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Chapter One
Tropical Troubles
The rush of ocean waves lulled me into a half-dazed state. I lay back, toes sunk into sand so fine it felt like flour. Blinking up at the puffy whisps of white against the baby blue of the sky, I fidgeted so hard the entire bamboo mat I relaxed on sank down, powdery sand slipping warm against my skin.
“Are you being attacked by an invisible assailant, or do I need to sedate you to make you stay for the whole afternoon?” Zo asked from my left.
I flipped over and glared at my sister, currently propped on her elbow and staring at me over the tops of her sunglasses. She looked like the quintessential beach babe, posed perfectly on her towel with her long tan legs, smooth curls, and white bikini. It made me fidget even more, eventually sitting up cross-legged with my mat sank halfway into what I was convinced might be quicksand.
Blowing a strand of hair from my face, I resisted the urge to tighten my ponytail with my sandy fingers and get even more of the stuff in there.
Zoe pursed her lips before setting down this month’s book club pick, Bite Me, Bloodsucker, to sit, facing me.
“I think maybe I just need to hibernate in my bedroom for the rest of the weekend,” I said. Standing, I attempted to brush sand off the butt of my emerald tankini, only succeeding in spreading the mess around.
“Sit.” Zoe, pointed to the ground. “Actually, wait.” She stood, shook out my mat, and replaced it again on the other side of her setup. “Now sit.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek as I squinted out at the horizon where the sea met the sparkling iridescence of the magic shield protecting the secret island we lived on, probably half a mile out and twice as high. If I refused to at least try for a couple of hours, my weird, witchy sister would probably just portal my ass right back to the beach.
“I feel like there are so many other things I should be doing right now.” I sat, hugging my knees to my chest and looking at the white-capped waves clawing at the shoreline. “Tanning doesn’t feel right when I need to be solving a murder and exonerating my friend.”
Zoe made a Thppt sound that made me look at her. “The vampire who was killed was a murderer, too, and an attempted rapist—probably a real one at some time in his past centuries on this earth. Whoever did it should get a medal—not jail time.”
Frowning, I bristled. I should never have told her and Mama about the threats Carmichael had leveled against me, or the attack when he’d attempted to forcibly turn me into a vampire. But Zoe needed to be more careful about protecting the secret of her portal powers.
My own abilities were out since I’d had to use both gifts of telekinesis and mind-bending, an excessively rare combination, to defend myself and others. Thanks to that, I was in for a fight on Monday when Dr. Orpheus at the base wanted to continue to “study” me.
“Either way, Lydia doesn’t deserve punishment.”
“She won’t even talk to you,” Zoe snapped back.
She wasn’t wrong, and it stung. Lydia had been my lab assistant, my wing woman, my friend. But ever since she’d been turned into a vamp, she hadn’t seemed to want to connect with me. I couldn’t blame her when I still blamed myself for her being taken during the fateful attack on my lab when my formula was stolen and turned into a murder weapon against vampires.
“I have a lot on my mind either way.” I flopped back down on the mat and blew out a breath, trying to relax and failing miserably.
“Come on then.” Zoe’s face loomed over me. She reached out a hand to haul me up.
“I just got comfy,” I complained as she tugged me toward the ocean.
“We need to tire you out so you can relax. Go for a swim.”
We stopped where the warm water rushed over our feet, causing us to sink into the wet sand. At least it wasn’t cold. I supposed being in the Bermuda Triangle had its perks. Still…
“I don’t really feel like—”
A portal opened below me, and I fell through, suddenly submerged. Panic gripped me as I kicked upward, breaking the surface less than 100 feet from the protective dome of magic. Sputtering, I turned in place until I spotted Zoe, standing at the shoreline, hands on hips, probably an infuriatingly smug expression on her face.
Spitting saltwater, I dove and started making my way back toward shore. She was so going in.
About halfway there, I became distracted by the view underwater. Brightly colored coral wove below me, along with shiny fish and even a sea turtle off to the left. It was a whole beautiful world I hadn’t even known I’d been so close to all this time.
To be fair, I’d been busy since being recruited to join the Supernatural Handling Agency’s Department of Equity, aka SHADE. Between a complicated relationship with my infuriatingly stubborn and unnaturally hot vampire boss, Julian, and solving murders, I’d barely had a moment to explore the island. Even in the village, I’d only gotten as far as the pub, The Rusty Shifter. I wondered what other treasures I’d find if I could carve out the time to do so. At some point, the pressure had to let up, right?
Sucking in a breath, I stuck my head back beneath the water to enjoy the sights, but as the ocean floor angled up toward the shore, something caught my eye. I decided on a last second detour and dove, fighting my way down to scoop up the strange object.
When I broke the surface again, I was able to stand and wade back to where Zoe lay back on her towel, reading the spicy vampire romance she’d brought along.
I dropped my prize on my mat and toweled off as I considered it in the sunlight. It was clearly a child’s toy—an ABC block made of red plastic, which I suppose could have easily been lost if dragged along to the beach. But something about it had me unsettled. To most people, it was a feeling to shake off, but for me, a psychic, it might mean more. I’d ignored things like this before and regretted it.
