“In the back,” I said. Then, to Than: “Thank you.” I stepped forward and, on a whim, hugged him.
Hugging the god of death was a little like wrapping ones arms around a glacier, a stalagmite, the emptiness of the void. He was cool to the touch, hard, and didn’t move a millimeter.
“This is the part where you wrap your arms around me too,” I muttered into his shoulder. “It’s called a hug.”
Finally, his arms moved and crossed together behind my back. “I know what a hug is,” he muttered into the side of my hair.
I squeezed him once and stepped back. “Couldn’t tell,” I said. “I think you might need more practice.”
He wasn’t blushing. I’d never seen him blush. But there was higher color under his skin. I thought he might be pleased.
“Perhaps I do,” he allowed. “Mr. Bailey,” he said, looking over my shoulder. “I understand you and Delaney are leaving on vacation soon.”
“No,” Ryder said. “I think that’s off the table now.”
The rough tremor in his voice caught my attention. He was freaked out, his eyes wide, his hand, where it was braced on the wall, shaking.
He wasn’t just freaking out, he was terrified.
“What happened?” I ran to him, looking for blood, frightened that he was hurt and how bad it must be.
My emotions were all over the place, and my brain seemed to grind to a halt.
“Are you hurt?” I pressed my hands to his hands, to his arms, to his face.
“No, I’m fine. But we have to go. We have to get out there and help them.” He gripped my wrist and yarded me out of the shop.
The wind slapped cold and sharp, the gusts shattering rain.
“What?” I said, running to keep pace with him. “Help with what?”
“It’s on the beach,” he said. “Cursed. Item. Beach.”
“Are Myra and Jean there? Are they in danger? What item?”
“Yes, yes.” He threw open the passenger door to his truck and shoved me in before sprinting around to get behind the wheel.
Spud and the dragon pig were in the back seat. Spud barked once, excited about whatever it was that was making his man act so crazy. But the dragon pig growled.
I’d never heard it growl like that. Not even for demons.
“It’s okay,” I said, even though I was trying to think of what could be worse than demons. “It is okay, isn’t it?” I asked Ryder.
He had the truck in gear and was high-tailing it down the back roads, aiming for a beach access that would allow us to drive out onto the sand.
“I don’t know. It’s huge.” His eyes were still too wide, his color off.
“Okay. It’s going to be okay. What is it? What’s the cursed item?
He took a hard right and barreled down the paved beach access, out over the river stones, and onto the sand.
“Holy hell,” I said, my hand tightening on the dash as I braced for the bumpy ride.
There, rising out of the ocean, storm clouds whipping behind it, was a creature so huge so…monstrous it stole my breath.
“It’s a…”
“… sea monster,” Ryder said, slamming on the brakes next to Myra’s cruiser and Jean’s truck. “It’s a sea monster.”
