Page 1 of Taurus
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CORDELIA
Children born on the island learn to swim before they can walk. My mother used to love to tell the story of the first time she put me in the ocean. I started kicking and flailing my arms, desperate to get out of her grip. Even when I slipped under the water, I never cried. She said that it was as if I was finally returning home.
Twenty-four years later, I’m still called to the water’s edge, but even more so after reading Madame Zodiac’s words. I don’t know if what she says is true, but if she’s right, I might just find something that I didn’t even know I was looking for.
The breeze off the water is salty and warm as I walk down towards the water from my beachfront cottage. I lean my head back and let the soft waves of my sun-bleached hair fall back, soaking up the last of the day’s vitamin D before the sun sinks below the horizon.
I’ve been cooped up in my workshop most of the day, finishing up the last of the orders I got for my sea glass jewelry. Some of the tourist shops in town like to sell my work, and I'm grateful for the business. But if I want to keep doing this for a living, I need to figure out a way to sell to a bigger market than just the tourists visiting the island.
“Samson!” a sweet voice calls out.
I open my eyes and see a little girl, who can’t be more than ten years old, trying unsteadily to walk out onto the rock ledge that juts out into the sea.
“No!” I call to her. “Stay where you are!”
One wrong step, and she could tumble into the surf and get pulled out into the water. I’ve seen it on a few occasions where adults fall in and need to be saved. I don’t want that happening to this little girl.
She does as she’s told and stops, but as I run over to her, I can see her tear-stained face as she turns to me.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Samson is out there!” She points out towards the rocks.
I follow where she’s pointing and see a small golden retriever puppy walking out towards the water without any concern for its danger. The waves are rolling in and crashing against the rocks, sending sprays of water up and onto the rock ledge.
“Samson!” I yell loud enough that the dog stops and turns to look back at us.
The little girl tries to run forward towards him, but I grab her arm, pulling her back towards me.
I kneel next to her. "I will go and get Samson, but you have to promise you won't follow after me. No matter what happens."
Big tears roll down her cheeks, but she nods her understanding to me. “I promise.”
“Good,” I say, and peel off my shirt and toss it down on the beach. I’d planned to take a swim, so I’m lucky my suit was already on underneath. There's no time to take off my shorts when we watch as a huge wave crashes against the rocks, nearly knocking Samson off the ledge and into the water.
I run over to the ledge and climb carefully up the slippery rocks. On a good day, they would be dry from baking in the sun, but right now, the waves are making them almost impossible to move on without losing your footing.
“Samson!” I yell again, hoping he can meet me halfway, but the way the waves are hitting, he’s too scared to run back without getting hit.
I walk out carefully between waves to the puppy, his tail tucked beneath his legs.
"Come on, buddy," I say in a reassuring tone. "I got you."
He crouches as I bend over and scoop him up into my arms. Relief fills me as I turn around but meet the horrified expression of the little girl, still rooted in her spot where I told her to wait. I have only a moment to realize why she wouldn’t be happy I have her dog safely in my arms unless—
The huge wave hits right at this moment, sending Samson and me over the rock ledge. I don't let go of the puppy. There is no way he'd be able to fight the waves. We are thrown around about under the water until I can push up off the seafloor with every ounce of strength in my body. We break through the surface, and I'm able to toss Samson up onto the ledge. I see him run towards the beach for only a second before another wave strikes, and I'm slammed into something hard.
Everything goes dark.
JACE
It’s all gone. All of it. My life's savings and my life's work has disappeared, thanks to the one person I completely trusted in my life—my business partner and best friend.
I mean, what are you supposed to do when everything you’ve worked for is suddenly gone?
“Have you heard anything about Trevor?” I ask my brother, Declan, by way of greeting.
