“I’ve known for years there was a great white out there. I told you what happened to my sister. She was eight fucking years old, Rafe. Eight years old. That fucker could be the one who…who…”
Kane turned and kept walking. Rafe wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him other than maybe hitting him over the head and knocking him out. Not the best way to handle the boss. Not if a guy wants to keep his job.
“Cobalt will rip him to shreds,” Kalina said.
The words came from her mouth, but she seemed to be in a daze.
“You okay?” Rafe asked her.
“Yeah,” she said. “We have to stop him.”
“How are we going to do that?” Rafe asked.
“I hate this son of a bitch,” Kalina whispered to Rafe, “but we don’t need any more blood in our water.”
“So, what do we do?” Rafe asked.
“Tell me about your sister!” Kalina shouted.
Kane stopped in his tracks and froze in place, staring out toward the ocean in the distance.
“More importantly!” Kalina added, “Tell us how you became a great white yourself. And tell us why you killed Poet!”
Chapter 18 – Kalina
Kalina had always suspected Keelan Kane was the great white who’d killed Poet. She’d told Thane of her suspicions once, and he didn’t deny that it was possible. The man’s scar ran right across his face the same way as the shark’s. Yet, Thane didn’t think it was likely given the man’s hatred of their kind. How could a shark shifter be so hell-bent on killing every shark in his vicinity? Then again, many of their kind ate each other. Great whites ate tiger sharks, hammerheads ate great whites whenever they could manage it, and tiger sharks ate just about everything they could get their jaws on. Still, she’d been reaching when she suddenly blurted out the accusation. Only the muffled sound of music blasted from inside the bar could be heard, and the silence in the otherwise quiet parking lot seemed much louder.
Kalina’s nerves were going crazy. The man was as dangerous as any human could be, and if she were right, he might be one of the most monstrous sharks in the ocean too. If her accusation stood correct, he was a predator in two worlds and it occurred to her that she might have just teased a lion. If he had no secrets, he might snap and go after everyone and everything. A beast pushed to its breaking point is a demon straight from hell. This one might have two legs and fins.
“You think Kane is a shifter?” Rafe asked.
The wince on his face told her he found it not only unbelievable, but painful to hear. He was, after all, Rafe’s boss and mentor when it came to safeguarding the Queensland beaches.
“Don’t go after him,” Kalina finally spoke again, ignoring Rafe.
She could have this conversation with him later. Right now, she needed to confront the man who’d turned around to face her with fire in his eyes.
“Even if you think you can beat him, it would be a bloody war,” she added. “It’ll be a mess and you’ll both get hurt.”
Keelan Kane stalked toward her, and if he could spout steam from his nostrils, he clearly would. He hissed through clenched teeth, his beet red face looking like it might explode any second.
“Even if he was the one who attacked your sister…” she started to say, searching for words to calm him down.
The thought she’d had earlier revisited her mind, and she couldn’t help thinking about her own childhood. She would have been around the age of eight when Thane’s father had pushed her to safety. A great white had been in the water, at least she thought it had. The memories never flowed so freely as they were now, and she thought she could see the gigantic beast swimming around her as she frantically fought to keep water out of her mouth. The taste of salt was so strong. She treaded water and swatted at the surface, her life preserver vest making her like a bobber dangling at the ocean’s surface, food waiting for a shark to swallow it whole. But then the tiger shark, Thane’s father, had nudged her with its snout, pushing her along the water so fast that she’d gone under. Then, as carefully as she supposed a shark could gnaw, it had her in its teeth, swimming away quickly. Immense pain had shot up her right arm and leg as its razor-sharp teeth pushed against her flesh. She’d been taken to the other side of the island and left with the old man, Horace. The wise old man she’d found out later was a sea turtle shifter. He’d been the one to make her one of them. Her family was dead, as she’d been told, and it was the only way for her to survive. She would be a part of their family. That, or be an orphan in the human world. She’d been too young to make a choice, but even if she could, she would have stayed with her new family. Her young, fragile mind had broken a little back then. Hearing of her father, mother, and brother’s deaths had been too much for her to handle. At least that’s the only thing that made sense now. How could she have forgotten all this?
It can’t be. He can’t be… my brother.
“You have no idea what I’m capable of!” Kane shouted at them.
Rafe stepped in between her and Kane, her brave knight coming to the rescue.
“Rafe, no,” she said.
“Back off,” Kane said as he shoved Rafe’s chest, pushing her boyfriend back a few steps.
Kalina looked back at Rafe who was staring down at his own chest, puzzled.
“You don’t know anything about me,” Kane said, turning his attention back to Kalina. “If you did, you’d know the only thing that drives me to the bottle at night and pul