Slowly, I began to pull my hand away, already bracing for the distance I had been dreading from the start. But before I could slip free, his grip tightened. It wasn’t harsh, but there was urgency in it, something almost instinctive, like he knew he couldn’t just let me go.
“You’re human,” he said, like he was still trying to understand if he’d heard me right.
“Yes.”
“How... how are you here?”
I swallowed, my free hand lifting slowly to the necklace resting against my chest. My fingers brushed over the pearl, catching the faint glow of the water.
“Because of this,” I said quietly. “That’s why I didn’t want you to take it off. It’s the only thing allowing me to be in Crescent Cove.”
“Not a family heirloom, then?” he asked, still trying to piece it together.
“No,” I said, my voice quieter now. “I stole it.”
His gaze dropped briefly to the necklace, then lifted back to me. “So,” he said, a hint of something dry slipping into his tone, “you’re a human, a liar, and athief.”
Panic and hurt filled me at his words, and it felt like I couldn’t breathe as I braced for his judgment, his rejection, for everything I had been trying to outrun since the moment I arrived. I knew I should have just kept this a secret, knew he wouldn’t want me after learning the truth, and this wasn’t even all of it. There was still so much more, but I wasn’t sure he would even give me the chance to say the rest without walking away. Or worse, I wasn’t sure I could tell him the whole story without crumbling right here into the sand, because everything I felt right now was too overwhelming, and I just needed to get the hell out of here.
I tried to pull my hand away, the instinct to run rising faster with each second, but before I could break free, one of his tentacles slid around my back, holding me in place.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, his voice softer now. “That was meant to be a joke.”
The tentacle at my back shifted, moving gently along my skin, and I knew he could feel it—the spike of fear and hurt, and the way it had taken hold of me so quickly. And just as suddenly as it had flared, it began to fade, easing out of me in a way that made my breath catch for an entirely different reason.
His face tightened, and I knew he could feel everything that had just rushed through me as he slowly absorbed it all. Then his expression dropped, something like regret settling in.
“Fuck, I didn’t mean for my words to make you feel like that,” he said with a frown, shaking his head slightly. “I guess comedy was never my strong suit. I’ll stick to being the broody asshole.” His grip on my hand tightened. “I told you, I’m not here to judge you, and I never want to be the cause of your fear, Kara. I’m sorry.” He exhaledquietly. “I’m just... a little thrown off. I didn’t think you announcing you were human was what I expected your secret to be.”
His tentacle slipped away from me, and I felt the absence of it immediately—the loss of that quiet calm settling back into my chest. But his hand never left mine, and he didn’t pull away.
“I’m sorry,” I said, the words tumbling out frantically. “I should’ve told you sooner. I know I’m not even supposed to be here, and I know this place is—” I gestured around us, toward the cove, toward everything beyond it. “It’s not for people like me. But I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and it was the only place I could think of that was safe enough.”
His hand squeezed mine, and I felt the shift in him before I even looked up. My stomach dropped as I lifted my gaze and saw the tension carved into his expression, the way his jaw had tightened, his teeth nearly grinding like he was holding something back.
“What do you mean ‘safe enough’?”
“What?” I echoed, the question catching me off guard.
“You said you came here because it was the only place you thought was safe enough,” he repeated, his tone almost threatening. “Why would you need a safe place?”
I couldn’t read or sense emotions the way he could, but right now, I didn’t need to. I couldseeit. Hell, I could even feel it in the air between us, the anger that lingered there. Not at me, butfor me.
“Are you in some kind of trouble? Is someone threatening you? Hurting you? Looking for you?”
This was it.The last piece of truth he deserved to hear.
My fingers tightened around his before I forced myself to nod. “Yes.” I bit my lip, trying to ground myself enough to keep going. “I’m here because I heard about this place from a card shark. Which—” I let out a nervous laugh that didn’t quite land. “Funny enough, he was a shark shifter. I mean, that’s kind of ironic, right?”
I plastered a false smile on my face, trying to lighten the situation. But when I glanced at him, hoping the humor might soften things, even just a little, it didn’t. If anything, his expression hardened further.
“Is that who’s after you?” he asked, his voice deadlier now. “Because you stole their pearl? You have shark shifters looking for you?”
“No... it’s actually a bit worse.” I hesitated for a second, trying to figure out how to say it without sounding as broken as I felt. “My boss,” I started, then stopped, my throat tightening around the word.Because no, that wasn’t right, that wasn’t what he was.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to correct it. “My owner, Zavier,” I said, wincing at the title before continuing. “Zavier is the one looking for me.”
His hand dropped from mine completely, and I watched as he stood, taking a step back. Those same hands that had touched me so gently earlier curled into fists at his sides, his chest heaving, and once again his anger radiated off him, so potent I could feel it.
