“I…um…” I shoved her off my lap and turned away, ignoring her yelp as she fell onto Zane. He just laughed because he was a dickhead.
“You alright, little mate?” The bear rumbled.
“Yeah!” The kitsune slid along the seat and gave me some serious side-eye, but I ignored it in favor of staring out the window. Moonlight lit up the churning ocean far below, and my stomach curdled at the thought of going on a boat.
I fucking hated boats.
It took another fifteen minutes before we arrived at the harbor. Piles of filthy snow and slush everywhere made the going treacherous, and when I climbed out of the car, eager to stretch my legs, every exhale clouded into steam around me.
Thankful for the thick, down-filled coat I’d brought with me, I stepped gingerly over to the harbor wall and stared out across the churning water. It looked cold, miserable, and guaranteed to make me sick.
The merman joined me. Like always, he wore no coat or even a shirt. The guy didn’t seem to feel the cold at all. While I understood why, just looking at him gave me hypothermia.
“Do you really not feel the cold?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. He shook his head.
We stood in silence for a few minutes. I had to admit that, compared to the incubus, the merman wasn’t so bad. I quite liked his quiet, stoic personality. He didn’t talk unless someone asked him a question, but when he had something to say, it was always important.
If only the incubus could keep his fucking mouth shut.
“Yo, vanilla popsicle, we’re going for food. You joining us?”
I rolled my eyes. If being intentionally offensive could be classed as a talent, the incubus would win prizes.
“You coming?” I asked the merman. He shook his head.
“No. I need to swim.” I watched as he dropped his shorts and dove off the harbor wall. When I peered over the edge, there was no sign of him in the seething water until a few seconds later,a blue, iridescent tail flicked out before disappearing below the waves.
Part of me wished I’d been born a merman not a mage. Life below the waves seemed a helluva lot less stressful than my miserable fucking existence.
As if to mock me for my thoughts, my phone rang for the millionth time. I’d only just turned the damn thing on so I could catch up on the latest news headlines.
Knowing there was no way to avoid him any longer, I accepted my father’s call.
“Where the fuck are you, Alaric!”
“Happy Solstice Day to you too, Father.”
28
Raven
The gentle swaying motion of the boat lulled me into a state of relaxation. This was my first boat trip, and to my surprise, I wasn’t throwing up chunks over the side like Alaric. If it had been anyone else, I’d have had some sympathy, but because it was him, I didn’t care.
The ocean rolled gently beneath us. The waves I saw when we first arrived in Sitkavus calmed the moment the small fishing boat left the harbor. It was kind of creepy, but I decided not to dwell on the possibility that some divine being had decided to make my journey easier.
Kai had popped up long enough to say he’d follow us from the water, and knowing he was swimming below the boat comforted me. I knew from reading textbooks about the various creatures that lived in the far north that there were many dangerous predators around these parts.
Giant squids. Great white sharks. And worse. If any of them decide to snack on our boat, we’d drown. Well, I would.
“What are you thinking about, little mate?” I lifted my head from Maverick’s chest but made a noncommittal sound. He didn’t need to hear my deepest, darkest fears.
“Paranoia is pointless.” Kenji yawned. “You should rest. We have a mountain to climb when we arrive.”
“Kenji says we have a mountain to climb,” I said, skipping past my concerns about giant squids and other sea monsters.
“Kai said the mountain is around six thousand feet, but I doubt there are dwellings too far up. I expect we’ll find the vamp in a house in the valley. From what I know, the island has very few permanent residents, and those who live there have homes on the coast. It’s a pretty inhospitable place.”
I chewed over his words. If what Maverick said was correct, finding Rasmus wouldn’t be too difficult. But then I remembered Kai’s premonition about the serpent monster.
