Once Upon a Dark October

Chapter Seventeen

D readmist Harbor sat upon miles of scenic coastline, the tides forever chiseling away at its rocky shore. Between the steep cliffs and the low pools that swelled with seawater, the beaches were a charcoal drawing of diluted greys and blues. Especially on autumn evenings like this. Black sand glittered on my bare toes as we walked the shore, perfectly soft and slightly damp from the waves spilling in. The cold was refreshing, sea-spray carried off the crashing surf pelting my cheeks and leaving behind the smell of salt and sand tangled in my hair.

A little ways past the second sand bar, a few rocky outcroppings towered above the sea, whittled into arches after centuries of her fierce wind and waves. Evening fog had started to wreath the sleeping stone giants as it crept ashore. Distant lamplight from a boat barely parted the dense haze.

Gwen ran ahead—the only one of us not wearing her boots slung over her shoulder with laces tied together, because she’d walked here barefoot—and chose a spot to spread out the quilt she’d brought. Josephine stared into cresting waves, whitecaps showing their teeth farther out. I could tell that her thoughts were caught somewhere between her two loves: alchemy and Clarabella.