Page 132 of The Sea Witch's Son

When questioned about the whereabouts of his mother, the patient shrugged and offered no explanation.Records say he called the ambulance himself and the medics found him collapsed by the front door. CPR was administered immediately, but the patient soon went into cardiac arrest. A defibrillator was brought to the scene, and after three rounds of...

I’m left staring at smeared ink that holds no conclusion.

I read the report again, searching for something, anything that would tie this person to Marlin or his father. The same blotches appear the second time round, the faded print offering no more information than it did the first time.

“Fuck.” Blowing out a breath, I sit back on my heels.

Even the ghosts in Wolf Hollow can’t give me a straight answer.

Rubbing my eyes in frustration, I look at the report one last time. It’s the same shit as before and I understand just as little as before.

Hell, I don’t even know what post-immersion syndrome is.

Pulling out my phone, I type in the cause of death and wait for the search engine to load.

Post-immersion syndrome is commonly known as secondary drowning or dry drowning. It occurs when the muscles around the larynx spasm hours after water gets trapped inside the lungs. Can be fatal if not treated immediately.

I frown, staring at the words that suddenly sound too familiar.

Did you really think I would have gone to all that trouble just to let you suffocate in your sleep? That would have been a terrible waste of effort on my end.

No. That can’t be right.

Marlin was being a pain in the ass that night. He was being his usual arrogant self, refusing to get out of my bed. I was tired and frustrated because Finley had-

Oh, my God.

“He knew what would happen.” Squeezing my eyes shut, I pinch the bridge of my nose to keep from crying, “That's why he slept beside me the whole night.”

Tristan Seaborn died because nobody cared enough to look after him.

He went into cardiac arrest because nobody held him through the night, making sure air flowed through his water-logged lungs.

When questioned about the whereabouts of his mother, the patient shrugged and offered no explanation.

My heart splits right down the middle when I think about the man who slid into my bed hours after he pulled me out of the water. The man who kept a hand pressed against my stomach, making sure it rose and fell with each breath.

He was trying to save me from the same fate.

He was trying to save me fromhisfate.

And all I could say was go home.

I can’t. Not until I know you will make it through the night.

Chapter 46

MARLIN

My phone dings with a text.

Turning my attention from the man dangling precariously over the edge of a building, I pull out my phone and look at the message.

URSELA: Found a rat snooping along our property. Shall I prepare her for dinner?

The subsequent image shows my little saint tied to a chair. Her face is covered in dirt and scratches, and I am not at all surprised to see a gag wrapped tightly around her mouth.

ME: That is Melody St. James, mother. You are not to feed her to the eels.

---