Chapter 19

I stare at Malia as her hands tremble so violently that she spills the pills she was trying to tip into the palm. They rattle to the floor of the boat and she curses.

I pull on my shorts and ask carefully, “Are you okay?”

She’s so shaken, I don’t want to make things worse.

“Y-yes.” She sucks in a breath, holds it and releases it on a shaky sigh. “Sorry. I just…I need…my meds are overdue.”

I frown. I know all about her ‘meds’. Well, as much as Reef knows about them, which isn’t a lot. He told us that the doc was also unable to identify Malia’s plethora of medication and that for the time being at least, it was safest not to interfere with whatever medication the hospital has her on. The doc wants us to swipe some of her meds to get them to her for testing, and even though now would be the perfect opportunity to grab some, I don’t.

Malia is my focus.

Even though we want to get to the bottom of this and we all agree her diagnosis is bullshit and the tablets are most likely making things worse.

Looking at her now though, I’m not so sure.

She’s really freaked out. And if taking those tablets helps her to feel calmer, then I’m all for it.

I just hope she’s not freaking out because of what we just did. It would gut me if I’m the reason she feels this way. So…out of control.

“Can I do anything?”

“Can you grab me a drink? I suck at swallowing pills. You’d think with this many to take that I’d be used to it by now, but I’m not.” I blink at her, amazed at her ability to force a humourless joke from her lips when she’s so freaked out. She doesn’t need to do that. Not with me.

I want to tell her so, to assure her she doesn’t need to pretend and act normal with me, but I don’t want to make things worse.

“Sure.”

I reach into the cooler and pull out a fresh bottle of water. I didn’t know if Malia was a big drinker or not, so I packed a small selection of beverages for tonight. So far, all either of us have touched is water, which is more than fine by me. Until a couple of minutes ago, the night was so perfect I didn’t need alcohol to enhance it. I got the impression Malia felt the same way.

She calms enough to take the tablets and then lets out a sigh. The tension leaving her is visible. I wish I could help her, rather than having her rely on those tablets for stability and peace.

I pull her into my arms and she settles, instantly. I’m glad I can give her comfort at least and that she’s not pushing me away. Maybe it wasn’t the sex that triggered her freak out.

“Want to talk about it?”

“I didn’t take my meds earlier,” she tells me softly, her voice full of regret and dripping in guilt. “I felt so good and was so excited for our date. I just didn’t feel like I needed them.”

My heart leaps at her words but I force myself to stay calm and listen, even though I really want to encourage her to stop taking them.

“I brought them along with me to take later if I needed them.”

“What would happen if you didn’t take them?” I ask.

“I’d freak out. It’s hard to say how bad things would be, but in the past I’ve had…auditory hallucinations.”

“Like, hearing voices in your head?”

“Yeah. But…oh god, you’re going to think I’m insane if I tell you this—”

“I would never,” I tell her emphatically.

“I used to think I could hear people’s thoughts. So I wasn’t just hearing voices in my head, but thought I was reading minds or something.” She laughs, but it’s horrible and forced and it makes me equal parts angry and sad.

I don’t think she’s crazy at all.

“And what happened just now to make you freak out? That reaction was too extreme for someone who just remembered they forgot to take a couple of tablets.”

“It happened.”

“What did?”

“The voices came back.”

“And—” I hesitate on my next question, but then decide to go for it. I don’t think she’s crazy. I know this island, this world in fact, isn’t what it seems. Hell, I’m not what I seem. How could I ever accuse anyone of being crazy when I’m literally from a different world? “And what were they saying?”

Before she can answer, the sky lights up a murky neon green behind the wall of smoke created by the fireworks. There’s a bang that’s more violent than any rocket going off and the force of it shakes our boat.

“Cove!” Malia cries, reaching for me. “What’s going on?”

“I-I’m not sure,” I stammer.

“Is this part of the fireworks display?”

“Not that I know of. It might be but—”

Dark shadows emerge from the smoke and circle. Alarm bells start ringing and I pull Malia even closer. She clings to me and I can taste her fear. It mingles with my own.

“This isn’t part of the display, is it?” she whispers.

“No, it’s not. But I’ve got you.”

I can’t promise her that everything will be okay, or that I can keep her safe, but I can keep her close, and no matter what happens, I won’t let her go.

She shudders in my grip and then tenses, as though she’s just steeled herself for whatever’s coming.

There’s another blast of light – too blinding to be anything other than magical – and it strikes the boat.

We rock dangerously and the first shadow dives.

I duck, pulling Malia along with me.

Shikari.

Shit.

As if taking their cue from the leader, the rest of the shadows circle restlessly, then one by one fall from the sky. They race towards us and fear claws at my throat.

With every strike the boat lurches more erratically but I can tell they’re just playing with us; riling us up so that they can feed off our fear.

It’s only a matter of time before they escalate though.

“Mai-Tai, we need to jump,” I whisper.

“No. It’s freezing and pitch black. We’ll never swim to shore.”

“I need you to trust me,” I insist.

“I do but—”

“Shit’s about to get real weird, but if you can just trust me until this nightmare is over, I’ll explain everything. I swear.”

Her eyes are too large in her head, and her skin is too pale with fear. I hate it. Hate that she’s in danger, that I might be to blame.

There’s no other explanation for this attack. We’re too remote for it to be random. I can’t imagine what caused them to pick up my signal like this, but I do know there’s far too many of them for me to fight alone. Especially while protecting Malia.

“O-okay.”

“Take my hand, follow my lead, and whatever happens, don’t let go.”

“You’re scaring me, Cove.”

“I’m not as scary as those things up there, Malia. We have to go.”

I grab her hand and lock our fingers together. I know my grip must be hurting her but she doesn’t make a sound, just stares at me with those huge fearful eyes.

“Ready?”

She nods.

A lie. She never actually tells lies if she can help it, but I’ve come to realise that her non-verbal ones are a dead giveaway.

I place my foot on the edge of the boat and get ready. Taking a deep breath, I force myself to exude calm, for Malia’s sake.

“Take a deep breath. Three… Two…”

I don’t get any further as the first Shikari decides it’s had enough of waiting and dives for the boat. It slams into it, making it rock so violently that we almost topple overboard. I tighten my grip on Malia and go with the momentum of the boat, plunging us inelegantly into the icy black water below.

Fuck it’s cold.

The presence of the Shikari has definitely lowered the temperature by a few degrees. It’s like the fucking Dementors have arrived from Harry Potter, only they carve up your body while searching for your soul, rather than just sucking it out with a ‘kiss’.

Utter bullshit.

I try to peer through the murky water, but the salt just stings my eyes. Everything is blurry. Using my one free hand, I tread water against the current, keeping Malia alongside me. I don’t want to move too far from the boat. Whatever’s left of it. Malia was right; we’ll never swim to shore, but if we can wait out the Shikari, we may be able to get back to the boat and I’ll steer us safely home. Somehow.

She’s never going to want to go out on a date with me again.

Looking above us, I can make out the Shikari’s strikes hitting the surface of the water. The black depths are lit up by their magical attacks, similar to the way the fireworks lit up the sky, just with none of the beauty.

My lungs burn with the need to breathe, but I ignore it. I can tell Malia is panicking from her frenzied movements but I don’t think it’s safe to break the surface yet.

She won’t be able to hold her breath for as long as I can, so I need to do something. I spin her to face me and pull her into my arms, clamping her close. Malia wraps her legs around my waist and fuck me, I know the timing is all wrong but I can’t help but think of ten minutes ago when everything was perfect and I was buried so deep inside her it felt like I was home.

Just as I begin to feel lightheaded with the need to breathe, my magic kicks in and oxygen floods my body. I press my lips to Malia’s and kiss her, sharing my breath, giving her life.

I lose myself in kissing her, and I swear we could be losing days down here.

Eventually she pulls away and I risk the burn of the saltwater to stare into her eyes. She’s looking at me reproachfully, distrusting. She knows something isn’t right. Now is not the time for kissing.

I suspect the coast may be clear up above because everything has gone dark, so I hold my finger to my lips and then point to the surface. Malia gives me a tight nod.

We break the surface of the water into the pitch black night. The skies are deserted, but the boat is destroyed. Malia gasps for air even though I know she was breathing just fine a moment ago with my help. Maybe it’s a human habit. I know I felt the need to breathe until my magic activated and allowed me to breathe underwater. I guess it helps being descendant from a ‘lost’ underwater race and part of the Queen of the Ocean’s Guard.

Malia lets go of my hand to tread water and I notice that she puts distance between us. It hurts, but I can’t blame her. There have been too many secrets.

It’s time to come clean.

For all of us.

In the quiet of the night with just the water lapping at the boat, Malia’s pants are painfully loud. She sounds petrified.

“Malia?” I ask, tentatively reaching out to touch her shoulder. I mean for the gesture to be comforting but she flinches away from me like I’m one of the Shikari who just tried to attack us, not the one who saved her life.

When she turns around, she stares at me with horror in her eyes.

“What are you, Cove?”