What in heaven’s name had just happened to her? If that had been an angel—an angel in a woman’s body, a woman’s naked body that had lain atop Madeleine and awakened her most secret, shameful desires—well, what kind of angel would do that?

“Why were you alone on the beach this late?” Jonathan asked as they reached the bottom stair. “You must’ve had a reason. Did you see something? Hear something?”

Madeleine had no good answer to that. “Just out for a walk,” she mumbled. What else could she say? She couldn’t tell him about the otherworldly voice. Bad enough that she’d already babbled about the angel. She had to think about that further before she told anyone. Like the Virgin Mary did in Luke’s gospel, she’d ponder mysterious things in her heart.

She’d especially ponder the three words her rescuer had breathed into her ear, captivating her, tethering her soul and her wonder to this place forever.

Return to me.

CHAPTER FOUR

This time, Hæra wouldn’t get stuck under the dock.

She waited several lengths away from it. Only her eyes appeared above the surface as she watched for Sister Madeleine’s return.

She’d been here all day. There was no way to tell how long Sister Madeleine would need to follow her instruction to come back, especially since she’d been injured. It had taken a lot of care to stay out of sight of the fishing boats as they’d departed that morning and returned later in the day, as well as the beachcombers. She’d only swum away long enough to hunt out two brown crabs for a snack, their shells popping between her incisors before she picked out the savory meat beneath. Then she’d returned to the surface as soon as possible, but nobody was there.

Now, hours later, she was starting to worry she’d missed Sister Madeleine in those few precious moments. It had been over a full day’s cycle since their encounter, and the moon had risen high while the tide rose likewise to meet it. Hæra was exhausted, and the longer she stayed here, the greater the risk that someone in the herd would notice her absence.

She must have faith. What else had last night been about but that? Now the life debt between herself and Sister Madeleine had been paid, and they could start fresh with Hæra’s original intention. She’d consume Sister Madeleine (and must remember to leave the liver), go to the Sire, and say what she’d done.