Chapter 20

“What are you, Cove?”

The question echoes throughout the night sky. Everything is eerily quiet and calm. It’s like the calm before the storm, but I swear we just weathered the storm. I feel like I barely survived, can hardly catch my breath, and suddenly bombs are dropping all around me again.

Only these bombs are detonating my emotions.

I’m shivering. Cold to my bones. Stiff and sore and oh-so-tired. I just want to get out of here. But how?

“Malia, please. I can explain.”

How the hell can he explain? He held his breath down there and kissed me to keep me alive for…how long?

It’s impossible to know how much time has passed. I didn’t exactly stop to check my watch before plunging into the ocean. Time of imminent death? Oh just let me check my watch for that!

Cove could breathe underwater. Freaking breathe! I’m not fucking crazy. I’m not. But who can I tell? Who would believe me?

“Malia—”

His tone is anguished, pleading, but I pull away from him and as I do, I’m wrenched back into a memory.

“Do you believe in all that then?…The paranormal…the supernatural? What about magic? Like actual, real magic…Actually…it’s pretty late. I think I better go.”

Holy shit. Was he trying to tell me something? But it’s impossible…right?

“Please, just…let me help you at least. I got us into this mess, I promise I’ll get you out of it. Come here.”

I shake my head even as my teeth chatter. We should probably cuddle for warmth but I don’t want to risk it. What the hell is Cove? How will he explain this?

He sighs and swims over to the wreckage. I guess that’s whatever’s left of the boat. He grabs hold of a decent sized plant of wood and tows it over to where I’m treading water.

“Hold on, please. It’s not far to shore but I’m worried you’re too cold or in shock to swim.”

Whose fault is that, that I’m in shock? What the hell were those…those things that attacked us? And why? Where did they go? Are they going to come back?

It’s that final thought that has me reaching out to grab Cove’s lifeline, against my better judgement. Better the devil you know, right? I’ll take my chances with Cove and whoever, whatever, he is over those beasts that lit up the night sky and flipped my world upside down.

“Thank you, just trust me a little longer, Mai-Tai, okay?”

I cringe at his nickname for me. Everything was going too well, too good to be true. You don’t get to fall for a good guy, Malia. And a good guy sure as shit wouldn’t fall for you.

I barely hold back my sob as Cove takes the other end of the plank, wraps his arms over it and begins to kick, propelling us back in the direction of what I assume is the shore. I don’t know. It’s pitch black, having obviously lost the lanterns in the explosion, and the stars are concealed by the smoke from the fireworks and the blasts.

Not that I could navigate by the stars anyway, I’m not freaking Moana!

Cove though, he seems to know exactly where he’s going. He’s a strong swimmer, I’ll give him that. I help as much as I can, mostly in a vain attempt to warm myself up and get there faster.

When we reach the shore, I scramble out of the water and along the deck, aiming for the golf cart. On land, the sky is clearer, and by the light of the moon I can see where he’s parked it.

I jump into the driver’s side of the golf cart, grateful for the keys still inside. At least they weren’t lost at sea with my phone and all of our stuff. When I start it up, Cove’s phone automatically connects and Ruelle’s ‘Storm’ begins to play. I shut it off, cringing away from the unbearable lyrics and toss the phone to him.

He doesn’t even attempt to catch it and it hits the floor.

“Malia, please,” he begs.

I can’t.

I shake my head and take off with surprising speed, driving in a blind panic. I should have kept his phone; I know the code and could use the guidance to get home, but I can drive until I hit a main road or find my way back into two.

As I leave Cove behind, an incredibly strong sense of déjà vu washes over me, but this time I’m not flooded by feelings of guilt.

Just confusion.

What is going on? Who is Cove? Why were we attacked? Am I really in danger?

My heart is.

Part of me wants to turn around and race back. But I can’t. He’s crazy. No, I’m crazy. I don’t even know any more. I don’t even care.

I’m so confused.

I’ve spent so long convincing myself that…what? I am crazy? I’m not? I can’t keep track any more. All I know is that whatever happened tonight, it isn’t normal. Shadowy, robed men don’t just fall from the sky and attack innocent people.

In an instant I’m transported back to before.

I’m in my room, frantically calling for help when someone, something bursts into my room. Dark shadows block the light and floor-length, hooded black cloaks obscure my monsters. One of them reaches out for me, a clawed talon attached to bare, skeletal bones where a hand should be.

The yellowed decaying clawed fingernail makes contact with my left temple, and pain unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before erupts inside my skull.

The golf cart swerves and bumps off the road. I try to right the wheel, but I can’t concentrate on anything but the pain.

Falling to my knees, I claw at my head, trying to pluck the invading sounds from my brain.I hear their voices. Their tortured promises of the suffering that’s to come.

I race across the rough terrain, the buggy moving faster than I ever thought possible. It’s completely out of control. There are flashes of eerie green light at my periphery. For a split second, I swear I see Summer’s silhouette on the roadside and I try to call out to her for help.

But the pain is becoming too much, too intense for me to bear. I slump forward over the wheel and my mouth falls open in an agonised scream.

The cart collides with the trunk of a tree, forcing the air from my lungs with a painful jolt. For a second the agony is gone. And then my lights go out.

Did you love being back in Malia’s story?

Do you want to see what happens next?

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