Kissing the Shark (Maritime Monsters #1)

Chapter 22- Razorjaw

CHAPTER 22- RAZORJAW

OVER.

THE HUNT is over.

I dig into another prey and devour its bones. I swim faster, jetting nonstop. My heart races when I smell the familiar shores of my home.

The past week has been a blur of swimming faster than I ever have in my whole twenty-one years of life. My seven-day trip to the other side of the Pacific Ocean is complete for now. Passing by New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii certainly made for exotic excursions. I did enjoy taking a moment to stop, shift into hybrid form, and view the different locales with a more human perspective. My friends— former friends—at the Institute would have loved to see the reefs and beaches. They would have danced on the shores like the other humans. Seeing couples on the beach only made me more melancholy, a reminder of what I can never have, what I am swimming away from .

So I kept traveling. But, like all shark migrations, the trip could not last forever, so it is back to my home base of California I go.

I recognize the seafloor as I approach Wavecrush Cove. Mother may be worried about me, but I do not want to explain my heartache. I do not wish to tell her that I left Karlo alone, crying on a dock, in the middle of the night. She will ask questions about why I did it, and that will further break my soul.

I growl at nothing and swim faster, my fins aching from my nonstop activity. How could Mother understand? She will tell me that I should not have left Karlo, but she does not know him like I do. He has so many prospects on land, dreams I could never help him accomplish. I will always tether him to the water, when a career on land is his future. He is destined for human successes, and I will only hinder him.

If being part of his world is so difficult, then why does swimming away from him cause agony in my very core?

I cannot tear up as a shark, so I swim and swim, making my way home. A group of sharks floats toward me, and I recognize my herd. This group of varying species changes over the years, but they all know and revere me. I notice them following the hammerhead; it dawns on me that, with my absence all these months, the structure of power has changed.

But I am back to where I belong.

“You have returned,” the hammerhead says in animal-speak.

“Yes. I am your apex. And I am here.”

“He has returned,” the others all murmur, swimming up and down and around us .

“I thought you embraced your human heritage,” the hammerhead says. “I thought you were a land dweller now.”

“I am your apex predator, always,” I reiterate. “Never forget.”

“What about your human mate?” he asks.

“There is no mate.” My tone is more gravelly in animal-speak. “I am the apex of this corner of the ocean, eternally, and I am a predator with no equals.”

The hammerhead is silent for a few moments and the others swim away. “If you have no mate, then you will not intercept when I go to eat a human.”

His words take a moment to sink in. Maybe I have lost the ability to understand sharks properly? “Explain yourself.”

“There is a human that has been diving regularly in our waters. I believe it is the human you once called your mate. But none of that matters to you, for you are the apex. You care for nothing.” He stops talking and abruptly swims away, northbound. “You are a predator with no equals,” he mutters.

What ?

Could it be…that Karlo is here? Could he be looking for me? There is no way he is foolish enough to swim at Wavecrush Cove again.

Unless…his heart yearns for mine as well. Aunt Sarah once said being in love makes us do foolish things. My mate…my Karlo…is it possible he has not given up on our love?

The very hope of him being in the ocean brings joy and relief to my fins. I know I left him for his own good, but every scale on my body wants to be near him, my mate. I was wrong to think I could stay away. Despite my shortcomings on land, I want to try to prove my worth to Karlo. I need to apologize to him, and with him close by, I may have my chance.

He is mine, I am tethered to him. I see that now.

I turn around and notice that I am alone. In the deep dark blue of the ocean, the hammerhead is gone. And he said he was going to…eat a human.

No .

Nonono.

I turn and swim, sprinting through the water in his direction, following a tenuous trail of bubbles in his wake. I swim faster than before, desperate to find out the truth. Maybe it is a different human, but I do not care. I am half-human, and I will not let him harm my kind. I should have been listening and stopped him when he said that.

I can barely scent the hammerhead, he is too far ahead of me. His trail is gone, and I swim in circles, unsure where to go. His contempt for me was so obvious, why did I not interpret his words? He wishes to undermine me by harming my mate. The mere thought of Karlo being hurt…it sends me into a rage. I grit my teeth—if any sea creature harms him, there will be carnage brought on by my own teeth. I swore he would never be hurt in the ocean, and that covenant still stands.

Because I love him. He is my mate.

I do not need to scent for the hammerhead, because I feel an unnatural disturbance in the water. This sensation is similar to filth being tossed into the sea over the years—a manmade disturbance. I sense…a human swimming much deeper than usual. I recall the Institute using garments called scuba suits to explore the ocean depths.

Karlo .

My Karlo is here, deep in the ocean. He is far below where it is safe for land dwellers, and I sense his movements. I know where he is.

I swim again, forward this time. It takes me only a few seconds before a lone human figure comes into view. He is wearing flippers on his feet and a tight scuba suit. The tank on his back, presumably with oxygen, connects to the mask covering his face. I cannot see his mouth or nose, but it is him.

I would recognize my beloved’s heartbeat in a hurricane. The man I have slept with, the man I love, is here in my ocean.

But right now, his pulse is raised. Another creature is threatening him; the hammerhead is a few meters away from him, swimming with intent. My mate is trying to swim upward, but he will not get there in time.

The fear in my heart is quickly replaced with rage. “Do not GO NEAR HIM!” I roar in animal-speak. This does not slow down my fellow shark, my enemy.

So I swim. I glide through the depths, up and down, picking up as much momentum as I can. Despite my fatigue from my travels, I swim harder, faster, as if my life depends on it. In some ways, it does. I have never had so much to lose. Right now, a shark is threatening my Karlo. When I get to him, he will regret it.

Karlo struggles to rise, and the hammerhead encroaches, gaining on him. Karlo does not see me, reaching upward to where presumably a boat is waiting for him. But we are still several meters below the light of the surface, far from human aid. And one of my own is so close to devouring him.

“No!” I shout. With a speed I have never harnessed, I make it to the two. Karlo looks at me, but my fury renders me unstoppable. I slam into the hammerhead, right before his jaws are able to catch Karlo’s leg. We tussle, and my head throbs with overstimulation. The pain is searing, hence why we sharks never touch anything if we can avoid it. But I would face a hundred other foes if it meant keeping Karlo safe.

And it seems that may occur; my vision is still blinded from slamming into the hammerhead at top speed, but I sense other large creatures approaching our area. When I can see again, five other sharks —some from my herd, some unfamiliar —are swimming to Karlo. It would seem my mate is the prey of choice for the day.

This will not stand. Knowing I cannot hurt them all at once, I make a snap decision. I swim down and grab the stunned hammerhead with my mouth. I drag him forward and gnash on his tail. I flail about in front of the others, making a show. His blood fans out in front of me, just as I intended it to. Without words, I communicate that this is what comes to those who should cross me or my mate.

With the display over, I let go and tentatively allow the hammerhead to live. The other five sharks have all stopped to float around and observe me. I let out a roar, and they all disperse. The hammerhead limps downward, hopefully to never be seen again. His tail is in poor shape, and I suspect other sharks will find him to be simple prey.

My adrenaline ebbs when I know that all the threats have vacated the area. When I swim around, Karlo is staring at me. Through his mask, his dark eyes are wide. It occurs to me that he knows very little of my full shark form; even if he did, humans find it difficult to see underwater.

But do I want him to see me? I am so ashamed of how I left him. He may be down here, but that does not mean he does not hold resentment for me. I want to swim away or shift, but Karlo’s precious eyes have me transfixed. He is close enough to touch, to hold.

After a moment, Karlo’s disposition changes; he is no longer shocked and afraid, but is instead…pleasantly surprised. It is hard to decipher human emotions when you cannot see their lower face. But when he wades closer to me, I am rendered frozen. The man I love, the man I walked away from, the man who almost died in front of me, is right here.

And his hands are outstretched. He wants to touch me, an act he has never done in my shark form. Am I frightening to him? More importantly, does he still have feelings for me?

When his hand touches my nose, I close my eyes and tremble. All my questions are answered —his skin on mine is just like the day I met him, when he was unconscious. I can feel my mate; Karlo belongs to me. My heart beats only for him.

And he must feel it too. He takes off the mouth portion of his mask and leans closer. It is difficult to see the few inches in front of me, but I know what his kiss tastes like, even in this form. Karlo is kissing the front of my nose, and it lights my soul aflame. I am whole again.

Before I realize it, I am shifting. I turn to my hybrid form, and when my fins become arms, I wrap myself around him. My head shrinks into a human-sized head, and I kiss Karlo properly. Here, under the water, I am kissing the human who has captured my heart. He tastes like warmth and promises of forever.

After a few seconds, I pull apart to notice him fumbling with his apparatus. Bubbles surround us— of course, he needs the mask to breathe. When he puts it on, his hopeful eyes blink at me. When he points up, I know what he is asking for. I gently lift him up in the water, carefully stopping every several yards; Skyler taught me that humans feel nausea if ascending too quickly in the ocean. I am happy to take my time and hold my beloved. I will keep you safe.

At long last, we make it to the surface, and Karlo takes off his entire mask. We roll in the waves, and I hold him up. He takes in gulps of fresh air, then beams at me. “I’m so glad the shark I kissed turned out to be you. That would’ve been real awkward if it wasn’t.”

I bark in laughter, the first real smile I have had in days. Karlo laughs along with me, then cuddles in my arms while we devolve into hysterics. The adrenaline from the fight and all that time spent underwater has rendered us both dizzy with joy.

“Are you okay?” I ask, rubbing his back.

He leans back and smiles at me. “I am now.”

“Karlo!” We turn to see a boat approaching us. “Karlo, is that you?!” Skyler’s voice is unmistakable, even from a distance, and over the sound of waves. The rowboat gets closer, and I float us over to it.

“Oh, thank monster god!” Ardsley is also on the boat, rowing to meet us.

“You could have been killed!” Skyler exclaims. “Wait…Mr. Shaughnessy?”

“I found him,” Karlo says to Skyler while floating in my arms. He turns to me and adds, “Mission accomplished.”

His two friends cheer with glee. They proceed to help Karlo onto the boat, and, without saying a word, I push them north to the closest dock.

I spend a few minutes helping the three friends unload the scuba gear into Skyler’s car. I try to touch Karlo as much as possible, but he requests privacy when he changes back into his street clothes. I chat with Ardsley and Skyler about how the presentation went, and it is only marginally awkward; these two apparently missed me as well. I did not realize how many close friends I made on the surface.

Karlo comes around the other side of the car, toweling his hair. “Um, hey.”

“Hey,” I reply, anxiously. We both turn to the others.

“Uh…” Skyler says.

“I can take a cab back,” Karlo says.

“Are you sure? It’s getting late,” Ardsley states, pointing up at the darkening sky. “We can wait in the car while you two, um…”

“It’s fine,” Karlo says, waving them off.

“I will not let any harm come to Karlo,” I say, putting a hand on my beloved’s shoulder.

Ardsley nods and waves, while Skyler leers at me. “Do not fuck up this second chance, or you’ll end up in a fricassee.” His words are filled with a surprising amount of venom. I do not know what fricassee is, but based on context, it cannot be good. I am almost afraid, but satisfied that Karlo has these loyal friends.

The others leave and, without saying anything, we walk back to the dock. We sit down, and I let my tail lie limp behind me. Once again, we are all alone on a dock, reminding me of the most important moments of our relationship: we kissed on a dock, I left him at a dock, and we met on the sand not too far from here.

It is quiet for several moments as we watch the waves roll. There are so many things I want to say, so much I need Karlo to know. But talking has never been my strong suit. Karlo has changed everything about my world, our world. A world I want to share with him.

“Are you going to swim back to the ocean?” he asks, his voice filled with exhaustion. “Or can I at least talk to you before you disappear again?”

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. “Karlo…I am sorry.”

“You should be, you asshole,” he mutters. He shoves me and I almost chuckle. He is so weak compared to me, but the insult is deserved.

“I…should not have left you last week.”

“Do you know how much I’ve been crying?” He turns to me, eyes glistening in the sunset. My breath is caught in my throat. I did that?

“I never want you to be hurt.”

“Well, you did that by leaving me and saying nothing, you jerk of a shark man.” He shoves me once again, but this time we both titter. “Like, why wouldn’t you talk to me? I thought mates were supposed to emotionally be there for each other?”

My heart jolts when I fixate on one single word. “M…m…mates?”

He rolls his eyes and wipes his tears. I want to bridge the inches between us. “Yes, you beautiful idiot, mates.” He huffs. “You said you wanted to be my mate for life, well now you have me. You had me in love with you, but you left. You wouldn’t even talk to me, or tell me what’s going on.”

“L…love?” My tail wags on its own. All the things I have dreamed of ever since I found that beautiful boy in the water are here for me to take. I simply need to bare my soul and beg for forgiveness.

“Yes.” He nods and looks down at his hands. “Despite my best efforts, I’ve fallen in love with you. But I don’t even know if you love me.”

“Karlo, I do love you!”

He sits upright. “Really?”

“Yes!” I laugh, but he frowns.

“Then why did you leave?”

I sigh. “Because I did not feel I had enough to give you. I know so little of your world. You are better suited to be with a man who has an education and finances. I cannot provide you with nice chairs or amusement park tickets or barbecue grills or really anything.”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “I don’t want any of that. Don’t you think I can make my own decisions on who deserves to be with me or whatever?”

“But your mother and Declan made me think —”

“Oh, screw both of them!” he exclaims. He looks at me, dark eyes boring into my soul. “I chose you. I love you so much I swam to the bottom of the freaking ocean just for a snowball’s chance in hell to find you!”

“That was not the bottom of the ocean.”

He frowns. “Razorjaw.”

“Alright,” I concede, lifting up my hands. “I am sorry about swimming away and not returning. I genuinely thought that was the best for you, but seeing you underwater solidified that I am still yours. And I want to keep trying to be worthy of you.”

He nods pensively and stares at the water, and I pray my words get through to him. “RJ, I want to be with someone who actually loves me for me. Who emotionally supports me and is willing to learn about my life. And if we continue to fall in love, we can build a future together. Now, are you that monster, the one who wants me for who I am? Or did I scuba dive down there for nothing?”

I gasp. A warmth blooms in my chest — hope perhaps? “Yes,” I whisper. I nod vigorously and add, “I love you, Karlo Castillo.”

He nods and looks up at me. “I don’t know about in the sea, but on land, mates don’t just swim away. When we fight, when we feel hurt, when we’re insecure, we…” He waves his hands around. “We take a day to breathe, then calmly work things out with the person we love. Now if you love me like you say you do, you can’t simply dive into the ocean at the first sign of trouble, that’s the deal.”

“I…I understand.” I sit upright, turning to him “And I am sorry. Again.”

He puts his hand above mine. “Then do you wanna be my mate, Razorjaw Shaughnessy?”

Joy bursts from my heart in the form of a laugh. “Since the day I met you, Karlo Castillo, the answer has not changed. Yes, so much so.”

His hand lands, fitting mine perfectly. We are a match, mates in every sense of the word, and every part of my soul feels lighter. When I lean forward, he catches me, a perfect kiss with eternal promises to each other.

“I’ve missed you,” he mutters around my mouth.

“And I, you,” I say, barely taking my lips off his.

When he pulls back, he grins and holds my head in place. “And for the record, I’m proud to be your boyfriend. I don’t need a man in finance who can buy me extravagant things; I just need you to love me as the flawed individual I am.”

I beam at him, my beautiful mate. “I will kiss you every day to prove that, to me, you are flawless.”

I caress his face and he shudders. When I pull him in, we kiss again, slowly, to the sounds of the cresting waves. I have finally claimed my human mate. I have earned his love, and I have no intention of swimming away again.