The rain had not stopped at all. By the time the group left the villa, it had even grown heavier. Rain clouds blanketed the entire Green Lake Region, and the two cities on the north and south shores alike welcomed the heaviest rainstorm since the spring of 1854.
After leaving the villa, Megan took her maids and Shade back to the cruise ship moored on the Duin River. It was already five in the afternoon, nearly time for dinner.
There was certainly no time to visit the Glass City, so their final objective for the day was Rotten Eye Barry's private cruise ship docked on Green Lake. Based on the clues found at the previous three locations, Megan believed the ship should contain the most direct connection between the cultists and the island.
Shade did not particularly care about that, but he had already accepted Megan's invitation. He planned to go home first and bring Mia over so the cat could enjoy a good dinner as well. When he said goodbye to Megan, she specifically sent someone to take him back to the Green Lake Inn—even though she knew perfectly well that he did not live there. Smiling, she said that perhaps when Shade returned, she might need his help with a few small matters.
He had thought he would be home by evening today, so he had not asked the young ladies to look after the cat. Thus, when he returned home, he assumed no one would be there. Yet when he emerged from the basement where the Crystal Shoes had deposited him, he unexpectedly spotted Luvia's shoes on the shoe rack in the 1st Floor foyer.
"Luvia, did you get off work so early?"
Shade called upstairs, and the Purple-Eyed Girl's voice immediately came from the third floor.