Page 13 of Surging Reef
Kazimir nodded, unsure if he had moving fast in him. Heopened the backpack and patted through his cargo pants until he found the car key. It would’ve been just his luck if he’d dropped it in the lighthouse.
“Ready?” Ashby turned the boat a little, so the bow was aimed straight for the sandy beach. “Hop in the water and grab your bag and Pharos.”
Kazimir did as told but cursed as his shoes got wet. For fuck’s sake.
Once he was out of the boat, Ashby jumped into the water with a splash and pushed it back out again. It didn’t do much, simply bobbed there.
“Fuck.” He took a step in its direction, but the sound of a car made him freeze. “Fuck.” He spun around and ran toward Kazimir. “Move. We need to hide.”
Kazimir’s heart jumped to his throat, and he hugged Pharos to his chest.
* * * *
Fucking hell! It could be some stupid human wanting to look at the sunrise or something, but his gut told him they needed to get the fuck out of here.
“I think it passed the parking lot.” Kazimir’s voice was nothing more than a whisper.
“Are there more parking lots?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve never been to this beach, so I took the first one I came across since I didn’t know where I’d find a boat. She knows where she keeps her boat, so maybe she has a better place to park.”
“Either way, we need to get off the beach. If they walk up on the dunes, they’ll spot us right away.” Ashby put a hand between Kazimir’s shoulder blades and gently pushed him forward.
“Right.” He ran, the sand slowing them down, and it didn’t help that Kazimir was carrying Pharos. They found a trail between two dunes where the coarse grass stuck up like daggers, and Ashby worried about Kazimir’s bare legs. A cut could jeopardize everything. The scent of blood wasn’t something a vampire would ignore.
Then Kazimir dropped to his knees, still clutching Pharos.
“What are you doing?” Ashby hissed at him as softly as he could.
“Voices.”
Ashby listened, and yes, there were voices down at the beach. “How far to the car?” He wanted to stand and look, see if it was Anne, but he couldn’t risk being seen.
Kazimir tugged him closer and spoke next to his ear. His warm breath had a shiver travel Ashby’s spine. “Not far. We need to go down on the other side of the dune, then there is a gravel parking lot. There’s a wooden fence around it, so only one way out.” He pressed the car key into his palm. “You go ahead, and I’ll come after.”
Ashby hesitated for a moment. He didn’t want to leave Kazimir. If Anne found him hiding here with the boat bobbing some distance from the shore, she’d assume he’d been the one to leave it there.
Blowing out a breath, he pried Pharos from Kazimir’s embrace. “Right, we’ll go ahead, have the car ready, and you come as fast and as quietly as you can.” He’d lock the dog in the car and come back for Kazimir.
Kazimir nodded and patted Pharos. “Go. I’ll be right behind you.”
Ashby ran. He ran as fast and as quietly as he could. As far as he could see, there wasn’t anyone around, and when the parking lot came into view, there was only one car there.
He unlocked it and pushed Pharos into the backseat, thenhe turned to go back for Kazimir. He didn’t have to. Kazimir was running toward him, running faster than he had on the beach.
“Go.” Could people whisper-yell? If so, it was what he was doing. Ashby wanted to make fun of him, but one look on his face told him this was not the time. He opened the front door and got in while Kazimir rounded the car and yanked the passenger door open.
“Go. Go. Go.” He fumbled with the seatbelt, only to drop it as he looked toward the dunes.
Ashby went. The car purred to life, and he drove out of the parking lot as fast as he could. He turned left since it was the fastest way out on the highway. When he glanced toward the dunes, a form was silhouetted against the early morning sky. He hoped they couldn’t see the car well enough from there to find it later.
“Fuck.” Kazimir cradled his head.
“What happened?” They hadn’t been apart for more than a couple of minutes, tops.
“The voices came closer, and I heard a woman order someone to get into the water to get the boat. Then someone, a man, said something about how there had been a car parked in the first parking lot when they’d passed it. I panicked.”
Anne. “He didn’t say anything else about the car?”
