“Stop running, you cheap piece of ass.You’re not allowed to leave.”Nick was close, too close.Kai could smell him, the scent of the sweat, his skin, his hair.Then his heavy hand landed on Kai’s shoulder, and Kai froze.Not with magic, but with fear.
A fish in a net.Not moving.
“Take your hands off him!”
Fian’s voice rang over the cars, and he was there, in front of Kai, shoving himself at Nick and dislodging that paw.His legs were gone completely, only his powerful, angry red tentacles there.
He grabbed Nick around the neck, and just like that, Kai was free of those smells, of that unwanted touch, of the memories that came with them.Fian had a tentacle around Nick’s arm, and suddenly, Kai understood.He doesn’t want to scare me with violence.
Nick’s eyes gleamed with a foul intent, not with panic at having a massive tentacle ready to choke him.Then Fian screamed and pulled his tentacle away.He let go of Kai’s hand, dropped to the hard pavement, his tentacles writhing in pain.
Kai kneeled next to him and touched his cheek.“Fian!”His skin was growing whitish yellow, then green, then dark blue.Those ocean eyes were masked in foggy white.
“And this is how you catch a demon,” Nick said triumphantly.“James!I got him!We can use every part of him for the talismans and spells, and we’ll eat the liver, each coven member gets a piece.No one will be able to stand in our way ever again.”
Fian shook, but with a burst of strength, he turned to Kai, pulled him close, and whispered in his ear.
“Go to the beach, fall asleep.Call for Mikano in your dream.That’s my brother.Tell him you are my landbride, and he will help you.Now, go!Run!I will be fine.”
Landbride?
Then Fian’s entire body rippled, and he turned from a person into part giant squid, his arms lashing out at James, who moved his hands, one eye on the cars as if he were conducting them.Then Fian lashed at Nick.
Both men yowled and stumbled back.
“Run.Run now, Kai!Call Mikano!”
And Kai did run.He hated himself, but if he had learned anything from the past three years, it was that he would be no good to Fian if he stayed here, if he stayed where Nick could use magic on him again.
I would just stand by and let them do whatever they want to Fian.I won’t.I’ll get him help.
The cars moved again, some even backing onto the sidewalk and one right into a clothing store, breaking the front window.All the clothes inside there were dusty things, out of fashion.Pathetic.Kai jumped over the hood of the car and pushed his legs as fast as they would go.
Salt Harbor was not all that big, but running to the beach from Main still tested Kai’s stamina.He wove down the small streets, hedges and trees making it easy for him to remain unseen by anyone other than the creepy garden gnomes the townspeople favored.Wait, if I’m right, there aren’t all that many townspeople here.In that case, why did they leave all their garden gnomes behind?
When the salty wind ruffled Kai’s hair, he could see the stairs that led to the beach up ahead, just off a potholed road.He hurried and took the first few steps, quickly realizing that the uneven and very sandy wooden stairs were not ideal for moving fast.
“Fall asleep,” Kai whispered, stairs creaking beneath his feet and wind carrying the scent of bracken and seaweed to his nose.“Fall asleep, call Mikano.”
The stairs were narrow and framed by a wooden banister on one side.Kai looked back up to the street.By now, the dunes were probably hiding him from anyone coming after him, but he didn’t know if he had much time to do what Fian had asked of him.
Boulders framed the beach at the bottom of the cliff on which the town lay.I can hide behind them.And hopefully I can get myself to fall asleep before the tide or the man witches get me.Fuck them.This is like a terrible video game, the kind where they give you no weapons at all.
Kai ran over the coarse sand that slowed him down.He scrambled to get over the smaller rocks without breaking anything.He steadied himself on a massive rock to get his bearings.
“Okay.I can do this.Down there.”
Ever so carefully, he slid down the rock on the other side.There was a sheltered spot there, hidden and mostly clean.The way the rocks were shaped, it also wasn’t too bright.Still, the ocean was loud, the water too close for comfort.
Kai rolled onto his side for warmth, glad he’d picked a hoodie, not happy that he was getting sand all over it.He tried to calm down, to relax, forced his mind to replay one of his comfort video games, an old one where you had to go to a mansion in a town overrun by zombies.
It wasn’t too far from reality, and Kai could feel sleep coming soon.
He let it.
17
DespitewhatFianhadsaid about dreams being real, to Kai, dreaming was a different thing, but here, by the shore, the waves were a constant, following him as he drifted off.Or calling himthere.That dreamworld where he’d been embraced by a demon.
