Selene shot away from the wall. The truth of her last thought slammed into her, taking her breath away.

She loved Damien. Someway, somehow, her heart had thawed, and he’d found a way inside.

She held a hand against her chest, her pulse racing again.

The door opened beside her, and Damien emerged from his room, wearing a heavy cloak, thick boots, and gloves. “Are you read—Selene, are you all right?”

Adrenaline washed over her, leaving her limbs tingling. “Yes.” She shook her head, drawing on every ounce of strength to bring these wild emotions under control. “I am. I was just thinking . . .”

He lifted an eyebrow. “About what?”

She dropped her hand. “Things. Life.” She wasn’t about to confess her newfound discovery with him. Not yet.

He eyed her again before exiting his room and shutting the door. “All right. Well, are you ready to go?”

Selene adjusted her thick cloak around her shoulders and nodded. “I am.”

“Then follow me.”

Damien nodded to the guards they passed as they walked, and they in turn bowed to him and Selene. At the end of the hall, he opened a door that led to a balcony outside Northwind Castle on the cliff side. A narrow stone path from the balcony wove between boulders ranging from the size of a horse cart to a small house and led toward a small opening in an overhang thirty feet away.

“This way.” Damien glanced back. “And be careful. The path might be slippery.”

She nodded as a sudden blast of frigid wind blew through the doorway. Pulling her hood over her head, she turned her face away from the wind and followed him along the path toward the entrance ahead. The cave opening was carved into the stone and wide enough for two people.

At the entrance, Damien held out his hand to her. Selene took it without a word, and they slipped into the tunnel. The passage led downward, toward a small light at the end, most likely the exit. The sound of rushing waves filled the area. Selene held her hood in place with her other hand and wondered where he was leading her.

At the bottom, the cave opened up. Roaring, frothy waves spilled across the pebbly beach, surging toward the walls, then dragging the lightest stones back to the sea, only to crash into the next set of waves coming in. Gaps along the ceiling let in pale wintry light. Cold sea spray filled the area, leaving Selene thankful for the oiled cloak across her body and her warm boots.

Damien let go of her hand and crossed the gravel to the edge of the waves and stood there with his hands on his hips. As he looked over the waters, his hood flew back and the bottom edge of his cloak rippled in the wind.

Selene watched from the bottom of the passageway. She could feel the power of the sea swirling inside the cavern, and in that moment she felt like one of the small pebbles at her feet. The raging water was vast, potent, and living—a force to be reckoned with. The ability to harness such power had been given to House Maris by the Light.