‘The boy … that you were talking about…?’

‘Oh!’ Alice chuckled. ‘No, I’m talking about my friend, Lily. But I can’t think about her without remembering the fact that I left after we argued and I never got the chance to apologise.’

‘What did you argue about?’ asked Grace.

‘Silly things. I was upset about something and I couldn’t get her to understand why. I ran off when she tried to help and that was the last time I saw her. She’s probably worried sick. Ugh, I feel awful.’ Alice brought her legs up in front of her and rested her chin on her knees, still clutching the comforting warmth of the mug of herbal tea. ‘It’s a very me thing to get angry and hot-headed and then regret it. I’ve never been able to hold my temper.’

‘I’m sure you’ll see her again one day, if you really want to. But … there are so many things we need to do here first. You’ll discover things about yourself that you never even knew existed. It might be scary, but it’s worth it, I promise you. You’re going to shine, Alice Blackwell. I can sense it. You’re going to shine and shimmer like a full moon on the waves of the stormiest sea.’

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lily felt like she had known Jem for much longer than just an hour and yet, when his easy chatter wasn’t there, he transformed into the tall, muscular boy with an intimidating frown and an intensity that infuriated her. He was already making what should have been a simple linear route to Alice into something far more complicated and long-winded. Quite frankly, she still wished she could fly away on the breeze and continue on her journey. But, if Jem had knowledge to share, she knew it would be illogical to leave before hearing it.

Instead of opening one of the doors off the courtyard, they passed through a gap in the wall and carried on walking, away from the main cluster of buildings. They circled around the lighthouse tower itself and then headed to the right, making their way along a little rocky outcropping. There was a small building, hidden from view of the main buildings, in the shadow of the lighthouse. It was to this building that they headed, and Jem pulled an iron key out of his breast pocket. He unlocked the heavy door and invited Lily inside.

All of a sudden, everything felt much more intimate. She was aware that, before today, she had never actually been alone anywhere with a boy her own age. It made her stomach twist.

The door opened into a large square room that seemed to double as a study and living quarters. The wall opposite the entrance was made entirely of glass, in the style of the rest of the buildings she’d seen, but this room looked out onto the raging sea. The weather had really closed in: black clouds stretched far beyond the horizon, white-tipped foamy waves crashed on the shoreline, and the pouring rain danced a jig on the window panes.