“Um,” Evan said, the machete now lowered to his side. “What the hell?”
The witch cleared her throat nervously. “So very, very sorry about any inconvenience, Evan. If it helps, I did manage to locate your true soulmate, formerly known as Katerina.”
Evan’s previously dejected expression turned optimistic. “Where is my truest love?”
“It’s a good news, bad news situation. She was reincarnated as a pit bull terrier. That’s the bad news.”
His shoulders slumped. “What’s the good news?”
“She’s in the same city you’re in right now. If you want to see her again.”
Evan chewed his bottom lip. “Yes, I’ll be needing that address.” He took the phone off speaker. “Henry,” he said. “So sorry about the mix up. No hard feelings?”
“Consider it forgotten,” Henry replied.
Evan wandered off with the phone pressed to his ear.
“So . . .” Julia began after a few moments of silence. “Strange night, huh?”
Henry swallowed hard. “I deeply apologize from the bottom of my heart for everything that has happened here.”
She pressed her lips together. “You should probably know that I’m still not totally convinced about this whole soulmate thing.”
“No?” He raised an eyebrow.
She shook her head. “It’s a bit outside my comfort zone of knowledge.”
He nodded gravely. “I would assume so.”
“However . . .”
“Yes?”
“I suppose I’d be OK with learning more about it.” She grinned at him. “That is, if you wanted to teach me.”
“I could easily be convinced.” A smile touched his lips. “So you forgive me for trying to kill you?”
“No. But if we potentially have forever together then I’ll probably get over it eventually.” She reached down to take his hand in hers. “But how about we start with drinks back at the bar and take it from there?”
“I’d say that’s an excellent start.”
The world seemed much bigger than it had before. Full of strange things like handsome vampires and soulmate-recovering witches.
Was Henry the one-eyed vampire her soulmate? Was he the man she’d waited her whole life - possibly several lives — to find, only to have him fall into her arms at a most unusual moment?
She was definitely willing to find out.
Blue Crush
A Weather Warden story
Rachel Caine
I love the ocean. I love the pounding heartbeat of waves on shore. I love the way sunrise turns the endless glitter into a bowl of spilled jewels - rubies, sapphires, with glints of diamonds everywhere.
I love the ocean, but I don’t swim in it.
This is the same reason that Weather Wardens - who have powers that can affect the air and water - don’t like flying. You’re suspended in an alien environment, one that is instinc-tually aware of you and the potential threat you pose. The air always fights back. The ocean chooses its moments, and in a way that’s worse; you can trust it until you suddenly can’t.