by R. E. Butler
He started the day cleaning the glass in the upper part of the lighthouse, checked the electronics and monitoring equipment, and then headed outside to pick up litter and straighten up. The lighthouse wasn’t open to the public because it was also his home. At one time there had been a small gift shop and weekend tours, but the lighthouse keeper before him hadn’t wanted to do them, so it had closed down. Now the little shop at the base of the lighthouse was for storage.
Breathing in the warm morning air, he set about his work, thoughts of the coming night on his mind.
* * *
Zia stepped down into her little boat, which had been a twenty-first birthday gift from her parents. She learned how to operate a boat as a child from her father.
She turned on the engine and checked the gauges. One time she’d left without checking to see how much gas she had and ended up having to radio for a tow when she’d gotten stranded. She had a small bag of just-in-case supplies stashed in a cooler under the front seat which contained a change of clothes and shoes, a few protein bars and bottled water, plus a spare battery pack for her cell and cord.
She glanced at her phone. The sun was about to set, and she wanted to get on the way to the patch of night-blooming algae before it got totally dark. She couldn’t harvest until the crescent was in the sky, but she needed to be in the right place ahead of time.
“Come on, Frederick,” she muttered.
She heard boots on the dock and looked up. “Speak of the devil,” she said to Frederick.
“I can’t go. There’s been an emergency,” he said, a little winded from running. He took a few deep inhales and then continued, “Someone broke into one of the storehouses and got off with a lot of things. I’ve been called in to help with the search.”
“Can someone else go with me?”
“It’s all hands, Zia, I’m sorry. Next month I’ll go with you.”
She nodded. “Thanks.”
“Again, sorry.” He turned on his heels and hurried away.
Well, she wasn’t about to let something like that stop her from getting her mom’s plants. She was an experienced boater and didn’t have far to go. She waited until Frederick was out of sight and then she unhooked the lines from the dock to the boat and pushed off. Settling behind the seat, she watched the navigation screen so she could see where she needed to go.
Engaging the engine, she headed toward the patch of night-blooming algae.
* * *
Zia turned off the engine once she reached the patch of algae just as the sun was setting.
She gathered her tools—shears to cut the algae clusters from the main body of the plant and a bucket to put the clippings in. She had a couple hours to wait until the algae would bloom, and stood carefully, moving to a bench seat near the bow. She settled on a cushion, stretching out and crossing her legs at the ankles.
The lights of the fairy city were visible in the distance, twinkling in the night. She listened to the lap of the water against the boat and wiggled into the cushion until she was more comfortable. She closed her eyes with a yawn, tilting her head back against the bow.
And then she was asleep.
* * *
Zia thought it sounded like someone was knocking on her bathroom door. The shower was on, though, so she couldn’t be sure what the sound was. Reaching to turn off the faucet, her hand hit the edge of something hard, and she opened her eyes.
She’d fallen asleep and it had started storming!
Lightning crackled across the sky and thunder boomed immediately.
She looked up at the night sky and couldn’t see the moon for the clouds.
A wave hit the side of the boat and it lurched, swaying wildly in the water. She let out a yelp and lunged for the controls, managing to get into the seat before another wave hit the side of the boat.
She turned on the engine, and when the navigation screen booted up, she realized she’d drifted quite far away from the shoreline. She couldn’t even see the lights of the fairy city from where she was. It was just inky blackness.
Another streak of lightning carved its way across the sky, lighting up everything. But she still didn’t see the city.
A huge wave rolled up the side of the boat and tossed her from her seat as she’d been reaching for the autopilot to get her back home.
She landed hard on the floor of the boat, her head knocking into the corner of the cooler.
Her vision blurred and she groaned.
Another wave struck, and she was lifted off the floor of the boat, then was slammed bodily back against the floor.
Her head hit the rail, and everything went dark.
Chapter Four
Cassian sat on the beach with his arms around his knees and watched the pale light of the crescent moon as it played across the waves. In the distance a storm brewed, the air tinged with ozone from the lightning.
He inhaled and rolled his neck, wondering if he was being a fool for believing in prophetic witches and candles.
He trusted Delaney and her two witch friends, Kinsley and Hadlee, but it just seemed too fantastical and it was starting to screw with his mind. Like a candle picked up by Delaney after the fall equinox ceremony would actually lead to some kind of prophetic vision about someone needing his help.
Someone coming into his life and changing it forever.
He snorted and dropped his head to his knees. His merman wanted out to play in the water, but Cassian wasn’t in the mood. He’d spent the whole day thinking about the coming night and hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything.
Glancing at his watch, he saw it was after midnight and decided to call it a night. He rose to his feet and brushed the sand off his jeans. In the far distance, he could see a flash of lightning. He decided to check the weather station inside the lighthouse to see if the storm was going to come their way.
The weather station confirmed they’d be getting the tail end of the storm. Since this might mean some higher-than-normal tides and debris churned up by the waves, he decided to throw a few more lines on his boat just to be safe.
Once he’d secured the boat, he trudged up the stairs to the second floor of the lighthouse which was the apartment he’d lived in for the past two years. He sat heavily on the bed and dropped back onto the mattress, feeling the soft blanket under his fingers as he stared up at the ceiling. Part of him wanted to stay on the beach all night just to make sure he didn’t miss anyone or anything, but the skeptical male in him thought that was too ridiculous.
The skeptical side of him won out as he drifted off to sleep, thoughts of the distant storm on his mind.
* * *
Cassian woke with a start sometime later. He was confused at first, not sure when he’d fallen asleep or why he’d gotten into bed without undressing. Thunder boomed suddenly, lightning flashing outside his window.
They hadn’t just gotten the tail of the storm—they were in the throes of it.
Something inside him demanded he go outside.
He jumped from the bed and hurried down the stairs, bursting out of the back door and jogging to the end of the dock. His boat was still tied up, the lines stretching as it swayed with the rough water.
Lightning lit up the night sky again, and he saw a person standing in a boat a hundred yards away.
He blinked several times and waited for another strike of lightning, not sure if he was actually seeing someone or if he’d imagined it.
When the next bolt of lightning struck, he saw the boat, but he didn’t see a person.
Panic tore through him.
This was the prophesy. Someone in trouble in the water.
He tore off his clothes and dove into the water, shifting effortlessly into his merman form. He swam swiftly through the water, opening his senses as he moved so he could zero in on the person.
He could hear a heartbeat and felt the motions of someone struggling in the water.
Changing course slightly, he swam as fast as he could to get to the person before a
wave could take them under. Whoever the person was, Cassian was one hundred percent certain he was meant to save them.
He just had to get to them in time.
* * *
Zia woke and groaned, rubbing her head. The boat rocked, waves knocking against the sides. She rose unsteadily to her feet, confused for a moment and not remembering where she was or how she’d gotten there.
A light burned in the distance, and she hoped it was a lighthouse.
She nearly fell over as a wave hit the boat.
The storm was directly overhead, and clarity washed through her as she remembered she’d fallen asleep waiting for the moon to rise and woken up in a storm. Then she’d hit her head and now…where the heck was she?
She turned to look around when lightning illuminated the sky. She saw what was indeed a lighthouse rising up from a rocky outcropping and a dock with what looked like a man standing on the end of it.
She raised her hands to wave and shout for help, when a wave washed over the side of the boat and she toppled over the edge, her scream cut off as she plunged into the water.
She righted herself and swam up to the surface, breaking through and coughing, clearing her mouth and throat of water.
She tried to call for help, but the bow of the boat swung around as lightning flashed and nearly took her out.
Lurching backward, she avoided being hit by the boat and tried to calm her racing heart and think clearly.
“Help! Can anyone hear me?”
Her last word was cut off as a wave lifted above her and slammed down, pushing her under again.
She struggled, unsure of which way was up.
Her lungs burned, her arms and legs aching from the pull of the water.
Something heavy wrapped around her waist and pulled her quickly through the sea. She let out a scream, the last of her air pushing from her lungs.
She surfaced, held tightly against something, sputtering and slapping her hands on the water’s surface.
“It’s okay, you’re safe. I’ve got you,” a male voice said in her ear.
She froze, the voice making every feminine instinct within her take notice.
“Did I die?” she asked.
“What? No! I said you’re safe. Just hang on, I’ll get us to land.”
“My boat!”
“I’ve got it, I’ll pull it behind us.”
She did what he’d said—she held on—and was pulled through the water quickly. He held her with one arm around her waist, using the other to drag her boat through the water with a rope tied around one of the cleats. She watched the boat as it bobbed along behind them.
The rain eased to a light drizzle, the lightning striking only every few minutes now instead of one after the other as the storm moved away.
Zia realized she could’ve died. Everything her father ever told her about boating and safety she’d tossed out of the window in a quest to get her mom the algae. Algae that hadn’t been worth dying for.
“I should have on a life jacket,” she said.
“Yes, you should,” the male said, gruffly. “You’re lucky I was here and saw you.”
“Thank you.”
He grunted.
“Wait,” she asked, craning her head to look at him. She could only see the back of his head behind her. Beyond him, the lighthouse was coming into view, lit up by exterior lights. “How are you swimming if you don’t have use of your arms?”
“I’m a merman.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
She’d never met a merman, let alone been rescued by one.
“Cool.”
He snorted.
She could feel the pulse of his tail under her as he swam, and she was impressed that he didn’t need to stop to catch his breath. His body moved under hers suddenly, and before she could ask him what he was doing, he rose out of the water, bringing her with him. He was standing on two legs on the beach, his arm still around her waist.
“Can you stand?” he asked.
She held onto his arm as she straightened her legs, trying to see if they were going to hold her up or not. When she swayed a bit but didn’t fall, she released her hold on him, then turned to face him.
“Yes, thank you.”
He gave a tug on the rope and pulled her boat onto the sand.
She looked at his muscular arm with the rope wrapped around his wrist. She followed his arm to his broad shoulders, taking in his broad chest.
He cleared his throat.
Zia realized her head had dropped and she was staring at his groin.
His very naked groin.
Naked and hard.
Hard.
Shit!
She jerked her head up to look at him and winced as pain bloomed in the back of her skull. “Ow, damn it.”
“Do you need medical help?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I hit my head in the boat. It hurts, but I think I’m okay.”
“I’ve got a friend who can come check you out. Let’s go into my place and I’ll get you some dry clothes.”
“I need my phone from the cooler in the boat so I can call my parents and let them know I’m okay.”
He put his hand on her boat’s railing and jumped easily over the side, landing solidly. She totally didn’t ogle his butt.
“Do you want your clothes too?” he asked when he opened the cooler.
“Yes, please.”
“That’s pretty smart to carry spares,” he said as he climbed from the boat and handed her the phone, clothes, and shoes.
“Thanks. I’m Ziarena, but everyone calls me Zia.”
“I’m Cassian.”
“Thank you for saving me, Cassian.”
“You’re welcome. Next time you go boating, you wear a life jacket, got it?”
“I promise.”
He nodded sharply.
As he tied her boat up at one of the slips on the floating dock between his boat and the harbor patrol boat, she climbed up the small incline of beach. She met him at the top of the dock, then followed him into the lighthouse. They climbed a set of stairs, and he opened the door into the living space. “You live here? In the lighthouse?”
“Yes, I’m the lighthouse keeper.”
“That’s really cool.”
He turned on the light in the bathroom. “Help yourself. If you put your clothes outside the door, I’ll run them through the wash.”
“Thanks.”
She shut the door and leaned against it. Holy crap! She’d gone for a boat ride to gather algae, ended up nearly dying in a storm, then was rescued by a merman.
But what was up with her fairy powers? Her wings kept trying to break free, and she had the urge to invite Cassian into the bathroom to help her get clean. And also maybe dirty. Shaking her head to clear the naughty thoughts of the sexy lighthouse keeper, she stripped out of her wet clothes and put them outside the door.
“Where am I?” she called.
“Sable Cove. Where are you from?”
“Trieve.”
“You’re a fairy?”
“Yep.”
He hummed but said nothing else, and she could hear him walk away.
She turned toward the shower but decided to text her parents first. She took her phone from the waterproof bag and sent them both a note that she’d gotten caught in the storm and had been rescued by a merman.
“We’re so glad you’re okay,” her mom texted. “When will you be home?”
“In the morning,” she replied. “I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thank the merman for us,” her father texted. “We’re so thankful you’re safe.”
“Me too. See you tomorrow.”
Zia put her phone on the counter and stepped into the shower, wincing as the hot water hit the place on her scalp where she’d hit her head. While she gingerly washed her hair and cleaned up, she wondered if Cassian believed in fate. As a magical being, Zia had been raised to believe in kismet when it came to meeting your one-right-pe
rson. Maybe she’d gotten caught in the storm so it could bring her and her soulmate together.
She certainly hoped the feelings weren’t one-sided. She’d only spent a little while with Cassian, but she was already smitten with him. Not only had he saved her life, but he was doing her laundry.
He was definitely a keeper.
Chapter Five
Cassian marveled at how the night had turned out as he put his and Zia’s clothes into the washer. He couldn’t believe how close he’d been to actually dismissing Delaney’s prophetic vision. That was his pessimist streak making itself known. Thank goodness he’d woken up in time to save her. He would never have forgiven himself if something had happened to her and he’d slept right through it.
Closing the lid on the washer, he turned the dial and pulled it to start the water flow, then went to find his phone and get dressed. After dressing in clean, dry clothes, he picked up his phone from the nightstand in his bedroom then sat on the edge of the bed. He was trying not to imagine Zia all naked and wet just a few feet away from him in the bathroom as he opened the messaging app.
“Hey, I rescued a female in the water tonight,” he typed to Delaney. “I just wanted to let you know that your prophesy came true.”
She replied a few minutes later, “Oh wow! That’s so awesome!! Is she okay?”
“She’s great.”
“I’d love to meet her, so let me know when you’re going to take her on a town tour, and you can bring her by the rescue.”
Delaney and her two best friends—also witches—ran a familiar rescue in town. Delaney and her mate, Brody, who was the chief of police and also a vampire, were building an addition to the rescue which would serve as their residence and allow her to be at the rescue at night when Brody could be out and about.
“Will do,” he replied.
He stared at his screen, thinking how he wished he could send a message to his parents or friends, but he knew they wouldn’t accept the messages or even acknowledge him, even if they hadn’t blocked him. Which they had.
