Night Tide

by Kory M. Shrum

  When she pulled her exhausted body out of the water, Ethan and Liam stood on the shore. Ethan, she realized, was standing in full sunset. Unlike the other demons she knew, he didn’t seem to die at sunrise. Demons couldn’t exist in the realms of light. Did this mean he was not a demon? If so, he must be something much, much worse.

  Liam held his black umbrella open overhead.

  “Have a nice swim?” Ethan asked, his patent Italian leather shoes half sunk in sand.

  “Did you wait here all day?” she asked, unable to believe their timing. She pulled herself out of the water, fully aware of her nakedness. With as much confidence as she could muster, she marched toward her clothes and found them dry where she left them. But there was also a towel that wasn’t hers.

  “I brought it,” Liam explained. He was keeping his eyes averted respectfully. His demon boyfriend was not.

  “Did you run into trouble?” Ethan asked. His eyes lingered on her legs.

  “Not really,” she said, toweling her body. She was afraid to mention that she’d explored the castle. But she didn’t seriously believe she could keep it a secret from Ethan. Here goes nothing, she thought. “They perked up when I transformed into a human and went into the castle.”

  Ethan’s eyebrows twitched. “Did you? And did you find anything interesting?”

  She told him about the reliefs. “Is that where you got your story?”

  “No,” he said. “It’s true that once Vendetta destroyed the queen she took the castle for herself and it was her stronghold for hundreds of years. I’m sure she decorated its walls however she saw fit, as queens are wont to do.”

  “Is it possible?” Reese asked, unable to control herself. “That I wasn’t dropped here by some shifter who couldn’t take care of me? That I was in fact first a shark?”

  Ethan smiled as if he knew a secret. “What did your aunt tell you?”

  “She found me on a beach when I was three or so. I didn’t talk. I couldn’t tell them my name or anything like that. She suspected that some supernatural dropped me off, knowing this was the best place for me.”

  “It’s possible,” Ethan said companionably. “Both that you had a mother who could not care for you or that you were born in the sea. Does it matter to you?”

  Reese stared out over the horizon uncomprehendingly, as if she might find the answer there. “It doesn’t change anything, does it?”

  “How were the sirens?” Ethan asked, trying to recapture her attention.

  She told them what she saw, doing her best to explain the black lesions.

  Frowning, Ethan lifted his hand as if he meant to touch her. “May I?”

  She nodded, suspecting she was agreeing to some sort of mind meld.

  As his fingertips brushed her temple, the sensation of cold water running over her scalp overtook her. She shivered.

  “I see,” he said, letting his hand fall back to his side. His frown had deepened. All of his flirtation had disappeared.

  The breeze pulled at his shirt, revealing a bare chest beneath.

  “Could an illness make them more aggressive?” Liam asked, turning the umbrella in his grip.

  “If they were worried about population die off, yes,” he said. “Especially if several had already died.”

  “I didn’t see any corpses,” she said and immediately felt stupid. He must know that having shared her memory.

  “They eat their dead,” Ethan said. Now he was looking out over the ocean, a dreamy look on his face. “Which would spread a disease rather than contain it.”

  His trance seemed to break and he turned toward her with a bright smile. “Thank you for your help. This information is very useful. If you don’t mind, I have another task.”

  Reese shifted, wondering just what he might ask for.

  He shook his head, his seriousness lingering. “Nothing lascivious, I assure you. I’m sending Liam to investigate a situation in town and he could use a hand. Or you could go interview the children who were at the beach the night the sirens attacked. Which would you prefer?”

  Reese Choice 9

  Help Liam

  Go interview the witnesses

  Grayson: Go to bed

  “Yeah, it’s late,” he said, conceding to his parents’ will. The relief was written all over their faces. “I should check on Abby anyway.”

  He pushed back from the table and took his plate to the kitchen. He rinsed it without really seeing the dish in his hands, nor did he see the kitchen around him. It seemed like another person was making his body move through the house, up the stairs.

  In his bedroom, he found Abby in his double bed. She was facing away from him, toward his big picture window at the tulip poplar tree dancing in moonlight. He thought she was asleep until she spoke.

  “Will you hold me?” she asked. She glanced over her shoulder. “I can’t fall asleep.”

  “Okay.” He slipped under the covers.

  She was warm now, so much warmer than when they’d been naked on the beach just hours before. Her hair smelled like his shampoo and despite everything, a strange possessiveness rose up in him.

  Stop it, he told himself. Stop thinking about her like that.

  Not only was it wrong to think about his best friend’s girlfriend like that, but Landon had just died. She couldn’t possibly be interested in him right now.

  And yet she was reaching her hands under the covers. She was twining her fingers with his.

  “Please,” she said, snuggling deeper into his arms. He curled one arm under her head, and slipped the other over her waist.

  How many times had he dreamed about this in the last six months?

  How many times had he wondered what Abby would feel like in his arms?

  Countless. And if he was being honest with himself, she was the reason he couldn’t decide between UCLA and CCU. Part of him wanted to go to UCLA in order to get away from her. No—

  from the temptation of her.

  He’d played a scenario in his mind that went something like this: He went away to LA for four years. Abigail and Landon broke up while he was away but became friends again. Then when Grayson returned after college one summer, or when he graduated, he and Abby would have their chance. When it came time to tell Landon, he would be cool with it because he would be over Abby and dating someone else.

  The alternative fantasy had been staying in Castle Cove and going to CCU with Abby. And...

  Only that wasn’t how it was going to go now, was it?

  Landon was never going to be a problem ever again.

  “Why?” he whispered. The word was out of his mouth before he could censor it. He hadn’t meant to open this conversation. If he was lucky, she would be asleep and he wouldn’t have to explain himself.

  But she was turning over in his arms. Her thighs were brushing against his thighs.

  “Why, what?” she asked. Her breath was hot on his cheeks and nose. God, her mouth was so close.

  He licked his lips and tried to think of any other why he might use. But he was too aware of her body. Too aware of the way his hand felt on the dip of her hip. Too aware of the way he’d begun to throb, his heartbeat radiating from his navel down to his knees.

  “Why did I see you? With the siren?” she asked.

  He gave the smallest imperceptible nod. His nose brushed hers when he did.

  For a long time she said nothing.

  That’s what you get for trying to make her talk about it, you moron, he thought. Landon just died. He died while she was...she was... The last thing she wants to talk about is that.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Forget I said anything.”

  She ignored this apology. “I think I figured it out at junior homecoming. How I feel about you.”

  Grayson’s stomach twitched. Junior homecoming was almost two years ago.

  She licked her lips. The skin shimmered as she spoke. “When I was shopping for my dress, the—”

  “Navy blue one,” he interjected.

>   Her breath hitched. “Yeah, that one. I can’t believe you remember. Landon never remembers what I wear.”

  Remembers. Because to her he wasn’t dead yet. He understood that. Was that why this felt so wrong? Holding her like this? Wanting her even after the night they had and the awful sight of Landon’s body thrown against the shore...

  “When I was shopping for it, I kept picturing you. I wanted to know if you’d like it. If you would notice that I’d dressed to match you.”

  He had noticed. But Landon’s suit hadn’t been so different from his own, in either style or color, so Grayson wondered if it was all in his head. Was he only seeing what he wanted to see?

  “I think I’ve always wanted you, but Landon asked me first. And I loved him too, but it took me a long time to realize I didn’t love him like that. He was a guy I trusted and cared about, but there was no...”

  I’d been too scared to show interest, he thought.

  “But I wanted to be sure. I started taking more of the same classes as you. The same after-school activities as you. I wanted more so I could figure out what I really wanted.”

  “Did you?”

  “Yes. I want more.”

  The throb in his stomach was nearly unbearable, except now it was spreading upward, through his chest and into his head. It was becoming hard to think.

  “If you don’t see me that way,” she said, licking her lips again. “If you don’t—”

  “I do,” he said. It wasn’t a smart thing to say. This was neither the time nor the place.

  Right now his best friend was zipped up in a black body bag on his way to the Castle Cove County morgue. And he was lying in his warm, safe bed with more than half an erection and best friend’s girlfriend in his arms. Shame flooded him.

  Before he could process what was happening, she slipped an arm around his waist and closed the remaining distance. He could feel her nipples through her shirt, rubbing against his chest. Her lips found his in the dark.

  When she rocked her whole body against his, he had to swallow down the sound building in the hollow of his throat.

  Grayson Choice 8

  Give in and tell her how you feel (ES)

  Now is not the time

  Reese: Call it a Night

  It had been a long night. All that Reese wanted now was to be in her own bed. She drove through town in a daze and parked her red pickup outside her Georgian three-story home in Cliffside. It wasn’t really her home in the financial sense. It was her aunt who’d bought and paid for the house. On a bartender salary, Reese would’ve been looking for an apartment in Old Town or near Red Light at best.

  And there was the matter of travel. Aunt Constance was almost never home. As an oceanographer, she spent months out on the ocean with each research expedition. At present, the scientist was studying the degradation of coral in the Indian Ocean. The fact that Constance was a shark shifter no doubt helped in that research and the fact that her crew were all supernaturals at the least meant she didn’t have to hide what she was or her purpose in trying to salvage what was left of the ocean.

  It’s our home, Aunt Constance often said. It’s where our souls live, Reese. If it’s lost, that will be the end of us.

  And though Reese didn’t have scientific inclinations of her own, she agreed with her aunt. And Constance was a kind and loving aunt. She hadn’t pressured Reese into doing more with her gifts—or even use them in the name of the ocean they both worshipped—and Reese was very grateful for that. Bonus that Constance had insisted that Reese live in her large, well-furnished house overlooking the ocean.

  Such a large house for only one person is ridiculous, she’d insisted. And you’re doing me a favor by watching the house while I’m away.

  Ridiculously large or not, Constance couldn’t ever live in a house that didn’t overlook the ocean. And the only homes in Castle Cove that offered such a view, were those elegant tri-levels in Cliffside.

  Reese slid out of the truck with much difficulty. As she closed the door, she saw the light on at Cole’s place across the street. She knew the demon and his vampire husband were no doubt awake despite the late hour. Normally she would go say hi if the light was on. But after the night she had, her desire for a hot shower overrode her desire to be a friendly neighbor.

  Reese unlocked the front door and stepped into the gorgeous foyer. A high ceiling and bright crystalline chandelier greeted her. The space was furnished in impeccable whites and ocean hues—blues and turquoise. Coral and the occasional splash of green.

  Reese went straight to the first floor bath, afraid to drip water on any of the house’s expensive surfaces.

  Fortunately, the first-floor bath was just past the living room on the right. All the towels, soap and necessities were present and accounted for. Reese had only to strip out of her sea-soaked clothes and into the hot water.

  She washed the salt from her hair. Her tired mind wandered. She replayed the evening in her mind, wondering if there was a connection between seemingly separate events. Unfortunately, her concentration wouldn’t hold.

  Clean, Reese stepped out of the shower and collected her clothes from the floor. She was tidy by nature, a habit instilled in her by her orderly aunt no doubt. The clothes went in the hamper. The water she’d tracked in was cleaned up with a mop.

  Once every trace of her entrance had been removed, Reese climbed into bed.

  She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

  A phone was ringing somewhere in the house. Reese groped the sheets blindly trying to find her cell. She found the cord first, tracing it to the phone itself.

  “Hello?” she groaned. Her voice broke with the effort.

  “Reese?”

  It was Kristine, her boss and friend.

  “Yeah? What’s up?”

  “A kid died in the cove last night. He was torn apart by a siren.”

  “What?” Reese sat up, alarm rocketing her mind to full wakefulness. “I was just there.”

  “Were you?” Kristine said. Said, because the alpha rarely asked questions. Even her questions couldn’t be mistaken for questions.

  Reese recounted the night, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she spoke. By the time she finished, she felt like she’d made a terrible mistake. She shouldn’t have swum toward the reef after all. She should’ve chanced going into deeper waters. Maybe she could’ve helped those kids if she had.

  “I saw the kids,” she finished lamely. “I should’ve checked on them.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up,” Kristine said. “How could you have known that would happen? The sirens aren’t even supposed to be in the cove.”

  “Yeah,” Reese agreed. But guilt was already turning her stomach and adding lead to her limbs.

  “I’m calling an emergency pack meeting,” Kristine said finally. Her sigh made the woman sound much older. “We need to know what’s going on. I called to see if you could watch the bar until I get there. I realize it’s not your shift and I’ll pay you double for that. But now that I know you’re a witness, maybe you should be part of the discussion. I’ll leave it to you to decide.”

  Reese Choice 11

  Go to pack meeting

  Hold down the bar

  Reese: Swim back

  The swim back felt shorter despite her fatigue. She supposed it had to do with the fact that she knew where she was going this time and how far she must travel.

  When she pulled her exhausted body out of the water, Ethan and Liam stood on the shore. Ethan, she realized, was standing in full sunset. If he was truly a demon, that should be impossible. Even Cole, who was as old as Hell itself, couldn’t live once the sun rose. So Ethan—despite all his demonic charm—couldn’t be a demon after all. Demons could not exist in the realms of light.

  “Have a nice swim?” Ethan asked.

  “Did you wait here all day?” she asked, unable to believe their timing. She pulled herself out of the water, aware of her nakedness. With as much confidence as she could muster, she
marched toward her clothes and found them dry where she left them. But there was also a towel that wasn’t hers.

  “I brought it,” Liam explained, his umbrella open overhead. He was keeping his eyes averted respectfully. His demon boyfriend was not.

  “Did you run into trouble?” Ethan asked.

  “No,” she said, toweling her body.

  Dressed, she moved to stand in front of them.

  “So?” Ethan asked with a quizzical brow. “How were they?”

  She told them what she saw, doing her best to explain the black lesions.

  Frowning, Ethan lifted his hand as if he meant to touch her. “May I?”

  She nodded, suspecting she was agreeing to some sort of mind meld.

  As his fingertips brushed her temple, the sensation of cold water running over her scalp overtook her. She shivered.

  “I see,” he said, letting his hand fall. His frown had deepened. All of his flirtation had disappeared.

  “Could an illness make them more aggressive?” Liam asked, turning the umbrella in his grip.

  “If they were worried about population die off, yes,” he said. “Especially if several had already died.”

  “I didn’t see any corpses,” she said and immediately felt stupid. He must know that having shared her memory.

  “No, they eat their dead,” Ethan said. Now he was looking out over the ocean, a dreamy look on his face. “Which would spread a disease rather than contain it.”

  His trance seemed to break and he turned toward her with a bright smile. “Thank you for your help. This information is very useful. If you don’t mind, I have another task for you.”

  Reese shifted, wondering just what he might ask for.

  He shook his head, his seriousness lingering. “Nothing lascivious, I assure you. I’m sending Liam to investigate a situation in town and he could use a hand. Or you could go interview the children who were at the beach the night the sirens attacked. Which would you prefer?”

  Reese Choice 10

  Help Liam

  Go interview the witnesses

  Grayson: Give in and tell her how you feel