Just as she was ready to caution them again over the folly of their actions—and their would-be arson—a huge shadow appeared on the dark beach before them. Like some great fulsome demonic beast, it rose to tower above them, twisting and writhing in a way that made even Valynda gasp. Its cape billowed out as a cane appeared by its side. A cane topped with a skull that matched his evil face. Opening its bony mouth, the cane appeared to scream, then it vomited fire.
Margie screamed.
A second later, she fainted onto the pale sand.
Helena ran, leaving her sister behind to fend for herself. Shrieking and waving her hands over her head, Prudence wet herself before she ran in the opposite direction, with her book forgotten on the beach. Bemused by it all, Valynda stood frozen.
Deep, masculine laughter rang out as that hideous skeletal face turned into one of a handsome, fetching man. One with a riot of dark curls that hugged a perfectly sculpted jaw dusted with whiskers and eyes so vivid and playful, they were beguiling. This was exactly what her friends had been trying to summon and yet he mocked them for it.
Indeed, the infernal beast dared to laugh over the very chaos and panic he’d caused. The humiliation her friends had suffered at his callous hands.
And that set off Valynda’s anger that he’d dare such at their expense, especially given the blatant disregard he showed her friend who lay passed out at his feet. “Really? Is this how you entertain yourself? A grown man, frightening schoolgirls? What’s wrong with you?”
His laughter died instantly. With an unearthly slowness, he turned to face her, which only confirmed what she’d already noted. He truly was the most handsome man she’d ever seen in the flesh. There was a most unnatural aura of power that clung to him. One that set off the hairs on the backs of her arms and made them stand upright. It let her and everyone else know that he was not one to be reckoned with. Rather, he was used to doing the reckoning. “You dare chastise me?”
Her common sense told her to back down and be the meek maid her father had tried his best to make her, but it wasn’t in Valynda to cow to anyone. Male or female. So she spoke her mind and prepared herself for whatever dire consequences might be about to rain down on her. “For being a churlish knave? Aye. Of course I do.”
Nibo was aghast as he saw the tiny woman who stood in brave defiance. Never in all the centuries he’d lived after his death had he met a human who wasn’t a little intimidated by him. Terrified, point of fact. Most scurried away at his approach, and those were the ones who wanted a favor from him and had dutifully invoked him with gifts.
Until now.
Confused and baffled, he stared at the puzzle who was only passably attractive. While her body was comely enough, she was a bit lanky for his tastes. Her nose rather narrow and long. The only really striking thing about her was her eyes. A rich dark brown, they were searing with their intelligence, and raw with curiosity.
Marked by her condemnation.
For him.
Seriously? How dare she, a mere human, give him such a look! “Do you know who I am, girl?” More to the point,whathe was.
She narrowed that censoring gaze with an audacity that was quite cheeky and bold, if not downright foolhardy given that he’d feasted on the flesh and bones of creatures that made monsters cry. “Aye. The giant cod-dangle who scared my friends within a quarter inch of their lives.”
He scowled at the unfamiliar term. “Cod, what?”
“Dangle,” she repeated, then lowered her gaze to the center of his body to illustrate what she was calling him.
While Nibo was amused by her reckless spirit, the most astonishing part was that he actually felt his body stirring.
What the hell was that?
She aroused him? How?
This mere slip of a human piece? A pasty pale skirtling who insulted him and looked at him as if he were the cloying slag caught on the hem of her best gown? Surely Anansi and Papa Legba were playing mehen over this, and betting against him right now.
Yet there was no denying the sudden hunger for her that he felt. Especially when he stepped closer and caught the lily scent of her dark brown hair that was tinted with just a hint of red in it—like fire captured in an evening sky. While she wore it tightly coiled and pinned about her head, he wondered what it would look like were he to free it of that cantankerous knot that seemed to be an offense to the curls surrounding a face that was suddenly growing on him.
Aye, she was much more fetching than he’d first thought. There was something about her that drew him in and warmed a deep, cold part of his soul.
Did she have any idea how very dangerous that was to one of his ilk? “Tell me, girl, why did you summon a ghede?”
For the first time, he saw a hint of fear flash through her dark gaze. “W-What?”
“You heard me. What is it that a European daughter would want with one of us?”
Valynda hesitated as she realized he was staring with a peculiar interest down at the cross she wore about her neck. Her jaw went slack as she stepped back and took another look at the beautiful man in front of her.
A real ghede …
They weren’t just stories made up by the islanders to scare them. They were real! And he was one of them. Holy saints!
