That would be almost like being with him again.

∗ ∗ ∗

When Luce woke the sun glared near the center of the sky, so high that she knew it must be noon and also not so long after the spring equinox. It could even be early May. She started. She had no way to guess if this was a school day or a weekend, and Dorian might be waiting for her at the beach already. He could have been sitting there for hours, frustrated and impatient. Luce shook herself, stretching her tired muscles, and sped off without even stopping for breakfast. Worried as she still was about the tribe, she felt that the water was streaked with happiness, and each familiar boulder, each leaning spruce, was a reminder of him. She was so glad to be home.

Dorian wasn’t at the beach, though two small children were playing there, watched over by their mother. Maybe he knew there’d be too many people around, and he was planning to meet her after dark?

Luce went to get something to eat and waited nervously. Maybe Dorian hadn’t found her message? What if he was seriously angry with her for being so late? She knew she had to think up a plan—some way to protect her old tribe—but as the day wore on she just couldn’t concentrate. She watched a pair of sea otters playing not far from her. They were beautiful animals and Luce usually adored them, but today they bothered her. They treated their joy so casually, as if it weren’t something rare and precious, something you could lose at any moment.

For the first time it occurred to her that Dorian might have even moved away. How could he let her know?

∗ ∗ ∗

“Hi.” It was early dusk when Dorian finally walked down the beach’s slope, pebbles grinding under his sneakers, his face secretive and unsmiling. Luce’s happiness at seeing him turned into something clammy and unsettled, twisting in her stomach. She lay against the beach, but he didn’t drop to his knees to reach for her, didn’t even come close enough to let her touch him. “You broke your promise. The water’s been pretty clear for a month already.”

Luce moaned inside as she heard his voice, so beloved but so thick with resentment. “Dorian! I know it seems . . . But I came back as soon as I could. A lot happened.” Why wouldn’t he at least hold her?

“You had to do something heroic? Have some big dramatic adventure? Save someone’s life?” His sneer made Luce cringe. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter what it was. You abandoned me again—”