Chapter Seven

Rayan

Spending the day with Vince was incredible. I knew he was sexy and had an aura that pulled me in, but I hadn't expected the humor and deep conversations we would share when I accepted the lunch date.

Watch it, Rayan. You will be falling in love before you know it.

"Did you want to do anything else tonight?" Vince grasped my hand as we left Pink Coffee Cafe. "We could go for a walk along the beach. Or, if you want, we can see a movie. I'm up for anything. I'm just not ready to let you go yet."

My cheeks heated under his attention. I wasn't sure why he had this power to make me turn into a blushing omega under his gaze, but I liked that he did. Not usually the type to get tongue-tied, nervous, or overwhelmed by compliments, with Vince, I ranged from nervous anticipation to overzealous excitement. If he wasn't here on vacation but for good, I would eventually give him my heart. Honestly, it may already be too late for me.

"I think a walk along the shore would be nice." I tucked myself closer into his side as we walked down Main Street. "I know I work on the beach, but I still find it one of the most wonderful places on earth."

"I get that." Vince maneuvered us past a large crowd of tourists surrounding the giant turtle statue just outside the entrance of the beach's park. "I don't have anything like that currently, but when I was a kid, we lived near the lake, and every moment we could, Val and I would be down at the water."

"Would you be fishing?" A tingle ran down my spine, telling me this alpha enjoyed a water-centered area. Could he be more perfect for a merman shifter?

"Not really." Vince shrugged and guided me onto the walking path near the rocky section of the water. "We both felt pulled to the area. Being close to the water seemed to calm something in us. Being twins, we had an innate sense of how the other one felt. I knew he felt it as strongly as I did even before we discussed it."

"I must admit, that sounds more like something a water shifter would say than a human." I laughed.

"It does, doesn't it?" Vince shook his head and stopped at a bench. "Let's sit here for a moment and watch the waves."

"Okay." I joined him on the stone bench, enjoying the water's smell and the sounds of crashing waves.

"I have been told that there are times when Val and I both come off more as shifters than humans." Vince's confession had me turning to look at him. "Our great-grandfather was a shifter, so I guess we carry the genes. Sadly, no one after his generation has been born with a form besides human. Val and I used to dream we would shift during puberty and find we were late bloomers."

"That must have been heartbreaking. To wish for something and be unable to make it come true. Does your family know why no one else has been born with an animal form?"

"I asked my grandfather once, and he got reticent. My grandmother didn't talk to him for the night, either. So, of course, that piqued Val's and my curiosity."

"What did you do?" He had to have done something. The slight tilt of his lips had given him away.

"After everyone went to sleep, Val and I snuck out and visited Grandfather Al's brother. Patrick was a very talkative man when he had been drinking. And since it was Christmas, we knew he had been knocking back the spiked eggnog." Vince shook his head. "And he was especially tipsy that night."

"So?" I couldn't hold back my curiosity. "What did he tell you?"

"Apparently, when Grandpa Al and Patrick were teenagers, a beautiful witch lived next door."

"How did I know a witch would be involved? I know most of them are great people, but hearing about generations losing out on something such as a shifted form screams curse to me. So, what did your dear old granddad do to have a hex placed upon his whole bloodline?"

"Grandma Lizzie and Grandpa Al were on a break."

"Of course they were." I laughed.

"During this break, Grandpa Al decided to pursue the girl next door, Clara. When Grandma Lizzie heard of this, she confessed to Grandpa Al that he held her heart and always would. So, he forgot about a date he had set up with Clara."

"And she cursed him for that?" That didn't seem like a bad enough reason for a generational curse.

"No." Vince shook his head and leaned back on the bench, crossing his feet at the ankles. "If that had been it, that would have been fine. But Uncle Patrick decided to play a trick. You see, he and my grandfather were identical twins. And Patrick also liked Clara, although she only found Grandpa Al attractive."

"But they were identical."

"Yup." Vince pulled me closer. "But like you noticed with Val and I, there are little things that separate us and make us the people we are. Clara liked the way Grandpa Al behaved but found Patrick too loud and chaotic."

"Okay, I get that." I saw how different Vince and Val were today at the cafe. "What did he do?"

"Nothing horrible. He just showed up for the date and pretended to be his brother. Unfortunately, Clara knew the whole time but decided why not try it."

"I take it the date was a disaster?" I still didn't see why she would make such a drastic move.

"Oh no. They had a great time. Until they ran into Grandma Lizzie and Grandpa Al. Lizzie kissed Patrick when she walked out of the bathroom at the restaurant, mistaking the wrong twin for her beau. Clara saw that and cursed Grandma Lizzie for taking both brothers."

"Oh my goddess. It was your grandmother who caused the curse. But why has it passed down? I could see putting a small hex on someone, but that seemed drastic."

"Well, Grandma Lizzie started it by cursing the witch for trying to date Grandpa Al in the first place. Clara had placed a bounce-back spell on herself so any hexes would bounce off her and affect the sender thirty-three times worse. And Clara refused to help uncross it because Patrick, in the end, cheated on her with another omega. "

"Wow. So that is why your grandparents wouldn't tell anyone the cause?"

Grandma and Grandpa fought whenever it was brought up, so they refused to address it."

I sat there silently for a few minutes and thought about the situation. "Would you ever want to talk to another witch and see if you can change that for your family? You and your brother may not get to be shifters, but what about your children?"

"We have never found one willing to help. Maybe someday."

Could Astrid help this family out? No one deserved to live under the curse placed on a previous generation. I swore that by the time Vince's vacation ended, I would find a way to help.