ls me back to my feet in the morning is knowing the monster who took my sister is out there somewhere. And I think that motherfucker is the one.”
Kane jabbed a finger toward the ocean with his last sentence. After that, he turned and walked toward the beach. Kalina was stunned. She didn’t know what to do. She could have told him what she suspected, about being the little girl he’d lost so long ago in the ocean, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. What if she were wrong? Giving him false hope after all these years…
Keelan and Kalina. But that wasn’t my name when the sharks found me. What was it?
For the life of her, she couldn’t remember her name. Kalina had been a nickname handed down to her during her studies. Of course, she’d had a name before that, but it evaded her memory.
How can I not remember my own name?
“Rafe,” she said. “You need to stay here. This could get bad. Please stay here.”
“I go where you go,” he insisted. “If you turn me, you won’t have to worry about me being a lousy human unable to protect you.”
“We’ve talked about this,” she said. “I want to. I really do. But…you don’t understand what you’re asking for. There’s no going back.”
“I get that,” Rafe said. “But you have no idea what it’s like to be stuck on dry land when you’d gladly spend every waking moment in the water. I sit on the beach and envy every creature fortunate enough to escape my world by being in yours.”
What a stubborn boy.
“We’ll talk more about this later,” she said. “Now’s not the time.”
When they reached the beach, three people stood on the sandy shore. Only the light from the moon and the soft orange glow of a lifeguard stand illuminated them.
“What’s your name again, doll?” Kane asked Sylvia.
“You really want to do this, Cop?” Cobalt asked.
As Kalina and Rafe reached them, Cobalt was pulling off his shirt and dropping it to the ground.
“Really?” Kane asked. “You’re going to take off your shirt for this?”
“I don’t belong in these rags anyway,” Cobalt replied.
Kane reached to his collar and ripped his shirt off, throwing it at the ground.
“Send her home,” Kane said, pointing at Sylvia.
“Her home is with me,” Cobalt said.
“Both of you stop it!” Sylvia yelled.
“You said you want to be with me,” Cobalt said. “You need to see the life I live. Always hunted. Always treated like nothing more than a monster.”
“You’re the monster who killed my sister,” Kane said, “aren’t you?”
“And you’re the one who killed my brother,” Cobalt snapped back, not denying Kane’s accusation.
Wind howled around them and waves crashed against the shore, coming dangerously close to their feet. Kalina knew if it touched them, they might both shift right there on the beach. Then again, great whites seemed to have more control over their abilities. Poet had been able to shift at will. She imagined his brother could do the same, and if Kane was a great white too, then he might have the same power.
Lightning cracked over the ocean and the clouds lit up. Thunder rolled. Sylvia yelled and Rafe’s voice joined her. They were both so full of hope. Neither of them understood the notion of a challenge. These two alphas were already past the point where they could turn back and shake hands. In the animal kingdom, a show of force is the only way to prove your dominance, and these two great whites were determined to show who was the bigger man and the baddest shark.
Cobalt raked his own chest with his fingers so hard blood showed at the scratch marks. She’d seen this once before when a great white friend of Thane’s had battled one of Kalina’s group while in human form. Their fight hadn’t been as serious as this one, and definitely wasn’t to the death, but the great white had spilled his own blood by dragging his sharp nails across his chest. The tiger shark had done the same as a show of respect for the blood match.
“Is that your way to show how tough you are?” Kane asked.
“You’re not really one of us,” Cobalt said with a laugh. “You don’t even know our ways. I won’t waste time on a pretender. You should stay on dry land with your boats and your guns and your wasted threats, Coward.”
Cobalt turned to walk away, and Kane ran at him, going for the low blow. He jumped onto Cobalt’s back and tried to choke him, but the bigger man was too massive for the smaller man’s arms to keep hold. Cobalt flung him off and onto the beach.