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“Sunday,” I confirm. “I checked again with Garrett this morning.” Just so I could assure him of that. I think Garrett’s ready to murder me if I ask him again.
“Tell me again the place we’re going tomorrow?” His voice is all innocence, but I’m ready for his sneakiness.
“No. It’s a surprise.”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Cam
I starewith my mouth agape at the fucking mechanical elephant crossing the courtyard in front of me. It’s huge—waaaaay bigger than a real elephant—made of metal and wood, and there are people standing on a platform on its back. And it’s walking.
Not willing to take my eyes off it, I grope for Micah’s hand and yank him close. “There are people in it.”
“Yes.” He sounds like he’s going to laugh. “I already bought our tickets. We can ride inside and see the gears working. I believe it also—” The elephant blows steam out of its trunk, making me jump. “—does that.”
“This is the best surprise I’ve ever had in my life.” The basic principle behind the elephant is simple, but on that scale, to safely operate it and have it work consistently… it’s amazing.
Micah squeezes my hand. “There’s more inside. A spider that shoots web, and I think butterflies and birds. A whole lot of animals and plants. We can also visit the workshops.”
I watch the elephant return into the fancy-shed building and finally look up at Micah. Even I can see the smug expression on his face. “The best surprise ever,” I repeat.
“We’re lucky.” He tries to sound self-deprecating. “It’s school holidays for the children right now, so they’re open most of the day. Usually in winter they have very limited hours or are closed.”
I make a rude noise. “Stop it. We both know this isn’t what Damaris had in mind when she said you should show me Europe, but it’sexactlywhat I’d love. Nobody else would have thought of bringing me here, limited hours or not.”
He leans down to kiss me. “Thank me later. We have some mechanical animals to see.”
We follow the elephant to the long gallery, and Micah collects a bunch of pamphlets and maps and I don’t know what else.
“What first?” he asks. “The spider? Or there’s a heron… it flies.”
“The heron.” How does he even need to ask? Itflies.
What follows is the most fun I’ve ever had outside of working on a puzzle or fucking. And the latter is pretty close to being a tie. I get to work the controls of a lot of the machines, plus the machinists are there to answer any questions we have. And I have a lot. I don’t speak French, but Micah does, and he patiently translates every word. The machinists don’t get annoyed or bored, either—they’re happy to go through everything with me.
We spend hours going through the whole gallery, ride the freaking elephant, and then visit the workshops and see the machinists working on the designs and builds. It’s magical.
I let out a happy sigh as we leave the last workshop. “This has been perfect.”
“We’re not done yet,” Micah says. I push my hair out of my eyes and look up at him.
“We’re not?”
He nods toward the carousel in the square out front of the gallery. “Did you get a close look before?”
I didn’t. The elephant had my attention, and I figured it was just a carousel, right? Even if, now that I look at it, it does seem a lot taller than any other carousel I’ve ever seen. I glance back at Micah. “I’m going to love this, aren’t I?”
He shrugs, takes my hand, and leads me toward it. “Only if you love three levels of mechanical sea creatures.”
It’s official. I have to find a way to keep Micah.
* * *
I’m still consideringmy options when we get home late Saturday night. Micah took me to the best place for dinner—a tiny little restaurant in a building that, from the outside, looked like it might fall apart any second. Inside, though, was cozy and… okay, the candlelight helped hide the fact that the plaster was crumbling. It was even smaller than I thought, with only four two-seater tables in the whole place. It’s owned by this older couple who run it with just the two of them—he’s the cook and dishwasher, and she manages front of house—and the menu changes every night based on what’s available at the market and what Remy feels like making. The service was half-hearted, the food divine, and I adored the whole experience. I’m definitely making Micah bring me back here.
He asked me if I wanted to stay in Nantes for the night, or anywhere in France, but I’d rather be in our bed. I’ve had enough new things for one day, and I need to plan.
“You’re quiet,” he says as we leave the teleport room. “Everything okay?”
