Midnight Serenade (Moonhaven World Romance #1)

13. Grace

Chapter 13

Grace

T he next few days at sea passed peacefully. Mama, Micaela and I all played miniature golf. Micaela and Mama smoked me, which shocked me. I wasn’t shocked because of Micaela; I’d fully expected her to smoke me. But I couldn’t remember Mama ever even playing miniature golf.

When we finally made it to Samoa, I caught my breath at the rugged beauty of it. It was gorgeous! There was so much green it looked like a master painter had taken a wide brush, dipped it in green, and went crazy with it.

Despite the island’s beauty, I was hesitant to go ashore. I stood looking at it, trying to determine if I wanted to take a chance on being attacked again. It seemed that no matter how many bodyguards I had, the person who kept coming after me found a way through. It wasn’t my bodyguards’ fault. I mean, who would have guessed that someone would beat up the employee at the ziplines and take their place? None of us had.

I was used to fending off attacks from unwanted attention, which was why I carried a gun and mace and Mama carried a bat, but I was used to it coming from men who were fixated on me. I didn’t know why, but I was getting the feeling this woman wasn’t coming after me because she was romantically obsessed with me. It felt like this was about revenge. And, to me, revenge was infinitely more terrifying. I was used to the one, but had never had to deal with the other.

Sebastian leaned against the rail beside me, looking cool and breezy and handsome. I loved the way he dressed. It was classic, comfortable, and perfect for someone who spent their life on a boat. He was in a pair of dressier white shorts with a belt and a navy-blue pullover shirt. He went everywhere with bare feet, just like I did. Unless we were going to dinner; then we had to wear shoes.

I took a peek at my toes and laughed in delight at the glossy lemon-yellow polish. I’d gotten a manicure and pedicure as well as a cut and style today, and I was feeling pretty fancy.

“I love your sunshine toes,” Sebastian said with a grin.

I laughed and kept wiggling them. “Thanks. It was a real treat getting them done. I can’t remember the last time I got a pedicure.”

He gazed at my face, and then ran a gentle hand through my hair. “Your hair looks beautiful too.”

I ducked my head, my cheeks burning. “Thank you.”

He chuckled. “You know, for a siren, you’re pretty bashful.”

“Are most sirens egomaniacs?”

“No. They’re just used to people falling at their feet, I suppose.”

“So, they’re egomaniacs.”

He chuckled again and looked out to sea. I followed his gaze and saw a humpback whale crest the water in the distance. Then five more broke the surface, water and air erupting from their blowholes. A baby swam with the pod, but the adults kept the baby shielded in the middle of them, so the baby was hard to see.

“It’s so hard to imagine there’s an entire world under our boat that most people never get to see,” I said wistfully.

Sebastian wrapped both arms around my waist, and I leaned back against him. He smelled masculine and delicious, and his skin was warm from the sun beating down on us.

“We’re anchored,” Sebastian said in a low voice. “Just wait. I bet they come to see you.”

And somehow, miraculously, they did. The little family came close to the ship, and I got a little teary when they appeared to take a special interest in me. How did Dr. Seuss put it? I felt whimsilerated. It was astounding to me that marine life seemed to see me as a friend.

Kazi leaned into us, cuddling like he sometimes did. I patted him and rubbed his furry head. He was an excellent companion, and I would be sad to leave him at the end of this trip. Sad to leave all of this, but most especially the vampire that had me snugly wrapped in his arms.

I thought about my mama’s words today. How I might stay. It was a big decision, and I didn’t make those lightly, but it was also starting to feel like the best decision for me.

Well, I still had time to make it. We were only about a third of the way through the cruise, after all.

“There are a few nice places to swim east of Apia. They’re freshwater pools that formed from a spring dripping water from a lava tube cave. I thought you might be interested?”

“That sounds nice.” I tilted my head back to see his face. “Just us two?”

“I think I can take care of you and protect you for the evening.”

I took a big breath in, then out, then nodded my head determinedly. “Let’s do it.”

The lava tube caves had been spectacular and refreshing, and spending the day floating in the little pools with Sebastian had been both magical and romantic.

We’d even taken a few hours to work on my sonic ability, as the crowds had thinned to nothing by the end of the day. I’d gotten to where I could feel a tingly buzzing sensation in my hand, but maybe because I hadn’t been terrified out of my head, I’d been unable to produce anything even remotely close to a sonic blast.

And the icing on the already perfect-day cake? No one had tried to kill me. I didn’t know whether the woman had given up, backed off, or was just terrified of Sebastian, but I called it a win when I didn’t almost die. I didn’t care why I’d been left alone all day, just that I had.

Looking back, I think maybe I called it a win too early.

Micaela held up a fuzzy onesie from my closet that I sometimes wore when I needed extra comfort and warmth. “Pink, really?”

I snatched it from her hands and put it back. “What do you have against pink? It’s a lovely color.”

Micaela made a face. “It’s so girly.”

“I’m a girl,” I said in a deadpan voice that Mama snickered at from the open bathroom door.

“Blue is so much better. It’s soothing,” Micaela declared, uncoiling the whip hidden under her shirt from around her waist and hanging it next to the wardrobe on a hook.

“I don’t know why you have a whip,” I said. “You’re not Indiana Jones.”

Micaela smirked but remained silent, choosing to keep her weird weapons collection secrets to herself.

Later, when everyone had gone to bed, I couldn’t stop tossing and turning, my mind playing back again and again my perfect day with Sebastian. He’d brought a picnic for us today, and we’d sat by the freshwater pools, laughing and talking for hours, dipping now and then into the water to cool off. It had been such a great date that neither one of us had wanted it to end. But we’d had to come back because he’d had responsibilities on the ship that he said he couldn’t foist off on Rafe because Rafe was super busy with his own stuff.

Finally, still unable to sleep, I sighed in exasperation and got up, wrapping a warm, fluffy robe over my short shorts and tank top so I didn’t freeze when I went out to the balcony. I also added the fuzzy slippers that I’d bought at the gift shop. They cracked me up because they were little Kazi’s. Apparently, everyone loved Kazi so much that they had Kazi themed merchandise on all the Solace ships, only the humans didn’t know it. They just thought Solace Cruise Lines was mountain lion crazy.

Kazi, for the first time since I’d joined the ship, was sleeping with Sebastian. I think he’d missed him.

I tried to slide open the door quietly so I didn’t disturb Micaela and Mama, but I was under no illusions that I hadn’t woken Micaela up; her senses were really sharp. I hoped she’d forgive me for disturbing her sleep. I slid the door closed inch by quiet inch, then leaned against the balcony, gazing out at the vast, dark sea.

We’d left Samoa behind and would spend three days cruising to Bora Bora. I was really looking forward to seeing the island. I’d seen pictures, and it was stunning. There was supposed to be a really great restaurant called Le Corail that I was dying to try as well.

I heard a quick scuffle behind me. I was just turning to see who had come out to join me when I was picked up from behind, and with a mighty heave, I was tossed overboard.

I screamed as I plummeted over two hundred feet toward the ocean below me. Statistics on falling from great heights flashed in my mind in rapid succession. Determined not to be one of those that didn’t make it, I flailed a bit until I aligned my body in a rough diver’s pose just before I hit the water.

By some miracle, I didn’t break every bone in my body.

I quickly shed my robe and slippers as I weakly fought my way back up to the surface, hurting, bruised, and moving sluggishly. I drifted there, too stunned to move or process anything for a few seconds, trying to catch my breath and think coherently. My wrists and fingers hurt the most—probably because they’d hit the water first—and every other part of me felt deeply bruised and abused, but I was miraculously alive, and couldn’t account for why.

Were sirens physically stronger than the average human? Did water listen to us and obey us? Because I could have sworn the water reached up to envelop me before I’d even hit the surface. I stared hard at the surrounding water, trying to see if it would do something supernatural-ly, but it just looked and behaved like normal ocean water. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual about it.

When I could think straight again, I yelped to see my ship continuing on without me. I had to catch up! Had no one seen me go overboard? I thought they had people that watched out for this sort of thing?! Surely up on the Bridge someone had seen something!

I yelled at the top of my lungs and started swimming for all I was worth. I wasn’t an Olympic speed swimmer, but I considered myself pretty fast. Only, I wasn’t fast enough. No one could swim that fast. I knew from my tour of the Bridge that the average cruise ship traveled at twenty to twenty-five mph, and the fastest swimmers in the world could only go between five and eight mph. So, unless I suddenly unlocked some sort of siren superpowers, there was no way I was going to catch up to my ship. It got further and further in the distance, until I could barely see it as a tiny speck, and then it was gone.

I stopped swimming instantly, knowing I needed to conserve my energy for the battle ahead. I craned my neck around, looking for landforms rising out of the water; anything that I could take shelter on for the night until someone realized I wasn’t on the ship.

But there were no landforms.

There was nothing.

I felt the beginnings of panic start to hit me.

What was I going to do?

I treaded water for a while, not fighting as the currents pulled me one way, then another. I’d been in crises before, the times too numerous to count, so I didn’t fully panic, but I came close. I’d never felt so alone before in my life. I crunched numbers in my head and realized no one would even think to look for me for another seven hours. Mama always got up early, having always been an early bird, and she would wake up Micaela, and it would be Micaela that would know I wouldn’t leave my room without her and call Sebastian, who’d order a search of the ship.

So that meant that I had to survive in the South Pacific Ocean for seven hours, in the middle of the night, with no flotation devices, no food or water, and no help.

I wanted to cry.

Suddenly, something wet and leathery skimmed my right foot.

I yelped, jerking my foot away from what I darkly imagined was a shark, when a huge turtle's head popped out of the water, gently nuzzling my bare shoulder. I gasped. The turtle had to be six feet long, at least , and half as wide!

I hesitantly reached a hand out as he kept nuzzling my shoulder, and I skimmed my fingers along his shell. I assumed it was a he. I didn’t know how to tell with turtles, and I wasn’t going to stick my head underwater at the moment to look.

The sea turtle nosed his humongous head under my arms, supporting me until I leaned against him. Had I accidentally been sending out those SOS siren signals Sebastian had told me about?

“You must have felt my SOS and come to help.” I leaned my cheek against his shell, looking at the miles and miles of vast, dark ocean surrounding me. “Thank you,” I whispered.

Sebastian

My cell phone buzzed and buzzed, then stopped, and buzzed and buzzed again, waking me out of a deep sleep. I fumbled for it and answered, my voice raspy from sleep.

“Hello?”

“It’s two a.m. Do you know where your siren is?”

I was instantly wide awake. I flew out of bed and started shoving clothes on, whatever came to hand first. Kazi, who’d been laying at the foot of my bed, had woken up as well and was whining in the back of his throat, looking both sle and nervous at my frantic, jerky movements.

“Who is this?” I demanded.

“My name is Aashvi. I’m an oracle who resides in Moonhaven. I got your number from King Draven of the vampires. Your Arisma has been abandoned in the ocean far behind you.”

My undead heart stopped. “She what!”

“Nearly two hours ago an assailant threw her body overboard. She still lives, as the sharks won’t touch her except to nuzzle her, and the waters are warm, but if you keep going, she will not survive the night.”

I bolted out of my suite at a speed most passengers wouldn’t be able to detect and Kazi wouldn’t be able to keep up with, but I had to reach the Bridge quickly.

The Captain and his officers were all startled as I burst in and blinked at me in astonishment. “Code MOB. Turn back the way we came. She went over two hours ago.”

I remembered I had Aashvi still on the phone, but when I went to thank her and promise her a fortune and my undead gratitude, she’d already hung up. If I was ever able to track her down, I was going to offer her free cruises for life.

Kazi finally caught up to me. I scooped him up and held him to my chest like I did when he was a cub because he was making heartbreaking confused and distressed noises.

“Shh. It’ll be okay. We’ll get her back.”

The Bridge was in a state of controlled chaos as the Captain radioed our change in itinerary, and that we had a person lost at sea that we were going back for. The crew moved efficiently to turn the ship again, following the route we’d come.

I got Rafe on the walkie. He’d been awake and working to allow me the opportunity to get some sleep. We were usually on alternate shifts, so there was always someone available to handle ship emergencies.

“Rafe, Grace was thrown overboard two hours ago by her stalker. We’re going after her. Make an announcement in the morning and let guests know the projected change to our itinerary. We’ll skip our last port of call to make up the time. If anyone seriously complains, offer them a complimentary three-day cruise on Starfire.”

“Understood.” Rafe’s voice sounded both full of fury and terror in equal measures. Two things I was currently experiencing myself. “And the person who did this to her? How do we find them?”

“I’ll take Kazi to her cabin and balcony area. He’s not as accurate as a trained dog, but he might be able to pick up an anomalous scent.”

“10-4. Micaela is going to be furious that she missed the assailant.”

I sighed. “And Grace’s mom will be terrified. Please handle both of them as well.”

“You got it.”

Grace

I was collecting sea life like a chenille sweater collected lint. The ones that terrified me the most were the sharks that circled down below. A small pod of humpback whales protected me from them, as well as a few playful dolphins, some manta rays, several schools of curious fish, and the huge turtle who’d first joined me. He’d forcibly scooped me onto his back an hour ago because my strength was flagging and I kept sinking below the surface of the water, struggling to make it back up.

The sharks weren’t hurting anything, but they were still a terrifying presence for most of the sea life around me. They shifted nervously whenever the sharks circled too closely. Ironically, I somehow felt that the sharks were trying to protect me from the more aggressive species of sharks in these waters. Maybe through my siren spidey sense, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know how to thank the sharks—I didn’t know if I wanted them to be close enough to thank—but I was really grateful for them.

Everyone was quiet at the moment and relatively still. I think they were trying to allow me time to rest. I’d thought about taking the sea creatures and trying to follow the direction the ship had gone in, but I knew it’d be best for me to stay put. They always told you to do that if you got lost. And I figured lost at sea counted as the worst imaginable kind of lost.

I dozed for a while, shivering at the cool night air on my wet skin. The turtle was fantastic at keeping my head above water. I knew he could hold his breath for hours, but I wasn’t that fortunate. He had to be getting tired, though. I thought I remembered watching a documentary that said that sea turtles could pretty much rest anywhere, like the surface of the water or wedged under some rocks.

I patted his shell in gratitude again. “Thank you. You saved my life.”

I squinted into the distance. My eyes were grainy with fatigue, but were those... lights on the water? I was potentially hallucinating. This didn’t worry me as much as it probably should have.

“Mr. Turtle, tell me you’re seeing what I’m seeing.” The lights drew closer, and I was thinking all kinds of things. Ghosts on the water? Spirits from another realm? An insomniac captain that wanted to go fishing at four a.m.? I’d read somewhere that fishing boats had to set out early in order to get a bigger catch. Maybe he wanted a catch big enough to take a few days off?

I sat up on the turtle’s shell, squinting even more. The blurry shapes finally resolved into a ship. An enormous ship. Way too big for a fishing troller. “Oh my gosh! It’s a cruise ship!” As the ship came nearer, I started waving my hands frantically above my head and shouting at the top of my voice. “Down here! Hey! Down here!”

When it drew close enough to me to read Kamaria on the side of the massive ship, I started to cry. Shouts sounded from the deck of the ship, and then there was a tiny splash that was probably Sebastian diving elegantly into the ocean from two hundred feet up.

Show off.

I turned back to my rescue team. The sea animals that had all come at my SOS. “ Thank you for coming to my aid. I will never forget any of you and what you did for me.” I kissed the turtle’s shell and slid off of him moments before Sebastian’s arms wrapped around me, enveloping me in his comforting embrace.

“ Grace.” That one word held so much depth of emotion it made my eyes burn. I wrapped my weak, numb arms around him and held on with all the strength I had left.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.”

He held me tighter. He had even swam through sharks for me without even pausing to consider the danger.

“I’m so glad you came back for me,” I managed to say in a watery, choked voice.

“I’m moving in with you,” he said, completely seriously.

I laughed and buried my head against his chest. “I might let you.” I sighed. “Let’s get back to the ship.”