“Beautiful and sad,” the man said, surveying my face with his dark eyes before he shifted closer to me.
“Thank you.” I tossed back the last of my champagne. His compliments made me want to cry. They struck some fractured part of me that longed to hear I was pretty.
“You’re Parker’s girl, right?” He grabbed the bottle of Dom from the ice bucket and refilled my glass.
“I’m Skye.” I began to extend my hand but froze when I spotted Parker watching through the window, eyes narrowed. I drew it back. “Sorry, I have to go to the bathroom.”
I moved away from the man toward a small deck area on the ship’s side, where two stools sat on a strip of railless platform. Beneath me, the ocean churned, stars twinkling in a cloudless sky above. At least there hadn’t been any of those unearthly storms for a while.
Hitching up my tight dress and wriggling onto one of the seats, I shivered and cursed my pride, wishing I hadn’t discarded my coat. I glanced back toward the stern, where the handsome man still sat. I’d wait here until he went inside—no need to risk one of Parker’s jealous outbursts.
“Why were you talking to him?”
Too late.I winced as Parker descended the stairs from the inside area and down to this narrow side of the ship.
“He just introduced himself, that’s all.” I shrugged. “At leastsomeone’stalking to me.”
“I bet you were batting those big eyes at him and pouting those blow job lips.”
Before I could answer, he lunged at me, one of his hands closing around my throat. Fear shot through my body, and all I could do was stutter “N-no” as his grip tightened. His breath reeked of alcohol, his bloodshot eyes darted back and forth, and his hair stuck out in wild tufts.
“You’re just a whore, aren’t you?” Parker shoved me from the seat, his hand still clasping my throat.
“Babe, p-please.” My eyes darted wildly about the boat. The handsome man had disappeared inside. I wasn’t sure whether anyone could see us through the darkened windows—and even if they could, would they care? They were sycophants to the Stewarts.
“What were you going to do? Suck his cock at the back of the boat?” Parker shoved me closer to the ship’s edge, and ocean spray decorated the backs of my legs. The wind was in my hair as he moved his other hand to my neck and squeezed.
“Y-you’re pathetic,” I coughed.
“Pathetic, am I?” His eyes were no longer blue; they were white with rage. It was like the whites of his eyes had consumed his irises.
“Just a weak boy who has to beat his girlfriend to make himself feel like a man.” I choked on the words as Parker released my throat and his fist collided with my face.
There was searing pain and a flash of blinding light, and then I was falling... falling toward the water. As its icy arms closed around my waist and its swirling blue swallowed my face, my mind drifted to laughing with Morgana and Aranare on the clifftop, driftwood sticks in hand, the sea wind in our hair. I smiled, because it had been a perfect day.
9
Morgana
“What’s going on with you today?” Aranare asked after my magic had torn out of me and turned the sand around my sneakers into dust for the third time.
I’d woken with my stomach in knots, and the tension hadn’t eased as I stalked down the slick road to the beach, where he’d been waiting.
“It’s Skye.” I collapsed on the sand as sobs burst out of me.
“What about her?” Aranare asked sharply.
“She was supposed to come to my house last night, but never showed up.”
“Do you think she’s gone to work?” He crouched beside me, worry shining in his amber eyes.
“Maybe. I just have a horrible feeling.”
Aranare stood, raking a hand through his hair as he paced back and forth along the beach. “Come on then,” he said at last, extending a hand to pull me to my feet. “Let’s see if we can find her. I’ve got my truck here.”
I wiped my tear-stained eyes and followed him to where his truck wasparked on the boardwalk, a beat-up green Range Rover classic that looked like it might have been from the 1990s. The door creaked as he held it open for me, and I climbed in.
Aranare’s brow was furrowed, his expression dark as we drove to Bayside and pulled into the parking lot. Surely, she was just at Tartan Treasures and hadn’t called because she thought I’d be angry about her returning to Parker. That had to be it. I exhaled.
