By The Sea (5 page)

I was rewarded with a glimpse of those pale, angry eyes from the window. Good, at least I had his attention. My heart raced. No sign of Niall and I couldn’t hear anything but rustling coming from inside. I knocked again which was followed by a thump against the door, probably a kick from the old jerk. The last thing I wanted was to explain to a police officer why Niall had been poking around someone else’s house.

The lovely new neighbor glared at me through the window again. Continually knocking against the door wouldn’t help, plus I didn’t want to think what the old guy might do if I kept at it. However, with him watching me like that, I couldn’t swing around back to check for Niall.

The sun glinted off the waves lapping up to the pier beside the house. That’s where I could wait. Public property, which meant the old coot, couldn’t shoo me away. A large part of me wanted to whirl around and give him the finger, but I’d been raised better. I turned on my heel and strode away, heading down the length of wooden slats. I sat down by the ledge and swung my legs over the side, a salty breeze sweeping by me and a spray of water droplets cleansing my face.

No one was coming out of the house. No Niall. My heart pounded a thousand beats a minute in my chest. Why should I care? He’d ditched me before, what’s to say he wasn’t going to do it again? I sucked in a deep breath and forced my gaze up to the sky as if the brilliant blue expanse would erase my worries.

Something tugged on my leg.

I jerked upright in surprise. Before I could look down—another tug. I dropped like a stone into the sea.

The water surged all around but the pressure at my leg released. I kicked up, swimming to the top and blind to everything around me. Air flooded my lungs as I broke through to the surface.

The sound of laughter cut through my panic. Laughter I’d heard a million and one times, mischievous as ever.

“Thanks, jerk.” I pushed a wave of water Niall’s way. He dodged past it and swam next to me, his eyes glinting like the cresting water under the sun’s rays. “You scared me half to death. I thought that old creep had found you out.”

He swam circles around me like the seal he claimed to be, that stupid, smug smile on his face. God, I wanted to smack it off him.

“I heard your knock on the door and jetted.” His movements were liquid.

I bobbed along with the waves, allowing my body to float. My heartbeat returned to a normal level and I let out a long exhale. “Better have been worth the loss of that delicious pie. Did you find your long-lost sealskin?”

Niall splashed me with water, disrupting my temporary calm. I’d caught it though, the darkening in his gaze when I’d asked even if he didn’t want me to see. Spluttering, I wiped my face and kicked off to the pier. I grappled with the deck, hefting myself out of the water. My tank top and capris clung to me like tape but the sun warmed my skin, searing off the droplets one by one. Niall climbed up after and sat beside me. He stared out at the churning waters with the desperate longing of a widow waiting for someone who’d never return.

“Hey, Niall,” my voice softened, “level with me. What does it mean when a selkie loses their pelt?”

“Imagine you lose your arms. You have to learn how to live without them and you’re stuck with all those phantom sensations. That touches the surface of what happens when a selkie loses their pelt. You’re limited and cut off, not only physically. But deep down some part intrinsically you—is gone. Removed.” He balled his hand into a fist and refused to look my way.

I didn’t want to see him sad like this. My chest tightened and I found it harder to breathe. “Don’t give up hope yet. We’ve just started looking,” I offered, tugging away the wet strands of hair plastering my cheeks.

His sigh was resigned and I knew he didn’t buy it. He reached over to squeeze my hand. “You’ve got work tonight; let’s get you home. We’ll keep looking tomorrow.”

What bothered me the most was the hesitation in his voice when he said that—like he was running out of time.

Tonight was my bartending shift, one of my favorite nights. The allure of alcohol made people easy to manipulate and the ones who got rowdy or uncomfortable were escorted out the second Janice fixed eyes on them. Yet, Niall still haunted my thoughts, drifting through them like a specter even when he wasn’t working with me.

Al pushed his empty pint glass my way.

“Refill?” I asked, poised with the glass at the taps. He nodded and slumped forward in his seat. I poured his Bud and set it in front of him. My mind was in a different place, a strange fantasy land where mystical creatures like selkies existed and where imaginary friends were real. Everything the doc had told me to steer away from.

Thankfully, my shift was close to over so I’d be able to distract myself with a book and a hot shower. The other night flared up in my mind, how soft those lips had been on mine and how his hand had pressed possessively against my back. Maybe a cold shower was in order.

The door creaked open as a familiar woman approached. She sidled up to the bar and waved me down.

“What can I get for you?” I asked, holding a cup in hand.

“A glass of milk,” she said, not bothering to look up at me.

“Have ID for that?” I joked as I ducked under the counter for the fridge. Stony face and no response. What a charmer. As I handed off the milk, the familiarity clicked. I recognized her from the other night when I’d been training Niall—the chubby woman who’d been too busy ogling him to give me the time of day. And she’d returned. Joy.

She didn’t grace me with any more conversation and took a gulp from her glass of milk. Al didn’t say anything to her either, which struck me as odd. Normally he chatted with anyone and everyone who approached the bar. I wiped the same spot on the countertop, over and over again.

Why hadn’t Mr. Casey mentioned her in his list of newbies in town? She’d never been around here before and the last time Mr. Casey had swung in, she’d been sitting in a booth, ordering a bowl of coleslaw and not speaking to me. Strange he wouldn’t notice.

I tried to keep my gaze away from her even though the way she sat there in silence sipping at her milk bothered me. Maybe it was the rudeness, but no one looked at her when they passed by. No one acknowledged her presence or gave the seat she sat in any berth. Like she was invisible. Which was crazy, of course, but after my week of selkies and missing pelts, my mind was pretty wide open.

By the time we closed up, she had finished off her glass of milk. Not tipping and not saying another word, she left the bar. The second the door shut, I raced over to Terry. Time to follow a hunch.

“Can you do me a huge favor and cover me for closing up tonight?” I asked, grabbing her hands.

Terry nodded, throwing her hands up with a sigh. “Yeah, yeah, pay me back in some good gossip.”

I grinned, gave a thumbs up, and raced to the door. The woman waddled down the street in the direction of the old residential section of town. Few people lived there now, most of us migrating to the newer buildings and the apartment complexes. I stuck to the shadows, driven by some insane impulse that she might have Niall’s pelt. That I could save him and see his smile again.

The moon wasn’t as bright tonight, obscured by tufts of purplish clouds. The woman ducked down Shorehouse Lane, a largely abandoned street. Old McKinley lived at the end in a large mansion, but the apothecary had shut down and Sweet Treats went out of business, leaving only Marty’s Deli still thriving. This time of night though, even that was closed up. Where was she going?

I maintained a distance between us, careful to hide in the shadows. Her blonde hair glowed white under the night’s sheen and stood out as an easy target. If she saw me following her home, who knows, she might call the cops on me for stalking. Sweat beaded on my neck as a strong breeze rustled through the empty street. I took measure of my footsteps, careful to avoid crunching down on a twig or kicking a pebble. Despite her weight, the woman didn’t make a sound as she walked down the street. She stopped in front of the old apothecary shop.

Shit
. I ducked behind an aluminum trash can, hoping she didn’t decide to backtrack. After a rustling followed by a creak, I peered past the can, trying to see where she went.

The street lay empty. Vanished, right before my eyes. Had she ducked into the storefront?

I crept forward, checking in front, behind, and to my sides. All clear. The night was silent, free from the sounds of cars and footsteps. Even the wind had died, leaving no sounds of rustling branches or scraping leaves. The glass front of the empty store loomed like the gaping maw of a shark. With the way the clouds obscured the moon, the sky had reached a forest-like dark. My nerves bristled like the chord of an electric guitar thrumming through the air.

A finger tapped on my shoulder.

I whirled around, throwing my hands up in defense. Blank, whitewashed eyes stared at me from the pudgy face of the blonde woman. Before I could scream, run, or claw at her, my wrists snapped behind my back and my lips snapped shut.

The stickiness and strength against my mouth felt like duct tape, but she hadn’t moved. She stared at me with that pupil-less gaze. Each time I blinked, her form changed. One moment, I saw the woman who’d sat at my bar all night, drinking milk. Average, ash-blonde hair, and dumpy. The next, her eyes morphed, milky white, and her skin mutated, twisted like rope and the lurid color of ketchup. One moment she wore a pink jogging suit, the next, her gaunt, stretched body was clothed in filthy rags.

Until it stopped and the woman was no more, a demon in her place.

My mind skipped and seized in terror. Words could not define the monster standing before me. And yet a joyful part of me surged up at the realization that Niall had been telling the truth—at least before the sane part of me realized how much danger I was truly in. Like a rollercoaster, my mind had climbed its way to the top—only to witness how far there was to fall. And like a coaster, the second the fear hit, my stomach plummeted with the drop.

The moment I tried to run, my legs froze, too, bound the same way as my wrists. Those meaty hands with their yellowed claws hefted me and she dropped me onto her wide shoulder, the bony frame digging into my abdomen. I thrashed and tried to scream, but the sound was muffled by whatever she’d slapped on my mouth.

We were heading for the abandoned storefront. Late at night, no townsfolk traveled the streets. Only crumpled Marlboro packs and trampled straws witnessed my kidnapping. No one to distract her or call the police. Tears pricked at my eyes.
No, no, no
. What was she going to do to me? What was this monster going to do?

God, I should’ve stayed at work. I should’ve waited for Niall. I should’ve believed him. Anything but following this monster down the abandoned streets leading to its lair. The creature dropped me on the ground, and not gently. Shocks of pain shot through me as I landed on my spine. The demon trudged away, disappearing into the blackness of the back rooms.

The apothecary smelled like dust and vinegar. Tears trailed down my cheeks, but I still couldn’t speak and whatever kept me bound, held. My parents—what would they do when I stopped returning their calls? Would they find my body here?

Fear spiked through me, so strong I could barely breathe. My insides were Novocain-numb.

With as dark a night as it was, inside the apothecary was darker. The glass panels lining the front of the shop stood out clear as a sunny day.
Think, Megan, think
. I couldn’t walk or run, but I had to try something. I swiveled, back and forth, inching my way forward like a snake through tall grasses.

The floorboards creaked. Footsteps. The demon had returned.

Ruddy candlelight flickered and cast the stretched shadow of the beast along the floorboards. My shoulders tensed. She came closer and closer.

“Look at what a lovely treat you are.” The voice was gasping, wispy. “You’re a human with a bit of fairy seasoning to you. Have you been dabbling around in forbidden territory?” Her eyes widened—the milky, unblinking ones—and an empty smile scrawled onto her face. Bile rose in my throat.

I wriggled on the ground until I managed to sit upright, albeit with effort. My shoulders trembled but I glared balefully at the beast, trying with all my might to mask the terror inside.

“You’ll do for a snack. Maybe even last long enough for a meal.” Those long fingernails tapped at her chin. My stomach churned.
Think, think
. I’d read books on fairy creatures aplenty. Iron, they had an aversion to iron—but of course I had none on hand.

The jagged fingernail scraped down from my shoulder to my wrist. I shuddered in fear and revulsion. Her hot breath smelled rotten, like turned milk.

A tall and broad-shouldered silhouette passed by the window, and my heart leapt in my chest. I grunted, trying to draw attention my way, thrashing on the floor. The demon narrowed her eyes, scraggly brows drooping down with the motion. I thrust my shoulder forward, shoving at the demon’s arm. The same arm came speeding my way a second later. Wind flew out of me with the blow as my body slammed against the wall.

“Get the hell away from her.” A low voice broke through the quiet of the room.

Niall.

Shadows darkened his face and murder reigned in those eyes. Eyes I’d only ever seen laughing, soft, gentle. They transformed him into something malevolent like a storm at the sea.

He swiped his hand out and the bonds around me relaxed. I gulped in deep breaths of air and tears burned as they rolled down my cheeks.

The demon advanced toward him. “The girl was following me. She’s fair game.”

“This is my town, my land. You know that.” His gaze flashed like lightning striking.

That eerie smile spread onto the beast’s face again, showing a whole line of thick gray teeth. “Ah, not so. Where’s your pelt, Niall? Without that, you’re one of them.”

So that was why the demon stole his pelt. Despite the way my legs were shaking, I managed to stand. The door lay past them. I could run there. I should run there, not deal with this insane supernatural mess. With these fae creatures who shouldn’t exist.