After staring at the blob for an extended period of time I realized it was not only moving, it appeared to have appendages. They weren’t sea creature appendages either, although I almost managed to trick myself into believing I saw a fin at one point. Instead, as the figure took form, I realized I was looking at a woman.
She climbed out of the water and headed for a spot on the beach, lifting her arm in greeting when she caught me staring. She was pretty, long brown hair trailing down her back, and she appeared to be happy to see me.
Oh, yeah, she was also naked.
“What the … ?” I sputtered to myself as I hurried in the woman’s direction. My first thought was that she was in some sort of trouble – perhaps running from a rapist or something – and that explained the lack of clothing. As I closed the distance between us, I realized the woman was smiling and she didn’t appear to be in a hurry to cover herself.
“I … who are you?” I blurted out the question before I thought better about offering up such a harsh greeting.
The woman didn’t appear bothered by my tone. “I’m Aurora King. You’re Hadley Hunter, right? I heard you arrived two days ago. I wanted to stop by yesterday and have a sit-down but I got caught up with other stuff. My father is being a real pain in the blowhole, if you know what I mean. I wanted to meet under different circumstances.”
The only thing I was certain about was that I didn’t know anything. “Aurora King?”
Aurora’s smile was so wide it almost swallowed her entire face as she used a towel to wipe off the dripping water. “I own the pirate bar on Main Street.”
I racked my brain. “The Pirate’s Booty?” The name stuck out because the decorations grabbed my attention during my tour the previous day.
Aurora nodded. “That’s the one. I know the name is a bit schmaltzy, but it really brings in the tourists so I’m not changing it.”
“No, of course not.” My mouth was unbearably dry as I tried to look anywhere but at Aurora’s nakedness. “I … um … will have to check it out.”
“You definitely should. We have the best coconut rum on the island.”
“Great.”
“Uh-huh.”
After an interminably long stretch of silence I finally had no choice but to look at Aurora. I was hoping to find her dressed – she’d left a pile of clothing behind on the beach for a reason, after all – but she remained naked as she regarded me with unveiled interest.
“What?” My voice was raspy.
“You’re just not what I expected,” Aurora replied after a moment. “I thought I’d see more of May in you. You have some May in you, don’t get me wrong, but you’re your own person.”
My temper flared a bit. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Did I say it was a bad thing?”
“No, but … .” I heaved a sigh as I fought to control my temper. “What are you doing here again?”
“I like to swim here,” Aurora replied. She seemed amused by my temperamental shifts. “May didn’t have a problem with it. That’s why I wanted to meet you – to see if you have a problem with it.”
“And if I do?”
Aurora shrugged. “Then we’ll talk about it.”
I couldn’t help but notice that she said we would talk about it, not that she would stop doing it. “Uh-huh.” I looked at the pile of clothing at Aurora’s feet. “Is there a reason you feel the need to swim naked?”
“It’s more freeing. I don’t like the feeling of nylon against my bits.”
“Does that go for underwear, too?” I have no idea why I asked that question, but I was genuinely curious.
“I’ll leave that for you to figure out on your own.” Aurora winked, causing my stomach to churn as she leaned over and grabbed a pair of knit shorts. I didn’t miss the fact that she shimmied into them without putting on panties first. “You’re up early. May was that way, too. She was always up before the sun. We used to share a mug of coffee most mornings when I stopped for a visit.”
I didn’t miss the pointed tone. “Would you like some coffee?”
Aurora beamed. “That would be delightful! Thank you for asking.”
I turned on my heel and stalked toward the lighthouse. Aurora took a bit more time, sliding on a pair of flip-flops and tugging a tank top over her head as she trailed in my wake.
“Are you planning on making any changes?” Aurora didn’t speak again until we were on the patio, and the question caught me off guard.
“I haven’t given it much thought,” I replied, shuffling toward the door. “Wait right here. I’ll get your coffee.”
If Aurora was offended about not being allowed inside, she didn’t show it. “No problem.” She threw herself in the lounger next to the one I sat in before noticing her playing in the surf. By the time I returned with her coffee she was stretched out and comfortable. “I’ve always enjoyed this view.”
Even though I wasn’t sure what to make of Aurora, I couldn’t argue with the sentiment. “I like it, too,” I admitted, gazing at the gently rolling water. “I didn’t think I’d be able to get used to the noise – it’s louder here in some ways and quieter in others – but I really like the sound of the water.”
“I love the water,” Aurora enthused, sipping her coffee. “If I could find a way to live in the ocean and still afford cool shoes and electronics I would totally do it.”
“Isn’t that what houseboats are for?”
Aurora snorted. “You’re funny. May didn’t tell me you were so funny.”
“That’s because she never met me.” I didn’t mean to get testy – I honestly didn’t – but I was getting sick and tired of people mentioning that May Potter talked about me when she couldn’t be bothered to ever introduce herself. The realization that she didn’t care enough to put herself out, at least in some meaningful way, chafed.
“I guess that’s fair.” Aurora tossed her damp hair over her shoulder. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet her. She was a fun lady. When I’m old like her – although she would hate the fact that I’m using the word ‘old’ while talking about her – I want to be just like her.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant. “Why?”
“Because she was feisty.”
It was a simple answer, yet I sensed Aurora wasn’t being entirely truthful. “And because she was a witch, right?”
Instead of being offended – rather than calling me crazy and tossing around the word “loon” – Aurora nodded as if I’d said the most normal thing in the world. “I always wanted her to teach me spells, but she insisted you had to be born into it.
“She said, ‘Aurora, girl, you’re fun and you’re pretty, but you’re not witch material,’” she continued. “She was convinced I wasn’t patient enough to learn the craft.”
I didn’t expect Aurora to accept what I said without argument. I didn’t expect her to expand on it. I thought she would call me crazy and threaten to call the nice men with straitjackets to pick me up. Of course, I’d just found her swimming naked in the ocean so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Yes, well, that explains that.” I feigned knowing what I was talking about. “The whole island is full of witches, right?”
“I don’t know that I would say Moonstone Bay is full of witches,” Aurora clarified, her eyes fixed on the water rather than me. “I think there’s a nice balance. Still, when I think about everyone here, I’d estimate the witches are on the low end of the population pool. I think shifters are at the top, half-breeds without a real power base would be in the middle and witches would have to be at the bottom.” She used her hands to illustrate what she was saying. “There’s been a real slowdown in witch births over the past three decades or so – no one wants to be barefoot, pregnant and mixing mugwort these days – so that’s only to be expected.”
“Right.” She was crazy. That was the only reasonable explanation. The woman was batshit crazy. That meant she was capable of anything. I had to be extremely careful when extricating mys
elf from her presence. “So you think witch birth rates are on the decline, huh?”
“I don’t think it,” Aurora corrected. “The Downtown Development Authority included it in one of the brochures they handed out during the last solstice celebration. It stuck in my head. That’s why I remember it.”
“And Moonstone Bay is full of shifters, you say?” Shifters. I rolled the word around in my mind. I read a lot, so I was familiar with the term. It was probably best to pretend I believed Aurora rather than to laugh, point and start screaming about restraints. “Do you think wolf or bear shifters are the biggest here?”
“Wolf shifters are big, but we don’t have any bear shifters to my knowledge.” Aurora was matter-of-fact. “It’s an island. Bears don’t hang around on islands.”
“They did on Lost.”
“Good point.” Aurora paused for a beat. “Of course, Lost was a television show and not real. This is the real world. In the real world you don’t find bear shifters on islands. Well, I guess there are koala shifters – they’re really the lesser of the shifters, though – and they want to hang on Australia all the time. That’s technically an island.”
“Uh-huh.” Oh, dear lord, she really is crazy. She’s talking about koala shifters. I mean … what the fuzzy freak is going on here? “So if wolf shifters are popular, what other kinds of shifters should I expect to find?”
I worked as hard as I could to keep my expression placid. I didn’t want to tip off Aurora that I thought she was crazy. I didn’t want her to realize I thought her brains had probably spilled out of her ears without her knowledge years before. You should never tell crazy people they’re crazy. They don’t see it that way. They think you’re the crazy one and will attack.
No, really. I saw that on a television show one time.
“We have a lot of marine shifters,” Aurora answered, seemingly oblivious to my inner struggle. “There’re a couple of dolphin shifters. Beware of the crab shifters. They’re cads and will try to get in your pants. They say it’s not the same kind of crabs, but it itches all the same. Trust me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“There’re also some uncategorized shifters, just so you’re aware.”
I had no idea what that meant. “Um … .”
“Tom at the supermarket, for example, can shift into any animal he wants,” Aurora continued. “He doesn’t get stuck shifting into one thing and one thing only. I’m kind of jealous of him for that. But his kind is rare. They’re even rarer than witches these days.”
“Great.” The notion of running practically overwhelmed me.
“The most important thing is to never believe any of the sharks are shifters,” Aurora offered, finally turning her eyes back to me and holding my gaze. “There is no such thing as shark shifters on this island. They died out. I’ve known a few people who were convinced that they were dealing with shifters in the water and not real sharks. That’s not the case. Everything here is a real shark, so you shouldn’t try talking to them.”
I had news for her. If I saw a shark in the water I would crap myself before trying to talk to it. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip.”
“You’re welcome.” Aurora smiled as she stood. “I can put a list of things together for you so you’re not caught unaware. I know this is a lot to absorb all at once – I mean, how often do you move to an island that caters to paranormal entities when they want to go on vacation. But it won’t take you long to figure things out. I can tell you’re smart.”
“You can?” That was news to me.
“Oh, definitely.” Aurora enthusiastically nodded. “You’re May’s granddaughter. That naturally means you have to be smart.”
Right. Naturally.
Seven
I wanted to spend the day at the lighthouse sorting through things, moving furniture around and generally doing anything that would make the space feel like a home. My home, to be exact. I was inside for only five minutes when Aurora’s empty coffee mug appeared to move to the dishwasher on its own. I was happy when she left, but now I wished I had company.
I called out to May, hoping she would appear again, but I was alone.
Instead of dwelling on the fact that I seemed to be a magnet for crazy people – and ghosts (something I still couldn’t wrap my head around) – I showered and headed for town. I was convinced Moonstone Bay was a large-scale psych experiment. It explained so much. That didn’t mean I wanted to hang around with my invisible friend and help the experiment along.
The police department was only two blocks away from the lighthouse and it was the first recognizable building I passed. Galen’s truck was in the lot. I considered stopping to ask him about Moonstone Bay’s special brand of crazy. I figured he would tell me the truth. I also figured he would lock me up without a second thought if I was imagining things. I recognized that telling one of the only law enforcement representatives on the island that I’d not only seen a ghost but that I’d also willingly listened to a naked woman discuss koala shifters was a terrible idea. He’d have me pumped full of meds so fast I wouldn’t be able to call my father and accuse him of lying to me when I finally calmed down enough to do it.
I pointed myself in the direction of Lilac’s tiki bar, giving The Pirate’s Booty a wide berth in case Aurora decided to continue our earlier conversation, and was relieved to find Lilac behind the counter. Other than her, the rest of the building was empty.
I wanted to broach the subject of my fraying sanity in a tactful manner. There was no sense in alarming her, after all.
“What can you tell me about the extinction of shark shifters?”
Lilac widened her eyes as she met and held my gaze. “What do you mean? Do you want the legend or the truth?”
My mouth went dry. “The truth.”
“They’re not extinct but their breeding numbers are in the danger zone,” Lilac supplied. “They spend most of their time in South Africa because, for some reason, they’re more fertile there. It must be something to do with the water. I’ve never given it much thought.”
“That makes two of us.” I faked a smile for Lilac’s benefit. I’m not sure if she believed it – her expression said the exact opposite – but I gave it my best attempt.
“Just out of curiosity, why are you asking about shark shifters?”
“I met Aurora this morning and she brought it up.”
“Oh, well, that makes sense.” Lilac wrinkled her nose. “We all agreed to give you time to get used to the island before starting in on the … um … other stuff. We had a meeting and everything. Aurora refused to come. She’s not much of a joiner. I should’ve realized she would screw things up for all of us.”
“A meeting, huh?” Just when I think things can’t get weirder … they do. “Was it a town hall meeting?”
“Downtown Development Authority.”
“Really?” I wasn’t expecting that. “Why?”
“Because the lighthouse beach is a big draw and it’s important to Moonstone Bay’s bottom line,” Lilac replied, not missing a beat. “That’s the Downtown Development Authority’s biggest priority.”
“Yeah, from everything I’ve heard about them, they’re a bunch of jerks.” I heaved out a sigh and rubbed the back of my neck as Lilac poured a glass of iced tea and shoved it in my direction. “Do you have anything stronger?”
“Do you want something stronger?”
“Do you have a hammer to hit myself on the head with?”
“I do, but let’s start with a shot of bourbon first, shall we?” Lilac’s smile was wide. She grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels from the rail and added a splash of liquor to the top of my drink. “Hopefully that will settle your stomach.”
I had my doubts that would ever happen. “Uh-huh.” I slammed the entire glass of iced tea and gestured for more. “Hit me again.”
“It seems a little bit early,” Lilac hedged.
“Are you my mother?”
“No.”
“Hit me again,” I gr
itted out. It took everything I had not to explode.
Lilac looked as if she was going against her better instincts, but she did as instructed. Instead of gulping down this drink, I nursed it as I played with my napkin and stared at the smooth wooden bar.
“I’m guessing you need to talk about a few things.” Lilac’s expression was sympathetic. “We’ll take it one question at a time. What’s your biggest concern?”
“Oh, I have so many concerns I don’t know where to start.” That was true. I felt numb, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the alcohol … at least not yet.
“Start with the first thing that pops into your head.”
“Okay.” That sounded fair. “Aurora said that witches are low on the population scale here at Moonstone Bay. She also insinuated I’m a witch.”
“Oh, I forgot you didn’t even know that much.” Lilac rubbed her jaw, her expression rueful. “You know what you need?”
“A hammer?”
Lilac waved off my suggestion. “You’re very dramatic. I wasn’t expecting that. May was always calm. Sure, she liked a good scene when she thought someone was bullying someone else – or whenever people bought a dog instead of rescuing one because she thought that was such a waste – but, in general, she was pretty unflappable. You’re the exact opposite.”
“I’m not dramatic,” I argued. “I’m easygoing.”
Lilac snorted. “I love that you said that with a straight face. You know I’m an empath, right? That means I can read your emotions. It’s a little gift of mine, along with a few others that aren’t important right now. Even if I couldn’t, though, I would know that was a gross exaggeration.”
“You’re an empath?” I wasn’t sure what that meant. “Does that mean you can read my mind?”
“No. I’m not psychic. I can simply read your feelings. I try not to be invasive or anything, but when things are on the surface – like they are with you – it’s hard to avoid taking a peek. Sorry if that offends you.”
Witchy Dreams Page 82
