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“Aye,” I say, channeling that hope. “I ken.”

He pats my shoulder, gesturing to the quad bike. “We’d best get a move on then, aye?”

I follow after him, my head still reeling slightly from the complete shift in Finlay’s demeanor I just witnessed. I have a feeling if I were to tell Key, she wouldn’t even believe me. Hell, I wouldn’t. I doubt I’ll see her again today, not with all the work to be done that I’m just hoping we can wrap up long before sunset—but I make a mental note to tell her all about this first thing tomorrow morning.

Can’t have someone running around breaking my granddaughter’s heart when I just got her, aye?

If he only knew how utterly enamored with her I am. It’s almost laughable.

Still doesn’t keep me from eyeing Finn warily for the rest of the day.

The night is another brutal one; I was exhausted from the long day of fixing fences, and that paired with another night of my father chasing me away from anything he deems his territory—it didn’t make for a restful evening. I managed to grab some sleep before sunrise, thankfully, but still my body feels stiff and sore, only partly because of the oddity of changing shape. It’s something that I imagine is ghastly to see—experiencing it certainly is—so I’m still a littlesurprised that Key saw all of it and didn’t run away screaming. It actually makes me smile, remembering how she reacted to me. Like I wasn’t a monster. Like I was still just…me. She makes me feel like that in a lot of ways, really.

The sun is just starting to creep higher in the sky, the gloomy overcast from last night seeming to have dissipated with daybreak, leaving the dew-covered grass glittering in the warm rays of morning. It casts a glow-like backdrop on the farm as I crest over the hill that leads there, and I pause for a moment at the top, taking it all in.

It’s not my home, and I know that, but something about knowing that Key is waiting for me down there, that she’s missed me during the night…it almost makes it feel like it is. It’s the first time I’ve felt close to this feeling since my family fell apart.

I trot down the hill and onto the gravel road that winds up toward the main house, breaking away from it and crossing the grass toward the groundskeeper’s cottage instead. It was only yesterday that I last touched Keyanna, and yet all I can think about is burying myself inside her, reveling in her warmth and her touch and letting it make me feel more human. Something about her justgroundsme in a way nothing ever has.

It means I’m smiling when I open the door in anticipation of her, but when I see her huddled on my bed, dark circles under her reddened eyes as she clutches a thick, leather-bound book that looks positively ancient—the good feelings in me seem to wither and dissipate all at once.

And all at once—I justknow.

“You found it,” I choke out.

She nods solemnly, looking far less excited than I thought she would be. This is it, isn’t it? Surely this has to be the answer. Ithasto be.

So why does she look so devastated?

I take quick steps to close the distance between us, coming to the edge of the bed and kneeling as I reach for her cheek, forcing her eyes to mine. “What’s wrong?”

“I haven’t finished yet,” she tells me.

I notice that she’s turned somewhere to the three-quarters mark of the journal, and I think to myself that she can’t possibly believe that I would be upset that she hadn’t, right?

“That’s okay,” I tell her gently. “We have time, Key. Don’t fret.”

She shakes her head, pulling her face from my grasp and scooting back to make room for me on the bed. “I think you need to sit down.”

I do as she asks, lifting myself from the floor just to take the place beside her on the bed, and she holds the book to her chest as if it’s something dangerous, as if at any moment it might explode. She holds it almost like she’safraidof it, and that makes me wary too.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” I all but beg. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

She snuffles out a breath, something between a snort and a scoff. “Yeah, it’s been a hell of a night.”

“Is it the book?” I feel my stomach sink. “Are there no answers? Is that why you’re—”

“There are answers,” she says softly, her eyes sad as she regards me. She looks like she’s trying to decide how to let me down easy, but for what, I don’t know. “I just…I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“You can just tell me,” I say stiffly, trying to brace myself for whatever it is that would make her look so desolate. “It’ll be all right, Key. I promise.”

She nods again slowly, setting the book back on her lap and leafing through it delicately as if looking for something in particular. I watch as she turns the pages one after the other, noticing the way she winces ever so slightly when she seems to find what she’s looking for.

“Now, remember,” she says. “I haven’t finished. There could be something I haven’t seen yet. Something that makes more sense? I’m not sure how, but it’sgoingto be okay. I just want you to know that this doesn’t change things. Do you understand?”

My entire body feels like it’s made of stone as dread settles deep. “Keyanna,” I manage thickly. “Show me.”

“Okay,” she practically whispers.