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“Why would I know anything about that?”

Cordelia presses her lips close to the door and murmurs, “Because they learned their secrets from the merrows and selkies.”

Footsteps pad across the floor, and the door opens a crack, one of the selkie’s eyes appearing. “Come in, but keep your voices down.” She flips her hair over the back of her silky white robe and takes a seat at her vanity. “I’ll answer your question about the Order of the Undine, but only if you’re able to do me a favor.”

Cordelia squeezes between two dressing racks filled with feather boas and sparkling gowns. “What is it?”

“My husband keeps my sealskin locked in a cabinet in our townhome across the village. He knows I won’t leave him because I can’t return to the ocean without it.” She strikes a match and pulls a rolled cigarette from a seashell tray, lighting it between her fingers. “I need someone to steal it back for me.” Lifting the cigarette to her lips, she takes a long drag, the embers glowing orange. “He’ll be here within the next half hour to take me home, so you’ll have to come back some other time.”

“I can do it tonight. A half an hour is plenty of time.”

Smoke wisps around her mouth. “I told you it’s across the village.”

I cross my arms. “What’s the address, and what does it look like on the outside?”

She gives me the details, and I envision the street, pulling myself into the tall yellow townhome at the end. I arrive inside, find the cabinet, and then pinch myself into it.

Once I have the sealskin, I hold it tight and deliver it to the dressing room, unraveling it before the selkie. The dried skin hangs from my hands, a lifeless shell waiting to be filled.

She hops out of her seat without stubbing her cigarette and takes it from me. “How did you–”

“There’s no time for that,” I say as she holds the velvety skin cloak to her face. “I’m assuming you want to leave before your husband shows up, and we still need your help.”

Ash gathers on the tip of her cigarette as Cordelia explains how close she was to reviving the Order of the Undine’s magic, and how she took a deal with the sea witch instead.

“The Order of the Undine’s magic originated on land. Do you know if there’s another way to perform the Full Moon ritual?” she asks, running out of air.

“There is.” The selkie’s eyes shut tight. “Or at least, there was, but the ritual has been protected by the priestesses of the Lunar Tide Coven for so long that no one seems to remember anything about it.” She walks back to the window, guarding her sealskin. “I wish I could be more helpful after what you’ve done for me, but that’s all I know.”

“There is something else I’d like to ask of you,” Cordelia says, stopping her as she opens the latch and swings one leg over the sill. “There are selkie dwellings in the northern waters off the coast of Corstylia. My sister, Princess Kólga, keeps her nest in that territory. If you see her, will you tell her what happened to me?” She presses her hand to her heart, and I do the same because her emotions take my breath away. “Will you tell her that I love all of my sisters, and that I’m so sorry?”

“Of course,” the selkie sniffles. “Good luck.”

We wait for her to descend the rungs of a rusty escape ladder and run toward the sea before we descend. Cordelia’s energy plummets once again when we reach the street.

“I’m sorry she didn’t have the answers you were looking for.”

“At least she’s free to return to the sea,” she snips. “And now we know the priestesses of the Lunar Tide Coven might have more information. Perhaps I can find a way to bring it up to Bijou.”

I wanted more for her than another lead to chase.

She starts walking faster, and I stuff my hands in my pockets, lengthening my stride to keep up with her. “I wanted tonight to be nice for you, and I know it was upsetting for you to see Darcy with someone else like that.”

“I’m not upset over Darcy.” The green lining of her cloak flaps around her skirt as she makes a half-turn. “You might be able to sense what I’m feeling, but you have no idea what I’m thinking.”

“What are you thinking, then?”

She completes her circle, walking ahead of me. “I’m thinking you pushed me against the wall just so that I wouldn’t see her, and that I misinterpreted your actions.”

“We were both caught up in the heat of the moment,” I assure her. “You don’t need to feel bad about that.”

“But I do.” Her shoulders shift beneath her cloak, and I know she’s reaching for her pendant. “We were only ever thrown together as a disturbing punishment. It’s wrong to think of you like that. Nothing about this is right.”

No, it never has been. That’s why I’m always pushing all my thoughts of her away.

It’s getting harder and harder to do that lately.

“Nothing about this is right, but maybe one thing feels like it is,” I say. “And maybe tonight, I don’t give a fuck about the rest.”