Page 62 of Bite of Sin

She stayed quiet, her gaze on the water. For some reason, it was easier to talk to her out here. Maybe it was because the atmosphere was different. Or because she was happy to be near the ocean for the first time. But even our stretched silence wasn’t tense.

“I never met my real parents either,” she finally said. “I don’t even know their names.”

“Siblings?”

She shook her head. “Not that I know of. The only person I have—”

She cut herself off, her eyes hardening as she glanced at me. I didn’t say anything, even though we both knew the name she was going to blurt out. The man I had locked in a cage. In all honesty, I didn’t know what I was going to do about him yet. But I didn’t need to worry about that tonight.

“Do you come out here to swim?” she asked, changing the subject.

I grinned. “Sometimes. Why? Want to try?”

She went still. “No.”

“Don’t know how to swim?”

“Never learned.”

Her voice was cold, and I studied her, wondering why she’d suddenly closed back up. “You don’t have to fear water as a vampire. You can’t drown.”

“Really? Even a new one like me?”

I paused. “Actually, I’m not sure.”

“Yeah, I’ll wait until I know I won’t die before swimming,” she muttered.

“I wouldn’t let you die. It would be a shame to not feel the water your first time at the beach.”

Panic lit up her face, and she took a step back. “I’m perfectly happy not going in the water.”

I snatched her hand before she got even farther from me. She struggled against me as I pulled her toward the edge.

“Zan, no,” she shrieked. “That has to be a thirty-foot drop.”

“Perfectly safe,” I answered. “I do it all the time.”

“You know, you haven’t been half the asshole tonight that you usually are,” she snapped, her voice nearly shaking. “Why don’t you keep that going?”

I pretended to ponder. “No. I’d rather swim with you.”

“No—”

“Don’t let go.” I pushed forward, quickly taking the last three steps to the edge, my hold on her wrist staying tight. She yelled and cursed at me, and when I jumped, she let out an ear-piercing scream.

The wind whipped around us, Kali’s scream not ending until we hit the water. We went under, and I made sure to keep hold of her arm as I kicked, pushing us back to the surface. Kali’s head popped up next to me, and she yanked out of my hold to wipe her face. She caught my eye for a split second before she turned around and began swimming back to shore. And she was moving fast.

“You’re a liar,” I called out, swimming to catch up. “You do know how to swim.”

“Do you know how hard it is to swim in boots? And the water is cold,” she shot back, not stopping.

My heart beat unevenly, hearing the raw panic in her voice. I didn’t know what her issue was. She could clearly swim. It took her only a few minutes to get to shore, and I treaded water for a moment, letting her calm down before I joined her. Until she suddenly bolted. Taking off down the beach like someone was chasing her.

“What the hell?” I muttered, kicking my feet to swim faster. “Kali. Stop.”

But she didn’t. She was flat-out sprinting. The only things slowing her were the sand and her wet boots. My feet hit the sand, and I clamored out of the water, running after her. She was nearly to the stairs at the cliff, and I lunged forward, catching the hem of her shirt and yanking her back.

“Let me go,” she snarled, trying to rip from my hold.

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