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“Stop,” I said, but I didn’t put magic in the word. Somehow, I knew he really was just behaving like a werewolf and didn’t think he’d done anything wrong.

He waited for me to gather myself to say more.

“Look, Sam, you’re a great guy, and I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, but I don’t want a relationship with you.”

I let it sink in as his expression melted into one of understanding. My spine relaxed.

“I don’t want a relationship either. Not yet anyway. But…we could just be fuck buddies. If you want.”

It took another hot second for me to process his words. I shook my head. “Sorry, no. I think maybe I should go home.”

“I’ll drive you.” Sam started to stroll out of the lake.

Relieved, I looked the other way so he could get dressed. Something grabbed my ankle again, but I’d have sworn Sam had taken me seriously. I barely had time to think it before it tugged, and I went down.

Opening my eyes beneath the water, I came face to face with what looked like an octopus on steroids. Its cracked, luminescent skin gave off a sickly green glow as the giant black holes I assumed were eyes blinked at me. It’s bulbous head then opened, revealing an inky black mouth, showing off pointed teeth. Despite the anaconda-sized appendages floating around me, I was not absolutely certain this was no mundane octopus or squid.

Eyes, Pythia said. I struck out, poking it where she instructed and kicked up, breaking the surface with a scream. But no sooner had I done it than tentacles surrounded my wrists, hips, and ankles and yanked me back down again.

Struggling seemed about as effective as using silver on a witch, but I couldn’t stop from trying as it dragged me toward its open maw. Then Sam was there between us, skin moving and mouth filled with sharp teeth that bit into the nearest tentacle, which let go of my wrist as a dark substance exploded from the bite in a cloud.

Sam struck again, chomping on the creature until it released me. I didn’t waste a moment, swimming hard for the surface and shore. I clawed my way up and out, collapsing, soaking wet by the firepit in a coughing fit.

Sam’s head blocked out the moon moments later back in full human form except for his silvery eyes that stared in concern.

“Did it sting you?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to say I wasn’t sure but found it impossible to get words out. Shock. I was in shock, but wasn’t there a sharp pain in my upper thigh? I tried to sit, tugging at my dress with numb fingers that didn’t seem to work right anymore. I was rapidly losing the ability to control my body.

“Shit,” Sam spat, taking over my fumbling. He ripped apart the wet cloth like tissue paper and his pupils grew wide. “It got you alright. I’m so sorry, Charlotte. It doesn’t attack us, so I thought it wasn’t interested. I guess that doesn’t apply to humans.”

Sam spoke as he yanked away the ruined dress and then winced. “I’m going to have to take off your underwear too.”

I could no longer move my limbs, so I didn’t protest. If he could fix this, I’d get over it.

Taking my silence as permission, he ripped through the remaining thin material and leaned over me, his hot breath thawing the numbness and revealing more pain. Then his mouth was on the wound, and he sucked, gripping my hips to hold my trembling body steady.

I would not have predicted lying naked with Sam with his head where it was, and that made me laugh, at least in my head. Maybe I was delirious.

Sam let go and spit at the ground. “I’m trying to suck out the poison,” he explained, then went back down for another round.

A gust of wind rushed over me, and Sam went flying across the yard, landing with a thud. Julian leaned over me for all of a second before Sam was on him and the sounds of the two men tearing at each other surrounded my immobilized body.

Chapter 11

Saving Myself

Damn it, Julian! I screamed in my head. He was helping me, you idiot. I knew how it had appeared, but what the fuck was he doing looking in the first place?

To my horror, the sounds grew farther and farther away. Instead of them coming to their senses and helping me, they took off.

Think, Char. What was that creature? Is this fatal? Permanent?

Another gust of wind rushed over me, and as angry as I was at Julian, I couldn’t deny the rush of relief I felt. We’d still be chatting about this but—

It wasn’t him that loomed into view. It was Carmichael’s ashen face and hair that hung down tickling my face. I struggled to move, to speak, but I couldn’t do more than fist some of the dirt beneath my fingers as he smiled down at me, fangs fully extended.

“Well, what have we here?” he asked, pressing a fingertip to my nose. “You seem to have been stung by a baby kraken. They do that to their prey to make them easier to subdue before consuming them. The venom interferes with the ability for your brain to communicate with your muscles. It’ll wear off in a day or two. Unless you’re healed, of course.”