Chapter 43
They went back to the factory the next day. Rani did not mention what Katherine had said, nor did Rory speak about his meeting with his fellow merman.
The pull of Rory's mission drew so heavily on him that he did not sleep at night. The guilt of keeping it all a secret tortured him as well. He simply lay among the strange , wonderfully comfortable contraptions called pillows, but his body couldn't relax. Or he paced throughout the room, fire crackling in the hearth.
When they reached the factory with its awful smell, they paused. Rory could see the black runoff from the factory spilling into the river. Sadness and anger twisted around his heart like twin vines competing for sunlight. For a moment, Rani grasped his hand, and he felt as though he might plumet into the earth. Strength he didn't feel flowed from her hand into his, and he felt the slightest glimmer of hope.