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I know it’s crazy, but a small part of me had hoped Mom had been trying to reach out to me, to tell me something. But Cora’s been perpetuating a sham and I’ve fallen for it. As for the rest, it’s probably a figment of my overactive imagination, fueled by hallucinogens and missing Mom.
I can’t believe Cora’s played on my emotions. Why didn’t she just tell me the truth from the start?
“I’m assuming she put the diving suit in my room too?”
“Probably. Everything she does is to find the gold compass because she believes the legend about appeasing the Norse gods.” He barks out a laugh devoid of humor as he reaches into his coat pocket. “Ironic, because I found this years ago and nothing around here has changed.”
When he opens his hand, a burnished gold compass with thevegvisirembossed into it sits in his palm.
“You found it?”
He nods. “About a decade ago. I’ve been diving the shipwreck since I first arrived here over forty years ago and came upon it by sheer chance.”
“Why didn’t you tell Cora?”
“Because I wanted to save it for you. In case anything ever happened to your mom.” He takes hold of my hand and presses the compass into it. “This is your insurance policy. It’s worth a fortune and whatever happens to me or Cora or this house, you’ll always have it.”
The compass is hot to my touch and when he releases my hand, there are tears in his eyes. “The only reason I stayed in this godforsaken place all these years is on the off chance you would show up one day and I could give you this. I thought your mother might tell you the truth eventually, and you’d find your way here, but when you first arrived and didn’t seem to know anything, I waited.” His expression is somber. “Considering the lengths Cora went to, maybe I shouldn’t have.”
I stare at the compass, glowing softly in the lamplight.
My legacy.
And the one thing that has driven my grandmother to do unthinkable things.
“Thank you,” I murmur, wrapping my arms around my grandfather in an impulsive hug.
He squeezes me tight for a moment before easing back. “What are you going to do if Cora confesses to murdering your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
It’s the truth, because I have no idea if a confession will bring me peace or not, or whether seeing her locked up for her crime will appease me.
“Well, I need to know what really happened,” he says, standing. “It may sound heartless, but I’m going to wait until the tide is in about chest-height, because she’ll definitely want to get out of the chamber then.”
It seems so barbaric, torturing Cora by using her fear of water to gain a confession. It would be my biggest nightmare. Then again, if she pushed my sweet mother in front of a bus so she could control me in some warped plan to groom me as heir of Arcania, she deserves the terror of being trapped in that chamber with an incoming tide.
“Do what you have to do,” I murmur, and with a last squeeze of my shoulder, Spencer is gone.
Chapter44
Cora
NOW
I don’t knowhow long Spencer leaves me here. I lose track of time because I’m blinded by panic. My body has shut down. I’m numb as the cold seeps into my muscles, then my bones, the terror chilling me as much as the frigid Atlantic.
As the water level rises, so does my abject horror.
How could Spencer do this to me?
I cling to the doorknob, twisting it to no avail. Thevegvisir, the symbol of hope and power, mocks me. I have given up so much in my quest to make Arcania great again.
My husband. My daughter. My sanity.
As the tide rises from my calves to my hips to my waist to my chest, I know I will die here.
It’s inevitable.
