“I knew it,” I crow. “You’re a double agent.”
“Zip it, Clem,” he hisses. “The guy chatting you up on the beach back there isn’t called Darian. His real name’s Paul Brant. He’s shadowing you, and any minute now he’ll be knocking on this door.”
My mouth falls open. “He’s just a Sparkle jerk.”
“I promise you he’s not. Come on, we need to get you out of here.”
“I can’t just disappear, Jax. I’ve got a job, an apartment, commitments.”
“I’ve got a much better job for you down there.”
“What kind of job?”
“Admin. For the sheriff.”
“What! And you want me to go likethis?” I glance down at my bikini clad body.
He rolls his eyes. “Okay, grab some clothes, but be quick.”
I dash over to my closet and start rifling through garments when there’s a loud rap at the door.
“Clem Summers. Open up.”
It sounds like jerk guy, but his tone sure has changed.
“See? I told you,” Jax hisses at me.
The banging on the door gets more insistent.
“We gotta get out of here. No time for clothes.” Jax strides over and in seconds he’s flung the cloak around both of our shoulders. Then his arms circle me in a bear hug.
“Hold on,” he whispers close to my ear, “This is going to feel weird as fuck.”
There’s a loud whoosh in my ears. A crazy cacophony of sounds and pressure bearing down on every part of my body. With Jax’s arms still around me, we tumble. My face turns to jelly, and my insides feel like they’re being pulled apart and put back someplace else.
And then we hit a hard surface. I let out a grunt. Jax has let go of me and I have no idea where I am. All I know is the ground is cold stone, and every bit of me feels like it’s been fed through a paper shredder.
Finally, I manage to open my eyes. I register light. Not the bright fake sunshine of Paradise Beach, more like the gentle flickering of lanterns.
I blink, disoriented. Somewhere, I hear Jax groaning, “Shit. That was a rough ride.”
“What the fuck!” growls a deep, gruff voice.
I squint upward.
There’s a big shadowy blob towering over me.
Gradually, I manage to focus my gaze.
And focus some more.
It’s not a blob. It’s a huge green monster with massive shoulders.
Two red eyes stare down at me. A square green jaw juts into my face, and bushy eyebrows beetle down over those glowing ember eyes. But what holds my terrified gaze in thrall are the two gleaming white tusks at either corner of the monster’s mouth.
Oh shit, I think it’s going to eat me.
CHAPTER TWO
