Page 109 of 'Til All the Seas Run Dry

“Just… not humans. Vampires, exiled fae. He told me there’s a werewolf commune about forty minutes away. Did you know? I had no idea. Anyway, he’s in talks with an architect now. Some orc buddy of his who’s got a real knack for underground structures.” He started restacking tissue paper. “He said he couldn’t think of a better place to set up opera—” Robbie blanched and dropped a roll of ribbon, clapping his hands over his mouth. “Oh, fuck! I wasn’t supposed to tell you! It was supposed to be a surprise.”

“A surprise?”

“Yeah. Oh, fuck. I can’t believe I just let it slip like that. I’ve been so distracted lately.” He groaned. “Can you act surprised when he takes you there tonight? Please?”

“Tonight? But we’re traveling to Seattle. To be ready for our flight tomorrow night.”

“It’s on the way out of town. He said he—nope. Nope. Nope. I’m not saying another damn word, Jory. And don’t you look at me like that. It won’t work. I’ve said way too much already,” he said, grabbing his cup and disappearing into the back. “But,” he said, ducking his head back around the jamb, “can youpleaseact surprised? For him?”

He disappeared again, and still within the circle of Jory’s arms, a laugh burst forth from Esther’s mouth with such force that Jory felt it in her chest.

“Well,” Jory said, her heart pounding in her chest, her feet feeling stuck to the carpet beneath them, shocked and overjoyed and annoyed all at once.

Because who bought a luxury espresso machine for a small-town diner? Who said that they would move to the Arctic for her? And who bought secret land for secret factories because he knew that she didn’t actually want to live anywhere but here?

Esther’s face lit up with a smile that stretched across her face, revealing the small gap between her front teeth and causing her blue eyes to nearly disappear in the cloud of freckles that dotted every inch of her body. At least every inch Jory had seen.

Esther grabbed her coffee cup and raised it aloft. With a laugh, she said, “Cheers to you, Callum MacLeod.”

37

Robbie had driven them to the Somnus hotel in Seattle to spend the day until the sun set and they could travel to the airport to catch an overnight flight to New York City. Walter accompanied them, buzzing in a drunken pattern and bumbling around the cabin of the SUV, bonking repeatedly into the side of Callum’s head.

“Goddamnit, Robbie,” Callum hissed. “Did ye have to bring Walter?”

Robbie sighed. “Magda asked me to keep him for a few weeks, remember? Said it was really important that I not go anywhere without him.”

“Is Magda going somewhere?” Jory asked from the back seat.

“Not that I know of,” Robbie shrugged. “She just said she was busy and she thought I’d be good for him. Very cryptic. Very Magda.”

“Very Magda indeed,” Jory said, snorting a bit as Callum made awfftsound between his teeth and batted at Walter’s tiny, fuzzy body.

“He really doesn’t like you, boss,” Robbie said with a smile, his wrist draped easily over the steering wheel.

“He more than doesnae like me, Robbie. He hates my guts.”

“Well, you can’t charm everyone, I suppose,” Robbie drawled.

Jory watched the GPS navigate them to their destination, which turned out to be a run-of-the-mill dumpling shop called Wok and Roll Dumpling, which had a carryout counter and two high-top tables with stools. She’d hugged Robbie tightly before they stood on the sidewalk and watched him drive away into the waning darkness, Callum with a tight, concerned look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Jory asked.

“He smells different. I dinnae ken why. I just…” His voice dropped off.

“You worry about him.”

“Aye.”

“He’ll be okay. Esther’s going to keep him busy, and Hank is the most responsible person alive on this planet.”

“That he is,” Callum said, one side of his mouth quirking into a half smile. “You’re right, mo cridhe. I willnae worry about him anymore. Now, would ye like to see the hotel?”

It turned out that the hotel was several stories underground, accessed by ordering a particular sequence of dumplings and condiments and asking to use the restroom while one waited. The bathroom contained the cleverly disguised elevator that took them down into the hotel, where they were given a quiet room at the end of a hall.

They slept off and on throughout the day. Jory was delighted to learn that she could actually order dumplings from the shop above, and she ate xiao long bao without pants on, reclining against the headboard while Callum drank one of the synthetic blood samples he’d brought.

They flew overnight to New York City and to London the next night, staying at yet another Somnus in each city during the day. The night after that, there was a flight to Kirkwall and a ferry, driven across dark waters under a cloudy sky by a water serpent shifter named Hamish, who told them stories in a cheerful, nasal voice.