I opted to not fill him in on how close to my demon ancestry I really was. The tide came up, and the foam covered my feet, offering the instantaneous soothing effect it always had. Again, the man pulled away from the water’s reach.
“Do you live here?” Maybe luck really was on my side.
He bobbed his head slowly.
“But you don’t like water?”
“Nope. No werewolf likes water.”
I thought for a second. “There were werewolves in San Diego.”
“Sure. San Diego is a lot different than Playa Carmen. In a big city like that, you’d never even have to get close to the ocean.”
“So, if werewolves don’t like water, why in the world would you be in a beach town?”
His grin returned, pushing away some of his melancholy and making him even more handsome. “Because there aren’t any other werewolves.”
If werewolves were the ones giving you hell for being gay, move away from werewolves. Even if you are one. “That makes sense, I guess.” The sprig of hope blossomed, triumph covering my arousal. Then it crashed once more. “You live here, but you’re not from around here, right? You don’t have an accent, at least not one from Costa Rica.”
“No. From the Midwest.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t hide the disappointment in my voice.
He cocked his head at me. “Why? You were hoping I was local?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’ve been here nearly seven months, but I’ve been hopping around Costa Rica for about four years. Thinking I’ll head to Europe or something next.” His gaze had drifted, but he refocused on me. “Why do you want a local?”
I considered him for a while. He didn’t look away as I did. Maybe I had nothing to lose by telling the truth, at least part of it. The worst thing he could do would be to try to kill me, and I’d set him on fire. Problem solved.
The thought brought back Wrell’s body being consumed by the flames. I wouldn’t be able to do that to this man. No matter what he tried. Still, demons were stronger than werewolves, or at least I thought.
Actually, the worst thing he could do would be to alert the vampires I was looking for them. Not that I could take on a horde of vampires even if they were unaware, but I definitely didn’t need it to be more difficult.
It was all really beside the point. I was going to tell him. He was Wrell as he sat beside me in the darkness. Though darker, his eyes were as kind. Even the sound of the ocean conjured Wrell from the dead.
“I need to find the vampires.”
His eyes widened at that, and he flinched back a bit. “Vampires? Why?”
I opened my mouth, then paused. It was one thing to give my trust to this man, but it was another to possibly endanger the rest of the mers because I was having a my-dream-man-came-back-to-life moment. If Wendell was right, few if any other supernatural species were aware mers existed. It probably was best if it stayed that way. “I can’t tell you. I need to find them to help someone.”
He leaned forward once more, no longer shocked but still skeptical. “You need to find vampires tohelpsomeone? Vamps help even less than werewolves do.”
“I need to help save someone.” That was mostly true.
“Oh.” He let out a sigh. “Now that makes more sense. Are you looking for a specific vampire or just a Royal?”
My breath caught in my throat, nearly causing me to choke. “ARoyal?” An old fear shot through me. Caitlin had been determined to turn me over to the Royals when Finn had first brought me home, and even after. It seemed they were the supernatural embodiment of nightmares.
“Well, yeah. That’s why you’re in Costa Rica, right?”
I slumped over in defeat. And here I thought I was on a lucky streak. If all the unlikely pieces fall easily into place for you to get hit by an oncoming train, it’s not really luck. At least not good luck. Of course the Vampire Cathedral was in Costa Rica. I was certain I’d heard Finn’s family say that. How had that not clicked as soon as the fat guy at the restaurant told me where I was?
No wonder Zef had wanted to keep the Chromis away from here.
“Are you okay?”
