Page 27 of Goldilocks (Salt and Starlight #2)

Sam’s heart plummeted.

“Your sister?”

Goldilocks gazed at the corpse, expressionless. “She came to free me. And she did, at the cost of her own life.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam said. The words felt dumb in his mouth. He’d realised that Goldilocks’s sister was no longer around, but he hadn’t been brave enough to ask after her. He hadn’t guessed that she’d been killed. And been killed by a monster. By…this thing. Sam’s gaze returned to the corpse, and the sight of it clashed with the worm he’d seen on his boat. “They grow up to look like this?”

“They mimic what they consume,” Goldilocks explained. “And a ghoul that feeds from something powerful mimics that power.”

Sam digested that. He checked Goldilocks’s expression before continuing with another question. “What about your mother?” He was afraid to hear the answer. “Her drawing?”

“I never found the answer to that,” Goldilocks said. “My parents departed from these shores years ago to search for the last monarch when she vanished. They never returned. The Brothers investigated, as they have many resources on land, but they found no answers either. Most likely she is dead. Her memories feasted upon and used to find and trap me.” His gaze slid to the muddy tail. There was a dispassionate note in Goldilocks’s voice that Sam didn’t trust. He knew with himself it was often when he was the most upset that his voice came out flattest.

“Who are The Brothers?” Sam asked.

“Merfolk. They hold court in the old monarch’s castle. One rules, the other amuses himself with battles,” Goldilocks explained. “The city has been under their control for over a decade. Both hardly even venture into the ocean anymore, more amused by what they find on land. It is why they could prevail against the ghoul, where neither I nor Belle could. They are accustomed to fighting on land.”

As he spoke, Goldilocks continued to stare at the ghoul. That muscle in his jaw remained taunt. Sam stepped up to his side and reached for his hand. His skin was shockingly hot in the freezing room. Goldilocks’s face jerked toward Sam with a look of surprise. “You are cold.”

“We’re standing in a freezer.” Sam was shivering. “You swim around in the depths of the ocean; you’re used to the cold. I’m not.”

Goldilocks grunted. “Come. We will warm ourselves in the sun.” The bleakness in his eyes vanished.

Goldilocks exited, guiding him by the hand. Sam threw a last look over his shoulder at the ghoulish, awful thing on the far wall and took in a deep breath of warm air as the door shut behind them with a thud. Sam didn’t know if it was a normal thing here to keep corpses in your house, but as they walked through the vast estate, Sam could understand. This place was so large you could almost forget that tucked away in the back was that horror.

“You and Vi are still close?” Sam asked as they entered the garden where they’d first eaten together. If his parents had left when he was a baby, and his sister had died when he was a child, wouldn’t that mean Vi had raised him?

“Belle once held court here, and after she passed, Vi offered it to me. She and her household are under my protection now.” Goldilocks released Sam’s hand to pull out a chair and indicated for Sam to sit. As Sam sank into the chair, Goldilocks smoothed his hands over his shoulders. “As are you,” he added. “And your family. I have spoken to Vi about suitable rooms and care to be arranged for your sire. I will even have Jasper catch his birds from your garden to bring here.”

“Do you even realise what you’re suggesting?” Vi cut in. She strode across the stone path towards them with Laurence trailing behind, staring at the greenery, all wanderlust and mouth agape. Jasper was tied to his side, tail brushing over the back of Laurence’s calves with each step. “Introducing a foreign species could devastate the native ones. I am, of course, interested in seeing these creatures, but I will not allow them loosed in my garden without thought.”

Goldilocks met Vi’s fearsome gaze, and he did not avert his eyes from her glare.

“An aviary can be built,” she allowed, but she did not cave. “It will take a few months to complete, but there is room to expand. Sam, if you could put me in contact with a trader to arrange the delivery and study of the native plants your sire’s preferred birds consume, I will research how to cultivate them. I would also beg some of your time to discuss currencies” – her eyes flicked to Laurence – “but later, when we are without company.”

A splash at the pool preceded Bee and Dew’s arrival. They pulled themselves from the water to sit on the stone edge, but they did not transform and remained there.

Laurence sat down, his gaze darting between Vi and Sam. “Your dad’s moving here?” he asked. “I wonder if I could convince my dad to come over too…It is soo cool here—Jasper, are you not going to eat with us?” Laurence twisted to look over his shoulder where Jasper stood waiting quietly.

Jasper’s gaze darted from Vi to Goldilocks.

“You may as well sit. Goldilocks has a task for you to perform through The Tear that he must discuss with you,” Vi said.

“A task?” Laurence questioned.

The sight of the ghoul had left Sam so disconcerted that he wanted Jasper, sword and all, to accompany him to the house. “There was a break-in,” Sam explained. “I need to go back and get clothes and sort through what books are left, and if Jasper’s okay with it” – Jasper was sitting at Laurence’s side looking incredibly uncomfortable – “I would appreciate the company.”

Jasper’s chin jutted down in a quick nod.

“Your place is too far inland for Goldilocks, I guess? Lucky for whoever broke in.” Laurence nodded as if Sam was perfectly reasonable to bring a sword-wielding escort to go and pick up some clothes. Truth was, Sam didn’t want to return at all, but he needed to get clothes for both himself and his dad. He wished he’d thought to do it earlier while the guards were still there.

Food was brought out on platters while Sam talked, and Laurence’s attention darted from the food to Vi to the birds to Sam to Goldilocks to Bee and Dew, who snatched a bottle of wine as the server walked by and promptly dove into the pool and vanished. Bee followed with a bark of laughter.

Vi reached over and folded a gloved hand over Sam’s. “Might I just say how delighted I am to have you, Sam,” she said, looking at the pool where their wine had disappeared. She gestured to the startled serving girl to fetch another bottle. “I feared for years Goldilocks would settle for one of them.”

“Of course not,” Goldilocks said. Sam suspected if Adonis had been included in the them, there would have been a more passionate denial, as well as genuine offence.

How Sam ranked higher in Vi’s esteem than two mermen was beyond him, but he decided to take the compliment at face value. “Too wild for your tastes?” Sam asked, curious what part of him she preferred.

“Merfolk are always wild,” Vi said. “Even if they try to pretend otherwise. Belle was too, but she had such devotion to beauty and art. I admit I may have fallen in love with the way she loved.” A smile, which Sam already suspected was rare for Vi, curved her lips. “No,” she continued, “it is not the wildness. It is the manners that appal me.”

Sam grinned. So this was where Goldilocks got it from.

Laurence piped up in defence of his co-conspirators, valiantly detailing their good points. All things, Sam noted, that fed his wanderlust. Bee let Laurence experiment with him. They would dive with him, show him cool fish and rocks. Guide him through patches of seaweed.

“They’ve even taken me swimming with dolphins,” Laurence declared.

Finished eating, Sam leaned back in his chair. “I’ve seen them throwing seaweed at seals.”

“Err, seals need exercise too?”

“And they messed with my pots before,” Sam said, but he looked at Goldilocks, realising as he said it why that had only happened once. “And you set them straight for that.”

Goldilocks huffed. “Yes.”

Months ago, before there had been anything going on between them, Goldilocks had still been looking out for him.

“Can I stay the night?” Laurence asked, changing the subject since he was losing the argument. He glanced at Vi as he asked.

“Definitely not,” Sam interjected, not giving Vi the chance to answer. “I’m going back soon, and I’m not having Connor pissed off at me for leaving you stranded here.” And he most certainly didn’t want to have to explain to Trevor where he’d left his son.

“I’m not stranded. I have Bee and Dew. They can bring me back whenever,” Laurence insisted. “And it’s the weekend, so I don’t have school tomorrow.” No mention of the fact that he must have skipped out on school today to sneak through The Tear.

“You will return with us,” Goldilocks stated.

Laurence cast him a definitely sulky look, but he didn’t argue.

“Jasper’s coming with us,” Sam pointed out. “Don’t you want to show him around?”

Laurence’s expression brightened. “That’s true.” He cast Jasper a smile.

Jasper stared back, looking as uncomfortable now as he did at the beginning of the meal. His expression said he didn’t understand why there was any fuss being made about him.

A woman strode up to the table, holding a dark box. She set it on the table next to Goldilocks and bowed her head, retreating as quickly as she came. Goldilocks opened the box. Within was a dagger as small as Sam’s shucking knife and as brilliant a gold as Goldilocks’s scales. Exactly like Goldilocks’s scales. Sam leaned in, studying the faint lines in the metal. It seemed to have been made of four scales, two to each side of the blade, one edge blunt, the other sharp. The hilt was golden too, warped gold marked with black symbols. They reminded Sam of the tattooed vines and thorns on Eric’s arms, and they tickled his brain in the same pleasant way.

“Are those your scales?” Sam asked.

A delicate chain of gold threaded through a hole in the hilt.

“Yes,” Goldilocks said. He undid the clasp of the chain and turned expectantly to Sam, holding both ends up.

“It’s for me?” Sam studied the edge. “It’s a little sharp for me to wear around my neck.”

“They are my scales,” Goldilocks explained with patience. “They will not cut you.”

Sam hesitated, but aware of Vi’s and Laurence’s and Jasper’s eyes, he leaned forward. He didn’t want to reject Goldilocks in front of everyone or turn down what might be a gesture more important than he realised. If it cut him, Sam could take it off later.

“If you encounter a ghoul again, which I hope you do not, use that knife,” Vi said. She watched Goldilocks secure the clasp at the back of Sam’s neck. “Merfolk scales can cut anything, and the enchantments I have inlaid into the handle will focus that power.”

The knife hung, settling just beneath the hollow of his throat. The scales were warm, like a stone that had been set next to a fire.

“Enchantments?” Laurence repeated, leaning across the table to peer at the knife. “Those symbols?”

“Yes.”

A million questions burned in Laurence’s eyes. “I’d love to learn more,” he said.

Goldilocks rubbed his fingers against the now healed bite mark he’d left on the back of Sam’s neck, a satisfied expression on his face.

“I inscribed them into the handle; they will undoubtedly destroy the metal once they activate, so if you must use it, make it count,” Vi added.

Sam thumbed the hilt. Knowing what he did now of her past, the gift felt far more meaningful to him. “Thank you, Vi.”

She inclined her head toward him, not acknowledging Laurence practically vibrating in his chair.

Sam caught Goldilocks’s eye and nudged his foot under the table.

“I will show Sam the rooms prepared for his sire,” Goldilocks said, and Sam warmed in unexpected pleasure that his merman read his intentions without a word. “Vi, if you would have the nurses join us there. Meet us at the boat.” Goldilocks addressed Jasper for the last remark, who nodded smartly. He seemed glad to have been given a task.

Sam followed Goldilocks through the villa to another large bedroom. This one didn’t have a pool cut into the middle, and instead large furs were spread across the floor, covering the stone slabs. Large windows faced the ocean, and soft curtains of pale green stretched from ceiling to floor along the outer wall. A huge bed was tucked into the side of the room, a desk opposite it, a chest of drawers and several empty shelves lined the wall. Through a door was a room of shelves. One shelf held blankets, and the others were bare, ready to be filled. A third attached room was a large bathing room, which led to a bathroom. There was no electricity that Sam could see – or had seen anywhere in the house – but the plumbing didn’t seem to be an issue. Sam figured that given the house had pools in every other room leading to the ocean, they had their water system figured out.

Sam cast a longer look at the bath as they passed it, remembering the steaming bath he’d had with Goldilocks the last time he was here. His dad always had showers; what would he think of bathing in this huge tub? And what would he think of the bed of soft furs and blankets? Of having someone constantly around for company?

A thread of guilt wormed its way into Sam. He’d spent so little time at home lately that his dad was often left totally alone for long stretches. Given that he couldn’t leave the house unaided, that meant he was isolated.

The idea of bringing his dad here became less and less ridiculous the longer he looked around the room. He thought of Vi’s straightforward practicality. Goldilocks’s certainty. Sam knew, without a doubt, that his dad would be well cared for here. And though a dozen small practical questions nipped at Sam’s mind, the question that he finally voiced was, “You said there would be nurses to interview?”