“If she’s related to the wolves from the islands, I’m surprised she’s not from there,” Lachlan said.

“Me, too. But if there really is Viking ancestry, this place makes sense. They did make it to the east coast of Scotland.”

Lachlan nodded. “Where to?”

I bit into the apple and pointed to the small cottage in front of the woods. It looked like it was part of the shadows of the forest behind it and was separated from the main town by a couple hundred yards. “It’s that one.”

“Far from town.”

I nodded. “She told me a lot of stories about it when I was a kid. Never the exact location, but her tales had such detail and life that I never thought to ask. I felt like I was getting the full story.”

“I don’t think you were.”

“That’s what I’m starting to realize.” I set off toward the cottage, nerves prickling my skin.

From here, it looked abandoned. I’d expected it, but all the same, it was strange to see the place that had featured so heavily in my mother’s tales looking so decrepit.

The feeling only intensified as we got closer. There was no protection charm that I could sense, but it was such an off-putting place that I doubted even the local teenagers came here to deface things and break other minor rules.

“No one has been here in decades,” Lachlan said.

“Agreed. My mother said she left when she was eighteen to be with my father. Her adopted parents had died by then. She left the village after she had me.”

I stopped in front of the old building, inspecting the tiny structure. It was a three-room cottage, from how she’d described it, and it looked to be about that size. Some of the glass in the windows had been broken, and the door looked as if it were cracked open. The night was dark enough that I couldn’t see inside, but it felt empty.

“Do you want me to go first?” Lachlan asked.

I appreciated that he didn’t just barge in. Normally, he’d be the first into any unknown place, wanting to scout it for danger before I entered. But this was too important, and I could sense that there was no one inside. Surely he could, too.

“No, I’ve got it.” I drew in a deep breath and pushed open the door. It creaked ominously, letting out a dusty scent.

I drew my mobile from my pocket and turned on the torch. The bright white beam illuminated the decrepit interior. There was still furniture in the combination living room–kitchen, but it was so dusty and old that it should be in a landfill.

I stepped inside, feeling the echo of my mother in the walls. She’d been a child here, however, someone I had never known.

Lachlan joined me, and I appreciated his presence. It helped banish the ghosts that weren’t helpful to my cause. In all of my mother’s stories, she hadn’t spoken much about the people who’d adopted her. Instead, she’d stuck to the exploits of her youth—the adventures she’d had in the surrounding countryside and the friends she’d made.

“I think this was her bedroom,” Lachlan said from the back of the house.

I joined him and found a little room with a narrow bed. There wasn’t much left besides a few pieces of furniture, but we searched it thoroughly, going so far as to pull up any loose floorboards. I even used the potion that was meant to reveal hidden places, but to no avail.

After an hour, I stepped back and sighed. “There’s nothing here.”

“I think you’re right.”

I turned in a circle, inspecting the nearly empty space. “Why was I sent here, then?”

“Perhaps the one who sent you didn’t realize there was nothing here.”

Dierdre might not have known, that was true. She was just the intermediary. But why the hell had my mother made it so damned hard? Why hadn’t she told me what I needed to know?

Maybe she had.

I frowned, searching my memories. She’d told me a lot of stories, some more often than others—to the point that it’d begun to annoy me when I was a teenager. Teenagers were easily annoyed, but she’d really gone overboard with the stories about the cave at the base of the sea cliffs. I still dreamed of them sometimes, convinced that my mother’s stories would never leave me.

“I’ve got an idea.” I left the cottage, glad to breathe fresh air that wasn’t haunted by memories. “We need to find this sea cave she spoke of all the time.”

“She told you about it often?”

“You’ve no idea.” There were other places that she’d talked about as well, but this one had been the most common.

As the moonlight gleamed brightly on my skin, I followed the sound of the sea toward the cliffs. Lachlan stayed close at my side, his attention alert.

When we reached the cliffs and I could finally see the ocean, it took my breath away. The moonlight gleamed on the waves, sparkling like diamonds against a shimmery backdrop.

“There are supposed to be narrow stairs that lead down to the beach.” I searched for them, moving left along the cliff. “But we don’t want to be caught by high tide. Unless you have another transport charm.”

“I do.”

“Good.” After a moment, I found the steps. “Here they are.”

The narrow stairs were carved right out of the stone, and the descent to the beach was not for the faint of heart.

Oh, how I wished I still had my wings.

But no point wishing for that. Didn’t matter how much I missed them, I needed to move forward. Keep my head in the game.

Carefully, I took the stairs one at a time. To my right, the waves crashed against the beach. I ran my hand along the wall to my left, steadying myself as I tried not to think of plummeting to the shore below.

Finally, I reached the bottom, stepping gratefully onto the rough sand and pebbles.

Lachlan joined me a few seconds later. “Do you know which way to go?”

“No. Shall we split up?”

He shook his head. “It can’t be far if your mother went there as a child.”

“Don’t underestimate my mother.”

“All the same, we’ll stay together.”

“Fine.” I wasn’t going to waste time fighting with him. I started to the left of the stairs, hurrying along the beach as I inspected the wall for any sign of hidden caves or passages.

It only took fifteen minutes before I found a narrow fissure in the rock, almost too narrow for me to enter. I stopped in front of it, inspecting the entrance.

Lachlan joined me, and I could feel his skepticism. “I’m not sure I’ll make it through there,” he said.

“Don’t risk it. I’ll go.”

“You’re sure this is it?”

“My mother mentioned it being narrow. Like a slice in the earth where it had cracked open to reveal a secret realm.”

“This fits.”

I nodded and stepped forward. My heart raced as I turned to the side and squeezed into the fissure. The stone walls brushed against my front and back.

“Thank fates I’m not claustrophobic,” I muttered. “You’re not going to wiggle through here, Lachlan. It gets tighter.”

“Be careful. If you aren’t out in thirty minutes, I’ll blast my way in, if I have to.”

“Don’t do that.” If he responded, I couldn’t hear him. I was too far in.