Page 44 of Amber: Deja Brew

Chapter 17

Amber

“Ambear!” Wes’s voice echoes from the stairwell. “Chase! You need to get down here!”

I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to hear my bear shifter’s voice. For a split second, I feel a wave of relief. He’s going to save the day and get all the customers to safety. Except he’s only one man—one shifter—and we’re running out of time. The door to the stairs is already submerged, and by the time Chase makes it down, the rest of the cafe will be, too.

I grab Julian’s shoulder to get his attention and point from the customers to the door and back again. We need to get them out! It’s up to us!

Julian seems to understand, because he nods and dives toward the middle-aged woman. He swims past floating Jewels Cafe mugs, points at the ceiling, and then the door. The reality of the situation seems to dawn on the woman, and she abandons her purse and starts to swim for the door.

I try to get the cat shifter to do the same, but it doesn’t work. The man looks at me like I’m insane. His eyes are already wide with panic, but they only grow wider, and he shakes his head wildly, refusing to budge. A bar stool and some spoons float past us. His panic only escalates, and he shakes his head harder.

Then Wes dives through the stairwell entrance with perfect form. He narrowly misses a floating chair and pushes aside a coffee mug and a fork. With two powerful strokes, he reaches the businessman who’s struggling to help a drowning woman swim up to the surface, not realizing that soon there won’t be any surface left.

Wes seems to realize it, too, because he starts tugging the pair toward the stairs. He seems to be making good progress, so I leave him to it and focus on who I can save. Since the cat shifter seems like a lost cause, I’m about to abandon him and try to help Rae and her Dad, when Julian swims up.

He grabs the cat shifter’s arm, but the man’s got claws. He lashes out, scratching Julian, and then shoves him away.

When my mate goes under, my heart nearly stops. Instinctively, I dive after him, and next thing I know, I’m a mermaid. Karma, to be exact.

Being a mermaid in a giant cafe swimming pool is a whole lot better than flopping around on the dry floor, I’ll tell you that. For one thing, it turns out that I really can breathe underwater. And see everything, too. Oh, and I can really, really swim.

I dive toward Julian, underestimating my own strength, and nearly launch us both out the front door. I manage to pull in my tail just in time, sending Julian floating into a chair which nudges the middle-aged woman, and sends them all tumbling out the door.

I spin around and aim for Rae and her dad next. The little girl is sobbing uncontrollably, but when she sees my mermaid tail, she temporarily stops.

“Hold your breath,” I warn her, and when she obediently puffs out her cheeks, I grab her from her grateful dad and swim for the door.

I pass Rae off to a wide-eyed Julian, but when I turn to go back for Unicorn Dad, he’s already diving toward the door. I hold out my hand. He grabs it, and one quick tug—coupled with a twist of my tail—has him stumbling out the door toward his little girl.

The only customers left are the businessman and the cat shifter, neither of whom are doing a good job of saving themselves. The cat shifter’s clawing at the ceiling, like that will do him any good, but Wes is already swimming toward him—having saved the second businessman and the woman who apparently couldn’t swim.

How can anyone not swim? I wonder as I launch myself after the second businessman. Apparently, he’s decided to swim toward the stairs instead of the front door, even though they’re much further away. He’s barely halfway there, and he’s struggling to push aside a chair instead of swimming around it. He’s also losing steam, fast, but a few powerful strokes from my tail get him the rest of the way there. Luckily, Chase is at the entrance, waiting, and I hand off the now unconscious man and spin around to go and help Wes.

Instead of swimming to safety, my bear shifter’s struggling with the cat, who’s fighting him tooth and nail. Luckily, the cat is quickly running out of steam—and breath—so I just grab him around the waist and throw him out the door.

When I spin around and reach out my hand to help Wes, I realize he’s not swimming toward me. Instead, my bear shifter’s eyes are closed and he’s slowly sinking to the floor.

“Wes!” I shout, except I’m a mermaid—underwater—so it does no good. “Wes, no!”

I dive toward him and grab him around the waist. My bear shifter doesn’t even react to my touch, and he sags in my arms as I swim us both out the door. We fall to the sidewalk—Wes unconscious, and me flopping on top of him like a sidewalked mermaid who’s lost her pool.

“Wes,” I shout, and this time my cry echoes down the street.

The large crowd outside reacts—and everyone starts talking and shouting all at once. Julian rushes over, pulling his shirt over his head as he kneels next to me.

When he tosses the soaking wet cloth toward my chest, I can’t figure out why. All I can do is watch Juli pump my bear shifter’s chest and try to save his life.

Then, it dawns on me that I’m naked, in the middle of the sidewalk, and I probably flashed my boobs at half of Silver Springs. I clutch Julian shirt’s to my boobs—well, Karma’s boobs, really—but I can’t really bring myself to care. All that matters is Wes.

What is probably only a few seconds feels like an eternity. Julian, pushing up and down on Wes’s chest, telling him to breathe. Me, sobbing as I watch. And my bear shifter, lying unconscious on the sidewalk, eyes closed and skin pale.

Then, my bear shifter’s suddenly rolling onto his side, hacking up water.

“Wes! Oh, Wes, you’re okay!” I sob in relief. I try to throw my arms around him, but my tail causes me to lose my balance and face-plant onto the sidewalk. Luckily, the impact also gives my magic a much-needed nudge, and I finally shift back.

I launch myself at my bear shifter, who wraps me in his arms and holds me close. I don’t know how long we stay like that, but eventually the supe police and paramedics show up.

Liam the Troll Cop is there, urging everyone to go home unless they were directly involved in what he calls ‘the incident.’ Wes gets checked over first, then Julian, and finally me. Liam says something about draining the cafe to get to Chase and the other customers, and a witch gets called in.

I expect to see Zoe, but it’s a man I’ve never seen before. He claps his hands and water slowly pours out of our precious cafe, allowing chairs, mugs, cutlery, and various pieces of equipment to slowly sink to the floor.

As I watch, I start to cry. I’m glad Wes and my guys are okay—and that none of the customers got hurt—I really, really am, but Jewels Cafe isn’t just our home. It’s our dream. And now it’s gone.