticing, like a campfire along the sea.

I click through the images quickly, trying not to think about his body inches from mine. When I get to the final photo—the one of him standing outside the restaurant—my face flushes with embarrassment.

“Didn’t know I had paparazzi,” he says with a gruff laugh.

I squirm in my seat. “It was a nice angle.” There was a stoic beauty to the way Luka leaned against the terrace, the sun coating his limbs with gold.

“Mm-hmm.”

My fingers move to turn off my camera, but as I glance back down at the photo, my body freezes. Someone else is in the frame, standing just behind Luka. It could just be a shadow beneath the terrace—but it looks like a woman with cascading dark hair.

As I stare, her features sharpen, revealing two unblinking black eyes, fixed intently on Luka. My back arches, as if a line of needles ripples down my spine.

“What’s wrong?” Luka asks.

“Nothing.” When I look down again, the figure is gone, the background only innocent shadows.

“The photos are nice,” he says, almost reluctantly. “You have a good eye.”

The compliment soothes my uneasiness. “Thanks.”

Luka takes my order, recommending bevanda—red wine mixed with water, popular among the locals on hot summer days. But before he walks away, he hesitates, rubbing his beard. “You know, I have the day off tomorrow. We can take my boat to a nice beach on the south shore. It’s a good spot for photos.” The way his expression tightens, as if he’s nervous, is surprisingly endearing.

Is he asking me out? It’s been a while since I’ve gone on any dates, so immersed in grief over my mom’s death. It’s never been a priority anyway. But the idea of getting out of the house for the day sounds nice. That’s the only reason I want to go, I tell myself. It has nothing to do with him—or the way my skin tingles with the ghost of his touch.

“Sounds great.”

Interlude

The House is pleased.

The fireplace shifts and groans as it inhales the delicious scent of warm poppy seed rolls. It has been years since Karmela baked with another. Since she laughed. Oh, how glorious the sound! The House may not have liked Petra at first, but with her tongue mended, she is growing on its stones.

The curtains flutter with delight, shooing away the doubt that had settled in its dark corners. No more. Surely, Petra will not leave her grandmother. Surely, she would not leave behind such a grand inheritance, even if it’s tainted by shadows.

This time will be different. Petra is different. All she must do is keep her heart close and not make the same mistake as her mother.

Eleven

Magdalena

18 June 1895

I’ve been thinking all day about what could be ailing Ana. I was so certain that the feeling I had when speaking to Nikola about her was some kind of memory, but I can’t pin it down; it’s like a small bird fluttering at the edge of my mind, pestering me with the tips of its wings.

There are too many possibilities. Ana’s fatigue could be caused by anemia. It could be rheumatism, also known to cause muscle aches. There’s scurvy, which brings fatigue, but Ana did not have bleeding gums, as far as I could see. Tuberculosis, influenza, melancholy . . . her symptoms match bits and pieces of various ailments. Most of which I’m sure Doctor Mandić already considered.

I need to spend more time with her. Hopefully tonight I can uncover more clues.