Moontide

by Amanda V. Shane

  He moved his hands down to her hips again and skimmed his fingers underneath the hem of her shorts then squeezed. She deepened the kiss, breathing him in as one of his active hands stole inside her top to cup her breast. Nimble fingers rolled her nipple between a thumb and forefinger gently pinching, causing an even more intense flood of sensations. She started to drag her shirt up and off when a knock sounded at the door.

  “Cindy, you in there?” Marley’s voice called from the other side of the door. Cindy ripped her mouth away from Ronan’s at the interruption. He shook his head at her, his eyebrows drawing together in a scowl.

  “Cin!” a little louder, another knock, “open up!”

  Cindy blew out an agonized breath then jumped up off the bed and ran to the door. She cracked it open a little bit and peered into Marley’s worried face.

  “Hi, how’s it going?” Cindy asked her friend, her smile over bright. She peaked out into the hallway, trying to keep the door from opening too far and revealing the man in her room…on her bed!

  Marley pulled back a little and gave her a weird look but didn’t say anything.

  “Did you speak to that…uh…woman that Kay was staying with?”

  “Yeah, a little bit. I don’t know that it was all that helpful,” Marley mumbled a little too dismissively for Cindy to ignore but hearing the whole story would have to wait.

  “Are you feeling okay, honey,” Marley asked, “you’re a little flushed and your eyes look kind of glassy.”

  “Actually, uh, I do feel a bit under the weather,” Cindy fibbed.

  Her mind raced to come up with some sort of malady, something that would get rid of her friend before Ronan wasted away on the bed. She had it! In a stage whisper, she rasped, “I think I had some bad Cuban.”

  “Ooooh,” Marley’s face crinkled up and she stepped back in a way that made Cindy really wonder what the heck some ‘bad Cuban’ could do to a person.

  “Well, you just stay here and get some rest tonight and I’ll check on you later.”

  “Thanks, Mar. Sorry to wuss out on you like this.”

  “No problem, just take it easy. I’m going out again but I’ll have my phone if you need anything.”

  “Oh, and next time,” she continued, as she turned and walked down the hall, “ask my advice on the restaurants, I know all the best places.” Her voice faded out as she neared her own room.

  Cindy waited for a moment then closed the door and turned back to Ronan. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. She moved as fast as she could to place her hands on his shoulders. He straightened his back and took both of her hands in his, instantly coming back to her.

  “Sorry about that,” Cindy told him, “I just wasn’t sure that now was a good time to introduce the two of you.”

  He smiled a time wearied smile that made it almost easy to believe that he really was hundreds of years old, then traced the side of her face with his finger.

  “And I am sorry to once again, be interfering with your plans, cara,” his voice was rough.

  Cindy shrugged. She hadn’t minded his ‘interfering’ a few minutes ago…at all.

  He gave her a heated stare that she was beginning to think was an expression he might have invented.

  She shook her head to clear it then tugged him up off of the bed.

  “Come with me.” She said, pulling him across the room toward the closet. She dug around for a little while before popping back around.

  “Here it is,” she said, holding a cloth pouch in her hand.

  He pulled the little pink bag from her grasp and lifted an eyebrow as he held it at eye level.

  “Open it up.” She urged then slipped her arm around his waist and stood next to him, careful not to break contact.

  He pulled the drawstring and took out the copper vile that was the bane of his existence. Cindy reached up to still its spinning.

  “It feels warm,” she marveled then released it and pressed into Ronan’s side. “I didn’t notice that before.”

  Ronan’s face darkened.

  “You weren’t handling it overmuch were you?”

  “Well, I was looking at it…”

  “But not touching?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “You didn’t try to open it did you cara?” He pressed.

  “Of course not.” She blurted out too quickly.

  He canted his head at an admonishing angle, the stern captain again.

  “This is a relic of the gods. It’s very dangerous. You saw today what can happen…”

  She shuddered and then nodded. How could she forget that terrifying experience? He squeezed her into his side even tighter.

  “So what does this thing do anyway,” she asked, trying to change the subject. “Why’s it so important?”

  Ronan’s hand closed around the vile.

  “It’s a charm,” he said, “innocuous itself, but inside, it holds a potion. A powerful nectar of the gods that contains special restorative powers. It was my task to see to its safe passage between worlds and to deliver it to a messenger. An immortal from one of the heavenly realms needs it to save a human life.” Cindy’s breath stopped short but he went on. “I wasn’t given all of the details. My task was only to exchange the elixir for an amulet that Poseidon wishes to acquire.”

  “So, now that you have it back, you can make the exchange and everything will be alright?” Cindy asked.

  He pressed a kiss on her forehead and was silent a moment.

  “It seems that nothing ever goes smoothly where the intrigues of the gods are concerned. The Olympian and the amulet are missing. So even with the elixir…”

  “You’re S.O.L.,” Cindy finished for him. He stiffened and looked at her. “You’ve still got serious problems.” She clarified.

  “Yes,” Ronan said, “this is the case. But I think I may have a plan.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Later, Cindy stuck her head out of the room and peeked down the hallway to make sure that it was ‘Marley free’ then she pulled Ronan behind her. Ronan’s idea was to take the elixir and try to locate someone that could help him get back “through the Tides.” He thought his best chance would be to go back to the beach. For some reason, in his world, all freaky things happened around water. She figured it had to be worth a try even though the thought of never seeing him again made her chest ache. She realized how pathetic that was, she hadn’t even known him a full day.

  Her body really wanted to continue what they’d started on the bed in her hotel room but it was undeniable that if he stayed here he’d die. She had to help him get back to his island or wherever he came from. Still, that empty feeling like the one from her dreams pulsed inside her, protesting the idea.

  When they stepped into the hotel lobby, she couldn’t help but eyeball everyone they passed with suspicion. Ronan had lectured her the whole elevator ride down about staying close to him because the whole city was, as he put it, “swimming with demons.” After what had happened in that shed, she wasn’t about to argue.

  He led her across the strip back down to the beach where they found a secluded area and settled into the sand to watch and wait. A tense silence stretched out between them until Cindy couldn’t stand it anymore. She said the first thing that came to mind.

  “What was your ship like,” she asked as she looked at the water.

  “The Victorious is a magnificent vessel. It’s docked in a harbor on the island.”

  Cindy’s eyes went wide and she looked up at him.

  “So you live on a mystical island with your seventeenth century ship?”

  “Yes and five men from my crew.”

  She shook her head, his story was so unbelievable. No, she took that back, at this point she’d believe anything.

  He watched her and his eyes shone in the waning daylight. His dark hair was long enough to be teased by the breeze and Cindy’s hands flexed, wanting so bad to slide through it. She cleared her thr
oat.

  He lay back on one elbow and she was suddenly robbed of coherent thought. All she could think was that she wanted to lay in the sand with him, next to him…under him. With his free hand, Ronan reached up, softly tugging at one of her curls. He chuckled when it sprang back into place. Cindy smiled back just before he pulled her down so that he could taste her lips.

  She sank against him, relieved to finally have their bodies touching.

  He shifted and rolled her to lay half underneath him while his hand skimmed down her chest to rest on one tight breast. He squeezed and she arched her back, pressing into his palm as he deepened the kiss. She muttered a protest into his mouth when he moved his hand but sighed when she felt it steal up under her shirt to touch her bare skin. His fingers brushed all the way down to her lower belly. Then they dipped underneath the waistband of her shorts and popped the button to slide down the front of her, caressing her tender flesh through the whisper thin fabric there.

  A moan escaped her throat at the feel of his hand on her softest place and she pushed her hips up to increase the pressure. Ronan growled and broke their kiss, nipping at the side of her neck as he moved over her until he lay fully on top of her. One strong thigh rested on either side of her hips and his erection pressed against her through their clothes. The barrier of fabric was suddenly maddening. It teased the tiny bundle of nerves hidden there and Cindy dug her heels into the sand, pushing her body up to meet his. The contact brought her close to coming right there on the beach.

  “Ronan,” she said on a ragged breath.

  He brought his head up and claimed her mouth again. This time, his kiss was hot and crushing. Cindy’s mind went blurry until all she could do was feel. His tongue probed her mouth, filling her with his taste. She could live on the flavor. Everywhere his hands touched became an erogenous zone and something powerful began to build inside of her. To be still was not an option so she moved to meet the steely feel of him with her hips. She needed him there…and inside of her.

  He moved his hips just right and she nearly came undone. One more time like that and she’d know what it was like to be sent to another dimension! She strained against him as he gathered her closer when, out of the darkness, a shrill cry ripped through the air.

  Ronan’s head went up and Cindy was yanked back to reality. He pulled them both up to sitting and she got a cold chill up her spine. The air around them crackled and not from what they’d been doing, but with a new dark energy. As if in response to the rift in the atmosphere, a gusty wind blew through the space.

  Cindy righted her clothes and Ronan brought them both up out of the sand, careful to keep her close.

  “What in the world…,” Cindy began but the sound of another shriek cut her off.

  Ronan didn’t hesitate this time. He pulled Cindy behind him as he headed in the direction the noise had come from. She didn’t have time to remark that as a general rule, she’d always planted herself firmly in the ‘run from danger not towards it’ camp.

  “Keep behind me cara,” he ordered.

  The screams led them down a ways, even further away from the strip than they’d been. Following them they turned inland, tracking not only the desperate cries they’d both heard but also the feeling of dread that weighted the air. Something very bad was about to happen and it made all the fine hairs on the back of Cindy’s neck stand on end.

  As they circled around, they came upon a grisly scene. There, in the dark, lay a young woman dressed for a night out partying. But, instead, she stared up at the sky, obviously dead.

  They crept closer. Ronan looked through the trees surrounding the area for any signs of the girl’s attacker. Cindy couldn’t take her eyes from the lifeless form in the sand. As they crept closer she recognized the woman’s ravaged face. She was the blonde southern belle from the shuttle that morning. Bile rose up in the back of her throat, what if the man she’d been meeting had turned out to be her murderer? She remembered the aversion she’d felt toward the human Ken doll but had made herself ignore it. What if she could have saved the woman by acting on her instincts?

  The blonde’s makeup was blurred in watery rings around her eyes and her face held remnants of the terror that had filled her screams. Her neck and chest looked like they’d been torn open by an animal. Cindy pulled her eyes from the awful sight, following Ronan’s gaze into the trees. He stared into the dark like a dog with its hackles up, sensing danger before it could even be seen. The plant life was thick around the small circle of open space where they were standing and made a dark wall that loomed around them.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Cindy said as she moved behind Ronan to peek around his shoulder. “We need to call the police and…” she gasped.

  “What is it?” Ronan asked as he pulled her further behind him, shielding her with his body.

  “There, in the trees,” she pointed straight ahead into the darkness, “I saw something move!”

  Just then, part of the darkness pulled away from the rest and moved toward them. Cindy could feel the density of the air increase. Out of the shadows, came a shape that took on the figure of a man only it was taller and thinner. It wore a dark shroud that hung off of its frame as it drifted instead of walked on a black mist. It paused a few feet from them and raised its head.

  Whatever it was, sniffed at the air then it leveled its head and its hood billowed back on the wind to reveal the distorted face of the too-perfect man from that morning. Cindy was right about him being the killer, only whatever this thing before them was, it wasn’t human. She cringed as the handsome face from that morning elongated and peeled away from the spirit’s head then blew away like charred flakes. What was left was a gaping ashy visage that stared back at them through two blue unearthly glowing eyes.

  The creature opened its mouth and the grayish-blue skin of its face stretched tight over its skull as it let out a hissing sound. The noise was shrill and discordant, like metal on metal.

  Cindy tried to cover her ears. She wanted to hide her face in Ronan’s shoulder but the thing was so frightening that she couldn’t look away. The heavy feeling in the air intensified again at her back and when she and Ronan turned, they saw they were surrounded on all sides by more monsters.

  There were probably six of the demons closing in around them. Their glowing eyes grew brighter the closer they got. Ronan stooped down, reached inside his boot and pulled out a long deadly looking knife. Cindy was glad one of them had a weapon, though it didn’t look like it would do them much good.

  “Stay behind me,” Ronan said without looking at her.

  “What are they?” she asked, her voice quavering.

  “I’m not sure, I’ve never seen their kind before,” he answered. “Stay close to me and don’t let go no matter what you do.”

  Cindy kept a hand on his shoulder then pulled out her phone. If they were going to die tonight, at least maybe she could get a picture to leave behind for the crime scene investigators. That’s the way things happened on TV, right?

  “Two as one,” a raspy voice hissed in her ear, making her jump.

  She didn’t stop to think about the thing’s meaning before she whipped around and snapped a picture of its awful face. It shrieked, recoiling from the flash. This made all the demons stop and move back.

  “The light,” Ronan said, “it bothers their eyes! Keep your contraption in hand cara.”

  Go figure. Maybe she could create a new demon repelling app and make millions! She honestly hoped it didn’t come to that.

  Armed now, she snaked her arm around Ronan’s waist and stepped to his side. He made a noise in his throat and Cindy knew he was warning her not to go against his order to stay behind him. She didn’t budge. If they were going to die tonight, she wasn’t going to cower behind him and just let it happen, especially not now that she had a weapon!

  The fiends started to move in again. Ronan widened his stance, holding his knife in front of him. The corded muscles of his back were tensed, ready to do battle. His
body vibrated with anticipation and Cindy felt a change come over him. She tried to mimic his stance, her phone held up ready to flash. She wouldn’t think about how ridiculous she looked until later.

  The dark demons drifted into them, their luminous eyes piercing the night as they closed in. The wind blew again and Cindy felt an icy finger touch her neck then lift her hair. She screamed, spun around and flashed her camera. Ronan turned with her and caught the creature in the neck with his knife. It fell back oozing a deep dark liquid from its throat, sputtering and gasping.

  Everywhere, the cloaks fell away from the demons and their ghastly skin shone in the moonlight, but in a way that turned your stomach like they weren’t fully developed or something. It was as though they’d dragged their way out of some primordial soup before their time. Together, the ashy gray-blue creatures raised their heads in a shrill cry before they flew straight up in the air then swooped down on the two humans.

  Demons flew into them from every direction. Cindy ducked, one arm thrown over her head the other holding onto Ronan. Even with his knife and her cell phone in hand, she figured them both for a pair of goners. Those things, whatever they were, were lightning quick and mad as hell. She didn’t dare look up from her crouched position even when she heard a series of swishing noises slice through the air over her head. Cries ripped through the atmosphere until, finally, she pried her arm away from her face when she realized that the sounds were coming from the monsters.

  Another lethal looking figure in black had appeared from out of nowhere. Cindy wished she’d just kept her eyes closed, because this attacker was even more deadly looking than their new friends. But as the figure came further into view, the face and form of a man was revealed. Before she could determine whether this newcomer was friend or foe, he started slicing through the demons with a machete. The weapon was polished to a blinding gleam and flashed reflected moonlight through the dark.

  The stranger laid out three of the beasts in the blink of an eye. Their bodies fell and sprawled on the beach. Cindy didn’t want to study them too closely but she was pretty sure that their heads were nowhere to be found. She heard fighting noises to her back and turned to see Ronan lunge at a demon’s throat, slicing it through all the way from its chest to its chin.