Chapter 17
Gradually, the cottage went to sleep around me. I listened for the footsteps, first Rhi’s, then my mom’s, as they made their way up to bed. The general sounds of life settled into the gentle rhythm of sleep, but still, I waited. I had to be sure.
At last, around one o’clock in the morning, I decided it was safe. I texted Eva and Zale to confirm our plan, and then texted Jess. I held my breath waiting for her response. Minutes ticked by. Had she been discovered? Finally, the reply came through, and I exhaled.
I’ll meet you there. Thank you. Be careful.
I knew it was unlikely that I’d meet anyone on my way to the lighthouse—Lightkeep Cottage was the last house on the road to the cliffs—but that didn’t stop me from looking over my shoulder every five seconds on my dark, solitary walk.
I kept to the edge of the trees where I could, and kept my flashlight trained low and close to the ground.
I was the first to reach our chosen meeting spot behind a large, jagged rock.
I could see the lights from the Playhouse parking lot through the misty haze that had settled over the cove like a blanket.
I stood there, bouncing on the balls of my feet, until I heard footsteps and turned to see Zale and Eva hurrying toward me, Zale looking almost painfully excited, and Eva looking anxious.
“No complications?” I whispered, as soon as they joined me behind the rock.
They both shook their heads. “I thought I was busted for sure when I realized abuela still hadn’t come up to bed, but it turns out she dozed off in her seance room. I could hear her grunting and snoring from the top of the stairs,” Eva said.
“Any sign of Jess yet?” Zale asked eagerly, looking around like she might pop out and yell “Surprise!”
“No, but she’ll be here, I know it,” I said, as much to reassure myself as to answer Zale.
“Is she gonna be in, like… ghost mode again?” he asked eagerly.
“You know, for someone who flipped out so badly at the sight of a body, you seem awfully eager to see another one,” Eva said.
Even in the dark, I could tell that Zale was flushing with embarrassment. “I didn’t flip out, I just… needed a moment. I’m prepared this time.”
“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but as far as I know, she’s staying inside the skin suit this time,” I said, before turning back to Eva. “Did you bring everything?”
Eva turned partway around so that I could see the backpack slung over her shoulder.
“Thanks for agreeing to this,” I told her earnestly. “I definitely couldn’t do it without you.”
“You might not be able to do it with me,” Eva muttered.
“Hey!” Zale snapped. “Can it with the negative self-talk, queen. You’ve got this.”
Eva gave him a tight smile that faded quickly.
“I’m sorry,” I said to her. “It was shitty of me to put so much pressure on you right after you became a waterworker. Look, if you don’t want to do it, I’m sure I can find another way to—”
“No,” Eva said, and I was relieved to hear a hint of her usual determination in her voice. “I got this.”
I grinned at her. “Yeah, you do.”
The sound of a snapped twig, and then the shushing of footsteps broke into our conversation, and we all froze, listening. A moment later, Jess appeared from the edge of the woods with her hand raised in greeting.
“It’s only me,” she whisper-called to us.
I waved her over, and she joined us behind the rock. She was dressed all in black, though she had been every time I’d ever seen her, so that may have just been her wardrobe.
“Are we good?” she asked, looking at each of us in turn.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said, and then turned to Zale. “What can you tell us?”
Zale grinned again, clearly happy that Eva wasn’t the only one who could be useful in this operation.
“I hung around in the kitchen while Maeve was over for dinner last night. My grandmother was talking to her about the security arrangements. Maeve confirmed that it’s only two officers who patrol the area.
They primarily stay in the parking lot of the theater, because that’s where the only entrance to the cavern is; but every twenty minutes, they do a full walk-around of the building, which is when they get a visual on the lighthouse. ”
“What’s in the lighthouse?” Jess asked.
“The grimoire you brought us,” I told her, and then, when her face folded into a confused frown, I added, “It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.”
“Right,” Jess said, though it looked like she was swallowing back her questions with difficulty.
“So, we’ll time our distraction for when they move around to the back of the Playhouse,” I said, looking at Eva now. “And when they go to investigate, that’s our chance to sneak into the cavern without being seen.”
“What’s this distraction?” Jess asked, “and are we sure it’s going to work?”
“That’s Eva’s job. She’s a water witch. And yes, it will work,” I said confidently.
Eva nodded, her lips pressed closed. She looked like she might throw up.
“Now, once we’re inside, how much time do you think you need?” I asked Jess.
“To confirm it’s a Geatgrima? I only need to lay eyes on it,” she said, “but to figure out what seems off about it? I’m not entirely sure. As much time as you can get me, I guess.”
I looked at Eva, asking the silent question.
“I’ve been practicing,” she said, “and I can keep it going for ten minutes. Beyond that… I’m not sure.”
“That will be enough,” I assured her, even as anxiety rubbed my already frayed nerves raw. I looked down at my watch, and felt my lungs freeze up. “We should split up now. It’s ten minutes until the cops do their next set of rounds. You’ve got your phones, right?” I added, to Eva and Zale.
Zale nodded and held his up.
“I’ve got mine, but I won’t be able to break my concentration to check it, so you’ll have to use Zale as your point person for communication,” Eva said.
“Ooooooh, yes, I am comms director!” Zale gasped excitedly.
Jess just looked at him like she was starting to regret every life choice that had led her to this moment. But then she turned to me, and with the air of someone steeling herself, she said, “Let’s do it.”
Zale kept staring at me, like he was waiting for us to initiate some kind of team handshake, but then Eva grabbed him by the collar and pulled him toward the beach.
Jess gestured for me to lead the way, and I crept out from behind the rock, making for the edge of the woods.
Once we were both obscured behind the tree line, we walked the perimeter of the parking lot, moving as quickly as we dared without flashlights, using the light that bled into the woods from the parking lot streetlamps to avoid tripping over tree roots.
We passed right by the place where Jess had concealed her own body a few days previously, and kept going, until we were crouched in the bushes around that far north side of the theater’s lot.
I’d spent some time in this area—it housed the various outbuildings where they stored props, costumes, and set pieces.
I remembered meeting Luca here, and had to swallow back a big pang of regret.
However much I may have liked Luca, there was little chance I’d see him again; and besides, proximity to me would just put him into danger with his stepmother.
She’d already used him as bait once, though in that instance it had just been a glamour of him.
I couldn’t bear the thought of endangering the real thing.
“Wren?” Jess’s voice broke through my momentary distraction.
“Huh?”
“I said, how will we know when the distraction has started?”
“Zale will text us, but I think it should be pretty obvious. She’s going to set it off over near the lighthouse, which we should be able to see from the other side of this building.
” I led her around the far side of the nondescript concrete box of a building, until we could just spot the lighthouse between two other outbuildings.
I checked my watch again. Three minutes. Two…
Two things happened at once. My phone buzzed against my thigh, and we heard a voice over in the parking lot.
“Maeve? You take south, I’ll go north,” the voice said.
“You mean like every other time we’ve done it? Hecate’s Wheel, Jacob, let’s just get it over with, all right?” came Maeve’s sarcastic reply.
Jess and I flattened ourselves against the wall as a beam of light rippled past toward the back of the theater. I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the notification.
GO TIME!!! read the text from Zale.
“Zale says it’s—” I began in a whisper, but Jess cut me off.
“Holy SHIT.”
I followed her gaze to the lighthouse, and had to slap my hand over my mouth to stifle my own gasp.
Three geyser-like jets of water were shooting into the air on either side of the lighthouse, forming a bubbling curtain of water around it, as though we were gazing on the world’s largest decorative fountain.
My mouth fell open just as a profanity-laden cry sounded from the other side of the theater, followed by sounds of running.
“Wow, Eva!” I whispered.
“When you said distraction, I thought… like setting off a firecracker on the beach or something,” Jess breathed.
For a few more precious seconds, we stood transfixed at Eva’s remarkable water magic. Then something in me snapped back to attention and I tugged on Jess’ sleeve, pulling her toward the Playhouse.
“Let’s not waste such a good distraction,” I hissed, and together we ran for the building.