Night Tide

by Kory M. Shrum

“I’m fine,” Tanner called out. “It was just stuck under some of my bullshit.”

  Grayson snorted. Correction: Tanner’s misuse of swear words was the highlight of his year.

  Tanner reappeared in the bedroom doorway and tossed a worn glove to Grayson. It was their father’s. He recognized the initials on the thumb and the fact that it was right-handed. Tanner was a lefty.

  “I’ve got a game tonight,” Tanner said.

  Grayson felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach. “I’d totally forgot.”

  “You don’t have to come. It’s against Plainsville. They’re not very good, so it’ll be a landslide. It won’t even be fun to watch. It’s only fun when the games are too close to tell who’s gonna win.”

  Grayson had to agree.

  At the door, Tanner grabbed his father’s Red Sox hat off the hook and put it on his head backwards. Grayson had to adjust the strap for him so that it would fit his head, and then he reached around and opened the front door.

  Tanner bounded down the steps, hitting the ground at full speed.

  Since they would be in the yard, it didn’t make any sense to lock their door. Grayson left it open and wiggled his hand into the worn glove.

  It fit fine and because it was nice and broken in, it moved well with each flex of his hand.

  “I’ll come to your game,” Grayson said.

  “Someone died,” Tanner said, stopping in the middle of the yard. The dogwood tree behind him was thick with fat pink blossoms. Tanner seemed oblivious. His eyes were on the battered baseball in his hand which he worked in his grip as if getting a feel for it.

  “Yeah, but if I don’t go I’ll just be here thinking about it,” Grayson admitted. “That isn’t healthy either. The least I can do is show up and support you.”

  “I know you love me, dude,” Tanner said and threw the ball straight into Grayson’s open mitt. The kid had great aim, which is probably why he was shifted between the pitcher and shortstop positions. “You don’t have anything to prove to me.”

  Grayson smiled. He loved this kid. But his grown-up attitude was shocking at times. Every time he was reminded that Tanner was growing up it went against the firm image of him as his kid brother. The baby his mother had brought home from the hospital when Grayson was eight.

  “I know,” Grayson said. “But I want to be there.”

  They threw the ball for five minutes in blessed silence. It was a gift from Tanner who could be chatty as hell. Grayson knew his brother was intentionally trying not to overwhelm him with questions. Maybe their parents had said something. Or maybe in that uncanny way of his he knew what Grayson needed better than Grayson himself did.

  But Grayson could tell he wanted to talk. Tanner was waiting for permission.

  “How’s Will?” Grayson asked, opening the door to conversation.

  “He’s okay. Well, he’s sort of okay.” Tanner shrugged before tossing the ball again. This one went a little to the right.

  “Watch those hitching shoulders,” Grayson told him. “What’s going on with Will?”

  “He’s worried about the change,” Tanner said. His voice was low and dramatic.

  Grayson hesitated, his fingers tightening around the leather ball. The stitches pressed into his hands. “Puberty?”

  “No, dude. Will is a werewolf. He’s going to wolf out any day now and he’s freaking out about it.”

  “Why were you over there last night if he’s a werewolf? It was a full-moon.” He didn’t ask the obvious do our parents know he’s a werewolf?

  “His parents weren’t home,” Tanner asked as if reading his mind. “They go out running with their pack in the Wayward Woods or something. “We were home with his cousin, Josh. He’s cool, but not a werewolf. I think he’s something though. He’s got these eyes.”

  Tanner made his impression of crazy eyes.

  Grayson laughed. “Guess it would be rude to ask.”

  “Anyway, Will isn’t going to change into a werewolf until he’s like twelve. Maybe even fourteen. He’s just anxious.”

  That was one of their mother’s words.

  “He was trying to tell me last night that he could feel his hair growing. He made me look at his arms and back with a flashlight and everything. There wasn’t anything.”

  Grayson smiled. “You’re a good friend. But don’t be around when he wolfs out for the first time, okay? You could get hurt.”

  Tanner shrugged and the action made the ball go wide again. Grayson had to reach high to grab it. “I’m not scared of Will. Besides, I’m not going to be a werewolf. I’m going to be something else.”

  A chill ran up Grayson’s neck. “Why do you think that?”

  Tanner shrugged, looking a little self-conscious for the first time.

  Grayson wanted to push him on this and figure out what he’d meant by it. Did he have a dream or something? Sometimes Tanner’s dreams came true. Or was it just a feeling or—

  A car pulling into the driveway cut off his chance to interrogate Tanner more. The red pickup wasn’t new by any stretch of the imagination. It rumbled like an ancient beast awakened from the grave to do its master’s bidding.

  A woman stepped out and shut the heavy door. The whole truck rattled as it slammed closed. She was pretty. Her hair was blond with the tips black. It was like she’d taken her hair and dipped the ends in an ink pot.

  Her eyebrows were also black and her body was lean and muscular.

  “She’s a shark,” Tanner whispered.

  She crossed the yard toward the boys.

  “Can I help you?” Grayson asked. Without meaning to, he’d squeezed the ball in his fist so hard that it made his palm ache.

  “I’m looking for Grayson,” she said with a 100-watt smile. “Is he home?”

  “I’m Grayson.”

  “Hi Grayson. I’m Reese.” She extended her hand and he held up the glove with an apologetic smile.

  “I heard you were in the cove last night. I have some questions for you,” she said.

  Grayson looked at Tanner. He wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like he needed to defer to a ten-year-old kid.

  “I’ll heat up lunch. You want some Chinese?” Tanner asked her. That was as close to a she’s okay as Grayson was probably going to get.

  The woman smiled. “Sure, but I only eat seafood.”

  “We’ve got some crab rangoon. And some fried rice I think.”

  “Perfect.” She watched Tanner mount the stairs and disappear into the house. “Cute kid.”

  “That’s my little brother, Tanner.”

  She turned and faced him. He was startled by her silver eyes. Like liquid moonlight.

  “You with the police?”

  “No,” she said. “I’ve been asked to investigate what happened by someone else. They’re worried about the sirens’ behavior.”

  “They aren’t supposed to come into the cove,” Grayson said. “At least that’s what we thought. The closest they were supposed to come was Heart’s Rock.”

  “Bingo,” she said. “So what can you tell me?”

  Grayson recounted the night to her, starting with the birthday swim to Landon’s body thrashing on the shore. He left out the gory details.

  “Did you—” the woman began.

  Grayson knew what she was asking.

  “I survived,” he said, plainly. “So did Abby.”

  “Can we talk to her?”

  A fierce protectiveness rose up in him at the mention of Abby. “Her mom is a detective at the Castle Cove PD. You’re going to have to ask her.”

  Reese held up her hands as if in defense. “Not a problem.”

  This relaxed him. The screen door creaked open. “Food is warm.”

  Reese followed him into the house and sat down at their little table. Grayson smiled when he saw that he’d put a proper place setting down for her. Their mother would be stoked.

  “What do you want to drink? Coke?” Tanner asked.

  “Just water is fine,” she said, taki
ng the seat to Grayson’s left. “After we eat, do you think we can ride over to Abby’s?”

  Grayson took his seat. “I need to call the station first.”

  “Please do.”

  Grayson accepted the fork his little brother offered before putting a glass of water down in front of Reese. “Thanks.”

  Tanner climbed into his seat and dug into the lo mein while casting curious glances at their guest. He was burning with questions, Grayson could tell. Anyone’s guess how long he could hold out.

  Grayson pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the police station. He used the non-emergency number.

  “Castle Cove PD.”

  He recognized Yvonne Jenkins voice immediately. “Hi Officer Jenkins. This is Grayson Helmson. Is Detective O’Reilly around?”

  “Sure, honey. One second.”

  He flinched at the use of honey, but couldn’t remember a time that Yvonne hadn’t called everyone that. Honey. Sugar. Sometimes she added the word bear to the end of the affectionate title: Honey bear. Sugar bear. Though she’d seemed to drop the latter once he’d turned sixteen.

  “Here she is.”

  The phone clicked and Grayson heard the intake of breath. “Grayson, you there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You okay?”

  He realized that was concern in her voice. The sort of knee jerk reactive fear that crept in when he called his own mother when she wasn’t expecting it.

  “I’m fine,” he said, knowing she’d hear nothing else he said until he assured her. “I’m calling about Reese.” Here he realized he didn’t get her last name. “She said she’s been asked to investigate what happened last night.”

  “Oh, yeah.” All the breath left her at once. “I spoke with her earlier. She’s all right.”

  “She wants to talk to Abby. I thought it would be best if we had your permission first.”

  “That’s real considerate of you, Gray. Yes, it’s fine. She’s not officially with the police department, but she is investigating on behalf...” She seemed to search for the right word. “She’s investigating on our behalf.”

  Grayson had a sense that it was likely far more complicated than that. “So you don’t mind if we go over and talk to Abby about what happened to Landon?”

  What happened to Landon... His chest tightened.

  “Sure. As long as neither of you are going to tell her something you haven’t already told me.”

  The question hung in the air between them.

  “No, there’s nothing else,” he said, wondering when he would be old enough that he no longer needed to constantly reassure the adults around him. Or maybe it was just the human parents in Castle Cove who were having such a hard time.

  “She’s fine. She’s a good person. Clean record. She’s just trying to get us some answers. If that’s all—” she began.

  “Yes, that’s it. Thanks for taking my call.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Then the line clicked and his cell phone returned to the home screen. It was a picture of the three of them—Abby in the middle with their arms thrown over her shoulders. They were all smiling and laughing. He remembered his father taking that photo before they went to senior prom.

  He saw Reese looking at him. “Detective O’Reilly said it’s fine. We’ll go over there after we eat. But if my parents aren’t back, I’ll have to bring Tanner. I can’t leave him here alone.”

  “I’m not a baby,” Tanner said around a mouth of noodles. “You can leave me here.”

  Reese snorted.

  “Mom would murder me.”

  But his parents did roll up twenty minutes later and while they gave Reese curious glances and polite hellos, they had let Grayson go without question.

  He climbed into Reese’s red pickup not knowing what to expect. But the interior was remarkably clean.

  There weren’t any traces of smoke or ash, so he guessed she wasn’t a smoker. No fast food wrappers or empty soda bottles on the floorboard. The dashboard didn’t even have dust on it.

  In the middle of the bench seat there were some papers though, which she gathered up quickly before he sat down.

  “Sorry,” she said, folding them in half and putting them in the glovebox with a firm shove.

  Grayson put on his seatbelt. “No worries. I was just thinking how clean your car is.”

  The half, non-committal laugh seemed to be a favorite of hers. “Yeah, she doesn’t look like she should be in such good condition, but I love her.”

  Grayson smiled. “I can tell.”

  “So where does Abby live?”

  “Just east of Hyde Park,” he said. “In Hummingbird Hollow.”

  “Okay.” She keyed the ignition and the car rattled to life.

  Grayson texted Abby to make sure she was home and to tell her to expect them. She responded quickly and he wondered if she’d been lying in her bed on her phone all day as he’d been tempted to. After all, she didn’t have a little brother to force her into interaction. And he had a feeling that Landon’s loss might be hitting her even harder than it was hitting him—as difficult as that was for him to imagine.

  “Don’t be—” Grayson began, but then he wasn’t sure how to finish. “Abby’s having a hard time.” He finished lamely.

  “I won’t be an asshole,” Reese said with a smile. “I’m a bartender. I know how to talk to people.”

  And how to listen, he suspected.

  They rode in silence past the large, looming mansions that lined Hyde Park. The revival architecture and old live oaks thick with moss seemed to say old creatures dwell here.

  The Hyde Park mansions were supposedly owned by the undead vampire clans. And with homes so massive, he imagined there was plenty of room for an entire clan and all their attendants to dwell within. Many of them even had second dwellings, what Grayson thought might be called a carriage house, set further back from the road.

  Just east of Hyde Park, before the Castle Cove University border began, was a small neighborhood called Hummingbird Hollow. It had small, quaint ranch-style homes and postage stamp size yards. They turned off Ruby Road onto Violetear Drive.

  The front door was open as if waiting for them.

  Reese swung the red truck into the driveway. “Thanks for coming. I think it’ll be easier for her to talk if someone she knows and trusts is with me.”

  Grayson climbed out of the truck as Abby stepped out onto the porch. He saw her visibly stiffen at the sight of Reese. He wasn’t sure if it was because the woman was beautiful or if it was just seeing Grayson riding around with another, older woman.

  “Come in,” Abby said, holding open the door.

  They obeyed, and Grayson squeezed her hand as he passed. The ranch-style house had a single floor with three bedrooms: one for Abby, one for her Mom and one for guests.

  “Do you want anything to drink or—?” Abby’s question hung in the air.

  Grayson noticed that the end of her hair was still wet from a shower. Her face was freshly scrubbed and dewy.

  “Water, if you don’t mind,” Reese said.

  Abby gestured to the mustard yellow sofa in the center of the front room. “Take a seat.”

  Reese obeyed, tucking herself into the corner of the couch and pulling a lacey pillow into her lap. Grayson tucked himself into a navy arm chair, crossing his leg over his thigh. The room felt a little hot, or perhaps he was wearing too much clothing. His long shirt was likely too much for the June heat.

  Abby reappeared with a glass of water, extending it toward Reese. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” Reese sipped the water then balanced the glass on her knee. “I’m here to—”

  “I know,” Abby interrupted. She sat in the armchair beside Grayson instead of sharing the couch with Reese. Something about this made Grayson’s pulse quicken. He found himself looking toward her, tracing the line of her jaw and throat like a man possessed. “I spoke to my mom earlier. She told me who you are and what’s going on.”

&n
bsp; “Great,” Reese said, visibly relieved. “If you could just tell me what happened.”

  Abby looked at Grayson as if seeking his approval. Grayson smiled reflexively. In truth, the unexpected eye contact made his stomach drop. “I already told my part. It’s all yours.”

  Abby recounted the night slowly with even more detail than Grayson had been able to recall. When she finished, Abby flicked her eyes to meet Reese’s. “Someone was using magic. A lot of it.”

  Grayson’s heart kicked. He turned toward her, unable to hide his surprise. “How do you know that?”

  Abby looked suddenly shy. That was another shock because the Abby Grayson knew was never shy, about anything.

  “I’m apprenticed to the coven,” Abigail said plainly.

  He began free-falling. “You’re a witch?”

  “I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure you’d be okay with it,” Abby said. Her cheeks were burning red. “Your parents are sort of—purists.”

  Grayson felt like he’d been kicked in the gut.

  Don’t screw this up, some part of his mind screamed. Some older, wiser part realized this was an incredibly important moment. And the absolute last thing he should do was make it about him.

  He took a breath and tried to clear away any emotion that clouded his mind. “Abby. We love you. Not one person in my family would give a damn if you’re a witch.”

  Abby wouldn’t look at him. Her eyes remained fixed on her lap. It hurt Grayson more to see it. He wanted to reach over and grab her. He’d pull her into his arms and kiss her until she believed him. But Reese was sitting right here, looking at them with thinly veiled curiosity.

  “So you could feel the magic?” Reese asked, clearly trying to break back into the conversation.

  Abby found her voice. “Yes. And there was a surge of it right before the sirens showed up. I knew something was up, but I was halfway to shore when I felt it so I couldn’t do anything in the water. Then once I did get to shore—”

  She licked her lips.

  “Everything happened so fast after that.”

  Grayson could agree with that. It seemed the swim to shore and Landon’s death had happened in the same breath.

  Reese rubbed her knees. “Could you tell where the magic was coming from?”

  “West,” Abby said without hesitation. “Somewhere along Canyon Road. But I can’t be more specific than that. Sorry.”