read Father’s journals and imagine I was there. He wrote once about how it was always warm and it hardly ever rained. I wanted to travel there someday.” She traces the carvings on the windowsill that Derrick had scraped into the wood when he thought I wouldn’t notice—back in that other room, my real room. “Now I wonder if there’s even a Cyprus left. If the fae killed everyone there, too.”
“Perhaps there is,” I say, suddenly guilty that I brought all this up for her.
Catherine asked me to summon rainbows, but I reminded her of all the things she lost. I sometimes wonder if Lonnrach stole me away to that mirrored room to steal the hope from me—however small it was to begin with—at the same time he stole my memories.
I try to hold on, just for Catherine. “Maybe the fae wouldn’t care enough for such a small island.”
“Maybe.” She says it with a flash of a forced smile for my benefit. As if she understood exactly what I was trying to do. We both know Cyprus is likely gone, just like everywhere else.
“Do you ever wish you could stay on the boat without coming out?” I can’t help but ask. “In your imagined Cyprus?”
“Humans can’t survive in the worlds they build for long,” she says. “We’re able to create landscapes with our minds, but only the fae have the power to make whatever they want behind their doors. They use it to supply us with food and materials.
“For us, water turns to ash in our mouths. Food turns to rock. Even things we bring inside must be eaten quickly before they rot. Some people go into the places they create just to die there. They find it easier than—” She turns sharply to Tavish, a flush creeping along her cheeks. But he is still deep in the vision, blind eyes wide.
“What is it?”
“Tavish’s wife,” she says in a low voice, barely above a whisper. “They lost their son when the purge took Aberdeen. When she came here, she swore she could bring back the wee lad, and created a place beyond the door where they could all live. Tavish went in to pull her out, but he couldn’t find her. She had created a countryside that spanned for miles.”
I swallow hard. “If he couldn’t find his wife, how do you know she’s dead?”
Catherine looks out the window again. Her eyes are wet, but the tears don’t fall. Perhaps, like me, she’s taught herself not to cry. “When we die, the places we imagine through our doors change back to the cave. And those inside are no longer hidden.”
Oh god. Rain suddenly batters the window. I had forgotten what my emotions can do in this place. The storm intensifies, shaking the room until the glass crackles and the frame strains.
Catherine shifts closer and puts her hand on my shoulder, the way she did when we were children. She doesn’t say anything; she doesn’t need to. She knows me better than anyone.
Tavish’s strained gasp startles us. “Damnation.” He almost bolts up, then sits back down so hard that the legs of the settee groan at the force.
Beside me, Catherine’s body tenses. Her breathing hitches. “Tavish?” She stands, reaching for his arm. “What is it?”
He doesn’t hear her; he’s still too deep in the vision. “No, they’re too close. You’re just going to run into them there. Don’t—”
Catherine grips his arm harder. “Tavish!” He blinks, and his eyes go back to normal, the same startling green they were when I first met him.
He stands so fast that he stumbles. He grips the arm of the settee, looking nauseated and weak. “They’re riding into a trap there. The fae are going to cut them off once they get to the cliffs.”
I’m already on my feet, grabbing the sword Aithinne gave me. I wrap the belt around my waist and buckle it closed. “Don’t worry,” I say to Catherine. “I’ll bring them home.”
Tavish looks up. “You’ll what?”
I stride to the closet and knock twice before opening. Derrick looks up from his pile of silks. “Well, look at you! Sword at the hip, murderous expression. Going out for a slaughter?”
I smirk. “Going out to save people.”
Derrick rises to hover in front of me. “A change of pace for you.” He grins. “I like it. What do you need?”
“Find Kiaran for me,” I say. “Tell him he gets to stab something.”
Derrick wrinkles his nose. “I was hoping for a more exciting task, but fine. Fine. I’ll