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The boss sat at the far side of the room, leaning back in his chair, staring out a window that Rafe knew looked over the beach. His thumb caressed the long scar that ran down the left side of his face. A war wound as Kane had told him once. A reminder that entering the water meant stepping into a different world, a world they owned. Monsters of the deep cared little for human life.
“Hope your morning was much more chill than mine,” Rafe said.
Kane took a moment to finally turn his attention away from the window. He looked back over his shoulder, saw him, and then turned his chair to face him.
“I spent my morning swimming laps,” Kane said. “You?”
“Something like that,” Rafe replied.
“Surfing,” Kane said with a smirk. “I’ve never understood the sport. You like being on top of the water. I prefer to be under it.”
“Diving isn’t for me,” Rafe said as he sat down next to his mentor and reached across him to grab a donut. “You ate all the glazed.”
“Becca got the last one,” Kane said. “But I’m pretty sure she’s holding onto it for you. She likes you, you know?”
“What’s on the agenda for today?” he asked, ignoring the comment.
“Same as yesterday and tomorrow. Looking for sharks to kill.”
Chapter 3 - Kalina
Masks. She wore many masks. She had one on now as she soared through the water. It was the tough, apex predator one with jagged teeth. Kalina knew if she were able to see her own reflection, she might feel sorrow looking into her own beady black pits. She’d never been face to face with herself in a mirror while in tiger shark form, but she’d seen the others and she knew they all had that distant, cold expression. The look of a monster. She’d met other shifters, paranormal creatures of so many shapes and forms, and none of them had carried the unwarranted negative reputation that she and her kind were dealt.
Wolves in packs were terrifying when chasing you through the woods, but on their own, they were slightly aggressive dogs, and everyone loves a dog. Nobody wanted to come face to face with a bear while camping, yet if Kalina had to guess, she’d say that probably nine out of ten children had held a teddy bear at least once in his or her life. Even dragons, the ferocious flying beasts they were, reminded people of legends of knights in shining armor, princesses, and a code of honor.
But sharks? People didn’t like sharks. Kalina had met dolphins, whales, and even a giant sea turtle shifter. She’d yet to hear a human yell, “Swim for your life, it’s a dolphin!” Or, “Get out of the water! There’s a sea turtle!” Thane had told her once that he’d met a squid shifter, and she figured that might be worse than being a shark, but still, it wasn’t fair. She was anything but cold, and yet, she knew she was a feared monster with fins. No child would ever want to reach into the water and feel their fingertips brush against her skin. She’d never be a Flipper. She was the beast humans steered clear of…and it bothered her lately more than it ever had before.
Masks. Disguises. In this body, she was savage, strong, and swift. In her human body, she was forced to play the part of the positive, happy-go-lucky island ray of sunshine. She would beam through tear brimmed eyes and then finally let the faucets flow once she was alone in her cabin. She’d sulk there in silent solitude, thinking of how the man she still loved poured his affections onto another.
“Kalina, do you sense that?” Thane asked.
His voice inside her head always soothed her, and she remembered what it was like hearing him whisper into her ear in bed at night. He’d always been a selfless lover and a strong leader. He’d never given her the mark, but their connection had been instant, and she still felt him inside her, filling her soul with an electric buzz that only he’d ever given her. His jolt was that strong. Even now that their relationship was that of king and faithful servant, older brother and kid sister, she was in love with him. More importantly, she respected him.
“I sense something,” she said internally, focusing her inner voice and projecting it out to Thane and Faith. “Fear maybe. Yes, intense fear.”
“And blood,” Faith added.
Under water, shark shifters communicated via the mind. The stronger the family bond, the further sharks could communicate, and Kalina’s family was closer than most. Their words could reach for miles.
“It’s coming from the far east. I don’t sense an engine,” Thane said.
“Divers?” Kalina asked.
“Always divers,” Faith replied. “There must be a boat nearby. These idiots always stray too far. When will they learn? This isn’t their world.”
“They shouldn’t have to learn,” Thane replied. “Their curiosity forms a bond you’re not giving them credit for. The humans who refuse to step foot into the water. They’re the ones we should be concerned about. They’re the ones who fear our world too much to give us a chance.”
Kalina loved every word that came from his mind. He was always right. If it hadn’t been for Thane, they might have all migrated elsewhere when Evelyn had started all her bullshit. Or they may have joined her, having not understood the point of good relations between sharks and humans. The more the humans hated their kind, the more likely they were to hunt them and to sell their meat. Thane helped her understand that. He helped them all get it.
Since Evelyn had tucked her tail between her legs and fled the nearby waters, things had been relatively peaceful. Keelan Kane still frequented the surface, patrolling the area, trying to hunt down their kind, but keeping away from him was easy as long as they stayed far from the shore. The sounds of his boats were easy to pick up from afar, so they had no reason to fear the man. Plus, he knew what they were. He’d confessed it recently, and Thane had made a pact with the man. His sharks would keep an eye on things below, and Kane would make sure nothing attacked tourists in shallow water. They’d become guardians of the deep, playing s
ecurity for humans. Kalina was fine with that as long as it meant peace. Blood from a diver wasn’t a good sign. Blood on its own might not have raised any red flags. Divers can cut themselves. It happened from time to time. But the fear they sensed accompanying it meant something else entirely. This was an attack of some kind.
Kalina instantly thought of Evelyn and wondered if she’d returned. She would be stupid to come back, but her wits weren’t what her reputation was built on. Her whorish ways and brutal barbarism were more her forte.
It turned out Kalina was ahead of the others. She just happened to be closer to the action, and it didn’t take long for the faint stream of blood to slide through her gills and nag at her stomach. It always brought on an instant ache, as if she’d starved herself for a week and her gut was begging for a bite. Then her stomach turned, and a wave of terror-filled nausea hit her when she saw the size of the great white circling the small yellow submarine.
The diver had made it back to the tiny metallic craft, but not before getting a chunk of his leg ripped open. The amount of blood spreading through the water was enough to kill a man, and she hoped he’d make it out of there alive. Even safe behind the thick wall of glass and metal, the diver was in grave danger. The great white had tasted blood and was determined to get more of it.
