That seemed a little melodramatic, Madeleine thought desperately. Sure, she’d struggled for decades with urges the Church told her were unholy. Yes, Jorsay was the place she’d come to find answers to a mystery. But not that one.

Unless she found herself lying beneath her angel again, kissed until she was taken into a realm of joy where everything felt right.

Nonsense. She couldn’t expect that! Madeleine shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, walking so briskly that her legs felt the strain. Few people were out and about, unlike the enthusiastic summer crowds she’d seen on the Mainland. Jorsay might have “new things,” as Harry had put it, but it hardly bustled.

Thornhill Village was tiny. She’d probably see Arjun and Jeremy again. She’d have to think of something to say to heal the wound she’d inflicted. One of many just like it that they’d received over the years, she could imagine.

She’d received wounds of her own. Decades of her family, her Church, her home, telling her that her desires were sinful and unnatural. Then, she’d kissed an angel and emerged into a world where there were other ideas, and now she didn’t know what to think or how to feel, and when she prayed, she wasn’t getting answers.

If only teleportation were possible. She could pop back into her apartment with Becca for a pep talk before returning to her quest. As it was, she was stuck here in the wind, alone under a gray sky.

With a jolt, she wondered: when was the last time she’d been alone? She’d lived in community with the Daughters of Grace for so long, and then she’d moved in with Becca. While it had been lonely at first, she hadn’t truly been on her own. Now it was just her, standing on her own against a mystery.

“Grow up,” she muttered. “You’ve got to do this. There’s nobody else to do it for you.”

She’d said the same thing decades ago, after her brother had⁠—

“Oof!”

She hadn’t seen the man coming before she collided with him on the sidewalk. The breath rushed out of them both, and she staggered backward, an apology already in her mouth. Maybe she’d save time by traveling through the whole village and apologizing to everybody in advance. She looked up and began, “I’m so⁠—”

And found herself looking into the wide brown eyes of the man who’d found her on the beach.

Jonathan.

Judging by how his mouth hung open, he recognized her too. He stared at her. Unable to speak, she stared right back.