Lovers Peak

by Dani Stowe

  “I don’t think the marina is the best place to release him,” Orphelius states. “There are too many hazards and he can hardly swim.”

  “I could get the car and we can wrap him in the wet towels and release him onshore at the beach house.”

  “I’m more comfortable with that plan.”

  “I’ll be back.”

  I turn to rush out, but I am yanked at the wrist. I look down to see a tentacle wrapped and reeling me back to the pool’s edge. It’s odd. I accept that it’s odd and I’m even more accepting of the tongue that swipes across my lips and plunges into my open mouth. Orphelius kisses me until our lips are swollen and a click comes from the baby pup. “Okay baby,” I chuckle. “He’s ready to go,” I tell Orphelius.

  “I am too. This water is rancid.”

  I nod and rush through the open doors into the sunlight and for the first time, I feel free. Despite the danger of what we are doing and the acknowledgment of fear that should exist with such risk, my legs can’t help but skip. My painted dragon is alive; I feel it twirling and rolling. It’s is dancing beneath my skin all over my back until it stops to torch me.

  But the fire I feel beneath my skin does not burn with anger. It is a warning that comes too late as I am gripped at the wrist once more and find myself falling after being struck and landing on my knees.

  Chapter 18

  Orphelius

  SOMETHING IS WRONG. I smooth my hand over the pup. I can no longer sense or control its feelings, but with each wiggle and click, I know it is as worried as I am.

  Kumiko has been gone too long.

  I hear footsteps coming, but the feet drag. I don’t believe it is my lover. I see the blade I dropped on the ground and reach for it with a long limb, passing it to my hand and twirling it to get a feel for its weight. It’s not a sword and it’s as rusty as me, but I’m confident I’ll be able to do some damage.

  “Hello?” I call out. The footsteps stop. “Kumiko?”

  The footsteps resume, except they have picked up their pace and in marches a pirate. He’s not the typical stereotype, but I recognize a pirate when I see one—a plunderer, a taker, and exploiter of anything that might have value. He’s dressed cleanly and finely, but it’s a mask; it was enough to fool Kumiko, but it does not fool me. Now he wears a black patch over his eye, which I’m happy to say it was I who helped transform his appearance into something more befitting of his true identity.

  “What the fuck?” he questions. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

  “I’m setting this animal free.”

  “The fuck you are!” He steps closer and I raise the blade higher.

  He laughs. “Who the hell are you, man? Kumiko set you up to this? I swear to God that fucking bitch is going to get it.”

  I grit my teeth. “You stay the hell away from her or I swear by the gods—”

  “What?” he interjects with sarcasm. “You gonna chop me with that knife? That looks like my knife. You’re as dumb a motherfucker as Kumiko.” The pirate pulls out a handgun from behind his back and points it at me. “That dolphin is worth a lot of cash. Leave it in the pool and get the fuck out.”

  “I’m not letting you have this animal.”

  “No?” he asks and shoots the thin wall of the pool, creating a hole for the water to begin to pour out. “Listen, dipshit,” he curses. “Get the fuck out of the pool right now or I’m going to put a couple of holes in you like I did this pool.”

  He shoots again, creating another hole and I flinch, retracting each one of my tentacles closer to my body. He hasn’t seen the part of me beneath the water yet and I decide he should.

  I come up a bit, allowing the thick sac of my lower portion to be on display and the pirate looks like he wishes to speak, but he is suspended in shock. As I rise, I slip a tentacle over the edge of the pool to the side, propelling it to slither along the wet floor towards him, but he sees me coming.

  Immediately, he shoots at my tentacle and hits it. Pain surges and I reach with another to go for the gun, but he aims it right at my chest; I duck as he fires and I hear a clunk.

  I wait beneath the water, wondering why the pirate has not shot at me again. Despite the centuries I’ve waited for Kumiko to return, time seems to be ticking by much slower than ever. I poke my head out, raising the blade, but I don’t see the pirate. I look at the pup. It’s still in one arm and I peep over the edge of the pool where I see a woman, crouched.

  Instead of Kumiko, a fair, thin brunette with glasses is huddled over the pirate. She’s holding a broken glass bottle, which I assume she’s smashed over the pirate’s head. She makes eyes contact with me and we stare at each other for a moment until she stands up cautiously. Her eyes wander between the pup, me, the blade in the air, then back to the pup, and to me until finally, she speaks.

  “Orphelius?”

  I lower the blade. “How do you know me?”

  The woman runs towards me and I raise the sword higher, unsure of her intentions. She doesn’t feel like a threat and I could snap her in half, but I am surprised she’s not afraid I could be a threat to her.

  She leans her head over the edge of the leaking pool and takes a good look at my monstrosity hiding beneath the surface. She blushes, smiles, and covers her mouth with both hands as tears fill her eyes. For some reason, I get the feeling the woman is not about to cry out of fear.

  “My goodness, Orphelius,” she says, as her eyes wander up my torso and then to my chest and face. “You are so beautiful.”

  I take a breath. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so flattered, not even when I was a man. “My lady, I hate to repeat myself, but how do you know me?”

  “I’m Athena. I’m the librarian. Did Kumiko not tell you about me?”

  “No, but if you’re a friend, I need help. I need to take this animal—”

  “To the sea. Yes! That’s also why I’m here. Perhaps the two of us working together can relocate the animal.” Her eyes wander to the unconscious son-of-bitch on the floor. “What’s the deal with this guy? I thought he was about to kill you.”

  “He’s a pirate.”

  She chuckles. “You mean a poacher?”

  “Sure. You can call him whatever you want but he’s no good.” I wrap the wet blanket around the pup. “Did you see Kumiko out there?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “I fear something’s wrong. She was supposed to return with the car. I need to find her.”

  Athena convinces me to help the pup first as it’s getting dark.

  Together, we wrap the pup and move him to her car, which she’s parked among trees behind the building. We have to stop halfway there when my tentacles touch dirt and they begin to fuse together to form legs. Athena is nice enough to keep my mouth covered through the process. It’s painful and she grimaces with each yelp I make beneath her hands as my own hands massage my body while it transforms. Once I’m able to stand, we pick up the pup and place him in the backseat.

  Athena glosses me over with wide eyes. “I’ll be right back.”

  I try to coax the pup, assuring him he will return to his mother when Athena returns with my wet clothes.

  “Your pirate is gone.”

  “Not my pirate, but I will make claim to his death if we should ever meet up again.”

  Athena gulps at the threat then gulps again in observance of my naked body. “You need to put these on.”

  “Right,” I laugh and she watches me. It’s peculiar, but I’m not ashamed because I already had a feeling Athena’s encountered someone like me, one of my brothers, before. I’m not remotely surprised she asks about him while she stares at my bawbels and Man Thomas as I tuck the whole package into the pants I’ve borrowed from Henry. I am worried about Athena and the way she looks at my crotch. I feel Athena has been saving herself for my Captain.

  She fixes her glasses. “I don’t mean to pry—”

  “Yes, you do,” I interrupt. “You want to know where Willis is.”

  “Have
you seen him?” She sounds desperate.

  “It’s been a while, but you shouldn’t save yourself for him,” I suggest as I lean into the backseat to wrap the seatbelt around the pup. I need to make sure this baby is secure! “If you’ve seen Willis, which in all honesty you’d be the only human to have ever actually seen him, then you know he is not like Henry and me. There is no part of the Captain that is human in any way other than—”

  “His eyes. Yes, I’ve seen him,” she admits. “But I’ve been doing the research and I’ve been thinking about—”

  “Athena,” I cut in. “I don’t know why Willis was cursed the worst of the three of us, but even if you were to figure out a way to lay with him, the compass is lost. Whatever fascination you have with the Captain, I suggest you let it go and let him be at peace. Believe me, the last thing anyone wants is a restless sea.”

  “Right,” she nods with an embarrassing blush and a false grin.

  My heart breaks. Not for her, but for my friend and brother, Captain Willis. Henry and I had to fight against great odds, including with our own lovers, to be united. Nevertheless, here is a woman already won—her heart captured. Except for Willis, there can be no union. There is no reason to fight.

  The pup whistles.

  “Yes, Athena is taking you back now.”

  “What?” she asks as we both shut the doors. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

  “No.” My eyes have already seen Shelley’s car in the parking lot in the exact spot where Kumiko and I left it.

  “How am I supposed to get the pup out?” she whines.

  “Communicate with the sheriff with your small calling device.”

  “Call the sheriff? Are you kidding me? We can’t trust the sheriff!”

  “Trust me. He’s a lawman and he already mentioned there’s no precedent for the containment of this animal. Bring the pup to the ocean’s edge and call the sheriff. He’ll help you. Now, go before the pup dries out. I have to find Kumiko.”

  Athena curses as she fumbles angrily into the car to get behind the steering wheel. I recognize how common it is for everyone to be granted a license. The commonality of such privileges is a sure demonstration of how humanity has changed so much in but a few hundred years. Not anyone could’ve gotten behind a ship’s helm back in my day—and certainly not a woman.

  I appreciate that Athena is able to drive off, helping me in this rescue as I head back to Shelley’s car. I worry another rescue might be warranted. Kumiko is tough so I can’t imagine what’s happened to her.

  I pull at the handles of the car, but the doors are locked. I look about, rethinking what she mentioned of our plan. Kumiko was supposed to bring the car back, closer to the building. I look through the car’s window glass. Perhaps it’s me who should be calling the sheriff, as I see no sign of a struggle.

  Ambient light is disappearing. The sun, along with my hopes, is sinking with the drowning light. I guess I was hoping maybe Kumiko saw her attacker, the pirate, and went into hiding, but she has yet to come out. I look to the boats in the marina and grit my teeth. One is missing—the pirate’s ship has sailed.

  A screech pierces through the sky. I look up to see a seagull, Kumiko’s seagull, hovering close above my head. The bird’s wings spread wide, but its head hangs low to fix its gaze upon me. It screeches again before looking out to the horizon, pointing its beak to what it wants me to see—that damn pirate’s boat is already far out at sea.

  That’s when I hear it—the call of a woman. It’s the kind of call that attracts the gods. My lover is in pain—she is wailing.

  Chapter 19

  Kumiko

  “OW!” I BITE MY LIP and squeeze my eyes closed, trying not to make another sound. Every time Bradley walks past me he has an urge to slap me. He’s already punched me in the back of my head. It was right after I made eye contact with him while he was tying my wrists together and forcing me to sit on the floor. The punch hurt bad and made me loopy, so I definitely won’t be making eye contact with him again.

  I’m also trying to keep my mouth shut, especially now since the boat has stopped. I couldn’t get a scream out earlier when Bradley kidnapped me, gagging and overpowering me. After he dragged me onboard and we got a little far from shore, he paused the boat for a few minutes, making it known he liked the crying and whining. He pulled the gag to tell me to shut up, but I figured out the more noise I make, the more excited he gets.

  I hear Bradley fumbling. I keep my eyes closed until I feel a hard knock on my shin that immediately throbs. I recall kicking Henry in the shin.

  “Hey,” Bradley says snidely, but when I don’t respond, he kicks me again.

  “What?” I growl and keep my sights on his leather shoes.

  He squats in front me. “Don’t fucking have an attitude with me, Cookie. You’re not the one who lost an eye.”

  “Don’t call me Cookie. My name is Kumi—Ah!”

  I feel a tight pull at my top as it loosens when Bradley cuts my top away with a sharp knife. I can’t help but whimper as my body tenses at the glint of sharp steel gliding along the middle of my torso and up towards my breastbone. The scratchy feeling of blade against skin is painless, but my entire body fills with antagonizing dread, which peaks with nausea as Bradley slides the knife under the small link of fabric at the center of my bra.

  Bradley turns the blade and yanks—cutting the bra loose and my breasts free. “Look at that,” he says. “You have no idea how bad I wish I could look at those two tits with both eyes.”

  My eyes dart to Bradley’s and I realize I’ve made a mistake. I told myself I wouldn’t make eye contact with him. I’m searching his face—my eyes rolling side to side. It’s not on purpose; it’s automatic to search for both blue irises, but he lacks one.

  The search infuriates him. It’s obvious he’s feeling inadequate with me looking at him—at the patch. He grimaces, grits his teeth, and smacks me.

  Spit flies in my face when Bradley speaks. It stings worse than the backhand. “You’re the reason I lost my eye!”

  “That’s crazy,” I snap back. “I’m not responsible for a bunch of dumb birds.” I guess I am in a way, but Bradley is the one ultimately responsible for attempting to rape me.

  He tugs at the rest of my shirt and my bra with the knife setting my entire upper body free of fabric and he glares at my tattoo. “You know, I’ve never been with a chick like you.”

  Chick like me? “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Raunchy. Slutty. The kind of girl that likes it hard.” Bradley licks his lips. “The kind of girl that likes it dirty.”

  I panic, pulling at my tied wrists, as Bradley moves in to kiss me while digging his fingers between my legs. I gather my legs to squeeze them together as Bradley hooks his fingertips under my denim shorts and I knee him, right in the mouth.

  “Ah fuck!” curses Bradley, swiping his pierced bloody lip with the pad of his thumb. He looks at his thumb; his eye and face turn as red as the blood smeared over it.

  “You fucking cunt!” he snaps, as he yanks at my hair and points the tip of his knife at my eye.

  I’m screaming between weeps. I can’t help it. He’s teasing me with the sharp thing and I squeeze my eyes shut.

  “Open your eyes!” he yells, gripping my jaw. “I’m taking at least one of them. An eye for an eye.”

  “No, please,” I whine. I want to kick him. I want to knee him again, but I don’t. I can’t! I feel paralyzed. I feel like he can do whatever he wants and if I move even an inch, he’ll pop my eye out.

  Tears start flowing and he lets up a bit then kisses me. His lips have pinned my head hard against the boat behind me and his tongue, slathered in thick saliva, enters my mouth. I want to bite him and spit him out but the point of the knife is now at my temple, making a tiny indent that stings. I have no choice but to let him invade my mouth. I feel powerless and dirty—exactly how he wants me.

  Bradley finally pulls away, examining me once more. “I don’t
think I could fuck you without that pretty face. I might have to fuck you first before I shame you.” He scratches his head and looks over my shoulder. “Unless?”

  “No,” I mutter.

  Bradley brings the knife to the eye of the dragon. “Oh yeah,” he smirks. “Now that isn’t exactly a fair trade, but I think I’d like you a lot better without that trashy branding staring at me.”

  My heart is pounding. I almost wish it would pound harder—so hard to the point my heart would pop so I would not have to endure this torture. I look to Bradley one more time in hopes I can make a plea, though it’s pointless. He’s biting his lower lip with a fixed eye focused on the carving he’s about to initiate and I feel the blade poke into my right shoulder.

  A squeal escapes my vocal chords and I squirm with the small slice of pain and then I feel another squirm. Movement races under my skin and travels swiftly from where the knife is pressed, down along my spine, and hides behind my back.

  “What the fuck?” Bradley shouts and falls backward on his ass. He looks me in the eye then looks to my left. His eyes widen as the dragon beneath my skin slithers from behind my back and up my underarm to stare back at him.

  “You’re a fucking witch!” he cries out, holding the knife pointed at me.

  I shake my head.

  “You’re either a witch or you’ve been cursed by one.” Bradley’s eyes sparkle with crazed lunacy at the revelation. “That’s it, isn’t it? That’s why you were left on the beach with no escape.” I shake my head, but he continues. “That’s why the birds attacked. That is why I can’t stop thinking about you. Ever since we met, my mind has been obsessed with you. I’m under some kind of spell.”

  I want to tell Bradley it’s not true, that everything going on in his mind is of his own making and that he’s just a sick fuck that gets off on hurting living things.