I swam the remaining distance to the town I’d noticed the day before. Allowing myself to travel at an easy, leisurely pace, I took solace in the water while I could. No telling how long it would be before I’d return.
When the darkening sunset pushed most of the people from the water and back onto the beach, I gradually made my way closer to shore. Each stroke caused my anxiety to rise, and I had to keep reminding myself that I was simply another person and that they would have no reason to take any notice of me, unless I allowed my fear to turn me into a combustion device. Then all bets were off.
My legs were sturdy enough, though still slightly sore from the nearly two days of practice, that I was able to walk through the crashing tide and step nearly effortlessly onto the beach.
Sure enough, with no more than a few harmless stares, I stepped back into the human world. Even the looks I received were fleeting, and it only took a moment for me to recognize them for what they were. The only stares I’d gotten in the mer world were due to either wonder at my legs or fear because of my resemblance to humans. These stares were ones of attraction. Though they made me self-conscious enough that I looked down to make sure I was still wearing the cargo shorts, it felt good to have that sort of attention. Even if it hadn’t been attraction, simply not feeling like the solitary freak that I was under the water was nice.
While I had done my best to come up with a game plan for when I got to land, I’d settled on simply taking things as they came. I had no idea where I was or how to find vampires. Every time I’d run into the redheaded fucker had been coincidence or by his design. Even when I’d learned Sonia had been turned, I hadn’t realized it was her I was following. If Zef had made sure the tribe stayed away from the area of land, there had to be enough vampires around that it should be easier to find one than in San Diego. At least now I would know a vampire when I saw one.
The memory of the vampire’s emerald eyes caused me to pause at the edge of the beach, nearly making me turn and run back to the water. Flashes of his assault in the alley caused my breath to catch in my chest. Visions of Sonia’s blood-soaked room. The wounds on little Peter’s neck. Memories, living nightmares, still overtook me at times without warning. I guess it hadn’t even been a full year yet. How long was it supposed to take to get over that stuff? If I was truly immortal, like I feared, I’d have plenty of time to answer that question.
As if in a dissipating haze, the view of the beach town returned into focus, shoving out past demons. I put one foot on the grass that overtook the beach, then the other. Within fifteen more steps, I was at the curb of a small street, cars parked bumper to bumper along the sides.
While not as sparkly and trendy as the beachside shops and neighborhoods in San Diego, this little town was charming. Wherever I was, it definitely wasn’t the United States. With the sound of the surf behind me and the palm trees littering the space, it looked like I’d stepped into a cliché of a beach vacation destination.
People were everywhere, keeping my anxiety at a ridiculous level. They wandered around the businesses, put their beach supplies into cars, hailed taxis, or sat on the ground and benches watching the last rays of sunset. A faint hint of pot wafted over from a group of three guys gathered around a trash can. The sickly sweet odor caused me to gag.
Too many smells to identify, but after so long not using that sense, the odors were both uncomfortable and intoxicating.
Though I didn’t have a mapped-out plan, I’d come here for one reason and one reason only. Find the vampires, find out the fate of the mers, then get back to Therin and the rest of my family.
The smells gave me a new directive. One that was impossible to deny. All the shops were open to the elements, and the scent that carried over everything, even stronger than the salty tang of the sea, captured me so completely everything else was shoved aside. Food.
Hot cooked food.
My stomach followed my nose’s lead and took control. No more anxiety. No worry that I wasn’t wearing a shirt. No thought about the mers, Wrell, or anyone. Food.
I stepped off the curb and was aware enough to pause as a motorcycle zipped by. Then I finished crossing the street. Upon reaching the other side, I turned left and made my way down the block, passing tourist-type gift shops, an ice-cream parlor, and a swimwear store. At the very end was the source of the promised manna.
The restaurant was on the corner, and both outfacing walls were open. Round wooden tables were scattered across the expanse of the restaurant, but along where the walls should have been a long L-shaped bar acted both as a barrier to the sidewalk and as additional seating.
The smell was intoxicating enough that the packed restaurant didn’t faze me. I took the one available spot on the end of the bar. In my rush, I accidentally elbowed the heavy man in a sweat-stained tank top sitting on the adjacent stool. He swiveled toward me, his pissed-off expression going slack as he took in my size. He gave a quick nod and twisted back around.
Within moments, a beautiful woman with warm brown skin and thick, long dreads handed me a menu. Her voice was accented, but I wasn’t able to place it. “Something to drink?”
Strangely, considering I’d been in water for months, nothing had ever sounded better than a huge glass of cold water, sans salt. Even better than food. I meant to say “Yeah, a huge water, please.” Instead, before I could utter more than the first syllable, my throat clenched, a low wheeze escaping the narrowed passage. A fit of coughing was followed by deep intakes of breath, hindered by the man beside me pounding on my back with his palm.
“You okay, man?”
Still sucking air, I glanced at him and gave him a nod. Possibly an attempted smile too, but I wasn’t sure.
Turning, I found the waitress’s expression to be more disgust than concern. “Can I get you a water?”
I nodded.
By the time she returned, I was breathing normally. She set the water on the weathered plank of the bar, and I snatched it up, ready to guzzle it. Before the glass touched my lips, my brain kicked, and I realized taking a drink might result in the same effect as trying to speak, only with water sprayed over everyone within a ten-foot radius.
Setting the water down, I pointed to the cheeseburger on the menu I’d found while she’d been gone.
The woman nodded, not bothering to write the order down. “Cheeseburger. Sure. Anything else?”
Again I caught myself as I opened my mouth to speak, then raised two fingers.
Her eyebrows rose. “You want two cheeseburgers?”
I nodded and handed her the menu.
Without any more commentary, she walked away and stopped at another table close by.
