WendyIn the tunnel, Alec paces back and forth, his fist pressed to his mouth. I can nearly feel the energy crackling off him."I don't know whether to trust him or not," he says.Sighing, I take a seat on a barrel. "What does that even matter? Like it or not, he's all we have."He shakes his head. "He's freaked out. Afraid of something or someone.""Yeah." Using the toe of my shoe, I draw a line in the packed earth. "He didn't seem to be scared of the Silver Hunters, though. It's something else.""And I doubt he'll tell us what.""If he'd just tell us, we could move on.""I don't think he wants to move on," Alec says. "I get the sense he's been underground for a long time. I might actually be worried about him. If he doesn't rejoin the world soon, I think he might go crazy."I nod, agreeing with him. "There's something about him that's just ... off.""What do you mean?"I wrinkle my nose. "He's not a bad guy, but he's been closed up in that cave for so long.""You mean h
WendyAfter a long bus ride, Alec and I finally make it to Lockeport, Nova Scotia, a little after dark. Freezing rain slices through the night, coming down on my shoulders and hair and making me shake. Hunched over, we sprint for a restaurant's overhang."Ugh." I rub my hands against my arms. "I didn't even think about rain.""Soon it'll be snow."My lips draw thin. This is the wrong time of year to do an in-depth tour of thirty-eight hundred islands."The Silver Hunters could have been a little courteous and attacked in spring, don't you think?" I ask.It's a poor and tasteless joke, and it's no surprise that Alec doesn't laugh. Apparently, my new way of dealing with stress is resorting to humor. Whether that's healthy or not, I'm not really sure."They probably have rain ponchos." Alec nods at a tourist shop across the street. "Let's pop in and see.""Sounds good."Igor gave us a little bit of money to get by on, but we'll still need to be tight with expenses. Even though
WendyAlec's eyes widen. "What?"I nod over his shoulder, and he turns just in time to watch the two men saunter to a table. They haven't seen us yet, and without helmets on, I have no way of knowing whether they were at Hawthorn or not.The fact that they're here, though, doesn't feel like chance. They must suspect the Golden Coin is in Nova Scotia.Alec grabs my hand. "We need to get out of here."He yanks me towards the end of the hallway, but we stop. There's no exit.My chest heaves, and I start shaking with adrenaline. It's not my weird strength coming to the surface, though. It's pure fear.The men are talking to the captain, standing on either side of him, their voices so low I can't hear a thing.If we walk across the main room, they'll notice us right away. We're trapped.Alec curses under his breath, and we lean against the hallway's wall, feeling like two animals in a cage."The bathroom." I tug on his poncho, and we hurry back down the hall.Apparently, we've
Wendy"That's it." Alec points at the lights ahead of us. Scarlett Cove looks to be a pretty big island with a decent-sized town on it.I gulp. Where will we even begin?"Your aim is not the object you seek, but the door it's behind," I mutter."What's that?" Alec asks over the ridiculously loud motor."Nothing. See anywhere to put the boat?"The trip to the island has been thankfully short—not more than half an hour—but I've spent most of it thinking about the riddles. Both the one Igor told us and the one I heard come out of the well.The one that I'm sure was spoken by my mother.Which makes no sense since she's been dead for years.Maybe that was some kind of spell meant to confuse people. I saw what the water did to the Silver Hunter who fell into it, how he shrieked in pain. There are probably all sorts of ways that the well is magicked.Still ... even if my mother's voice was simulated, how did I even recognize it as hers? I've never heard it."Over there." Alec poi
HeatherThe third floor is quiet, and I move along the carpet like a mouse. I don't know where all the Silver Hunters have gone, but there have definitely been less of them the last day.I saw about twenty of them crossing the bridge and taking off in cars and motorcycles. Does that mean they're giving up on Hawthorn?I doubt it.I also doubt anyone is coming to save us.Even if I could get to my phone, it wouldn't matter. It's nearly impossible to get any service on this stupid island, in these stupid woods."... we need more boots on the ground,” a woman says from around the corner.My breath freezes in my throat, and I desperately search for somewhere to hide. Spotting an open classroom door, I slip through it.The room is dark, and I thankfully have the cover of night to keep me safe. Crouching low, I peek through the crack as two Silver Hunters turn into the hallway and stop. They both have their helmets off, and the woman has long, blonde hair that falls down her back.
WendyMy eyes pop open, and I hold my breath. Did a noise wake me? Did I sense someone outside of the barn?Or am I just now constantly living in this state of terror?I sit up slowly, not wanting to wake Alec. It's still dark out, and the deep silence suggests there's a lot of snow. We're warm between the hay and horse blankets, and I almost wish we could stay in here forever. Just the two of us, hidden away from the world.Alec sleeps on his side, his eyes moving under his closed lids. My chest tightens as I watch him. He's so handsome that it almost makes me want to cry.I reach out and stroke his hair, and his eyes flutter open. He smiles at me, and I can feel my heart beat faster."Hey," he whispers, his voice thick with sleep."Hey," I whisper back, my cheeks flushing.He turns onto his back, and I force myself to look away. If I stare at him too long, I'll make things awkward. Again.But I can't keep these feelings, these questions, inside of me forever. I need to kno
WendyWe manage to get off Scarlett Cove and onto the next island without any issues. As the morning passes us by, we head into this new town and check things out."I don't think we'll find any clues here," I mumble as Alec and I walk through the center of a farmer's market."No, but we'll find breakfast." He goes up to a stand selling baked goods, buys two croissants, and brings one over to me."Thanks," I say, before gratefully biting into it.The trip from Scarlett Cove to the next large island was less than an hour, but maybe it's the adrenaline from last night that's making me so ravenous.We keep walking through the farmer's market, observing everything. The stands are of all shapes and sizes, and some of them are built with old planks of wood, painted over with bright colors and retro designs. Winter squash, lettuce, and meats are everywhere, and the snow is padded flat from everyone's shoes.Alec and I blend in effortlessly, easily lost in the crowd of people strolling
WendyAnother library. Another dead end.So far, anyway."Nothing." I close the book louder than I mean to, and a woman at the next table over glares at me. I make an apologetic face and shrink into myself."Same here." Alec pushes his book away.The local library on the third island isn't much bigger than a house, and the number of books on local lore amounts to what can hardly be called a stack."Maybe this is pointless," I mumble. "Igor spent decades searching for the coin. What makes us think we can find it in a few days?"I drop my head into my hands and allow myself a pity party. I'm so beat down, so tired, so scared. I can't stop thinking about what might be happening at Hawthorn, and I wish I could wipe all of that from my mind.But I can't, of course. I won't be abandoning the people there.I'm just tired of how rough this is, and I want to complain for a little bit.Alec looks even worse than I feel, with bags hanging under his eyes. He slipped into the woods for