Page 60 of Anchored to the Storm

Tonight, he conceded. His arms came down from reaching out to throttle the pastor. His shoulders caved slightly as he exhaled a lost battle I knew would eventually reignite, whether he wanted it to or not.

At the end of the hallway, Finn gestured to a door. It led to a private parking lot with a fancy brand new Mercedees. We just knew whose it was.

Ethan peered around, including checking the roof of the church. “No cameras, boys.” He carefully set Blue’s portrait aside, facing it away from us. “You don’t want to see this, sweet girl.” Then he lifted his robe to fumble with his pants.

My inner Sinner smirked. Yup!

Again, wise? Didn’t give two fucks. Four angry penises were whipped out and happily pissed all over the car we were sure Blue’s donations were paying for. Hell, I hit the handle, so he’d have to touch it when he opened the door.

Once done, I couldn’t help but notice little dolls lying about in the backseat. “No.”

I was quickly flanked by fellow fosters, all of whom appeared as close to vomiting as me.

Ethan growled, “Soon, motherfucker. Soon, you’re done hurting the innocent.”

Both Finn and I grabbed hold of Seb as he began to kick the car, practically foaming at the mouth. Ethan grabbed the portrait and followed us, checking our surroundings.

Beyond annoyed with us, Seb shrugged us off him. Together, we all jogged around the building, gently placed Blue in the back of the van, then discarded our ‘dresses’ in a dumpster before nonchalantly finding Dale, Harmony, and Sarah, all staring up into the night.

There, floating toward heaven and our angel, were dozens of glowing paper lanterns. The higher they went, the wider the gap between them grew. As the wind caught and lifted the lights higher, the sky filled with flickering pops of color against the darkness. And to further announce the beauty and serenity of the moment, the stars appeared and twinkled in between those fairy-like lights.

My throat suddenly became too tight to swallow. It’s like she was there with us. A shroud of warmth that can only be described as a ghostly embrace. The feeling stayed with me until the lights disappeared.

East Seven

Tunnels of the Heart

She is life. . . for me. . .

We hoped that Saleeni had truly remained undiscovered, but this dire situation had both Styx and me on edge. We worked endlessly, barely taking time to sleep or eat. We kept digging and finishing walls with either concrete or the river rock. One to support, one to create the best setting for Saleeni.

When I explained what was happening underground to connect us, she nodded a lot. I think she was confuse, but she was getting the gist.

While hand-gesturing, I said, “You’ll be able to swim until inside.”

“W-With Mad-G?”

I can’t wait. “Yes, with me. Mad-G.”

Because we couldn’t get concrete to harden once submerged in water, the last part of the tunnel would be a pre-fabricated concrete tube, slightly smaller than the tunnel so it could slide in. On one end, there was metal, like the end of the tunnel, so we could weld them together like an underwater oil pipe.

Being so close to the final breakthrough, we were down to using buckets. Pushing the wheelbarrow up was becoming dangerous, slipping and sliding over the outside seawall that was ten feet deep before reaching water. Therefore, our tunnel gradually descended the height of almost two stories. Styx didn’t want her entrance to be easily seen from the surface.

It was time for a test. Outside at the seawall, I dropped a weighted string down the predicted measured amount. Saleeni followed it down the wall, then swam back up to me. She nodded, then pointed to her ear.

“You’ve heard me coming to you?”

“Y-Yes,” she said, mostly in the water. Her smile made every damn blister and cut so damn worth it. “Mad-G c-coming.”

It was against Styx’s new rules, him preferring Saleeni hidden, but I lay on my stomach, my chest at the wall. I reached over, waving her to me. “Kiss me, Saleeni.”

Not wasting a single moment, her fin propelled her out of the water.

The kiss was to be short and sweet, but my hands suddenly seized the back of her head and neck and refused to let her go. She hung in the air as my tongue possessed her mouth, so fucking hungry for more.

As if I were now the siren, her arms floated to her sides in surrender, letting me fully support her. An impossibility for a human who would have ended up with a broken neck. For a magical being? It was sensational. We drank in each other’s desires, desperate for the day we could see them through to a whole new level.

Slowly pulling my mouth from hers, I didn’t sound like myself when I threatened, “Soon, I won’t stop.” I didn’t want to, but my hand softened to release her because I needed to keep her safe.