Page 43 of Suncatcher

She’d actually listened, damn her. And Pearl could have kissed her for it.

That thought startled her. She was just tired and overwrought by the recent events.

“Here.” She thrust out the harmonica.

Driz carefully took it, the light brush of her fingers sending shivers up Pearl’s arm and into her belly.

What was wrong with her?

“Do you like music too?” Driz asked.

“Listening to it, sure.”

“Do you play?”

“Nah, it’s never been a talent.”

Driz pressed the metal to her lips and blew, but the instrument just wheezed air without much sound.

“Blow into the other side,” Pearl said.

Driz flipped it and blew, catching two bright notes at once.

She startled, fumbling and almost dropping the harmonica. And Pearl chuckled, despite herself, marveling at how a goyle could be cute.

Driz tried again, eking out a choppy, unfinished scale. Then she grinned, her mouth pulling wide as she looked at Pearl. “I like this.”

Pearl watched her try again, studying how Driz cradled the instrument in her sharp hands, and how her brows drew together in concentration. It should’ve been a fierce, frightening expression. But Pearl wasn’t scared of her anymore.

Driz pulled the harmonica away from her mouth and shoved it in her pocket, as if embarrassed.

“You don’t have to stop,” Pearl said.

“I will practice later.”

“Where d’you go, when you aren’t here? Have you got a home?”

“Not a home. But I have a grotto where I keep my collection.”

“Collection?”

“Yes. My treasures.”

Pearl was intrigued. “What sort of treasures?”

“Things I find.”

Pearl wasn’t certain if Driz was being intentionally vague or not. “Can I see this place?”

“I would like to take you there, but you would not want to go.”

“Why not?”

“It would be very far on foot. And you said you do not want me to fly you.”

Pearl considered. Yes, flying had been terrifying. And doing it again was a terrible idea.

She snuffed her lantern, casting them into deeper darkness, and stepped closer. “Maybe I could give it another try.”