Page 4 of Surging Reef
Shoveling more food into his mouth, he chewed faster, excitement grabbing hold of him.
“Let’s do it, Pharos. We’ll go, borrow a boat, and check the lighthouse out. We’ll be back here before anyone notices we’re gone.” He snorted. No one ever noticed when he was gone. Or maybe Alan fucking Anderson, his overbearing neighbor, would, but he’d only be glad Kazimir was gone. They’d notice at work too…after a while. One of the pros of being a medical coder working from home was that he didn’t have to be in an office. As long as the job was done, no one cared where he was. Which meant if they were interviewed by the cops because he’d gone missing, they wouldn’t have a clue what had happened to him.
It didn’t matter. He was part of a duo now. He hadPharos. Some idiot hitting him with their car was the best thing that could’ve happened to Kazimir. Maybe not the hitting him with their car part, but finding Pharos was the best thing in a long, long time.
He finished the food on his plate, went to change into ninja clothes, i.e. a pair of snug but non-restricting black cargo pants and a long-sleeved, slim-fit black cotton T-shirt. It was what everyone wore on a mission. He glanced at Pharos, who’d limped after him into the bedroom. “The pink clashes with my outfit, bro.”
It wasn’t Pharos’ fault. Kazimir had begged the vet’s assistant for the pink cast.
“Let’s go!”
* * * *
Ashby was shaking. He’d never been this starved, so he didn’t know if it was a natural response. Did you shake when you were starving?
He didn’t have the energy to change position, but his bones were hurting as they pressed against the stone floor. His skin was the only thing between the sharp edges and the unforgiving surface.
Would she come tonight? She had to. He wasn’t sure he’d last much longer.
He would.
Vampires were hard to kill. Turning them into breathing skeletons wasn’t enough to end their misery. Sadly.
How had he ended up here?
An image of Naveen’s smug smile flashed in his mind, and he snarled. He would kill the little tart. It would be worth it. Anne would kill him for sure, but the fucking asshole deserved to die.
Ashby groaned and imagined how the sound traveled up the tower. He didn’t think it did. There were too many rooms, too many nooks and crannies capable of capturing a sound, but he imagined it reaching the lantern room. If sounds had a color, it would shine out over the sea.
A sob caught in his throat.
If he ever got out of here, he’d leave Waterside. He’d move somewhere far away from the sea. Somewhere where people would hear him if he screamed.
Somewhere where he had a chance of being rescued.
Chapter 3
Kazimir walked along the rocky beach with Pharos in his arms, terrified of falling since it would mean he’d risk crushing him. Pharos couldn’t clamber over rocks with his leg in a cast.
Maybe it had been stupid to bring him, but he couldn’t go on an adventure without his best bud. What kind of partner would it make him?
“Look.” He spoke low near Pharos’ ear as he pointed at a sad-looking rowboat tied to a pole sticking out of the water. Did it mean it was high water?
There was one large rock near the boat, but no way to get there without either walking into the water or jumping on stones a little too far apart for Kazimir’s liking.
“Damn.” He walked closer. “How do we do it?” He met Pharos’ gaze and got a happy yip in reply.
“How deep do you think it is?” He couldn’t get Pharos’ cast wet. The vet hadn’t said anything about it, but he assumed he wasn’t allowed to since humans couldn’t shower with their casts.
Could he place Pharos on a rock, jump into the black water, and get the boat? A shiver shot through him. What if there were crabs on the ocean floor? Or jellyfish. He hated the feel of jellyfish. Slimy blobs with no sense of direction. They did nothing to avoid a collision when you were out swimming, and since it was August, lion’s mane jellyfish would have arrived.
He did not want to get stung.
He gazed into the dark water. He wouldn’t have to walk more than a few steps or swim if it were deep. It wouldn’t be deep, right? He squinted at the calm lapping against the rocks. Nah, it couldn’t be deep. The pole the boat was fastened to must be dug into the seabed.
He lowered Pharos to the rock. “Stay here.”
He toed off his shoes and undid his cargo pants, making sure his phone was in one of the pockets, and put them in his break-and-enter backpack. He pulled out the bolt cutter, not sure how the boat was attached to the pole, and left the backpack next to Pharos. “Guard it with your life, buddy. My phone is in there.” Then he slowly slid his feet into the water. He shuddered. Not because it was cold, it wasn’t, but because he didn’t have a clue what was hiding under the surface.
