Page 37 of Cruel Tides

He was yelling at the sand twists—no, wait—he was screaming at something trapped inside one of them. A flash of gray and white feathers flew in a tight circle, trapped in a sandy spiral in front of him. Leander roared at it again, but the only answer he got was a pitiful squawk.

Whoa.He really was chasing a seabird.

“Leander!” Claira yelled, but he must have been too caught up in his rage to hear her. He pressed forward, closing in on his unfortunate prey.

Thunder crackled in the air as his voice boomed again. “It’s your fault she suffered—your fault they put her in danger!”

There was enough anger in Leander’s voice to stop Claira in her tracks.

I stalled the moment I came up beside her, both of us taking Leander in. He was all fury and power, his arms held wide, fingers bowed like he might rip the seabird in half if given the chance.

Dude. The bird must have really upset him.

Maybe he was going to kill it, but for Claira’s sake, I hoped he wouldn’t.

Claira shook where she stood. Then after a deep breath, she took a step forward, grounding a foot in the sand. “LEANDER!”

All the taut, overexerted muscles across Leander’s back and shoulders rippled at once. Although he hadn’t turned to look at us, he had halted.

Now that Claira had his attention, she took another step.

“What the heck do you think you’re doing?” she screamed across the shore, and even with all his power and his rage and his muscles, the Atlantic’s Crown Prince flinched.

The wind whipping through his hair became erratic, but still, he didn’t turn back. The edge of his jaw moved as he answered, “Avenging you.”

Claira let out an exasperated sound. “It’s just a seagull, Lee! How can you get so worked up over a damned bird?” She wrung her hands together, kicking up more sand for the wind to take. “Look at this! Look around you! You promised me you wouldn’t use your magic.”

Another flinch. “I’m not—” His neck snapped around, taking in his surroundings, before whipping back to look at her. His eyes widened as he did, and even the surrounding storm seemed to sag as he realized what was going on. “Fuck, I—I didn’t know.”

Although the wind in the swirls had slowed, the seabird was still caught in a whirlwind, slapped in the face by its own wing with every pass.

“This town is abird sanctuary, Leander,” Claira shrilled, thrusting a finger out to point at the poor thing. “Why would you attack something as defenseless as a seagull?Let. It. Go!”

Leander startled back a step, and the spiral followed. It stuttered over the sand, causing the gull to pop free.

The wind drained from the air. Suddenly, I could hear Claira’s breathing, heavy with irritation. “Give us a moment,” she said, and although her eyes were stuck on Leander, I knew she’d spoken to me. “Please,” she added in a softer tone.

I tossed a quick look at the retreating storm before nodding. “Of course. Yell if you need me.” I gave her hand a quick squeeze. “I’ll come running.”

When I turned back for the parking lot, Laverne was there behind us. “Let’s go,” I said, and although she seemed curious about the waves, she followed without protest.

By the time we made it back to the car, the clouds had dissipated enough for bright beams of sunlight to spear through them. Barren had finished packing my things into the trunk and was holding Laverne’s floppy bag up in concern, his nostrils flaring.

“No.” He passed the bag into my chest the moment we walked up. Before I had my mouth open, his look turned severe. “No,” he repeated, firmer this time.

Oh great, now Laverne had gotten both of us in trouble.

“If you hadn’t been so childish, maybe you would have been able to keep your bag,” I mumbled to her, passing her the fish bag. I set the strap around her neck and motioned to the side of the hotel. “There’s a place around back where the humans put their trash. Since you made this mess, it’s only right that you clean it up.”

Whiskers twitching, her teeth grated.“Fine,”she hissed, her big attitude not the least bit cowed as she stalked off, head held high. What was I going to do with her?

Sighing, I watched to make sure Laverne was heading in the right direction before turning my attention back to Barren.

“Hey, big dude. How’ve you been?” I put a hand on his shoulder in a proper greeting, hoping he would return the gesture. After a moment’s hesitation, Barren set his heavy palm against my shoulder. Although he didn’t keep it there long, it still made me grin. It was a start. “I turned in the keys like you asked me to.”

Barren nodded, then looked back out at the shoreline.

I had been trying so hard, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep holding myself back.

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