Page 26

She flicked her eyes open and readjusted her grip on her tote. Her sleeve tugged as the dragon on her charm bracelet caught on the cuff. Her jaw firmed in frustration, and she reached inside her sleeve to free the dragon’s tail.

As her eyes fell to her own sleeve, she caught sight of something in the portrait. Something gleamed against Reed’s porcelain skin close to her sleeve.

Paige leaned closer, giving up on freeing her bracelet. She narrowed her eyes and squinted at the tiny detail.

A smile spread across Ronnie’s face. Paige’s lips parted as she recognized a tiny dragon charm peeking from under the woman’s sleeve.

“Is that a…” She cut her gaze to Ronnie. “Is that a dragon charm?”

Ronnie offered her a fleeting smile and nodded as she swept a lock of hair from her face.

Paige dug the charm from the seam of her sleeve. A piece of red thread dangled from the tail.

Paige held it next to the portrait, comparing them. “This is the same charm. Well, not the same, but identical to it.”

Ronnie shook her head. “You were correct the first time.”

Paige drew her chin back to her chest, raising her eyebrows. “The same?”

Ronnie nodded.

“How?”

“Because, Paige, Reed Moore wasn’t just a former librarian. She was also your mother.”

CHAPTER 7

Paige stood stunned into silence by the simple words. Her chest hurt, and she struggled to take a breath. The words crushed her, striking straight at her heart.

She’d never known her mother. She’d been abandoned days after her birth with nothing more than the charm bracelet. A charm bracelet she’d just confirmed belonged to her mother.

“My mother?” she breathed, her forehead wrinkling and her features twisting with grief.

Unbidden thoughts tumbled into her mind. Her mother had lived in Shadow Harbor. She had grown up in the neighboring town. So close, yet so far.

Then one question blazed: why? Why had she abandoned her then lived here? Had she still lived here when Paige moved to the town? Did she still live here?

A tear spilled to Paige’s cheek, and she looked to Ronnie for answers to the questions rattling through her mind.

Ronnie offered her a consoling glance, reaching out to wipe the tear away from Paige’s cheek. “Your mother was one of our librarians. She disappeared in the line of duty. I am so sorry.”

“She disappeared while performing library duties?”

Ronnie’s forehead wrinkled with regret as she nodded. “She did. She was working on something big. It was just after she’d given birth to you. She worried…worried about something happening to her…to you. We promised to keep you safe, but…Reed worried we couldn’t. She wouldn’t tell us where she took you, only that you were safe, and we would recognize you when we saw you because you’d have her bracelet.”

Paige stared down at the bracelet around her wrist. She’d kept it all these years because it provided the only link to whoever had dumped her. She’d considered it important. It was.

Her lower lip trembled as emotions bubbled to the surface. “How long after she left me did she…”

Her voice trailed off, leaving the words unsaid.

Ronnie squashed her lips together. “Three weeks.”

Another tear fell onto her cheek, and she licked her lips as she wiped it away. She sniffled, fighting to regain her composure.

After several deep breaths, she flicked her gaze back to Ronnie. “And you said you’d explain everything. About how the work keeps the world safe?”

“Yes, I can do that, but…” Ronnie lifted a shoulder and cocked her head. “Maybe we should do that tomorrow. You’ve already learned a lot today, and–“