Chapter 23: Emory

Back in her room, Emory finds a letter from her father containing a broken pocket watch–compass marked “VA,” a relic from her mother. Homesick and bitter over her mother’s abandonment, she stows it away. Reminded of her obligations, she hurries to her makeup selenography exam.

Outside class, headlines reveal Lia’s body has been found at Dovermere. Emory notes the article hides the charred mouth and missing tongue, confirming officials are suppressing details. She comforts Penelope, who leaves to contact Lia’s family, and then narrowly manages to pass the exam.

At the coffee cart, Virgil remarks on the odd timing—Lia washing ashore the night of their ritual—suggesting the Tides acknowledged them. The comment deepens Emory’s guilt and dread, pushing her to summon Keiran through the Selenic Mark that evening.

When Keiran arrives, Emory confesses everything: Baz’s secret coaching, their return to Dovermere, the failed call to Romie, Lia’s death, and Baz’s theories about doors. Emory fears she called Travers and Lia back and caused their deaths. Keiran counters with research: Dovermere may be a gateway to the Deep, opened when House Eclipse completed the Hourglass circle last spring. He proposes Romie and Jordyn are trapped in a liminal purgatory and that crossing back exacts a price—magic as lifeblood—explaining Travers’s withering and Lia’s silenced Wordsmithing.

They conclude an as-yet-unknown protection—possibly hinted by the lost epilogue Romie sought—is needed to cross and return safely. Emory might reach Romie via Dreamer magic in the sleepscape to learn the key. The two share a tender moment but stop, grief intruding; Keiran stays to comfort her and speaks of Farran’s compassion and regrets, illuminating his acceptance of Emory’s Eclipse ties.

Emory falls asleep hoping to find Romie, but her dreams are empty, leaving their new plan urgent yet untested.