“Get the fuck off my sister!” growled Keelan Kane.
Kalina couldn’t make out much, but she saw a great white form move past her. She heard his grunts and profanity as he ate every shark in sight.
“Family is blood. Family is life,” he chanted. “And you fucked with my family.”
The world went dark.
“Swim with me, now,” Kane’s voice whispered. “You can do this. Stay with me and we’ll make it.”
“The sharks?” she asked, her head swimming with a numbness that seemed to be moving slowly through the rest of her body.
“They’re gone,” he replied. “They scattered as soon as I started killing them.”
She knew she should have been grateful or should have thanked him at least, but she couldn’t concentrate enough. Other voices came to her, worried friends. Rafe was somewhere in the distance asking if she was going to make it. She wanted to tell him no. She was too close to death, but she couldn’t even get those words to formulate fully in her mind. She was too weak. Kino was there by her side, his voice as soothing as it ever was. He’d always been there for her. He was family.
“You’re gonna be okay,” he promised. “We’re going to get you to Horace. Keep your fins moving and we’ll be there soon. We’ll guide you.”
“Rafe?” she managed to squeak out.
“He’ll be okay too,” Kino promised. “This was a tough fight, huh? Damn, it was a good one. But we’re gonna make it. Like we always do.”
“Can’t see,” Kalina said.
I can’t see anything. Why can’t I see?
“Shh,” Kino said. “Don’t even try. You only need to swim.”
So, she did. Slowly and painfully, she moved forward with her friends guiding her through the darkness.
Chapter 31 – Sylvia
Evelyn was smooth but not nearly as fast as the great white. Sylvia had too much power to let the mega bitch get away. For every incline and dip the smaller shark made, Sylvia was right there to meet her, but damn she was slippery. Every time Sylvia thought she was going to sink her teeth into the tiger shark’s flesh, Evelyn would swerve or dodge and leave the great white snapping at an empty space that had been Evelyn only a second before.
Then Evelyn shot upward at a forty-five-degree angle, surging forward with Sylvia right behind her. Somewhere in the distance, Thane and Penny spoke to her, asking where she was and promising to be there for her, but she didn’t want their fucking help. She wanted to eat this bitch for hurting her friend, for stealing the life that would have made Penny a mother and Sylvia a self-proclaimed aunt. She wanted to tear her fins from her body for leaving Cobalt a wounded mess in the water.
Oh God. Please make him be okay. It was so bad. The gash…I can’t even…
“Where are you?” Penny called to her.
“I’m going to kill her, Penny,” Sylvia promised. “I’m going to break her fucking neck. I swear it.”
Up ahead, she saw Evelyn’s destination. It was the boat.
Smart bitch. You can’t beat me in the water so you’re going where a great white can’t. Fuck!
Evelyn reached the ladder and pulled herself out of the water, her feet dangling behind as she made her way on board. Sylvia wished she’d reached her quickly enough to bite her fucking feet off at the ankles. She wasn’t sure how well the shark healing powers were, but she doubted anyone would come back from that.
Try being a sexy, conniving cunt with no feet.
The boat roared to life as Sylvia circled below it, trying to come up with the best strategy for stopping her. She knew what she needed to do, but she wasn’t sure if it would work.
Fuck it.
Sylvia dove down and went deeper and deeper until she reached the ocean floor. The fish around her scattered. A lobster nearby ignored her. It was now or never. She shoved herself forward and focused on the sound of the boat engine. No moving from side to side. No avoiding anything. Only the boat mattered. There, in the distance, the tiny dot emerged, and she crept closer and closer, keeping her vision narrow, zoomed in on her point of attack. Sylvia whooshed through the water, climbing toward the boat until the surface was only a few feet away.
She broke through the surface so hard and so fast the sun hit her face hard and made her squint as her body leapt through the air. Unlike Cobalt, who’d remained in shark form to attack, Sylvia concentrated on her transformation. In midair, she shifted into human form. Evelyn stared up at her, her mouth agape, her eyes wide with shock, as Sylvia came down on her hard with an elbow straight into her nose. The cartilage snapped, and blood splattered the wooden deck. Sylvia reached for Evelyn’s tits, knowing the weakest parts of a human woman better than this bitch ever would. She gripped her right nipple and pinched, twisting so hard she nearly tore it free from her body.
Evelyn screamed and dug at Sylvia’s face with her human claws, stabbing her nails into her cheek. Sylvia fought back, harder, kneeing her stomach and raining punches down against her face. Evelyn swatted her away with a powerful backhand that sent Sylvia flying through the air and onto her back on the deck.
“You fight like a fucking feline,” Evelyn said. “Not like a shark.”
Sylvia launched herself at the woman, tearing into her neck with her teeth. Evelyn screamed and fell onto her naked ass, clutching her bloody neck. Sylvia spit out the meat she’d taken from her.
“How’s that for feline, bitch?” she asked.
Blood seeped through Evelyn’s knuckles and down her wrist and arm. Her lips trembled as she fought to control her breath.
“You’ll pay for that,” she threatened.
The sun beat down over both of their wet, naked bodies and glistened on Evelyn’s blood-soaked tits. It pooled at her belly button and snaked its way down between her legs.
“How?” Sylvia taunted her. “By mopping up all your nasty ass blood?”
She stepped closer, ready to finish off the more experience shark shifter, but she made the mistake of moving a little too close. Evelyn kicked out hard and her heel struck Sylvia’s knee, extending her leg backward in a way it was never meant to bend. Bone broke as her knee shattered. Sylvia cried out and fell, her other leg taking on all the weight as she crashed to the ground, clutching her knee and screaming.
Evelyn climbed to her feet.
“You should have stayed in the water,” Evelyn said. “You’re no match for me on dry land.”
“But I am,” Penny’s voice called out as Sylvia’s best friend climbed up the ladder and threw herself at Evelyn.
Thane climbed aboard after her. Penny shoved her hand into Evelyn’s mouth and squeezed at her jaw, using all her power as she tried to rip the woman’s face off. Her other hand aimed at Evelyn’s eyes, and she might have succeeded in stealing the eyeballs from their sockets if Evelyn hadn’t dropped to the ground, yanking at Penny’s arm and forcing her to let go. Evelyn was sly and vicious as she reached up, cupped Penny’s pussy and squeezed, tightening her grip around the girl’s lips and ass. Penny retaliated by stomping on Evelyn, forcing the ball of her foot down hard against Evelyn’s clit. The women fought with animalistic rage.
“I’ll fucking tear you apart for what you did to me!” Penny screamed.
“I did nothing to you!” Evelyn replied. “The hammerhead did it!”
“Fuck you!” Penny howled as she fell on top of Evelyn and pummeled her with both fists.
Sylvia could barely see through the pain. Her leg was destroyed.
“Thane,” Sylvia said.
Thane dropped to a knee to help her.
“Help Penny,” she said.
Thane looked back and it was clear he didn’t know what to do. If he got in the middle of it, he might accidentally hurt Penny.
“I hate you!” Penny yelled as she climbed on top of Evelyn and clawed at her face, neck, and tits, slashing at her the best she could with the nails she had.
“I’m sorry,” Evelyn said. “I would never have actually—”
Penny smash
ed a closed fist against the woman’s jaw, and she went out cold. Thane ran to her and wrapped his arms around her. Penny trembled and cried. She sobbed into his chest, bellowing out all the pain she’d held inside since being knocked overboard.
“My baby,” she cried. “She took my baby away.”
“I know,” he said softly as he stroked her hair and held her tight against his body.
“Thane!” Sylvia yelled.
Behind him, Evelyn climbed to her feet, blood staining the spot where she’d been lying, and pitched herself over the railing and into the water. Sylvia stood to try to go after her, but she fell to the ground in pain. She couldn’t do it. Thane could have, but he didn’t. He only held Penny as they both looked at the puddle of blood in awe.
Chapter 32 – Rafe
Rafe’s injuries were the easiest to heal. He’d been gashed and sliced and torn into by jagged jaws, but the amount of blood lost by Cobalt was so much the sand ran red between them. The blue mist of Horace’s tent seeped into their wounds and swirled around them, filling their mouths and nostrils. Rafe looked through bleary eyes to see Kalina behind him. She was in bad shape too. Blood ran from one of her eyes and she breathed in shuddering gasps. Rafe reached out to her and held her hand, giving it a squeeze and hoping she could feel that he was there for her. He would have moved to her side if he could, but the pain was too immense.
Outside the tent, Horace healed minor wounds. Rafe could only see through a sliver of space between the tent flaps, but it looked as if Squid was having a black mud-like substance smoothed over his shoulder. They would all be okay.
Two days later, Rafe was fully healed and he found out how wrong he’d been. They were not all okay. A nasty scar decorated the right side of his body and smaller ones were on his neck and ass. In the real world, the one where people didn’t walk around naked all that often, he wouldn’t have worried anyone would see it other than maybe a lover he’d decided to be with in broad daylight. In his new life, this scar would adorn his body every time he stepped naked out of the ocean. He’d have to get used to it. It could have been worse. He could have ended up like Beanie, out there somewhere in the ocean, probably shark food. He missed his buddy, and only last night, after a few drinks, his mind had raced with flashbacks. Beanie had been one of the happiest people he’d ever known, and Rafe had brought his friends into this war as if he were asking them to volunteer for a surfing competition. Beanie, Hightail, and Squid had accepted the invite excitedly. If they’d only known. If Rafe had known. Now, after all they’d been through, he knew they all would have opted out. They had been young-hearted, dumb, and always impulsive. Now, Beanie was dead.
And Kalina…
He loved Kalina so much his heart hurt whenever he thought about her. The way she’d dealt with losing an eye… it said so much about her strength and her tenacity. Of course, she’d cried, but she hadn’t let it stop her. She’d only allowed a few tears, far less than Rafe had expected. Yet, given the circumstances, and all else they’d lost, Kalina had said she was thankful to be alive.
“I’ve lost an eye,” she’d told him only last night. “Penny lost a child, and Paisley… Paisley lost a good man. One of the best.”
Rickshaw hadn’t made it. Penny had told them all the story as Horace was healing Sylvia’s knee. Paisley hadn’t been able to listen. She’d gone off someplace to cry. Her wails upon first hearing of Rickshaw’s death still gave Rafe chills.
“When you left us to go to the festival,” Penny had told them. “Rickshaw…he tried to stop them. He watched over us like he was ordered to do. But Evelyn… she… she showed up with six men. They’d walked onto the beach and into our camp like they owned the place. Rickshaw hid us in the trees. But one of the kids sneezed. It was an accident. But it was enough. They came at us hard. All they wanted was me. If I’d known that, I would have stepped out and let them take me, but we didn’t know. We thought they wanted to kill us all. So, we fought. We fought the best we could for pregnant women. Rickshaw held off three of the guys, but a fourth stepped in and used our wood chopping axe. And then it was over. Once I saw that, I froze, and Evelyn swore she wouldn’t hurt the children if I went with her. So, I did.”
They’d found the blood covered axe next to Rickshaw’s body. The kids hadn’t been harmed, nor had Ruby. Evelyn had stuck to her word. All she’d wanted was Penny. And she’d succeeded.
Rafe could only imagine the pain Paisley was going through. And the anguish Penny and Thane must have felt losing a child. He’d almost lost Kalina. Both of them had almost ended up dead. If the sharks hadn’t saved Rafe and if Kane hadn’t saved Kalina, they would have perished in the ocean. All he knew now was he wouldn’t waste another second wondering what life might be like with Kalina. He was going to start that life right now.
Chapter 33 - Kalina
Kalina had tried to warn Rafe and his friends what would happen if they got involved in this war. In some ways, she was pissed at Faith for going against her wishes and turning Beanie and his friends into shark shifters. This wasn’t a day camp. It wasn’t a joke. Making mistakes in this lifestyle meant dire consequences. Now, Beanie was gone. Rickshaw was gone. The baby… Penny and Thane’s baby was gone.
Kalina blinked and her eyelid felt heavy. Her left one was stitched shut and covered with white gauze. She was a pirate, or she felt like one anyway. How could Rafe love someone who looked like her? This was a Halloween costume, not part of an everyday ensemble. She’d have to wear an eyepatch once her wound healed properly. Earlier today, he’d winked at her flirtatiously, and the thought crossed her mind that he might be making fun of her. Of course, he wasn’t, but the thought was still there, and she realized this would be hard work, accepting that he might still find her attractive.
I’m so vain. All the others have gone through so much. They’ve suffered such loss, and here I am worried about what my boyfriend thinks of me.
The ocean waves crashed against the rocks below her. As she sat on a ledge overlooking the water, she realized the place that had been her second home for so long had felt like a giant universe full of fierce creatures. She’d always considered herself one of the most fearsome beasts in the water. Now, she realized she wasn’t invincible out there. If anything, she was in much more danger.
Keelan Kane had saved her life. Her big brother had protected her. After helping her get back to the island, he’d kissed her forehead and had promised to check in on her later. He had needed to get back to the mainland and deal with the cops who’d be buzzing around the beach, trying to figure out exactly what had gone on. It was his job, after all, to protect people from sharks. And yet, it had been humans who’d done all the damage. Not a single shark attack had occurred on a human that day.
“Maybe humans are the real monsters after all,” Kalina had whispered as he’d placed her inside Horace’s tent.
“Maybe you’re right,” he’d replied. “Maybe you’re right.”
As he’d started to walk out of the tent, he’d looked back at her once more and said, “Once you’re completely healed, I’ll show you everything I have about our family.”
The thought of learning about her mom, her dad, and her big brother helped her get through the pain of the blue mist mending her mind and making her as good as new. But then she’d found out that her eye couldn’t be fixed. That was going to be permanent. Both in human form and in her shark body, she’d be half-blind.
I’m repulsive to look at.
She looked out at the horizon and thought about all the mirrors she would avoid, and what being single again would mean if and when Rafe decided to leave her.
“I love you, you know?” Rafe asked from behind her.
His voice scared her, and she nearly fell off the ledge.
“My God,” she said.
He jumped when she did and reached out a hand as if he would have been able to stop her from falling over.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was trying to be romantic.”
&nbs
p; She calmed her breath and laughed.
“It was romantic,” she said. “It was sweet.”
He sat down next to her.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m alive,” she replied. “So that’s doing well I’d say.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder and they both watched a seagull cruise through the sky and past the sun. Almost falling to her death had made her forget what Rafe had said when he’d first walked up behind her. Now, she remembered, and she wanted to hear him say it again.
“Wait,” she said. “What did you say?”
“I asked if you’re okay,” he repeated.
“No, before that,” she said. “When you first snuck up behind me.”
“I didn’t sneak,” he said. “I kind of—”
“Shut up,” she said. “Seriously. What did you say?”
“I said I love you,” he said.
She reached out and touched both sides of his face with her hands.
“Do you mean that?” she asked. “I mean look at me. How could you possibly—”
He shut her up with a kiss that was so deep and so passionate, she once again thought she might faint and plummet to her death. Rafe was there to secure her as he reached behind her head and pulled her closer to him, squeezing her body tight to his and making love to her with his tongue. When he pulled away, her good eye remained closed.
Bite Me Harder (a paranormal shifter novel) (Guardians of the Deep Book 2) Page 29