Waterborn (The Emerald Series Book 1)

by Kimberly James

  “I can’t swim,” I announced truthfully.

  He was the captain of this boat and I thought he, at least, should know. Though I hated admitting such a thing to him.

  Erin paused beside me, one foot on the boat, one still on the dock, waxed brows furrowed in speculation. “That’s interesting.”

  I got the impression she didn’t believe me. I was keeping the rest of it to myself now that my conscience was absolved. They didn’t have to know I could be used as an anchor.

  When we were all on board, Jax threw me a life vest. “Put it on or not. Just don’t fall in.”

  * * *

  The skull and crossbones flag whipped in the wind above my head. I stood on the bow of the boat, bare feet anchored as I leaned over the rail. Strings of beads hung from my neck, shining red and gold in the sunlight. Erin lay behind me on a towel, earbuds in place. Ally had hopped onto the back of the jet ski with Tyler, and they rode off the starboard side of the boat, a spray of water shooting up behind them. Ally’s hair hadn’t lasted ten seconds in the wind. I heard her squeal when Tyler darted away to jump the wake of an oncoming boat.

  “You promised me dolphins,” I yelled over my shoulder at Jax.

  He stood at the wheel, his dark hair gleaming with streaks of gold. The mainsail billowed in the wind, speeding us forward. I told myself not to do it, that it would be too lame, but my feet were already climbing the rail, and I stood up, spreading my arms wide against the wind. “I’m the king of the world,” I said, not even caring that I looked like an idiot.

  As if they’d been waiting for me to utter the magic words, a handful of dolphins appeared along side the hull, challenging us to a race. Jax steered the boat through the pass and we entered the open waters of the Gulf.

  I was caught up in the flight of the dolphins, their sleek gray bodies cutting through the water at impossible speed. One jumped into the air, a graceful arch, before disappearing under the boat’s hull. I thought of Ellie and the freedom that had been stolen from her—all this open space in exchange for a forty-by-twenty tank. I’d be depressed too.

  At first I didn’t notice the dulling of the sun’s heat or the sudden heaviness in the air. I looked out over the emerald water and watched as it turned a deep green. Fog rolled in, thick and heavy. The sound of the jet skis grew distant, swallowed by the fog. Even though I couldn’t see the water below the boat, I knew the dolphins were gone. The sails hung useless under the still air.

  “Jax?” I turned, fingers tight on the rail and stepped down.

  Shadows loomed in the fog, slowly taking shape. There were two of them, bare-chested with streams of water dripping down torsos rigid with muscle. I searched the water for another boat, but saw nothing, wrapped as we were in a cocoon of fog.

  “It’s okay.” Jax’s hazel eyes sparked with a hint of fear before his expression hardened.

  I really wished I had on more than a bathing suit. My t-shirt and shorts were tucked away in my beach bag. Erin had pulled her earbuds out and wrapped her towel around her hips. She looked more bored than anything and for some reason that made me feel better about our surprise visitors. Jax leaned an elbow on the wheel, trying for a casual, nonchalant pose. The tick in his jaw gave him away. The two newcomers spread out as much as the boat would allow. I had a sudden urge to flee, but there was nowhere to go.

  “This is real funny, Sol. What do you want?”

  Apparently Jax knew these guys, small relief that was. I could feel the tremor going through his body from where I stood two feet away.

  “Oh come on, Jax. You’re ruining the game. Just call me Billy.” Sol’s hair was slicked back from a face hard with angles. A strand of it spiraled down his cheek, curling under the edge of his jaw.

  My first impression was that he was good looking, but something was off, something I couldn’t name. It wasn’t until his gaze settled on me that I realized it was his eyes—dark, almost black and emotionless like the dead eyes of a shark—a predator.

  “As in Bowlegs.” He smirked, cupping his crotch in the palm of his hand. “There’s a big reason they called him bowlegs.” I didn’t know why this was funny, but he and his cohort laughed as he thrust his hips in a crude gesture.

  “Please.” Erin rolled her eyes. “Will you ever grow up?”

  Brave words that rang with nerves. Sol turned his head toward her, and for the barest second, I thought I saw a flash of emotion, a brief softening in them before it was snuffed out.

  “I see you’re back to slumming.” Sol shot her a pointed look, his disgust apparent, then focused his attention on me.

  My eyes darted to Erin, looking for some kind of guidance. Not much to go on from the barely discernible shake of her head. Were they really afraid of these guys? Who the hell were they?

  Sol wore a necklace much like Noah’s, only his pearl was black as onyx and flanked by what I’m guessing were sharks teeth. Yeah, tough guys wore sharks teeth and Sol thought he was tough, standing in front of me like he had every right to be here.

  The other guy jumped onto the mast, dangling from one arm. Water dripped from his dreads. An elaborate tattoo covered the whole right side of his torso. Eels slithered up from the band of his shorts, lithe bodies twisting around each other, cobalt eyes meeting at his shoulder. Once again, I searched for a boat that wasn’t there, wondering how in the hell they had gotten out here. It was like the whole world had disappeared and nothing lay beyond the fog. They couldn’t have swum out here, could they?

  “So, this is our little song bird?” Sol stood so close to me our chests nearly bumped. He didn’t smile so much as smirk and looked down his nose at me with eyes that could have been made of marble. “She’s real cute, isn’t she, Cree?”

  Water lapped against the fiberglass hull, a mocking slurp. There was no safety for me there. But something inside me wanted to do just that, jump overboard. Sol lowered his head, running his nose up the side of my cheek. If he was trying to intimidate me, it was working.

  “Leave her alone, Sol.” Erin made to step toward me, but Cree leaped down from his perch and took her by the arm.

  “Don’t,” he said.

  “What? Are you going to tell Daddy the natives are getting restless again? Maybe they’ll give us another stretch of beach with our name on it. Maybe they’ll get us to do their dirty work so they don’t have to risk their own lives.”

  Erin blanched at Sol’s words, the color draining from her face. I didn’t even pretend to know what they were talking about. Jax just stood there as though he were trying not to draw any attention to himself.

  “It’s not like that and you know it,” she said, then turned to Cree. “Let go.” She yanked her arm from his grasp.

  “Oh, Erin, it’s exactly like that,” Sol said in a voice so soft and sympathetic it belied the underlying threat.

  My gaze dropped, following the slow move of his hand. What was it with guys and their knives around here? My breath caught, lodging in my throat as Sol pulled the knife from its sheath. It rested like a heavy weight in his palm, comfortable, like he knew how to use it. It looked old, the blade deadly. His other hand fell on my shoulder, a warning that held me in place.

  “Takes some powerful voodoo to create a charm like this.” His fingers plucked at my hair. “Someone must have really loved you.” The tip of the knife skimmed down my cheek and over the line of my jaw, leaving a shiver in its wake. “Or hated you.” A cruel smile spread over his full lips.

  “Leave me alone.” I inwardly cringed at the tremble in my voice.

  “I can’t do that. And you don’t really want me to.” His hand skimmed over the top of my shoulder and down my arm, picking my hand up at the wrist. He brought it to his mouth, pressing his lips to my knuckles. What kind of sick game was this guy playing?

  “Do you even know what you are?” His smile faded as his dark eyes pierced mine, and try as I might, I couldn’t look away. I didn’t answer since I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.

&n
bsp; “I didn’t think so.” He raised the knife. It had a smooth sharp tip that rounded into a serrated edge over the mother of pearl handle. He slipped the tip underneath the strap of my top, right along my collarbone. For a horrified moment, I thought he was going to cut it loose. Cree laughed, the sound rolling out of his cavernous chest, as though it were coming from the bottom of a well. It set my teeth on edge. He had deep-set eyes in an unnatural shade of blue that matched the eel eyes on his shoulder. His teeth flashed in amusement. I waited for the strap to pop.

  “Don’t Sol,” Jax finally spoke up but his voice lacked any real conviction.

  At least I had to give him credit for speaking up at all. Jax wasn’t so tough without his buddies around. In fact, he was down right docile. He’d gone belly up the minute Sol and Cree had boarded his boat. Even Erin was acting strangely, as though the presence of the two invaders was an inconvenience, something that had to be endured. They were both powerfully built, bodies hard with muscle like honed athletes, but with an indefinable quality that lent them an air of menace.

  “I hear you like to play games, Jax. Take things that don’t belong to you.” Sol was talking to Jax, but his gaze was locked on my face. He stepped toward me, knife flashing despite the lack of sunlight. His arm circled my waist and he pulled my back up against the hard wall of his chest. “Like this one.” He stroked my hair the way he might stroke a beloved pet, his tone gentling. “She’s ours and here I find her on your boat.”

  Some unseen energy radiated off of Sol. Goosebumps rose on my skin. I swore the fog grew thicker, heavier. Something pricked my neck under my jaw. Warm blood trickled over my skin.

  “Did you just cut me?” Disbelief colored my voice.

  His laugh came from far away, swirling in my head as he circled back around me. Rough hands grabbed my hips, forcing me backward. I had no choice but to hold on to him. He was all tense hard planes under my hands.

  “What are you doing?”

  He leaned over me, lips close to my ear. “What Noah won’t.”

  Noah. Noah. Noah. The name sang around in my head as Sol’s face swam in and out of focus, looming large then floating in a dizzying circle. Erin’s mouth was open and I thought she was yelling, but I couldn’t hear her. All I could hear was him. This monster with the black eyes.

  I stumbled, the back of my heels ramming against something hard behind me. I teetered, on the verge of losing my balance. The monster came at me, teeth jagged like a shark, eyes empty black holes. I wanted to scream, but my throat burned. I felt myself falling. My hands grasped at the metal railing. My feet hit something warm and wet.

  No, not that.

  Jax appeared over me and his hand clutched around my forearm.

  “Let her go, Jax.” Sol’s voice boomed like a shot of a cannon. Or no, that had been a cannon. Maybe it was Billy Bowlegs, the pirate.

  I fell and the water consumed me. I sank on a rush, everything shrouded in blue, my watery grave. My dad’s face flashed in the distance. The image of my mother, her smiling eyes just out of reach. An image I didn’t know of a man with silver hair and eyes. I opened my mouth to call out to them. Water filled my throat. Dark spots danced in front of my eyes. My mind screamed one name.

  Noah.

  Fourteen

  Noah

  “Mrs. Jacobs, that was amazing.” Jeb scooted from the table and carried his plate to the sink, rubbing his stomach in the process. “Best crawfish étouffée on the coast.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it. And when are you going to stop calling me Mrs. Jacobs and start calling me Lara?”

  “Probably never,” he said, stuffing a brownie in his mouth from the plate my mom had left sitting on the counter.

  “She never makes brownies when it’s just me for dinner.” I held up my hands and Jeb chucked me a square across the kitchen.

  Homemade brownies and étouffée, combined with the darting glances they’d shared throughout dinner left a suspicious prickle under my skin. These two had been talking about me behind my back. I could well imagine them questioning my stability, and whether I'd be a flight risk if they pushed me too hard. I wondered why they hadn’t recruited Maggie in their little whip-Noah’s-ass-into-gear pep talk. I was pretty sure that’s what I was about to get.

  I picked my beer off the table. Beer was allowed in our house after we turned eighteen. My mom’s philosophy was if you had the right to fight and die for your country, then you should have the right to enjoy a beer. We weren’t likely to drink and drive. Add to that we weren’t heavy drinkers by nature, especially the strong stuff as it tended to dehydrate us faster than a normal human. Water was our life source. We needed to breathe it. We needed to drink it. Lots of it.

  “Y’all are really bad at this,” I said around a mouthful of chocolate brownie. I propped my feet on the chair beside me and opened myself up like a target. “What’s up?”

  I loved my mom, but I was tired of her looking at me like I was a blue marlin caught on the end of her fishing line. She’d been fighting to reel me in for years, and when Jamie had disappeared, that line had snapped and I'd swum away with the hook still in my mouth. Jamie had always known exactly what he wanted and I had been nothing but a barnacle on the underbelly of his dreams. I guess she was waiting for me to come up with some dreams of my own. I hated to disappoint her, but dreams were a waste of time.

  “We were just wondering what your plans are now.” She arched an eyebrow over one pale green eye. Eyes just like my brothers. Just like his pearl I wore on my wrist, the one she had given me the day I came back. I hadn’t felt worthy of it then, and honestly I still didn’t. I was still chewing on that irritating hook and somehow wearing Jamie’s bracelet dulled the sharp prick.

  “Plans? Do I need plans?” I motioned for Jeb to bring the plate of brownies to the table. He complied, with his shoulders slumped almost apologetically, as if he were here against his will or only for the food.

  “It might help you focus to have one. You seem distracted lately. Restless. You should think about finishing school.” She eyed me over the rim of her wine glass, mentally reeling me in. Her dark hair, tied up in some kind of messy bun, left the leather cord around her neck visible. The three pearls on the end of it were tucked under her shirt, just out of view. I couldn’t see them, but I knew they were there. More reminders of what we’d lost.

  “Mom, quit worrying about me. I’m okay. I won’t be taking off again, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Caris would make sure of that, at least for the foreseeable future. I didn’t feel the need to look beyond that.

  “I’m not worried. But maybe going back to school will give you some sense of direction.” She made it sound like I was a floundering sail in a dying wind.

  “I don’t see the point.” I had wanted to finish school at one time— that was the only way I could have joined Jamie—but that gig was definitely up. I would just as soon spit on Marshall. I certainly wasn’t going to go to work for him. Not now.

  “Maybe not right now, but you need to be thinking about the future. What happens next?”

  As if having a plan could prepare me for what happened next. Having a plan for the future didn’t keep my dad and my brother from dying. I didn’t think life cared about our plans, so what was the point in having them? Shit happened one way or another. And it sure wouldn't make a whole lot of difference whether or not I finished school. Which I wouldn’t do.

  “She’s right,” Jeb deemed to speak up. “Ugly and dumb is not an attractive combination.” Jeb huddled around the plate of brownies, confirming my suspicions that my mom had bribed him into this intervention. He stuffed another brownie in his mouth.

  “Thanks, Jeb. I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe you could even tutor me,” I said, flipping him the bird.

  Jeb was not only pretty, he was smart. The “I’m gonna be a doctor and save our species from the horrors of human diseases” kind of smart. Jamie, the savior of the world on one side, and Jeb, the savior of our species on
the other, and me, the high school dropout stuck in the middle in all my unambitious mediocrity.

  The doorbell chimed through the house. The three of us looked at each other like we didn’t know what to do. Not many people came to our door. Not the front one anyway.

  “Right now my plan is to answer the door.” I snagged my beer off the table and headed out of the kitchen. Yeah, who was the smart one now?

  Patrick Harper stood on my front porch, hands deep in the pockets of his shorts. He looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him. My first thought was that something had happened to Caris. But that wouldn’t have led him here. Besides, I was certain I would know if she were in trouble. She probably had a Song for that too. How the hell had he even found me?

  “Mr. Harper.” I held out my hand. He took a tentative hold, slowly bobbed it up and down, eyes studying me as though puzzle pieces were falling into place.

  “Noah Jacobs,” he recited, seemingly pulling my name from memory. “I didn’t put it together when we met the other day. I should have. The Bronco was a dead giveaway. The last time I saw you, you were still in diapers.”

  “Noah, who is it?” My mom came up behind me, taking the door out of my grasp to open it wider. “Patrick? Oh my God, Patrick.” She rushed past me, throwing her arms around Caris’s dad. His corresponding smile looked pained, congealing into a moment of reprieve when he briefly closed his eyes.

  “It’s good to see you, Lara.”

  I hadn’t seen another man touch my mom since my dad was alive. Not even Marshall when he’d come to tell us about Jamie. I didn’t much like it. It was too familiar, which was curious and disturbing since I also never remembered hearing about a Patrick while growing up.

  “What a surprise. It’s been…” She stepped back but kept hold of one of his hands.