02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (42 page)

Ethan lifted us to our feet with a sigh.
“It’s cold out here, you need to get inside.” He took my board and
bag and we climbed back up the stairs together.

“Where’s your truck?” I asked.

He smiled, looking down, “Around the
corner... I thought you wouldn’t come out if you saw it.”

I thought about all the times I had avoided
him over the past weeks.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, “I just…
couldn’t.”

“I know,” he said.

We got to Abby’s house and put my board away.
He took me in his arms again and we clung together.

“I don’t wanna let go of you,” he
whispered.

“Don’t,” I said, reluctant to part from
him.

“I wish I could stay tonight,” he kissed my
ear.

“OK,” I breathed, relaxed for the first time
in weeks.

“You’d let me stay?” he sounded surprised, “I
didn’t even think you’d talk to me.”

“I could just go surfing instead...” I teased
him.

“That’s not funny,” he said quietly, “You
shouldn’t be out there at night.”

“It’s the only thing that helped.”

“Helped what?” he asked.

“Me get by without you,” I said
seriously.

I crept into the house to make sure everyone
was tucked away in bed and went back out to get Ethan. He was
waiting on the porch in the cool night air, crushing a sprig of
rosemary in his fingers. The scent perfumed the air, and the
moonlight cast a silvery light on the planes of his face. I
shivered a little with an unfamiliar happiness.

“Can I trust you?” I asked coyly as I slipped
my arms around his waist. Wrong choice of words.

He stiffened up and took me by the shoulders,
“Marina, I swear to God, I’ll never lie to you ever again.”

“I was just kidding,” I said, looking
down.

“I know... But I want you to believe me. I
need you to trust me again.”

He sounded so earnest I couldn’t doubt his
sincerity. I squirmed, for I still didn’t want to talk about it.
Our reconciliation was so new that I didn’t want to jeopardize it
by dredging up the bad memories. I turned, taking his hand and
leading him into the house.

“It’s a mess in here,” I whispered as I
closed the door to my room. Ethan sat on the bed as I gathered some
sweats to change into and excused myself, heading to the bathroom
to wash up. I returned to find that he had made up the bed and
straightened out a messy pile of shoes that were strewn across the
floor. He was standing by the easel, looking at my latest
paintings.

I crawled over the bed and opened the window,
letting in a rush of cool air along with the scent of the angel
trumpet.

I embraced him, “I love that smell,” I
whispered in his ear.

“I was hoping it would remind you of when you
loved me,” he murmured, pressing his lips against my cheek.

“As if I needed it.”

We kissed, and when things started to get a
little too heated Ethan pulled back with a sigh.

“You better put some covers between us,” he
whispered in a strangled voice.

“Sorry,” I blushed.

“Don’t be,” he said.

We snuggled together, reacquainting ourselves
with the security of our feelings for each other. I felt so good I
didn’t want it to end and fought a losing battle with sleep. Warm
and happy in his arms, I peacefully drifted off into deep and
dreamless slumber.

When the first light of dawn poured in
through the open window I woke with a start. Ethan was asleep in
his clothes, his arm draped protectively over me. The room was
cold, and I carefully slipped out from under him to close the
window quietly. He roused at the sound of the window clicking shut,
groping frantically in the blankets for me.

“Hey,” I sat down on the bed behind him,
startling him.

He lunged for me, knocking me back on the
pillow, “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” He pulled me
beneath him and growled into my ear, taking it in his teeth.

I giggled, suddenly inspired, “Let’s cut
school today!”

He flopped onto his back, “I don’t know...
your bodyguards might not like that,” he frowned, “And I have a
math test I can’t miss... I’ve been messing up lately… I haven’t
been able to focus on anything.”

“Can I help you study?” I asked, kissing his
neck, working up the side of his face.

He laughed under his breath, “Not like that!
But you can go see if the coast is clear for me to sneak out... I
need to get my books and change.”

“Alright,” I sighed, knowing we had to get
back to reality, “Abby will be up soon, can I get you some coffee
or anything?”

“No thanks,” he sat up, leaning on his
elbows. He looked over at my nightstand and saw the aquamarine
lying there, still on its broken chain.

“I found it,” I told him as I sat up and
reached across him for it, “The day I was surfing at the point. I
looked down and there it was. It came back to me... it was like a
miracle.”

“Whoa,” he said solemnly.

I smiled at him, “I think it was a good
sign.”

“C’mere Dollface,” he said quietly, pulling
me down on top of him. He pushed the hair back from my face and
looked me in the eyes, “I love you,” he said, “Don’t ever doubt it
for a second.”

I tried to turn my head but he held my face
to his, his eyes like tractor beams.

“OK,” I said, my stomach full of
butterflies.

We heard some footsteps in the hallway and
the shower started up. Ethan got up and stretched. I walked him to
the door, reluctant to see him go.

“I’ll see you at school,” He said, kissing my
forehead, “Don’t go out alone. Be careful.”

I made a pot of coffee and stood looking out
the kitchen window. I must have had a stupid grin on my face,
because when Abby came in she looked at me and did a double
take.

“There’s the happy girl I know and love!” she
exclaimed, making me laugh.

I blushed, a little surprised at how
transparent I was.

“Good morning,” I smiled at her.

“You talked to Ethan?” she speculated.

I looked down and nodded yes, feeling a
little foolish. I smiled at her again, unable to stop, “How are you
feeling?”

She rubbed her belly, beaming. Her eyes flew
open and she gasped.

“She’s busy this morning!” she laughed, “Do
you want to feel?”

I nodded and she placed my hand on her belly.
I could feel a tiny flutter followed by a kick from a little knee
or elbow. I looked into Abby’s calm eyes with awe.

“That’s amazing!” I smiled at her, “How do
you know it’s a girl?”

“I don’t, really. I just have a feeling,” she
was absolutely vibrating with happiness and contentment.

“A girl would be nice,” I said, and I could
almost visualize her.

I gave her a hug, thanking her for showing
me. I thought about the baby, who we would all get to meet in the
summer. If it was a girl she would be Ethan’s little sister; I
loved her already. I couldn’t wait to see him and tell him about
her little kick.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down
to look at the newspaper. Cruz came stumbling in, yawning.

“You look happy,” he said. Abby’s eyes met
mine and we laughed.

Cruz and I pulled up at school to find Ethan
waiting, leaning against his truck. Cruz looked at me to see my
reaction.

“Do you want to talk to him or not?” he asked
nervously.

“Go on,” I said, “I’ll be fine.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, and it finally
dawned on him, “You made up... didn’t you?”

I smiled sheepishly, how could everyone tell?
“I’ll see you in class.”

“Shayla and Megan are waiting...” He nodded
towards the girls standing on the sidewalk.

I put my hand on his, “You know, we haven’t
seen anything out of the ordinary all week... I think whoever it
was has given up on me. You don’t need to worry so much anymore;
please tell them I’m okay.”

I really did feel like something had changed.
I could sense that I was no longer being followed, and I was
blissed out from the night spent with Ethan. Things were really
looking up.

Cruz shrugged, and climbed out the passenger
side. I grabbed my bag and slid out of the Rover, right into
Ethan’s waiting arms.

I giggled with happiness, “Good morning Mr.
Carlson.”

He kissed me, pinning me up against the door.
He dropped his face to my neck and stopped when he saw I was
wearing my aquamarine.

“You fixed it,” he said, “along with me.”

We walked hand in hand to my first class,
completely engrossed in each other, oblivious to everyone around
us. I told him I felt his little sister kick and he stopped and
kissed me again suddenly. I drifted in and took a seat next to
Cruz, unable to stop smiling.

Cruz leaned over to me, “Man, you’re like a
whole different person. It’s like you’re high on something.”

I laughed, because as weird as it sounded it
was true. I felt light and weightless, buoyed up on a cloud of
euphoria. Being with Ethan was both calming and exhilarating,
soothing and exciting at the same time. I wondered how healthy it
was to need another person so much. I wasn’t the one with magical
powers– it was him. I chuckled to myself, thinking at least when we
were together I wasn’t in any danger of being dashed into bits on
jagged rocks.

I sat through most of class happily, for
knowing I’d see Ethan at lunch made even the most boring lecture
tolerable.

Then it happened.

Like a lightning bolt from out of nowhere I
was seized by a vision, playing behind my eyes like a horrific
movie. What I saw shook me to the core.

Lorelei was being brutally captured, roughly
held down on the deck of a boat by a huge, monstrous looking man.
She thrashed in terror, her fin hopelessly tangled in a net. Her
piercing shrieks echoed in my ears, followed by a deafening roar
that rivaled the ocean’s angriest storm.

I opened my eyes to see Cruz’s frightened
face, surrounded by my teacher’s and fellow classmates, all equally
freaked out. I grimaced in pain, rubbing my eyes as a splitting
headache just behind them started to slowly recede. I sat up and
realized that I was lying on the classroom floor with no
recollection of how I got there.

“What happened?” I whispered to Cruz, afraid
I was going to vomit and further disgrace myself.

“You just slumped out of your chair... you
hit the floor pretty hard.”

My head cleared a little, “Oh My God...
Lorelei.”

“Can you get up?” he asked, propping me with
his arm. I took a deep breath and attempted to rise, wobbly on my
feet. The school nurse arrived, a stout, no nonsense woman with a
large brown bun on the top of her head.

“The show’s over,” she announced to the class
with a stern look. “Come along dear,” she took me by the arm and
steered me out of class to her office. I felt physically stronger
with each step, but my stomach churned with dread.

“I’m fine, really,” I protested as the nurse
took my temperature and blood pressure, quizzing me on my dietary
and sleeping habits. I was inwardly panicking, my heart gripped
with icy cold fear for Lorelei. I had to go see her... I had to
warn her. When the nurse was finally satisfied that all my vital
signs were normal it was nearly lunchtime.

“I’ll excuse you for the rest of the day,”
she said. I smiled gratefully, for I needed to get to Lorelei
immediately– there might still be time. I could warn her to avoid
all boats, or head out to the deep sea; there must be a way for her
to escape the fate I saw. I realized with a sickening lurch of my
stomach that so far, almost all of my visions had come to pass
precisely as I had seen them.

I gathered my things and raced directly to
the parking lot.

“Marina!” I turned to see Cruz trotting
towards me with his backpack slung over his shoulder.

I stopped, letting him catch up, “Can you get
a ride with Megan?” I asked, “I have to go now.”

“Wait!” he was looking at me in alarm, “What
did you see? Tell me!” I realized that Cruz knew exactly what had
just occurred, having witnessed it firsthand before.

“Oh Cruz,” I moaned, “It’s Lorelei... she’s
in terrible danger! I have to go warn her right now.”

“Don’t do it!” he cried, “What if you can’t
come back?”

I took him by the shoulders, “Believe me, I’m
not about to transform! I wouldn’t leave Ethan for anything, but I
have to at least try! Cruz... she’s my family too.”

“I don’t know...” he was wavering.

“I’m the only one who can talk to her. If you
were in trouble I’d do the same thing!” That last bit, though true,
was very Evie-like. If guile ever failed to convince, she wasn’t
above using guilt.

“Tell Ethan I’ll see him tonight,” I hugged
him and kissed both his cheeks, “I love you.” I ran to my car and
raced home.

As I twisted to zip up my wetsuit, I beckoned
Lorelei in my thoughts, hoping that she would be close enough to
hear me and respond. I stashed my bag in a jumble of driftwood and
raced into the ocean, paddling furiously to get out as fast as
possible. I sat up on my board and called out to her.

I had the same feeling that I had experienced
right before the sleeper wave nearly capsized Gabe’s boat. It was
eerie, and yet strangely familiar. Something was building in
strength, coming directly at me.

Something big… something scary.

CHAPTER TWENTYFOUR

Taken

Paddling out past the end of the cement boat,
I prayed that I wasn’t too late. I called out for her frantically,
a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. After an unbearable amount
of time she surfaced, rivulets of water running off her shining
skin, a brilliant smile on her beautiful face.

“
Marina!
” she cried with her usual
enthusiasm.