Ocean Cove

It was like something had shocked me in my sleep. It felt to me like some strange electric current seemed to pass through my body with lightning speed, zapping every part of me, ripping me from my dreamless sleep and making me sit straight up in bed.

I hopped out of bed and without even pausing to turn on the light, I ran to the window, almost tripping over the covers as I went, and threw it open in my anticipation. My heart began thumping hard as I wondered about the blissful ramifications of this feeling.

Nothing but cold night air, darkness and the sound of the sea greeted me. This didn’t hinder my hopes though. I thought maybe I just couldn’t see her, that maybe my eyes hadn’t yet caught her silhouette, but after nearly twenty minutes of pointless hoping, I finally admitted that Lyla wasn’t there.

I was so sure that the surge I felt had something to do with Lyla being close by, but perhaps this was more like some kind of withdrawal, and these false alarms were nothing more than my body adjusting to Lyla’s constant absence from our link.

From the day Lyla left, I’d always hoped she’d come back. There was always something in me that hoped one day she would open her end of the connection and upon feeling my emotions again, would decide to return to East Island. The truth is, that small glimmer of hope I kept inside was all that kept me from completely losing it. It was the rope that kept my sanity intact.

But at that moment, standing by my bedroom window, I finally admitted to myself she wasn’t coming back. I hadn’t felt her open her end of the link in weeks, so I had no idea where she was or how she was feeling, which meant I had no way of knowing if I even had a chance at changing her mind. And as for the mental link that recently developed between us, she was doing her very best to keep her thoughts away from me.

My chest began to feel heavy as I fought to hold back the pain that came when I realized just how much I had lost, and how much I could have gained if Lyla had stayed.

I had left the window open and was walking back to bed when I felt someone’s hand grip me gently below my elbow. Anyone would be surprised or even scared if a hand just touched them when they were alone in the dark, but from the second that hand touched me a rush of warmth flooded my body, accompanied but a strange yet familiar calmness. How could I not recognize those soft, slender fingers that caressed my face so many times? I turned quickly on the spot and even though it was dark, I could clearly see the silhouette of a girl standing next to me. It was Lyla.

“Chase,” she uttered this with that same beautiful voice I was accustomed to but was sure I would never hear again. I couldn’t whether she was happy or sad, but I was simply too happy to just have her there to care.

Without even thinking about it, I flung my arms around her and felt like I needed to stay like this or she would disappear forever. I even welcomed her unique aroma which aroused all my senses. It just seemed to smell more amazing than I remember.

When I felt Lyla’s hand touch me as she hugged me back, I was sure that nothing could have been better than this, to have her in my arms again, but she relaxed her control over the bond, and I felt her desire for something more. I didn’t exactly have to think about what she wanted, but before I could do anything, her lips were crushed against mine in a way she had never allowed before. The kiss was amazing. Lyla had never kissed me with such fierceness and passion before because she was always afraid of losing control and hurting me.

The emotional part of the kiss was weird, but in a good way. I felt every pleasure a kiss like this could give me. It took away all the pain and worries I had when Lyla was gone. It was like every bad thought I had was wiped away leaving nothing but pure happiness, just like the first time we kissed. I also felt every pleasure it gave Lyla. Through our bond, I felt how much she not just longed to kiss me, but to kiss me like this. I felt how much she was simply happy to be here, and I felt how powerful this one kiss was to her, how much it meant to her.

When we finally broke apart (though our heads remained together) I still felt happy, but it was no longer the only or dominant feeling I had. Looking at Lyla, I started to feel angry and hurt, and from the look on her face, I knew she felt this through our bond.

Suddenly I started to feel like I wanted to make her feel the pain she caused me, even if it was only for a few minutes. But I told myself it wouldn’t be fair to her because she left to keep me safe in the first place.

Knowing this did nothing to quell my anger. I released her and walked over to the other side of the room near my bed. Without turning to look at her I said, “You left me here. You left me alone.”

There was a soft whoosh in the room that meant Lyla had super-walked to me, but she didn’t do anything but sit on the bed. When I looked at her she was fiddling with her hands in her lap.

“Do you know what it was like for me, always wondering if you were ever coming back, always hoping you would come back? Every night I woke up just hoping to find you here, but you weren’t. Every day and night I went down to the beach, praying you’d swim back, even if it was for a little while, because I just needed to see you. What made it worse was the fact that I could still feel you through our bond, but I couldn’t be with you. Then you just started to close yourself off from the link altogether. Lyla, how could you do that? How could you just leave? Do you know how much that hurt?”

I sat down next to her on the bed. I so wanted to just put my arms around her and just to lay there, but I needed to know.

She finally looked at me.

“Of course I know how much it hurt. How do you think I felt every time I felt your emotions tugging on my consciousness? I felt your pain, and I knew I was the cause, but I couldn’t do anything to help you. Chase, I wanted to come back for you so badly, but I couldn’t because distancing myself from you was the only way to keep you safe.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Everyone kept saying we shouldn’t be together because they thought I wanted to turn you, but even though we both know I would never do that, it didn’t mean I couldn’t indirectly hurt you in other ways.”

Lyla got off the bed and started pacing.

“For instance look at what Chris did. It’s all because of me. Those things didn’t happen because you love me, it’s because I love you. If I hadn’t been around you, none of that stuff would’ve happened and you would’ve had a normal life.”

I jumped off the bed, filled with shock and indignation.

“Are you out of your mind?” Lyla recoiled a little in surprise. “Do you think I would give up all I’ve had with you for, what you call ‘a normal life’? I would go through that ten times more if it meant I could be with you forever. Being with you has been the best thing that could’ve happened to me, but it’s like you don’t understand that.”

“I do understand, really. I just want you to be safe.” Lyla whispered in her angelic voice.

“So what made you finally come back?” I just realized that something must have made her change her mind.

Lyla finally stopped pacing and turned in the bedroom light. “I came back because you’re in danger and I’ve got to get you out of here.”

She walked over to the chest of drawers and was about to start pulling out my clothes before I caught her hands and turned her to me.

“Whoa. Slow down. What do you mean?”

She merely pulled away and started throwing clothes onto the bed.

Seeing Lyla acting so frantic and feeling a sudden wave of panic and fear rushing through our bond from her scared me more than if she had actually attacked me. I reached out to her again.

“Lyla, please tell me what’s happened.”

She sighed, dropping the remaining clothes back into an open drawer.

She took my hand and guided me over to the bed. After a few moments of silence, she finally said: “When I left, which was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, I went to England.”

“Okay. I remember you told me your time there was one of the happiest in your life.”

“Well, I thought if I went back I might be able to find some of that happiness again. I had hoped with time it would ease my pain over you, but once I got there, nothing I did made me feel any better.”

I had to concentrate hard on blocking my end of the connection, because I actually felt some satisfaction at hearing Lyla say she couldn’t get over leaving.

“I stopped going on land altogether. I just wanted to go full primal and lose myself in my instincts. It’s not something I’m proud of wanting to do, but I didn’t want to hurt anymore and I believed if all I brought was trouble to the person I loved, I didn’t deserve any kind of happiness. After a while I came across another Aquamun named Andréus. At first he only came around to watch me, but he soon started talking with me, and to be honest, I welcomed his company. But after a while I realized that he, well, he kind of wanted to acquire me.”

“He wanted to what?” I blurted out, unable to help myself. The way Lyla said it sounded like he thought she was some kind of object he could buy. Lyla smiled at my indignation. “That’s how most Aquamuns refer to it. It simply means he wanted me to be his mate.”

Lyla watched me closely to see my reaction to this news. Truthfully, when I heard the word ‘mate’, something hot seemed to contract in my stomach.

“What happened next?” I tried to sound like I merely wanted to hear the rest of the story rather than fearing the girl I loved was about to tell me she loved someone else.

“Well I had to explain to him that I was already in love with someone, and if I couldn’t be with him, I didn’t want anyone else.”

I turned my face away. I didn’t want Lyla to see my blushing.

“Okay, believe me when I say that’s good to know, but that doesn’t really explain why I have to leave. What are you afraid of?”

I moved closer to her and took her hand in my palm. Suddenly she started talking as if she was giving a murder confession and tears began flowing down her cheeks.

“Chase, I’m sorry. I was so lonely and took the chance for company. I didn’t realize what kind of Aquamun he really was. I told him things about me, about the island, but mostly about you. I told him your name, where you live, what you look like… I’m sorry.”

At that point I finally realized what she was getting at. I remembered something Nikolai told me a couple months earlier. He said if two Aquamuns wanted the same mate they would settle it with a fight to the death. “The one who survives would claim the Aquamun as their mate. In our world, there’s nothing more terrifying than an Aquamun fighting for a mate.”

I didn’t need Lyla to finish. I knew what was happening. It was the hunt and that meant an Aquamun was coming after me.

“He’s coming after me.” It was a statement of fact, but Lyla slowly nodded a confirmation and after drying her eyes, stood up.

If a rampaging Aquamun was after me, I really didn’t see any way out of it. When Chris was after me, he did it indirectly with his magic, and Hilda and the Morgans were there to help me. But if an Aquamun was coming, it changed everything. I’d seen what the Morgans could do with their abilities. The fact that someone was going to use those against me was bad. Very bad. There was nowhere in the world I could hide. Anyone I was with or around was in danger.

With my mind made up, I got off the bed and grabbed a bag pack out of the closet, and threw some of the clothes Lyla had on the bed into it.

“You’re right. I’ve got to get out of here.” I went to get my passport and my ATM card.

“I won’t let anything happen to you Chase, I promise. You don’t have to be scared.”

Lyla took hold of my hands, then kissed me. Hearing her ready to put herself in the danger that was coming scared me more than the Aquamun himself.

“Lyla, no. I don’t want you to fight him. He can actually kill you. Look, I’m not leaving because I’m scared… well, I am. But I’m more frightened for my friends, I’m scared for my parents, and I’m terrified for you. If I stay here, I’d be putting everyone in danger, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I knew that any of them got hurt because of me.”

Lyla cupped my face in her hands and said: “Chase you don’t have to go through this alone, we can help you.”

“What do you mean ‘we’?”

“My family. You’re a part of my life, which means you’re a part of our family and we protect each other. Now I have no idea when Andréus plans on coming, but we’re prepared anyway. Right now Nikolai’s in the sea, patrolling the island’s borders and Michael’s just below the cliffs in case Andréus gets past Nikolai. We already called Hilda for help. Mother’s over there with her now, and father’s already left for England.”

“He’s gone to find Andréus?”

“He’s gone to the Aselhoff house. Viktor is Andréus’s father,”

“He’s part of the Aselhoff house?”

“Yes. Father’s going to try to convince Viktor to get Andréus to call off the hunt, seeing as you’re human.”

At first I was lost for words. The fact that this was all happening because of me was unbelievable. I obviously wasn’t happy, but after hearing what everyone was doing for me, I was no longer afraid for myself. I felt ready, like I just wanted to find Andréus and fight him, but as he was probably a billion times stronger than me, that would be suicidal.

Lyla took my hand and squeezed it in a reassuring gesture, which I returned.

“Okay. I’ll do it your way. But what about my parents?” I suddenly remembered they would be caught in the middle of this if something wasn’t done.

“Don’t worry,” Lyla replied. “I know how to get them off the island. They’ll be gone by the day after tomorrow at the latest. Get that bag.” She pointed to the backpack now stuffed with clothes. “We have to wait for Nikolai’s signal. When we leave, we’ll go out the window, meet Michael out front with the jeep and Nikolai will join us there too.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Hilda’s. We’ll figure out our next move there. Plus, you’re going to be staying there, where she can protect you until this is over.”

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light, accompanied by a loud boom.

“What the hell was that,” I asked, startled when everything had gone back dark and silent. Lyla cursed under her breath.

“That was Nikolai’s signal. I told him to make it simple. Good thing only we were meant to see it. Come on.”

We were just about to go when something occurred to me.

“When my parents realize I’m gone with a bag of clothes, they’re gonna freak. They’ll think I’m making another break for it.”

“No they won’t.” Lyla actually sounded kind of smug. “Because in the morning, they’ll find their son sleeping in because he got a cold. Nikolai will be taking care of that with a little compulsion. Chase you don’t have to worry, we’re going to take care of this.” Lyla said, both promise and worry strong in her voice. Then with more grace and agility than a cat, she jumped out the window, then shouted back up. “Throw down the bag, then climb down.”

After throwing the bag out, I went through the window and down the tree. Then, with only the moon and stars as a source of light, we ran to the road where Michael met us with the jeep. As soon as we were in, we sped off into the night.

“Where’s Nick?” Nikolai wasn’t in the jeep with us.

“He’s running behind us to make sure we’re not being followed. Andréus might get some of his father’s men to help track us. We can’t be too careful.”

I knew Nikolai was an Aquamun, which meant he could handle a lot. But because he looked even younger than me, it made me feel bad because he had to do so much and put himself in harm’s way.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Lyla said, but I couldn’t help but hear the concern in her voice. My worries were probably barreling across the bond towards her. We both knew because of Nikolai’s illusion powers, a lot would depend on him, and even though I knew he was willing to do it, it still felt unfair to expect so much from him.

No one said anything for the rest of the trip. We just sat in silence and I knew that, like me, Lyla and Michael were both contemplating the danger we were in. After about ten minutes, Michael arrived and parked at Hilda’s house. As soon as we pulled up, Salathia danced out of the house in a blur, and before I barely recognized it, she hugged me and ushered us all into the house.

“Thank God you’re all okay. I was so worried.”

“What’s going on, Mother?” asked Nikolai, suddenly appearing with us.

“We’ll explain inside.”

No matter how many times I was inside Hilda’s house, it still freaked me out. I mean, why couldn’t she be like a normal witch and have a creepy house? At least then I’d feel like I was in the right place. We found Hilda sitting in the dining room around the circular table. After we all sat down, Salathia began with a grave face.

“Marcus called shortly before you arrived. He spoke with Viktor, but he won’t help. He said Andréus has the right to start the hunt as it is the Aquamun way and they refuse to defend a human.”

“Where’s father now?” Michael asked.

“When he called he said he had picked up Andréus’s trace but it led out of England, which meant he’d already left. So he’s on his way back. He should be here soon.”

“So what do we do now? We can’t just sit back and let Andréus attack.” Lyla said, frustrated that there was no good news so far.

“Settle, Lyla. There may be a way for us to find Andréus,” Salathia said, looking at Hilda to continue.

“You’ve already met him Lyla,” Hilda said as she switched seats with Michael so she was sitting next to Lyla. “Which means you’ve sensed his aura. I can use that to try to use magic to find his location.”

Hilda held out her hands, and Lyla placed both hers, palms down, on them.

“Now I want you to think of Andréus, and of him alone, understood?”

Lyla responded with a nod and closed her eyes as Hilda did the same. A couple minutes went by and I began wondering if anything was even happening. But before long, they both slowly opened their eyes.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“He’s somewhere in the Atlantic ocean, but I can’t give you a more precise location because it seems he’s using magic to hide his location.” Hilda said.

“I didn’t know Aquamuns could perform magic.” I said, surprised.

“We can’t,” Salathia said. “But the Aselhoff house is very powerful. Viktor has witches under his command as well. One of them must’ve performed the spell for Andréus.”

“Actually, Hilda, that’s very helpful. I’ve got his scent and his trace, we know he’s coming here and now with a general idea of where he is, it will be easier for me to find him.” Lyla explained.

“What do you want to do now, Lyla?” Salathia asked. Lyla studied me for a while. It was clear to me what she was feeling, but it would have been nice to know what she was thinking. Every time I tried our mental link, there was always that small buzz that told me she was blocking the connection. Why, I had no idea.

“You,” Lyla indicated her mother, “Michael and I will go looking for Andréus. He’s not on the island yet, he’s staying away for now for whatever reason, and I’d like to keep it that way. When father picks up our trace, I’m sure he’ll join us.”

She turned to Nikolai. “Nick, in the morning, compell Joseph and Lilly. Make them think Chase is still there, and use your influence over the whales to get them to do something, anything interesting really so they’ll have an excuse to leave the island. When you’re done, trace our location, we’ll need you.”

Nikolai nodded in acknowledgement.

“Hopefully, we’ll find him in time and between the five of us, we can convince him to give up the hunt,” Lyla sighed loudly, and judging by the expressions on everyone’s face, it was clear they were sure it wouldn’t be that easy.

As I was running over in my head what Lyla had planned, what everyone was thinking burst from my mouth.

“Tell me something. Let’s say you find Andréus, but he refuses to give up the hunt, what are you going to do then?”

Everyone in the room was looking at me as though they were all afraid, but Michael cleared his throat in a business-like manner and answered.

“When an Aquamun is on the hunt, and a third party interferes, like we’re going to, one of the hunters kills the person for getting in. So to answer your question, if Andréus refuses to end the hunt, which he probably will, he’ll come after us too, and it won’t stop until one of you is dead, so we may have no other choice but to kill him.”

And there it was, out there for all of us to hear.

Everyone in the room was quiet. I knew that neither the Morgans nor Hilda had ever taken anyone’s life, supernatural or human, and here now, because of me, they faced having to do just that. When it was Chris who was after me, Lyla had the chance to kill him, but instead, she took away his soul. Now they were up against another Aquamun and as Lyla told me before, the touch wouldn’t destroy an Aquamun’s soul. The only option would be to take him out for good.

Even though Aquamuns killed each other all the time, it wasn’t the Morgans’ way. Hilda claimed to hate Aquamuns, but did she have the resolve to kill one? And who was to say if they did go up against Andréus, would they all survive? With protection as strong as this, it was easy to believe I would live through this. The real question was, would everyone else here live through this? I looked around at everyone and felt a pang of guilt and emotional pain at the thought that, maybe a month from now, one or more of the people I loved could be dead.

“How?” I asked suddenly, pulling everyone from their train of thought. All eyes were on me again. “How do you kill an Aquamun?”

“Because of our healing abilities and our bones being so strong, it’s not an easy thing to do.” Lyla began. “And in Andréus’s case, he is well over one hundred years old, so magic is out, but we do know of two ways. The first is the touch.”

“I thought you said the touch doesn’t work on Aquamuns,” I interrupted.

“No. I said it won’t destroy our souls. The energy works differently on us. Instead of destroying our souls, it would kill us. But the thing is, father said some Aquamuns are immune to the power, so it may not work on Andréus. The other way would be to break the neck. Remember I said our bones and healing are why we’re so hard to kill? Well our necks are our weak point.”

Lyla paused, and with everyone else looked at Hilda when she gave a “Hmmm” at Lyla’s words.

“Our bones might be strong, but we are strong enough to break them. What people don’t know is, if you can break an Aquamun’s neck it would paralyze us for a couple minutes because it slows down the healing process. Once that’s done, we can completely break the bone connecting the head to the spine, which would kill an Aquamun.”

It sounded so complicated. If they tried to take out Andréus like that, there was a huge chance he could turn the tables on them.

“When are you leaving?” I wasn’t too keen to see any of them go, especially knowing that any one of them, my new family, might not come back.

Lyla rose from her seat, walked over to me and lightly kissed me on the cheek. After a quick nod to her family, who had also risen gracefully from their seats, she said, “We’re leaving now.”