Swans Landing #1 - Surfacing (16 page)

“If anything, you followed me,” Josh said. “I’ve been here for an hour already and heard you stomping down the path. If your intention was to surprise me, you failed miserably.”

“My intentions had nothing to do with you,” I said.

“Oh really? That’s not how it felt a minute ago.”

I snatched my hand from his, even though I immediately missed the warmth of his skin. “I’m going to find my mom. She was here.”

But Josh shook his head, his eyes sad and watery. “She wasn’t.”

“I
saw
her.” I lifted my phone, casting light through the darkness. “She was right
there
. I tried to get to her, but you held me back.”

“Because she wasn’t really there,” Josh said. “It was your imagination.”

I hadn’t imagined it...had I? My mind swirled and my knees still shook.

“I saw her,” I said again. But my voice was weaker this time and the statement sounded more like a question.

“It’s not real,” Josh said. “Nothing you see on this night is real.”

I raised my eyebrows in his direction. “How can I be sure you’re real then?”

He smiled at me through the dim light of my phone. “Come find out,” he said.

It was a dare, just like when he’d invited me to ride the ATV with him the day after we’d met. He wanted to see how far I’d go, how much I would surprise him.

My feet shuffled through the damp leaves until we stood only a few inches apart. He didn’t move, but his eyes stayed locked with mine.

Judging from the way my heartbeat exploded into a frenzied pace, I knew I was in trouble. I wanted to kiss Josh Canavan again and again. I was almost certain he wanted me to as well.

But I didn’t. Because I could surprise him more by daring not to give in, by continuing this little game he’d started.

“You can stay out here playing in the dark all night, but I’m going home,” I told him.

I pushed around him, trying to get away as fast as I could before I changed my mind about not kissing him.

“Wrong way,” Josh said.

I held my phone higher and turned in a circle, trying to get my bearings. “I knew that.”

Josh stepped forward, offering me his hand. “Stay close,” he said.

I hesitated, but there was no telling how long I could wander the trees in circles before finding my way out, so I slipped my hand into his and followed. The glow of my phone outlined Josh’s solid form. I held it higher, trying to light the way and give me more illumination to see the lines of his face. I couldn’t stop looking at him. The memories of his kiss replayed over and over in my head.

We didn’t speak until we were back out at the entrance and could see the lights of homes in the distance beyond the trees. My bike still lay where I had left it. Josh dropped my hand, shattering the spell he had me under.

“Thanks,” I said.

He nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“So what happened back there?” I asked.

“It’s called kissing,” Josh said. “You should try it more often.”

“Don’t make me hit you again,” I threatened. “I meant the song. And...” I swallowed hard, remembering the sight of my mom moving in the trees. “And whatever it was I saw?”

“It was nothing,” Josh said. “Just the wind howling in the trees.”

“But you said you didn’t want
them
to hear us. Who are they?”

Josh’s dark eyebrows furrowed in annoyance toward me. “What were you doing in the woods? Besides getting lost.”

I was too exhausted for playing games. I swung one leg over the seat of my bike and started to pedal away, determined not to even look back at him. But there he was, right in front of me, both hands planted on top of mine on the handlebars.

“Let go,” I said.

“What’s with the attitude?” Josh asked.

“Move.”

I tried to pedal forward, but Josh was stronger and he held me back, squeezing my hands into the handles.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t feel anything from that kiss,” Josh said.

I tried to laugh, but my heart beat out a loud drum solo inside my chest and I was breathless. “You’re the last person I’d be interested in.”

He looked down at my left wrist, where the green bracelet Dylan had given me still sat. “Oh, yeah, I guess you like the scrawny and weird type.”

For a moment, something crossed Josh’s face that almost looked like jealousy and I felt a little thrill at the thought that he was upset at the idea that I might choose Dylan over him.

“At least Dylan doesn’t lead me into strange places and talk in half-riddles that no one but him understands,” I said, even though technically, the riddles part wasn’t true. Dylan had as many half-truths as Josh did. “Why don’t you scurry on back to Elizabeth and leave me alone?”

Josh sneered. “Really? Dylan is so perfect and sweet then?”

I lifted my chin, staring back at him. “He doesn’t pretend to be something he’s not. I’m not sure you’ve told me one true thing about yourself since I met you. Is your dad even really dead or is that a sob story you made up to make me feel sorry for you?”

Josh’s expression took on a ferocious snarl and I knew I’d gone too far.

He leaned forward, his face moving toward mine. I thought for a moment that he might kiss me again and I realized that I desperately wanted him to. I wanted to feel the world drop away from us as it had before. My eyes closed a little, my lips pursed just a tiny bit, and I couldn’t even breathe as he moved closer and closer.

And then he stopped, close enough that his breath tickled across my cheek. “So where is Mr. Perfect tonight? Why isn’t he answering his phone?”

My eyes flew wide open. How did Josh know that Dylan wasn’t home?

Josh was still there, his face only an inch or so from mine and I couldn’t focus enough to speak.

“Let’s try another question,” he said in a teasing voice. “Have you read that book I suggested yet?”

I blinked, trying to gather my thoughts. “Yes,” I said.

“
All
of it?” he asked.

I glared at him, refusing to answer the question because I remembered why I hadn’t finished the book. I’d been interrupted by listening to Sailor talk to him on the phone. Another one of his secrets.

“Stop wallowing in your own self-pity for five minutes and stop by the school library,” Josh told me. He released his grip on my hands and stepped aside, allowing me free access to finally leave.

Chapter Eighteen

Dylan wasn’t in class the next morning. Neither was Sailor. When my English teacher called Sailor’s name and didn’t get an answer, she surveyed the room. Her eyes fell on Sailor’s empty desk and next to it, Dylan’s. She made a mark in her grade book and skipped over calling out Dylan’s name just before mine.

The halls of Swans Landing School seemed quieter than usual that day, as if a mandatory hush had fallen over the area. By lunchtime, there was still no sign of Dylan or Sailor. Eating alone in a room full of people either ignoring me or whispering as they looked in my direction was enough to make me lose any appetite I might have had, so instead I headed to the library.

I tried to blend into the walls as I made my way through the school. Remaining ignored was the best way to survive around here.

“Oof,” I said as I nearly tripped over a small figure when I rounded the corner toward the library.

Claire, the scrawny girl from my gym class, knelt on the floor, gathering up scattered papers. She pushed her glasses back up her nose, looking at me and then quickly ducking her head again. “Sorry,” she said in a small voice.

“It was my fault. I didn’t see you there.” I knelt to retrieve some papers from under my foot and handed them back to her. “You okay?” I asked.

She nodded, not meeting my gaze. “I just...dropped some things.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You dropped them or someone else made you drop them?”

She didn’t answer as she straightened her papers and stuffed them into the cover of her math book.

“You don’t have to let other people be mean to you,” I told her.

Claire stood, hugging her book to her chest and ducking her head. “Thanks for the help,” she whispered before hurrying past me and disappearing down the hall.

I frowned as I watched her retreating back. I hated to see someone get walked all over by other people.

The library felt like my safe haven. It was the only place in school I could enjoy the quiet and be left alone. I wandered the stacks, running my fingers over the dusty and worn spines. I had intended to work on my paper about the history behind
The Crucible
for English class, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the events of the night before in the dark forest at Pirate’s Cove to even focus on Puritan New England.

Reliving that kiss had kept me up all night. My eyes felt dry and raw and I moved in a haze of sleep deprivation.

I found the copy of
Fae and Other Creatures
where I’d left it, wedged between books about the Civil War. It was a very thin book and the cover was faded and worn, the tops of the pages coated with dust. I doubted anyone had even looked at it since I’d stuffed it back on the shelf last week.

I found an empty corner with an old stuffed chair and a plastic ficus behind which I could hide. People’s heads were barely visible as they walked past the aisles, but I would be out of sight of most eyes. I sat down, bundled up in my scarf and jacket, and kicked my feet up over an armrest as I flipped back through the pages to the chapter on the water creatures.

Tales of finfolk originated in the Orkney Islands off the coast of what is now Scotland. Legends from this area describe beings that are fully amphibious and can move between land and water at will. They appear entirely human in their land-forms, walking on two legs with ease and are able to
breed
with humans. It is believed that even a doctor would have a hard time distinguishing a finfolk from an ordinary human. They have lungs, not gills, and can breathe oxygen from the water
as if breathing air.

In water, finfolk have a fish’s tail covered with colorful scales. They are natural swimmers and can often be mistaken for dolphins. This mistaken identity can work in their favor, however, when they are trying to avoid being spotted by humans.

Unlike other aquatic humanoid breeds, finfolk have long been
described as being mischievous creatures, often even dangerous. They have been known to lure humans toward peril for their own amusement. They are also extremely territorial. Many fishermen have met with untimely fates after wandering unknowingly into parts of the water claimed by finfolk.

I lifted my gaze from the book and stared at the stacks closest to my corner. Sailor had mentioned something about finfolk being the first inhabitants of Swans Landing. But this was all just myth and legend.

Right?

I bent my head back over the book, my eyes scanning the page for more information.

The new moon is a sacred time in the finfolk culture. Ancient finfolk celebrated the first night of the new moon as a time of rebirth and moving from one world to the other. Even finfolk that spent most of their time on land were compelled to return to the water during the new moon to sing. The finfolk song is extremely magical and is thought to have the power to raise the dead.

Voices drifted toward me, breaking into the silence of my corner. Annoyance at being intruded upon coursed through me, until I caught a glimpse of a familiar face behind the stacks.

“So where were you last night?” My nails dug into the cover of the book at the familiar sound. Elizabeth Connors.

“Nowhere,” Josh said.

“I called you like six times,” Elizabeth complained.

“I didn’t feel like talking.” I imagined Josh shrugging, his shoulders curling in toward his body, as if he were building a cave to protect himself from the outside world.

“
Tell
me you weren’t on the beach again hunting for ghosts,” Elizabeth said, in a tone that made me understand she did not approve of Josh going to the beach at night.

Josh didn’t answer and after a moment, Elizabeth said, “He’s not coming back. You know that.”

“I know,” Josh said.

“He died,” Elizabeth went on. “He can’t come back. Whatever you see out there, it’s not real. It’s only what they want you to see—”

“I know!” Josh said, loud enough to elicit a loud “Shh!” from the librarian. “I wasn’t at the beach,” he went on in a lower voice. “I was tired. I went to bed early.”

“Good,” Elizabeth said, though it sounded as if she didn’t really believe a word he said. “Because it’s not safe out there, with
them
running around.”

“I know,” Josh said as he and Elizabeth came into view. He looked up and his eyes found me sitting in that corner.