Page 88 of Anchored to the Storm

I did. And having her there was another dream come true.

Arguing with a mystical creature is pointless. Especially when she is your heaven on earth. Naked, her long hair covering her breasts, she kissed me, then walked into the pool. Sinking into the water, facing me, her delicate fingers started to rub the scar I gave her. Her eyes fluttered shut. The blue lights in the pool let me watch the transition. Her legs began to blur. The blur grew into an esoteric moving fog. Then, what formed was her long tail and lovely transparent fin.

Her eyes opened, sparkled like stars in the night, and she smiled. I grabbed my chest when she struggled to speak, “W-Will b-be safe. P-Promise.”

My eyes filled with sorrow. “I want to stay with you.”

“M-Must save h-her.”

My spine stiffened. “Who, Saleeni? Who?”

“N-Not S-Sweets.”

I reached down and grabbed my packed duffle bag. “I love you like mad.”

Her speech was frustrating her. “L-Love. M-Maaaad G.”

Backing away, not able to rip my eyes from the glorious creature I needed like air, I passed through the front door Styx was holding open for me. He whispered, “Nothing is impossible.”

My fangs throbbed but didn’t grow enough to be seen. I was doing the right thing. I had to get to the West Coast to save ‘her’. Harmony? Sarah? Kristen? Talullah?

The growl rumbling in my chest had Styx saying, “I’ll take first shift,” as he got behind the steering wheel of a large black SUV he’d rented. It was loaded with weapons and ammunition. There was more going on than Styx had time to share with me, but we had a long drive ahead of us. Plenty of hours to talk.

As I got in the passenger seat, slamming the door, he started the engine, telling me, “The gate is set. She knows the drill and where to stare for entry. If she needs to hide, she will be safe in the lagoon.”

Styx was also nervous about leaving her, but he had taught me the reasonableness of a gun. The Misfits were setting a fire that might burn away the last innocence in their damaged hearts. I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to be the one to send the pastor to Hell.

Driving the SUV onto the road to begin our journey, Styx threw me the envelope I had seen on the Church table. “Learn your traveling name in case we get pulled over. I’m now Tom Le Cruise.”

I lifted a brow.

He laughed. “You don’t think it has a nice ring to it?”

I didn’t open the envelope in my lap. I didn’t care who I was to pretend to be. Nothing was going to change who I was at that very moment. Maddox Gentry, a hybrid madly in love with the creature swimming along the shore. Couldn’t see her, but I felt her.

Pressing a palm to the passenger window, I growled, “Pull over.”

“And defy our queen? No can do.”

Our queen. My hand slid down the glass, really liking the sound of that.

This trip to California was so different than the first. I wasn’t hiding in the backseat, terrified of the future. Now, I was making sure others’ futures were safe. It was… liberating.

Plus, passing over Cali’s state line, I knew I was hours away from seeing two uncles whom I had believed had perished on my tenth Life Date. Uncle Heron passed that day, and so did River Phlegethon—Uncle Pledge. Uncle Letti and Uncle Cocky, also known as River Lethe and River Cocytus, survived. They had been watching over the Misfits after learning of the blood oath, due to their oath.

Truly amazing. Full circle.

The closer we got to Noma’s little pink house, the more my throat choked me.

Pulling up the driveway, it was nighttime, but there were lights on inside. Outside were four men in black leather vests, all watching us park.

Suddenly, I was a kid again, opening the passenger door, walking to them with my head down. I was wrapped in big arms. His voice, instantly recognizable. “Don’t you make me cry, little fucker.”

I gripped the back of Uncle Letti’s vest and cried like a baby in his arms. So many lost feelings had resurfaced. Their deaths. Noma’s. Bullets ringing through the air. All the fear of not living another day.

A set of hands landed on my shoulders, so I let go of Letti and turned into Uncle Cocky, burying my wet face in his shoulder. He squeezed me and didn’t let go. “You’re so fucking big now!”

Finally, once I was able to collect myself, they pointed to the men waiting for me. I didn’t know them as well, but recognized their faces. One of them, Peacemaker, was who I woke up to while he did chest compressions on me. The other was Avenger. He had been there, too, that day.