Hand gripping the doorknob, Dina paused, her nostrils flaring in frustration. “I’m leaving because you think you have everything figured out and you don’t need anyone. Well, congratulations, kid. You’re getting exactly what you want.” Wrenching open the door, she paused to toss back a final warning. “Oh, and your new friend is amphibious. He’ll die if he’s away from the water too long. You might want to remedy that matter before this situation turns ugly. Goodbye, Octavia.”
The crack of the door slamming shut reminded me just how alone I truly was.
Chapter Seven
“A few years back, I lived with a six-foot-four cross-dresser who would get drunk and forget how to walk in his heels. So, as odd as this whole situation is, it feels oddly familiar,” I panted, supporting the majority of Squid-face’s weight.
Under the heavy blanket of night, I guided my new friend across the street. By the time we reached the sandy beach, a slick of sweat coated my back and my strides had been reduced to little more than an awkward shuffle. Squid-face was fading fast, using me fully as his crutch. His skin swelled and contracted, struggling to breathe in true amphibious fashion.
“Almost there, buddy,” I grunted. Arms around his thick midsection, I ushered him not onto the pier where I found him, but under it. Moonlight streamed through the slats in the wood overhead as we made our way to the shoreline. Squid-face’s pallor faded to a listless gray, his skin dry and cracking. The minute the tide licked against the toes of my boots, I said a silent prayer he wouldn’t collapse on me and swiveled him toward the water with a pained grunt. Grinding my teeth to the point of pain and feeling like every blood vessel in my face was going to pop, I lowered him into the foamy tide his body craved.
Squid-face flopped into the lapping white caps with a grateful groan, shuddering his relief as the spray of water washed over him. One wave, then another, and his frantic pants stilled with the calm of relief. Exhausted by his land exploits, his head lolled to the side and his arms and legs splayed out in a contented sprawl. A matter of seconds and his broad chest reverberated with throaty snores.
Head tilted, I peered down at him with a smile curling the corners of my lips. “Yep. Just like my roommate.”
Nosing his way closer, Bacon tried to bite at the foamy tide. A random sploosh found its way right up his snout, sending him into a sneezing fit. Immediately launching into full pout mode, he backpedaled as far away from the water as his leash would allow and parked his rump with an annoyed humph.
“Well, we can’t just leave him here,” I said, more to myself than to Bacon as I combed my fingers through my hair. “Not only is there a killer on the loose, but people in general are jerks. There’s no telling what would happen if anyone were to find him.”
The thick tread of my boots sank into the sand as I closed the distance between me and Bacon. Unsheathing my swords, I stabbed them into the beach and plopped down beside my favorite pampered pig. He wasted no time before settling in with his front hooves draped over my thigh.
“Despite having a perfectly good motel room, I think we’ll be camping here tonight.” Leaning back on one hand, I filled my lungs with salty sea air and gave Bacon a scratch behind the ears. “By far won’t be the worst place I’ve slept, and you can’t beat that view.”
As I peered out at the moonlight reflecting diamonds of light off the water, I noticed a thick fog creeping in. It rolled in churning waves, coating the sea in a foreboding cloak. From the distance came a tune, a haunting melody I dimly recognized but couldn’t quite place.
At the first note, Squid-face was on his feet. Planting himself in a wide-legged stance, he puffed his chest and extended his claws to deadly talons.
Leaping to my feet, I looped Bacon’s leash around my hand and dragged him behind me. Free hand extended in front of me, I tried to steady the suddenly agitated sea monster. “Easy, bud. You’re alright. We had a good thing going here. Let’s not ruin it by tearing anyone’s eyes out.”
With a roll of his shoulders, he expanded his wings in a wide arc behind him, leathery flesh stretched taut over thick veins of cartilage. Tentacles coiling like snakes, he threw his head back and shrieked into the night.
I glanced to my sword, but refused to draw it on a creature I now considered a friend. Instead, I untwisted Bacon’s leash from my palm and hooked it onto one hilt. With my heart hammering against my ribs, I inched toward Squid-face on legs that quaked with fear. I led with that one hand still poised before me, as if that could somehow protect me from any unspeakable atrocities to come.
I never claimed to be a smart girl.
The yellow in his eyes vanished with a blink, replaced by inky darkness.
Still, I didn’t alter my course. Side-stepping at a slow and cautious pace, I edged closer until my palm found his slime-slicked chest. There, I paused, finding peace for both of us in the steady beat of his heart.
“You’re okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Locking stares with him, I let Squid-face feel the truth in my words.
One tentacle twined around my wrist, holding tight like a lifeline, while a lone suction cup broke the skin at the heel of my hand with its powerful slurp.
Sucking air through my teeth, I winced and tried to pull my hand away.
Squid-face held firm, his expression softening. The tip of his tentacle wriggled into the wound in an oddly intimate gesture that made me insanely uncomfortable. Even so, if he noticed my unease he didn’t let on. Eyes morphing back to yellow, he dropped his tentacles to his chest and took a knee before me.
“D—did we just get married?” I stammered, mouth sinking into a concerned frown. “Because this is not going to be a Shape of Water type relationship, my friend.”
Any further conversation was cut off by a crack of lightning that revealed the silhouette of a woman. Her hair lashed around her like living flames as she rode those clouds of fog to the shore.
Warning sirens blared in the back of my mind, chilling unease coursing through my veins.
All the while, in that ill-omened scene, that poignant melody hummed on.
As if drawn by the song, a young couple appeared over the dune, stumbling toward that hypnotic lullaby. What would happen when the woman got to them, I didn’t know, but it seemed like something in which my swords and I should intervene.
“You.” shaking off Squid-face’s tentacle, I pointed his way, then to Bacon. “Watch him, and stay here.”
I was striding for my swords when Squid-face took a protective step forward and demanded my attention with a sharp crack of his wings.
“Stay,” I demanded. Fingers closing around the grips, I jerked my blades from the sand. “Protect the pig. I’ll be back.”
Chapter Eight
A willowy frame with cascades of platinum hair tumbling to her waist stepped ashore with her arms thrown out wide in open invitation to the mystified couple that awaited her. A glittering sapphire gown, dark as the depths of the ocean, clung to her ample curves, leaving shockingly little to the imagination.
Swords at my sides, I moved in a low crouch, keeping to the shadows of the dunes as much as I was able. Not that it mattered. None amongst them seemed even remotely aware of my presence.
Wetting her full lips, the curvy enigmatic femme fatale prowled toward the man, her hips moving in an alluring swish. Weaving her fingers into his hair, she pursed her lips in a mock pout. “Tell me,” she pressed in a husky purr, “how do you feel about this woman?”
Arms hanging slack at his sides, the sandy-haired guy didn’t utter a word, so enraptured was he by the woman before him. Odder still, his girlfriend—who should have been taking off her earrings and getting ready to throw down with the beach tramp—mirrored his pose of absolute surrender.
Leaning in, the seductress breathed her questions into him. “Do you love her? Is she your forever? Your one… true… heart’s desire?”
“Yes,” he answered in a monotone mumble. The power of her song seemed to have robbed him of any trace
of emotion.
The siren inhaled deeply as if intoxicated by the scent of his truth. “Yessssss… I can smell the heady brew of your desire for her.”
Ducking behind the lifeguard station, I peeked around one of its post legs and waited for the right moment to make my move.
Head tilting, the pink point of her tongue dragged over her teeth. “And what of me, darling boy? What do you feel for me?”
“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.” The fact that the words tumbled from the man’s lips made them no more his own. It was painfully obvious they were planted there by what I guessed to be a manipulative siren.
Don’t be impressed I knew the term. It wasn’t any kind of supernatural know-how. I just watch a lot of pirate movies.
“Pretty words,” she murmured, her mouth teasing over his. “But I’m really more of a show-don’t-tell kind of girl. Prove it to me, lover. Give me a taste of your passion.”
He needed no further invitation.
With his hands on the small of her back, he crushed her to him and greedily claimed the sweet temptation of her lips. Curling one leg around his hip, the siren rocked against him, earning a husky groan of appreciation that rumbled from his core. Gripping her waist tight, he pressed against her with his growing enthusiasm.
“Okay… ew.” Letting my head fall back against the sun-bleached wood, I allowed myself the momentary mercy of averting my eyes. Not that I could escape the full effects of their traumatizing scene unfolding. I could still hear the slurping and smacking. Gross.
Only when a moan of pleasure morphed into a choked gasp did I force myself to look back.
The siren rolled her neck with serpent-like grace. Lips pursed, she blew wafting veins of blue and purple magic at her victim’s face. His eyes rolled back as a glowing white light seeped from his chest.
His essence.
She was drawing it out of him. That must have been what happened to the dead sailor. She drained him like a juice box and tossed him aside.
Pert nose crinkled with glee, she swallowed down the treasure she coaxed to the surface via boner-espionage.
“I was right.” Smacking her lips, the sea bitch tossed her hair over her shoulder with a wicked giggle. “You’re absolutely delicious. Not like the last meal I had. Superficial love sours on the tongue. There’s no substance to it at all. Truth be told, I was hungry again in an hour. But you? I’ll be feeding off you for weeks. Before we get to that, though, I do need to handle a bit of business.” Extracting herself from his embrace, she gave him a rough slap to the cheek purely for her sadistic satisfaction. “Keep it warm for me, pet. This won’t take long.”
Ugh, who even talks like that? I’ve faced off with some truly vile creatures, but this chick made my skin crawl.
The instant she turned her back on her snack, his chin fell to his chest like a wilted flower. Lifting the hem of her gown, she waved the fabric from side to side, letting it dance around her ankles. Sea-bitch twirled around the stone-still girl, humming that malicious tune to strengthen her hold. “Darling child, you know he’s not worthy of you. No man ever could be. He cheated. He strayed. You saw it yourself.”
“He cheated. He strayed,” the woman parroted.
The siren caught one of the hypnotized woman’s auburn ringlets and twirled it around her index finger. “You gave him love, and he cast it aside like worthless chum. He whispered promises of forever, each of which was a worthless utterance.”
“Worthless.” The female puppet picked up on the key terms of her captor’s twisted message.
“I know, it’s tragic.” Sea-bitch’s tongue clucked against the roof of her mouth in mock pity. Moonlight glimmered off her platinum hair, making it gleam like freshly polished silver. “It’s only natural for you to seek vengeance.”
“He must pay,” the girl muttered in that vacant cadence.
A final tug at the girl’s hair, and the siren let the curl spring free. “There really is no other way. You’re going to fall asleep, sweet girl. When you wake, your treacherous lover will be dead, and you will know--without a doubt—that you took his life. You will drag his body into the sea, then turn yourself into the authorities.”
Looming homicide seemed as good a place to intervene as any. Shoving my shoulder blades off the lifeguard’s station, I pushed myself out of my hiding spot.
“Alrighty, I’m going to go ahead and stop you right there.” Head held high, I strode straight for her with the blades of my swords crossed in front of me. “Look, I get the whole woman scorned-thing. I do. I once had a guy I was dating try to convince me that he was a werewolf and couldn’t go out at night. Then, the dumbass showed up at the club I had just started bartending at with a chick who could only be described as a walking Barbie. No one likes a man-whore. They are literally the worst. But, see, that’s not what this is. This is you manipulating a situation so you can eat a guy. That’s the part that makes you a tool.”
The siren hitched one brow in mild interest, her amethyst stare shifting in my direction. “Aren’t you a bold one? It’s not every day a wayward vessel stumbles onto one of my stagings. Even so, I’ve whetted my appetite, and simply don’t have the time or interest for the likes of you.” Filling her lungs, she resumed her melancholy hum.
With a malicious glint twinkling in the depths of her stare, she waited for the tune to take hold of me as it had the others.
She waited… and she hummed… and she waited a little more.
Not going to lie, it stretched on long enough to become downright awkward.
Shifting from one foot to the other, I glanced around for whatever scary bit of something was supposed to be happening. “Did you forget the words? Don’t be embarrassed; happens to the best of us. Want a little tip I picked up while frequenting karaoke bars? Stick to rock ballads. If all else fails, you can launch into an air-guitar solo.”
Nostrils flaring, her jaw clenched tight with annoyance. “You’re not under my influence.”
“I’m not under your influence.” My shoulders rose and fell in an almost apologetic shrug.
Peering up at me from under her lashes, she stalked closer with the fluidity of a lioness on the hunt. “What are you?”
Nose crinkling, my lips screwed to the side at her question. “I’m not really a fan of labels. But—if you need to put a title on it—I’m the chick who’s going to hand you your ass if you don’t let these people go.”
Feeling she had ventured close enough, I stretched my right arm out before me, letting my blade block her.
The tip of her index finger traced over its deadly edge, a million questions swirling in the sinister pools of her gaze. “There are only two types of beings not affected by my will: other sirens… and the dead.”
Wiggling my eyebrows, I offered her a sassy smirk. “Well, that explains it. Death is a good friend of mine.”
“No, I don’t think that’s it.” Stretching out her neck, she sniffed the air between us. “You, young miss, smell of my Cthulhu.”
“Whoa, hey! I don’t know what the hell that is, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a compliment!”
“What it is, is a rare treat indeed.” Storm clouds of malicious intent darkened her stare, sharpening her features with a dangerous edge.
Sweat dampened my palms, my pulse racing with the sudden awareness of my own vulnerability. “Hey, I’m one of a kind.” I struggled to keep my tone cool and steady, but even I heard the hint of unease that trembled through it. “How about if you let the lovebirds go, and we’ll have a nice long chat about the wonder that is me?”
“Oh, them?” Her curtain of silver hair swayed across her back as she glanced to her dinner like a disinterested afterthought. “They can go.”
A regal roll of her wrist, and she snapped her fingers alongside her face.
Blinking their confusion, the couple came to with a start. Seeking solace in each other’s arms, they fled the beach in a frightened huddle.
For those of you fo
llowing along on the play-by-play, that’s when blind panic set in.
The soul-sucking Sea-bitch willingly gave up her prey… for me.
As ominous omens go, that was pretty much as bad as it got.
Swallowing hard, I forced a brazen façade I was no longer feeling and risked a step back with both swords held poised and ready. “Okay then, let this be a lesson to you, about… you know… the hazards of eating people. I’ll let you live this time, but if we cross paths again—”
The empty threat died on my lips as a cavalier sweep of her arm knocked the steel from my hands. While my weapons sank into the sand, her hand closed around my wrist in an iron vise grip. “Not so fast, angelfish,” she rasped, a wicked smile coiling at the corners of her lips. “I believe I was promised a conversation.”
Chapter Nine
I’ve heard stories of people going through something truly horrific, where their bodies switch into auto-pilot. They basically float above themselves, numb and detached from whatever unspeakable atrocities their human shell is experiencing.
I wish that had been the case for me.
Water crushed in from all sides. An oceanic tunnel whisking us…where? I couldn’t say. But with the siren’s grip holding me tight, and me feeling about as buoyant as a cruise ship anchor, I handled the situation with all the grace and calm I could muster.
Meaning I shrieked my throat raw at an ear-piercing decibel.
My feet reconnected with earth—oh, lovely, stable, solid ground—in the pit of a chasm cut between pillars of red rock. Moonlight streamed down from above, waves lapping in the distance. I might not have known my latitude and longitude, but that didn’t make me any less giddy to have the soles of my boots safely on the stone.
“My apologies for the rapid departure.” Squatting beside the edge of a bubbling spring that ran through the chasm, the siren scooped up a handful of water and treated herself to a drink. “We need to have a rather revealing conversation, and I’m afraid I just couldn’t risk any distractions. My name is Arroyo, by the way. If we are to get to know one another, that’s a good place to begin. And you, child? What do they call you?”
Caught Dead (The Journals of Octavia Hollows #3) Page 4
