Secret Keepers: The Complete Series

by Jaymin Eve

  The money for the rental had lasted long enough for me to get a job, but not a permanent house. I’d stayed with a few friends until they’d had enough of me. It hadn’t been my intention to mooch, but there was very limited work around this tiny island for an eighteen-year-old who’d barely finished her senior year and had no skills to speak of. If I could tell people about my abilities in the water, that would have made a difference, but the one thing my mom had warned me about was never exposing those unique traits to the world.

  They will hunt you down and experiment on you, Ava, she’d always said.

  Lifeguarding ended up being a last resort, and as long as I kept my speed modified, I was never singled out. But they also only had part-time hours for me, and the money was really low. So I bummed around, sleeping where I could, often in the tower after shift.

  One day I’d get my life together. Not today, of course, but one day.

  When the shower stream got nice and hot, I stepped under, then immediately had to adjust it to colder, because I loved the idea of a hot shower more than the reality. I took in a deep breath of the doc’s shampoo, which I knew he only kept for me on those rare occasions I showered here. Firstly, it was my favorite kind: ocean blend, in the aqua bottle. And secondly, he was almost bald.

  As soon as my waist-length hair was wet, its silvery gray changed to an almost rainbow-like color. I had no idea why my hair did this under the water, but it had happened for as long as I could remember. I usually wore my hair tied back tightly or under a swim cap when I was on lifeguard duty, because a rainbow sheen was kind of hard to explain.

  Within five minutes, because I didn’t waste water, I had shaved, washed my hair, and brushed my teeth. Doc knocked on the door as soon as the water cut off. “Some clothes out here for you,” he said, then I heard him walk off.

  I wrapped one towel around the heavy length of my hair and used a second for my body. Padding over to the door, I eased it open and dropped down to grab the small pile. They were his daughter’s clothes; he’d never thrown away anything of his family’s. This wasn’t the first time he’d offered them to me. I couldn’t bring myself to say no when he was trying to look after me. While I was somewhat disturbed wearing dead people’s clothes, they really didn’t need them anymore.

  The shorts and shirt were a little small. Judging by the photos, his daughter had been quite a few inches shorter than my six foot height—as were most women. So right now I was wearing a midriff top and short shorts that hugged my butt cheeks. Almost fashionable. And since I was used to wearing swimmers—or nothing in the ocean—the shortness of my outfit really didn’t bother me.

  I quickly washed my clothes in the sink so I could put them back on tomorrow.

  “Thanks so much,” I said when I found the doc on the deck. I hung my clothes across the railing and together we watched the sun setting.

  “You got your bandage wet, girl,” he muttered. Guy was always muttering, and I loved it.

  Glancing down, I wrinkled my nose at the wet patches across the white bandage. “Whoops, kind of forgot about it.”

  He didn’t seem too bothered, probably because it was warm enough here, even at night in December, that it would dry soon. Along with my hair, which would become a long mess of thick waves. Luckily it never knotted up, and I’d be back in the ocean soon enough so there was no point worrying about it.

  “I’m going to make some lomi-lomi salmon for dinner,” Doc told me, and then without another word went back inside.

  I followed, trying to ignore the ache in my arm and the confused thoughts in my head. For some reason, the face of the girl who had been in the water wouldn’t leave me. She had stirred an unusual level of protective instinct in me. Maybe it was because she was so tiny. She’d been strong though, fighting the current.

  I hoped she was okay. I’d left her on the main patrolled beach, just out of sight, keeping an eye on her from far out. When she’d gotten to her feet and stumbled to help, I’d left. I didn’t understand why they’d shot at her in the first place. It was unusual to have gun violence here. Lanai was a very laid-back island.

  Doc distracted me when he handed me a cutting board, small knife, and some very red tomatoes. “Dice them up,” he said. We finished the salad in silence. He added the salmon last, and we ate out on the deck. No point having a stunning view if you weren’t going to enjoy it. I grew restless after dinner, wanting to head into the water, but the injury was tiring me enough that I thought some sleep was the better option.

  I’d just have to be satisfied with the view of the ocean through the windows.

  The next morning I was up with the sun. Just before it actually, which was my preference. I liked to see the dawn of each new day; it reminded me I was still alive. Despite my family completely giving up on me, I was not giving up on myself.

  Doc was awake. I heard him shuffling around, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed my morning swim. Running barefoot, I ditched my denim cutoffs, leaving just the shirt and my underwear on. When the cool water washed around my ankles, everything inside me felt better. Stronger. My head cleared, and the worries that had plagued me faded away.

  This was what I lived for. Something my very straitlaced parents did not understand. They were both astronomers; they cared for the sky. Neither of them even knew how to swim. I often wondered where the hell I’d come from. Were they really my parents? But no doubt if I’d been adopted they would have dumped me long before I was eighteen.

  I just didn’t fit in their lives. Luckily, I had my own version of a family.

  Under the water.

  Once I was far enough out, I took a breath and dived. Despite the low light—the sun was still rising—I could see as clearly down here as I could above. There was none of the disorientation other swimmers spoke of, no need for goggles or masks. My eyes never hurt either. For years now I’d wondered if I was one of those genetically advanced humans, like from the movies. A fish person or something. Humans had originally come from the water, so maybe we were evolving to go back there. What other explanation could there be?

  Fish swam around me, and I ran my hands gently over them. The scars on my left hand were amplified under the water; I was lucky to still have full use of it. Doc told me I should have lost the hand, that there had been too much damage for a recovery, but even at the age of seven I’d insisted on trying to save it. And somehow the dead tissue had almost regenerated. It wasn’t immediately clear when you looked at it; most of the damage was on my palm, but my hand was in a permanent half-claw position from the scar tissue and internal damage. It was functional, though, cutting through the water with ease. And that’s all that mattered.

  I’d had one or two guys kind of freak out when they saw it, like it meant I was damaged goods. I’d be lying if I said that sort of judgement didn’t hurt, but I just went back to the ocean. No one judged me there.

  As I swam faster, I sent out the call I’d mastered, almost like echolocation, along with a series of clicks that told my friends I was out and ready to swim. The pod of six dolphins met me about a hundred yards offshore and kept pace with me as I dived through the rolling blue waves. My mind shut off and I just existed. We went for miles. I lost track of how far we swam, but I could no longer see land.

  It was only when Jojo, the smallest of the females, started clicking at me that the sound of the boat registered. I usually paid close attention to those things because humans would freak out if they saw me swimming like this with a pod of dolphins. Ducking down deep, I left the surface for the world below.

  Some days I imagined never having to return, just living forever under the water. I had no problem eating raw fish and seaweed, and I could swim for hours, but I still needed to breathe and sleep, and I hadn’t figured out a way to do both safely.

  Forgetting about the boat, I made my way toward the cathedrals. I didn’t come here as often as I’d like because it was very touristy, but right then I needed to see the lights. Just for the clarity their
natural beauty brought me. Halfway there the dolphins said goodbye, in their way, and I waved before lowering my head and swimming as fast as I could. I always swam with my eyes open so I wouldn’t miss anything. Millions of colored fish, the lazy glide of the turtles, sharks doing their predator thing—the only creatures in the blue to scare me. Just a little. Mostly because they were king and I respected them.

  When the familiar rocks came into sight, some of the tension in my chest eased. Whatever the events of yesterday, this was grounding. It was weird that I couldn’t get that chick’s face out of my head, but since I’d never see her again, it was better I just moved on.

  She was just a girl I helped; nobody special.

  Chapter 2

  I got an hour’s exploration in before the thrum of another engine disturbed my trip through the lights of the underwater cathedrals. It was probably time for the tourist boats to start, which was my signal to get out of there. I rose to the surface for one more gulp of air, then dove down again and was about to start swimming when an unusual noise caught my attention. Turning in the water, I tried to determine what it was.

  Definitely not an engine—it almost sounded like something was zooming through the water the same way I did, only much faster. Since I’d never seen another human move at those speeds, or animal for that matter, I wondered if it was a projectile of some description? A missile … maybe?

  A missile? Not many missiles usually shot around the Hawaiian Islands. Had I missed an announcement about Navy drills in this area? Was war about to start? Were we under attack?

  Or was it possible that this was linked to yesterday? Did those maniacs with the guns decide to up their arsenal?

  My first thought was for the dark-haired girl. She’s nothing to you, Avalon. Seriously, one would think she was my sister, that’s how worried I immediately was. Not family. Not. Family. If I repeated it enough, hopefully it would sink in. Apparently I was so hard up for a family now, I was simply going to create a fantasy world where I had one out there, waiting for me.

  Diving lower to hide under some of the rocks, I waited to see what was coming through the water. A more intelligent person would have gotten out of there, but I was pretty confident in my underwater abilities. If this was a threat, I’d be able to get away in time.

  Spiraling water was the first thing I saw, and whatever was moving at those speeds was hidden within that spiral. I was already holding my breath, being under the water and all, but it felt like everything inside of me was on edge waiting to see what could move that fast.

  Excitement, fear, and anticipation warred inside of me, but despite the small part of me that dreaded what I was about to see, I didn’t leave. Just before it neared the first rocks, the turbulent water started to ease, then slowed and stopped completely.

  Holyseashellshit!

  A long pair of well-muscled arms came into view, followed by the rest of a male body—thankfully, because it would have been some sort of horror story otherwise. I thought I’d been pretty well hidden in my crevice, but as soon as he stopped moving, his gaze shot straight to where I was, our eyes meeting through the water.

  Fuck! I should have taken off when I had the chance, because apparently there was a massive, blond, tanned, muscled man who could swim even faster than me. And he was heading right in my direction. Go! a part of me screamed over and over, like it could propel me into action. But I couldn’t seem to move. I’d have to eventually; I was going to run out of air sooner or later. But right then I found myself edging out of the rocks and into open water, dancing—that’s what I always called it when I was upright under water—closer to him. He danced the same way I did, drifting forward as if gliding.

  At first I was fascinated by the hypnotic blue of his eyes. They were almost electric. As we moved even closer together, I noticed small slashes of deep green that bisected right near his iris, like the ocean had crashed into his eyes and he bore all the colors of it. His hair was blond, but not like the gray tones of mine, more yellow, and it almost looked like he had tattoos on one side of his head and neck, partially hidden by his thick hair.

  Wait … was that a rainbow sheen? He had a freaking sheen, just like me. I froze, my brain unable to comprehend that I might finally be meeting someone like me. Of course, I wasn’t stunned enough not to notice all of his golden skin stretched over heavily roped muscles. He was not as lithe as most swimmers I’d seen, but he moved gracefully. His lower half was still covered in swirling water, so I couldn’t see anything but his broad chest.

  My lungs started to protest then—the first sign that I needed to start thinking about getting some air. The first discomfort usually meant I had a minute left, maybe two. I was only about fifteen feet down, so it wasn’t a big deal.

  The boat noises from before roared over our heads, and then the engine cut off, almost directly over the top of us. Unease flickered inside of me. A boat and a speed-swimming stranger made me nervous. I had the sudden thought that I was in a very vulnerable position right now.

  I’d just decided to take off when he lifted his right hand and pursed his lips like he was going to blow me a kiss. I blinked as a bubble formed on his palm. It drifted away from him toward me, growing larger as it moved. I wasn’t sure what to do; I couldn’t look away. Not even when it grew bigger than my head. I expected it to pop when it hit me, and I closed my eyes waiting for the impact.

  But there was no pop. Instead it enclosed my head, trapping me inside.

  The water drained out of it in an instant and I sucked in a deep breath, able to breathe again. Holy freaking hell. What was happening right now? How could he control water like this?

  And why hadn’t I swum away yet?

  A small waterspout shot off my bubble, spiraling toward the guy, and then he too wore a bubble around his head.

  “What’s your name?”

  A deep voice echoed around my new little air pocket, and if jumping under water was possible, I’d have been six feet higher than usual. How in the…. Did he just talk to me?

  “I don’t understand.” I felt stupid speaking like this.

  His reply was almost immediate. “My name is Xander,” he started, his voice accented and rumbly. “I don’t want to scare you, but we are running out of time. You need to come with me for your own safety.”

  Creepy. Seriously, this was too creepy. Even for me, the girl who wanted to live in the ocean. I decided to see if I could break free from the bubble. I had enough air now to swim a decent distance. I might even make it to shore.

  “Wait,” he called as I started to back up. “I know you’re scared, I get it, but you should know that the girl you saved yesterday … she is just like you. An advanced human.”

  I knew it! I knew there had to be a reason I felt a connection to her. I wasn’t just a crazy needy person. But how was it possible that the two of us ended up in the same bad place together? I slowed my retreat, giving him one last chance to speak.

  “The people shooting at her, they are looking for you as well. We’re the only ones who can protect you. I’ll explain it all if you come with me now.”

  I wanted to believe him. I was almost desperate to place my trust in this gorgeous stranger. But I wasn’t that naïve. Just because someone told you they were the good guys didn’t mean they were. I’d learned that the hard way with my parents. They’d abandoned me, which had hurt more than I expected, considering they’d always acted like I was a burden they’d been saddled with. Then, on top of that, a lot of friends had given up on me as well, mostly because I couldn’t live the surfy life anymore. I had to work. I had to be responsible.

  I was a little scarred and jaded from the entire thing.

  “Why should I believe you?” I asked, the back of my head pressing against the bubble. “You could be lying just to get me to go with you.”

  I heard and sensed his frustration as he bit out, “Wouldn’t I have just grabbed you? I’m faster than you could ever be in the water, so if I wanted to take you by forc
e, I would have already.”

  That was a fair point.

  “Who’s in the boat?” I changed the subject. Somehow I knew the boat was his. He’d just been way too unconcerned about it sitting above.

  “Maya, the one you rescued, and her mate, Chase.”

  My burst of excitement at knowing she was close by, an advanced human like me, was overshadowed by my confusion over the word mate. Were they like … Australian or something? We had tons of Aussie surfers over here, and they called their friends mate. Like buddy, pal, dude. But not only did this guy—Xander—not have an Australian accent, he also hadn’t said it like they did. His inference was boyfriend, but I’d never heard any person call someone’s boyfriend a mate.

  “Just get in the boat. We’ll tell you the entire story and then you will understand.” He sounded a little less pissed now, more resigned. “I promise no one will touch you. You can dive over the side anytime you want.”

  As tempting as it was to see Maya again and explore the connection between us, my self-preservation won out, and I regretfully said, “I can’t. Sorry. I just don’t trust you. Later, dude.”

  Water started to churn around us then, and I knew I’d lingered too long.

  “Don’t run…” was the last thing I heard before my head was out of his bubble and I was swimming as fast as I could. I hadn’t forgotten his statement that he was much faster than me, but I knew these waters better than anybody. Ducking and diving, I used the tunnels to my advantage. I wanted to call for the dolphins, but putting them into possible danger was a really shitty thing to do, so I refrained.

  Somehow, though, they knew. Dark shadows closed in around me, and I could have cried at the familiar company of my favorite pod. I clicked in greeting, and they returned the gesture as we dashed across the sea. I had no idea if he was behind me. I wanted to look back and check, but it felt more important to keep powering forward.