"I'm your aunt. Your mother's sister."
I shook my head. Could it be true?
"Come with me," she said. "I'll take you to your family. We're all so eager to see you again."
"Is my mother there?" I couldn't believe it.
She shook her head sadly. "No, Sadie. Your mother isn't with us."
So my parents were dead. "I can't." I said, choking up.
"Why not, Sadie?" she asked, her voice tender and concerned.
I began to babble. "Mrs. G has my kitten. And I have to make sure Eddie doesn't hurt anyone else. And where is Jake and the Regina Ellen? And so many reasons. I can't just disappear."
"Eddie? Edward Cooper? A small man with a broken nose?"
I nodded. "You know him?"
She scowled and swam back and forth as if she were pacing. "He's the one who lost you. Eddie was your nanny and after his criminal negligence, his gills were clipped. And then he disappeared into the human world."
"He was my nanny? But earlier today he locked me in his basement. Why would he do that?"
"Eddie locked you up? Where is he?" She was furious, her face scowling and dark.
"Wait. Gills? Is that why I don't have to breathe air?"
She nodded and lifted my hair. Below my collarbones, two shimmery gills had appeared.
"Who am I?" I asked her. "Who are you?"
"The Regina Ellen and your friend Jake are safe and back in the harbor. Go do what you need to do above and then come back here. I will take you home. You will get your answers. But you need to come home to find them."
I had to have at least one answer before I left. "Why does water obey me?"
"Water is at your command, my love, because you're a sea witch. And a royal one, at that."
A sea witch? Royal? "Does that mean my father and mother are king and queen? Or were?"
"It's not that simple. Not at the moment. Get your life on land settled so you can return with me to our home. Come and touch this shell to call me. When you're ready."
I nodded. I'd be back soon. Tomorrow, probably.
She touched my forehead with her long elegant finger, and I felt a blessing reverberate through me. "Don't keep us waiting too long," she said with a tender smile. "We need you as much as you need us."
Then I felt myself rushing up toward the surface.
"Wait, what's your name?" I said quickly.
"I'm Tina," I heard her say with a laugh. "I'm your aunt and I love you!"
I felt happiness flood through me. I had a family! A really cool, royal, magical family!
I burst out of the water and landed on my feet on the pier. The blue sky and fluffy white clouds greeted me. Although the sun would soon set, the storm had cleared. A magnificent rainbow sparkled over the hills.
I touched my collarbones. The gills were gone.
"Sadie!" I heard his voice.
Jake!
I whooped with joy as I ran up the pier and jumped into his arms.
Chapter 15
Sadie
A momentary impulse had propelled me to Jake, but once in his arms I never wanted to let go.
The energy that flowed between us kept me clinging to him as if we were in our own bubble. When a passing truck honked at us, though, I dropped to my feet and smiled up at him. He grinned down at me. "You're all wet. Where you been?"
"I fell in the water," I admitted with a smile. It was an understatement, but I didn't want to get into the whole commanding water thing right away. "Did you find the Regina Ellen?"
"It was a miracle," he said, nodding. "Or maybe magic?"
The ocean must have helped, just as I had asked. "What happened?"
"The Regina Ellen was floundering about a mile away from where I was searching. But I had no idea. Only when a current carried them to my boat was I was able to tow them to shore."
"It sounds like the only miracle was you. You're the one who rescued them."
"I wouldn't have found them if the current hadn't delivered them straight to me."
"That's an incredible story." There was no way anyone would connect me with that rescue. I had wanted to tell Jake everything. But then I met my aunt. I found out I had a family.
I'd only met Jake yesterday. Did I still want to tell him about the water? Right now, my secret was safe, at least until I got back to the Hair Atelier. Daphne and Ray had seen me control water. She had even filmed me. For all I knew it was already on YouTube.
I had to talk with someone about all the crazy things that had happened. Jake was real. And he was right here.
"Jake, you said I could ask about anything. Something's happened. I need to talk with you." A lot of somethings had happened. It had been an incredible couple of days.
"Let's go for a walk," he said, taking my hand. We headed up the hill toward town. "Tell me everything."
"For starters, you told me earlier that you sensed I was magic. Why did you say that?"
"Because I think it's true."
"But why?"
He took a deep breath. "Because I'm falling in love with you. And I only love magical creatures. It's a peculiarity of mine."
"You're falling in love with me?" This crush that I had been feeling, this happiness around Jake. He reciprocated it. I grinned. I felt it in my gut. This was the real thing.
He nodded and ran his fingers down my cheek. "It just… happened."
I turned to face Jake and lay a hand on his shirt, feeling his heart pound through the shield of his chest. "I feel it too."
We took a moment. Then I continued, "You were right. I seem to have developed a… magical gift. It just started yesterday, right before I met Nate." I shook my head. "It's so hard to explain something that doesn't make sense."
"It's okay," he said as we reached the park. He took my hand and guided me toward a bench. "Take your time."
We sat down together. "Everything I thought was normal. This town. The people who live here. Me. They're all magical."
"You're magical."
"And you too?"
He nodded with a smile.
"Magical is the new normal." I took a breath and tried to take it all in. I still didn't understand what was happening. But it felt good to say these things aloud. It felt less scary. I felt my feet on the ground.
"What is it? Your gift, I mean."
"It's water. Water is… doing whatever I tell it to do."
"So that was you. That current, those waves. I had a feeling."
"It's freaky," I said. "In the ocean I met a woman. She said I was her niece."
"So you're not an orphan?"
"I might still be. I don't know." I needed answers. Why hadn't I just gone with Tina? I'd probably be home by now. I'd have all the answers. "It's a lot to take in."
"I imagine you'll get used to it," Jake said. "Maybe even enjoy it."
I smiled and thought about turning water into ice cubes and making snow. "Have you always known you were magical?"
He nodded. "I was a cub shifter in a family of bear shifters. I always knew."
"A family of bear shifters. So your parents were telling the truth." I looked deeply into Jake's eyes. Was he human? Or animal? I couldn't tell. "What is a bear shifter?"
"Exactly that. I'm both a man and a bear. And I am neither. I shift back and forth between the two species at will."
I tried to fight the disorientation I felt. Why were bear shifters harder to believe than sea witches? Maybe it was because on some level, I'd known since I was a child that what Aunt Tina said today was true. Very deep inside, I remembered who I was and where I came from. Realizing that comforted me right now. When I went home, would I remember the place and the others who lived there?
Were my parents alive?
I tried to focus on Jake. He sat beside me with a concerned expression on his kind face. I could trust him, right? "Are there many more of you? Here in Enchanted Shores?"
"More bear shifters? Or more magical creatures?"
I nodded. "Yes. Both." I stood up
to continue our walk, and Jake did too.
"There are more magical creatures here than most people can imagine," he said, taking my hand again. "Enchanted Shores is one of the safest places for magical creatures to live. And, yes, some of them are shifters."
"Why is it so safe?"
"It's the quantity and quality of the rainbows. They shield magical creatures, keep us from being revealed to humans and other non-magical creatures. We can live here in peace."
The rainbows? It made sense. All the odd people sprinkled throughout Enchanted Springs were supernatural. That made sense too. And I was one of them? "Does everyone in town know it but me?"
"Outsiders can't see it. But for those of us who are magical, it's a very special place to call home."
We were back on the boulevard now. I saw the Hair Atelier ahead.
"There's one more thing I have to tell you," I said. He needed to know about what Eddie had done. I pushed the button for the crosswalk.
Jake's cell phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Sorry, I have to take this. It's the hospital."
I nodded and glanced ahead. Daphne walked out of the Hair Atelier with a police officer. It wasn't Cormac, but someone else from the force. Daphne pointed down the street toward me. Here we go. She was probably blaming everything on me. Just what I'd expected.
The police officer nodded as she spoke. I braced myself. Where was Eddie? Would I be arrested for damaging the salon?
The police officer got into the squad car. He closed the door and drove off, heading up the street.
"Sadie!" Daphne trotted over. The walk signal turned green, and Jake and I crossed over. He took my hand.
"Now you're holding Jake's hand?" Daphne hollered. "What happened to marrying Nate? How many Serrano brothers do you need?"
I shrugged. "Do you really have to yell so much?"
She shook her hair as if she were trying to shake off her anger. "Anyway. It turns out you won the hairdo-off. The chair is yours. When can you start?"
"What do you mean, I won? I wasn’t even there."
"You won by default. Everyone else dropped out. My dad left."
"If I won, I want a check for cash value. Five thousand dollars."
She rolled her eyes. "You can't have the cash value. It's the chair or nothing."
"Ask your dad. He promised." Eddie belonged in jail, but I wanted to save my house. I needed that money.
"He's gone. I don't know where he went. I told him to get out of town or I'd tell the police what he'd done to you."
"He left?" I felt near tears. How could they have let him leave? "Where's Ray?"
Daphne shrugged. She wouldn't meet my eyes.
Jake turned off his phone and joined us. "Nate might be waking up," he said. "They want me back at the hospital."
"That's great!" Daphne said.
"What did you tell him?" I asked Daphne.
"Who?"
"The police officer?"
"I covered for you both and said a pipe burst." Daphne nodded. "I want you to know I had nothing to do with whatever happened in the basement. I feel terrible for the way I behaved." She sighed and brushed her hands together as if she had just settled the matter. "Anyway, all that water really spruced the place up. No need to spring clean this year!"
"You're not angry?" I found it hard to believe. She'd been nothing but angry.
Daphne smiled. "You kidding? I'm grateful. Now I can run the hair salon the way I've always wanted to run it. Plus, if Nate is waking up, then I can just talk to him in person."
"What about Eddie?" I asked.
"We weren't close. He moved here last month and bought the salon. I thought he was buying it for me, but instead he stayed. I never wanted him here." Daphne grimaced dismissively. "So what do you say?"
"About what?"
"You want that chair?" Daphne looked at me expectantly, as if she were sure I'd say yes.
"No, Daphne," I said, getting heated. "I don't want that chair. I don't want to set foot in your salon ever again."
"What?" Daphne's jaw dropped. "I don't understand." Why on earth would that shock her? She'd seen me emerge from the basement tied up.
Jake gave me a confused look. "What happened?" he asked.
"What's the mystery? Your dad is a menace! He tied me to a chair and locked me in a basement!" I cried. "He put duct tape on my mouth and zip ties on my wrists. I'm not safe until he's behind bars! Maybe no one is!"
"What?!" Jake boomed. "I'll kill him."
I slid my hand on his arm. "That's the 'one more thing' I had to tell you. Earlier today, Eddie tied me up in the basement of the salon. When I escaped, I went to the docks to find you. That's why I was there."
"Where is he?" he demanded, pointing his finger at Daphne.
"I don't know!" Daphne shouted, her face a worried scowl.
Jake grabbed Daphne by the shoulders. "Where is he?" he repeated.
She shook her head. "He took his car and drove into the hills. That's all I know."
He let go of her. "I need a garment, an article of Eddie's clothing. A jacket or a sweater."
"You're tracking him?" Daphne asked. She looked worried. "He left Enchanted Shores. What more do you want?"
"Just get it. And unless you want to leave Enchanted Shores in disgrace too, you'll do this right," Jake insisted.
"A woman was killed yesterday in Enchanted Shores. We have to find Eddie before anyone else gets hurt," I said.
"Killed? Who?"
"It was Marcy Rawson. She managed the Shaggy Puppy."
Daphne froze. "Eddie knew her. He told me he had a date with her. I'll be right back."
She spun on her heel and ran back into the salon.
Jake pulled out his phone and sent a quick text while he put an arm around my shoulders. He put away the phone and embraced me. "I'm so sorry for what you went through today. How brave you must be, to experience all of that and still come to the dock and save the lives of my crew."
I hadn't felt brave, running all over town looking for Jake. But I was okay with him seeing it that way. "I was so grateful to know you were my friend. And I could turn to you. Also, going into the ocean made me feel better," I said.
Jake's hug made me feel even better. "You okay? Really?" he asked.
I nodded. "I'm really okay." And it was true.
He pulled back and looked into my eyes, smiling with what seemed like pride. "Here's what's going to happen. We're getting Eddie and bringing him back here to face the town council. We need justice."
"The planning board?" That was the only town council I knew about.
"No. Not that town council. That's for non-magical justice and real estate. Enchanted Shores has another town council. Your friend Sparkplug is the head of it."
"Mrs. G? She's in charge of magical justice in Enchanted Shores?"
"Of course. Who else?"
I was speechless. I knew nothing about a whole part of Enchanted Shores, maybe the most important part. Certainly the most interesting part.
Daphne ran back to us. She was carrying a blue sweater. "This is Eddie's," she said, holding it forward. "It was in my car."
I pulled the sweater toward me and sniffed. It had a faint scent of Eddie's horrible bug spray perfume. I nodded. "It's his."
A green SUV pulled up on the street next to us, its engine purring. The windows were tinted black, so I couldn't see who was driving.
"Come on," Jake said to me, taking my hand as he reached for the door. "Carla's dropping off the car. Let's go get the person stupid enough to break the law in Enchanted Shores."
Chapter 16
Sadie
As Jake drove into the hills, I told him what I knew about Marcy's death.
He nodded quietly, taking it all in as he navigated the curvy roads, driving deeper into the night.
"Where are we going, exactly?" I asked finally.
"The police department is meeting us at the water tower. So is my crew," Jake said.
"So, basicall
y, we're not alone in this." That was a relief. The worst part of being tied up in the basement had been trying to figure out what to do about it all by myself.
"Everyone who's available is searching with us tonight. If he's smart, Eddie will be so far away that we won't be able to catch a scent. But my guess is he's not that smart."
"What if he is gone?" I'd never feel truly safe until Eddie had been captured.
Jake tensed his hands over the steering wheel and his knuckles whitened. "We'll just expand the circle of folks searching for him. Wider and wider until his scent is caught. No one gets away from a shifter once he has its scent."
If Eddie wasn't caught, I could probably go live with Tina and my other relatives. Did Jake know I'd be leaving soon? "The woman I met underwater, my aunt, doesn't live here. She wants me to travel with her to meet my family."
"Of course you'll want to meet your family," Jake said, nodding calmly.
"Eventually I'll need to find out where I came from, but I don't know how far away I'll go. Or for how long."
He didn't push. "I've heard of sea witches in these parts. I don't know where they live. Sadie, are you a sea witch? Is that why you can control the water?"
"Apparently I am."
He let out a big sigh and took my hand in his. "That's huge. Sea witches were among the most powerful paranormals anywhere."
"I didn't know that." I couldn't imagine why. So far all I could do was move water around.
"What do you want to do?" Jake asked. "Are you going to leave?"
"I'll have to. I need to find out who I am." It didn't matter now if I lost my house. If I was going to live in some faraway underwater world, I wouldn't need it. I felt a chill. I didn't want to leave Enchanted Shores. Not now, not forever.
"When will you go?"
"I don't know," I said.
"Do you think we could spend time together before you leave?" Jake asked as he parked under the water tower. Five other trucks and two patrol cars were already there. We got out of the SUV. "Maybe a lot of time?"
"Of course." I nodded. "I would like that." A group of a dozen or so men and women clustered together near the woods.
Cormac broke away from them and walked toward us. He greeted us with a brief wave. "We've sited an abandoned hunting cabin with suspicious activity. We're shifting and traveling through the forest. It'll be the fastest way to get there."
Shifting and Bewitching (Enchanted Shores Book 1) Page 10
