Page 12 of High Seas

We circled one another slowly on the wooden deck that was as dark as pitch. He met each of my steps with one of his own, the two of us dancing a dangerous waltz, our bodies not touching, but somehow in deadly sync.

Despite the fact that he was trying to kill me, Enoch looked good. Better than good. The sun had bronzed his skin and he looked as young as he did when I left him. He wore a clean white shirt left untied at the neck that exposed a sliver of his chest, a dark pair of trousers, and boots that were just worn enough and stretched to his knee. It was a lot like what Edward was wearing, but Enoch wore it a million times better.

His features darkened as I took him in. He flicked his eyes over me, a look of disgust wrinkling his nose. “Victor Dantone failed to teach your kind one thing.”

My kind? “Oh yeah? What’s that?” I said, stake ready to strike.

“I am not a vampire.”

He blurred to my left, trying to knock the stake away, like his little minion had done in the loading dock…

I held tight.

I would never let anyone disarm me again.

Not. Even. Him.

I ran to the right, putting a mast between us. We circled it, him trying to lunge past to get to me, and me somehow managing to evade him. I exploded, “I don’t understand what’s happening! Abram’s lost his mind… there’s a girl in town who looks like she could be my twin… you hate me for some unfathomable reason, or else you don’t remember me, and I’m starting to wonder if I haven’t fallen into some sort of messed-up, alternate reality.”

Enoch’s upper lip twitched. “I assure you that my memory of you is very much intact.”

“It can’t be! When I left, you were in the process of tearing Abram’s throat out for hurting me. You were protecting me from him.”

“And you saw fit to reward me by flinging yourself from the turret window?”

“Yes! Because I was protecting you, too! You were about to turn him, but I stopped it. He’s not a vampire. I saw him – I think he hit his head or something – but he’s definitely not a vampire. And that means Titus is probably okay, too. He would have died if I hadn’t jumped.” I pushed my scent toward him. “Enoch, it’s me.”

I slowly and deliberately lowered my stake, stepping out from behind the mast and toward him, pushing my scent out again.

Behind him, the sky had lightened to the deep blue that comes just before the colors of dawn stretch across the sky. His pupils dilated the moment he recognized me.

He recoiled. “It’s really you.”

It would’ve hurt less if he’d killed me like he was trying to do.

He tore his eyes away from me and strode to the railing, grabbing the gown that still dripped sea water onto his pristine deck. Enoch held it up, his fists wringing the fabric. His hands trembled as he gently splayed it back over the rail, smoothing out the wrinkles his vice-like grip had left in the dense fabric.

He held tightly to the railing beside the gown and took a deep breath, slowly breathing it out. “Eve.” He said it matter-of-factly. Without feeling. Without care.

Although I didn’t understand what made him so callous, the word, “Yes” rushed out, holding every ounce of frustration I felt toward him. I knew it was unfair. I knew that for him, so much time had passed since we’d last seen each other. Generations had come and gone. Loved ones had been born and died. But to me, it was only hours since I left him and landed here, which was why his bitter reception stung. To be honest, I didn’t understand it or him at all.

I didn’t understand Abram, or the girl who looked like me, or how he could stand to kiss her like that. I didn’t even want to think about what else they did. Abram hated me. Some part of his mind still had to remember that on a basic level. He would never hook up with someone who bore even a remote resemblance to me.

I couldn’t fathom what had changed or what happened to make Enoch hate me. Was it because I left? Because I jumped when he thought I should have stayed with him? It felt like my heart was breaking, splintered shards falling to the deck and sprinkling into the cavernous space between him and me.

A long, silent moment stretched between us before he finally spoke, still gripping the rail like it was the only thing anchoring him to the earth, like he’d float away without it grounding him. “I’ve waited for you a very long time.”

Maybe he was finally beginning to understand and we could bridge the rift between us. I mustered every ounce of strength and replied with the only thing I could think of. Adrenaline was still rushing through my veins, but despite that, I just felt an overwhelming sadness as heavy as the ocean herself. “I just left you.”

“And you came to this time to find me and complete the task to which you were assigned? Because all the others have been unable to end me? You should’ve gone further back, Eve, to a time before we met.”

My brows kissed, confusion marring my features. “I’m not here to hurt you. I couldn’t if I wanted to, Enoch. I fell from thirteen forty-eight into seventeen-seventeen, if Edward Thatch was telling me the truth. I don’t know why or how, but it’s true. The technology should’ve taken me back to my time, but it sent me here instead.” I took a step toward him. A plank underfoot squeaked. At the sound, every muscle in Enoch’s back tightened. The briny sea churned beneath the boat as the wind pushed against the water and lashed out at our skin.

My legs felt weaker with each rock of the boat. My arms became heavy and my fingers tingled like they were asleep. And my head… a pounding ache formed behind my eyes. Something was wrong.

I wouldn’t be able to fight him off again, but I hoped I wouldn’t have to, now that he knew who I was.

“Why did you think I wasn’t real?”

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