She wasn’t entirely certain why she was so tempted to do it. The sun had already gone down, meaning the water was officially off-limits, and she knew for a fact that the predator still lurked somewhere out there in the depths, their mind humming like a distant engine.
Clementine had always been the safe sister. The one content with her lot. The one who never argued or complained. She did as she was told.
But she’d never been alone before. Not like this.
Would it really hurt to be just a tiny bit rebellious? It was just a toe in the water. No harm done. It wasn’t like the predator was around. She would see them in the light, wouldn’t she?
Her stomach fluttered. There was no reason to do it and every reason not to. The old, well-mannered, no-complaints Clementine never would have dreamed of doing something so reckless — especially if Nelly was around, since she was always doing impulsive things and didn’t need her sister’s encouragement.
But Nellywasn’taround. No one was. Clementine was on her own for the first time in her life, and she was suddenly confronted by the fact that she could do whatever she wanted, no matter how foolish the impulse was.
Thinking of Nelly at her friend Suhana’s house, having fun watching a movie without her, Clementine set her mug down next to her thigh with a dullthunk.
If her sister got to do fun, impulsive things, then hadn’t she earned at least this one tiny act of recklessness? Their separation had been all about finding themselves, becoming individuals, forging paths.
Well, maybe Clementine wanted her path to be a little foolish.
Sucking her bottom lip between her teeth, she slowly unfolded her legs. Her eyes were so riveted on the water that they became dry and itchy, but she didn’t dare blink as she cautiously lowered her right foot into the water.
A high pitched string of curse words, most of them Spanish, exploded out of her mouth as soon as the tender sole made contact with the water. It was damn cold!
Her heart hammered as she rested her wet foot on the edge of the pool. Feeling silly for her overreaction, she wiggled her toes and let out a nervous laugh. “C’mon,” she wheezed, “of course it’s cold. It’s theocean.”
Determined to get at least one good, rebellious swirl of her toes in, Clementine girded herself for the shocking temperature before lowering her foot once more. This time, she gritted her teeth as the chill bit into her flexing toes.
A fanciful part of her had wondered if the water would feel different. Forbidden, somehow. Like the fact that she wasn’t supposed to touch it would lend it a different texture.
It didn’t feel different, though. It was cold and wet and tickled her skin when the current moved it back and forth.
Clementine let out a shaky exhale and forced herself to keep her toes in the water for just a bit longer. Just because. This new, rebellious witch wasn’t about to do things by half measures. If she wanted to put her toes in forbidden water, then she was going to?—
Something brushed the arch of her foot.
“Good gods,no.”She was up and scurrying across the room in a flash, her tea forgotten. Hastening toward the heavy metal door, she yanked it open and hopped over the threshold into the hallway as she muttered, “Nope. Nope. I’m done. Never doing that again.”
The door latched behind her as she hobbled to the restroom to look for a towel. It was impossible to keep from dripping saltwater onto the floor, but she did her best as she simultaneously attempted to get her pulse back under control.
Rooting around in a cupboard, she reassured herself,It was just the current. Or maybe a fish. Actually, it was much more likely to be some kelp. Don’t be a weenie, Clementine.
Logic helped some, but she still avoided the door to the moon pool for the rest of the evening.
It wasn’t until the next morning, when she was blearily preparing a cup of coffee and waiting for her sister to wake up, that she recalled that she’d not only left her favorite mug in there, but that she’d also left the moon pool open all night.
Feeling even more foolish in the light of day, she cinched her robe around her waist and trudged back down the hall. Mr. Hauf had drilled into her again and again that she was never to leave the moon pool open unattended. He’d stressed that it was the perfect entry point for intruders, but she hadn’t been disturbed all night.
Certainly it wasn’t good to leave your metaphorical front door open for any stranger to wander through, but nothing had happened, so she merely rolled her eyes at her overreaction to some kelp.
When she pulled the door open, she was unsurprised to find everything exactly as it should have been. Nothing was out of place in the austere room. The submersible hung like a sleek black and white sentinel over the moon pool. None of the equipment hung on the walls or safely tucked into cubbies in the work bench appeared disturbed. Her mug?—
Her mug was gone.
Clementine’s throat spasmed as she padded across the rubbery floor. Sheknewshe’d left it there, and there hadn’t been a storm surge in the night, which might have swept water into the room andmaybeknocked it into the moon pool. A weather alert would have woken her up, and besides, the pool had sensors that automatically shut the door when the water reached a certain level.
The moon pool was open. Green light was a soft, moving glow in the dim room as she came to a stop by where her mug should have been. Her stomach dropped.
There in its place was a blackened shark tooth as wide as her palm. Beside it, the nearly dry remains of a webbed handprint.
ChapterThree
