Page 73 of Unraveling Fate

Stillness.

A heartbeat.

Drums.

Cadenza launched herself at Taran and threw her arms around his waist.

“Whoa, you alright?” He pulled her in closer.

Not answering yet, she anchored to his heartbeat and dove into the ocean of drumsong, letting both pound away the pain of her mother and Thomas until she could breathe again.

He lifted her face, stroking her hair. “What’s wrong?”

“We found Ercildoun,” she said bitterly.

His eyes widened. “You what?”

Cadenza filled him in on everything that had happened that afternoon, both with Thomas and her mother. Against her will, her tears returned with a vengeance.

Taran stayed quiet, staring out of the garage, his bodhran song subdued.

“Well,” he finally quipped. “At least father got off a good one. Was there much blood?”

A laugh burst through her tears. There, that was what she needed. How was he so good at making her feel better?

“Enough blood anyway. He’ll probably have two black eyes.”

“Good.” Taran pulled her close again. “But I am sorry about Italy, mo chridhe. I would have had you go.”

“I know.” She sniffed. “I wanted you to come with me.”

“Cadenza?” Reyna’s voice came from the garage entrance.

“Reyna?” Cadenza loosened her stranglehold on Taran’s middle.

The smith took a hesitant step inside and threw a glance at Taran. “Sorry, is this a bad time?”

“No, no,” Cadenza beckoned her friend inside. “Is something wrong? Oh, right, Taran, this is my friend, Reyna Wayland. We sing together. Reyna, this Taran Norroway.”

“A pleasure.” Taran shook Reyna’s hand.

Reyna nodded. “Cadenza’s told me a lot about you. Actually, it’s good you’re here. I wanted to talk to both of you. Um, your father too, if he’s around.” She glanced over her shoulder nervously.

“Are you ok?” Cadenza asked.

Reyna cleared her throat. “Yeah, I just need to talk to you all.” She took a breath.

“Ok,” Cadenza said slowly.

Reyna paced the garage. “There’s something I’ve been trying to figure out for a while now. Most of my life, actually.” She gave a tired laugh. “I’ve spent years researching, especially folklore and history. In some of my local history research, I noticed that there’s been a business owned by Norroways on this spot for about a hundred years. There aren’t a ton of photos, but in the ones that there are, the owner is always one of the same three men. The fashion and hairstyle, the beards—they change, but if you look closely, the faces are the same.”

Cadenza felt Taran stiffen next to her.

“So, I started keeping an eye on this place. I’ve been watching you guys for a while.” She held up her hands. “I know that sounds creepy, just let me finish. The thing is, Ireallyneedanswers to those questions I was talking about, and when I saw your dad turn into a wolf the other night?—”

Cadenza threw a look at Taran. How did she know that?

“—I hoped you guys might have answers.”