by Maira Dawn
Seabound: The Beginning
Sanctuary’s Aggression Prequel 1
Maira Dawn
Contents
Prologue
1. Tormentors
2. The Smack
3. Spire Cliff
4. The Shadow
5. Jata Ara
6. Rogue Wave
7. You’re OK
8. Big Evil Man
9. Abominations
10. Lights
11. Questions
12. Tell Me About
13. And Your Name Is?
14. That Rage
15. Murder
16. The Garden
17. The Beginning
18. Family Fights
19. The Vow
20. Your Sister?
21. Stay Tomorrow
22. Better Than Human
23. Breathe
24. Even If
25. Hate is a Strong Word
26. A Dream
27. Family Dinner
28. A Mother’s Fear
29. Talk
30. Endara
31. Our Son
32. I Wish…
33. Home
34. Lessons
35. Broke
36. The Artifact
37. This is What Happens…
38. Argos
39. Busted
40. Let Me
41. The Wedding
42. Secrets
43. The Reception
44. May I?
Also by Maira Dawn
About the Author
Copyright © 2019 Maira Dawn
All rights reserved.
ISBN: B07RTSLYPH
ISBN-13:
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and a resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Prologue
The hallway was quiet when Sonora stepped out into it. Her eyes adjusted to the muted lighting, taking in the friendly shadows it cast on the sage green walls and the ancestral portraits hanging in intervals along the smooth surface. Sonora breathed the scent of flowers filling the air from the garden on the other side of the corridor. Maybe they would help calm her.
Sonora pulled guest room doors shut, hoping the guests could sleep after everything they'd been through.
If one only knew the end at the beginning, if she had known, if Sonora's visitors had known, what this year would bring, would they have acted differently? Of course. They all would have.
They had taken care of everything. How had things gone so wrong? How many people were still left up there? How much of her beloved little town, Seaside, still stood? She should ask, but Sonora was afraid of the answer.
Sonora took in another deep breath and shook her head. We can't know, can't plan for those bad things coming our way… or the good either. Sonora's eyes lingered on the hall as she thought back to the time when she hadn't known any of this existed, hadn't known he existed. The person she was before this would've thought it a fantasy. If someone had confided it to her, Sonora would have thought them delusional.
The door ahead of her clicked opened, and a tall, handsome man stepped out. He looked up as she padded toward him in her bare feet and smiled that gorgeous grin he saved just for her.
Sonora returned it with one of her own as she recalled the beginning of this strange story.
Tormentors
Chapter One
Ian's footsteps thudded over the hard pavement of the full parking lot. He shot a glance over his shoulder. The men chasing him were doing better than he would have guessed. They'd been panting within a minute of giving pursuit.
Ian wasn't all that surprised when they drew their guns and started to fire. He heard the zip of one, then two bullets go by him. He ducked behind a large, blue truck and leaned his back against the tire.
A bullet clinked, bouncing on the hard surface beside Ian. He clenched his fist. No, not bullets, tranquilizer darts. They didn't want him dead. They wanted to take him apart, see what he was made of. Ian's heart pounded twice against his sternum as a warning to drag in another breath. Only a small one, he reminded himself, the oxygen-rich air would make him dizzy.
Adrenaline-fueled, Ian weaved through the parked cars, using them as shields. Up ahead, the trail split, the left side heading down to the beach. The other up to the ocean overlook, to the cliff they called Spire.
More visitors were on the Spire path. That cemented Ian's decision. Surely, they wouldn't fire into their own people.
Ian stopped behind a van and shielded himself from another spray of darts. He quickly pulled off his t-shirt, jeans, and shoes, leaving only the swimwear he wore under it. Ian's brilliant clan tattoo caught the light and gleamed, causing more than a few curious glances. Or perhaps it was the sheen of his skin. It always shimmered in the sun more than theirs did.
Moving from the relative safety of the truck, he sprinted up the cliff path. The popping of gunshots continued behind Ian as he pushed through a large group of people. He shook his head. So they would shoot into a crowd. Apparently, the goons thought the worst that would happen is some citizen would get a long nap.
Ian's bare feet dug deeper into the rocky soil as he worked for more speed. His fate would be much worse. Ian’s stomach churned as an image of his friend's broken body floating on the waves flashed through his mind. He shoved it away. There was no time to dwell on that now.
People around him screamed and ran for cover. One dark-haired woman stumbled and fell, unconscious. A yellow-tipped dart stuck out of her neck.
Ian's eyes narrowed. Isare! Tormentors. They feared nothing, that's how much they wanted him.
Ian felt exposed as he sped along the bare path. The trail was wider than a truck, and the men could easily see him now that most of the people had found safety.
The sun beat down on Ian's too-dry body. He'd been above water too long. Ian had known it, but he had been so close. After years of searching, he'd almost found the traitor.
Ian heard another thunk, bringing him back to the problem at hand. The men's aim was improving. A dart bounced off a rock, inches from Ian, spurring him on the final few yards.
They wanted to see what he was made of? He'd show them.
As Ian began to run out of ground, he sped up instead of slowing. He heard the gasps of the sightseers hidden in the low brush around him as he took to the air with a harsh shout, jeering at the men chasing him. Mid-leap, Ian maneuvered into a perfect forward dive, intentionally twisting in a spiral as he dropped down the sheer face of the five-hundred-foot cliff.
Two more tranquilizers tumbled past Ian as he descended. The men above stopped, standing helplessly at the top of the cliff. With a smirk, Ian made a clean cut through the ocean's surface and disappeared from view.
The Smack
Chapter Two
Sonora stopped, letting her restless eyes search for that small bit of blue ocean she could sometimes see from this window if the wind blew the trees in the right direction. Dirty dishes clanged in the bin she dropped on her next messy table, causing a
few customers to look her way.
There it was. Sonora let out a slow breath, and the tension in her shoulders eased. The ocean, her one and only true love. Not the beach, as many people would say, but the sea itself with its many moods and mysterious creatures. Its familiar motion a comfort and its secret ways a fascination. It was her life's dream to have a career discovering its depths.
She blew out a sigh, stirring the blonde hair straying from her ponytail, and wiped her arm across her glistening forehead. And she was stuck in this dead-end job.
Sonora plopped a rag onto the dinner table and started to scrub. It wasn't so bad as far as restaurant work went. As the trendiest café in town, it offered the best tips. But four days of double shifts, covering for her co-workers, had given her a massive headache and the din of the place wasn't making it any better. Sonora put the back of her hand to her forehead. This epic-proportions head pain wasn't going anywhere. After hauling the bin to its spot in the noisy kitchen, she took a minute to swig down a couple more pills and some water before her next order was up.
Sonora pulled the dishes onto her tray, making sure they would be to her customer's satisfaction. Was this job it then? She could hardly bear it now. She'd be a disaster in a decade or two, and it wasn't likely to be a beautiful one!
What had happened to her detailed, inventive plan for college? It had to be resourceful because her parents had regretfully informed her they couldn’t pay for her schooling. Then somehow financing hadn’t come through.
So, her plan changed to this. Becoming a server at the highest paying cafe on this stretch of Carolina coast and saving to help toward any college expenses. But when she tried to apply, the classes were full. Since then, it seemed a vicious cycle. As soon as Sonora appeared to have a decent amount of money saved, she'd lose it to car troubles or other expenses. If that didn't happen, the class would be full. After more than a year of this, Sonora was about to give up her dream of becoming a marine biologist.
Sonora looked around the busy restaurant, her heart sinking. This might indeed be the rest of her life. Her head jerked up as Bob, the chef and owner, bellowed out for another order pick-up. This time Sonora rushed to the window even though she preferred going into the kitchen.
Sonora sighed. The food sat closer to the kitchen side than the restaurant side, making her bend under the upper shelf and too close to a neighboring table.
A hard smack to her backside startled Sonora, causing her to hit her head on the bottom of the shelf. Sonora jerked herself upright. She stiffly turned to the table of the offender and glared at a group of snickering college boys.
"Hey, sorry about that," one of them said with a slow shrug his shoulders. "I couldn't help myself. But don't worry, I'll give you a big tip. Make up for my offensive behavior." He drew out the last two words to continue the entertainment for his friends. It worked. Sonora felt the steam rise in her as their snickers turned into roaring laughter.
It wasn't the first time a customer had misbehaved, and Sonora was sure it wouldn't be the last. That was what angered her. Her glare left the table to find many curious stares from the patrons.
"Sunny!" Bob called again, using her nickname and reminding her of the order sitting in the window. Their order.
Her body tightened, as her headache spiked. "I can't," she whispered before saying aloud. ”I just can't."
"What did you say?" Bob’s eyes narrowed as he strained to hear over the clatter he created.
"I can't stay here and play nice with these cretins! I’ve had all I can take.”
"What?" Bob inquired, looking from the amused young men to his waitress racing for the door and apologizing to the other servers as she rushed by them.
Tired and pushed beyond her limits, something in her cracked. After reaching the front doors, Sonora yelled loud enough for everyone to hear, "I'm sorry, Bob, but I cannot deal with such rude, chauvinistic idiots today!"
Sonora rushed to her car, wrenching open the driver's door before falling into the seat. She slammed the key at the ignition and connected on the third try. The cafe's windows were filled with wide eyes of the customers, some amused and some sympathetic, following her.
She slumped and laid her head on the steering wheel. This couldn't be it for her, it just couldn't be. She gave herself a minute, then lifted her head and straightened in her seat.
After putting the car in drive, Sonora sniffed the salt air. She needed to sink below the waves, just for a little while. A smile tugged at her mouth as she pointed the car down the hill to the beach.
Spire Cliff
Chapter Three
Sonora stood facing the vast, rolling ocean, her feet almost ankle-deep in the sandy beach. Her long, blonde hair swept against her back and arms as it blew in the gentle wind. Sonora raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun's brightness and trailed each wave as it pushed onto the shore and pulled away again as if teasing her.
She forced her mind to happier thoughts, chasing away the unfortunate events of her workday. She'd call Bob once she was calmer. Hopefully, he was in a forgiving mood. Sonora smiled as she inhaled the salty air, glad to be away from the clash of dishes and instead near the water even if she couldn't explore as much she would like.
As usual, her optimistic nature was quick to come to the fore. A smile had been her most common expression since the day she was born. So much so, by the time she was two-years-old, her mother nicknamed her Sunny, and it had stuck.
Sonora pulled her feet from the sand and took a few steps forward, dipping her toes in a warm little pool left behind by the outgoing tide. Standing on one foot, she swirled the other in the water for a moment before returning her gaze to the ocean wave as it gently whorled onto the shore. The water was so calm today. It would be a good day for some snorkeling.
Sonora tipped her face up to the heat of the sun, allowing it to wash over her, thankful for the good things of the day and ignoring her desire for expensive diving equipment. This was her favorite place, where she went to breathe out the stress of the day and inhale the calmness and serenity permeating this ancient place. Undoubtedly, hundreds of generations had come here for the same reason she did. Something about that felt right.
Her eyes roamed to her right, from the edge of the shore up to where the reddish Spire Cliff towered over the light-colored beach. At the top of its rocky height, she could see a few sightseers taking their leave and walking the short trail back to the parking lot.
At five-hundred feet tall, Spire Cliff was a relic, the last holdout of solid stone on this sandy oceanfront. At odds with the gentle nature of the low country around it, the cliff was beautifully defiant, standing tall where it should not be.
The South and west sides sloped sharply, but a moderately adventurous person could climb the seagrass covered banks.
The East and north side, however, offered an entirely different view. Two sheer rock faces, the East rising straight from the ocean that battered it day and night, while the final wall sat beside the seemingly endless beach that ran northward. The Spire's red color was more reminiscent of ruddy Georgia clay than the tawny sand around it.
So mismatched was Spire Cliff from the surroundings it had once been a tourist attraction which drew people from several states away. Now though, it was more often than not labeled a landmark rather than an attraction. Still, most people stopped and stared in surprise, if not actual fascination, of its wild beauty.
"Did you hear what happened here?” said a female voice uncomfortably close to her shoulder.
Lost in her own thoughts, Sonora startled, gave a small yelp and almost tripped over a little pile of sand. "No.” She turned toward the dark-haired woman while trying to take a small inconspicuous step backward. "What happened?"
"Some guy jumped off Spire Cliff, just jumped right off into the water. I heard he did some fancy dive and everything," the woman said, waving her arm in the air. She leaned toward Sonora as if gossiping about a naughty neighbor.
Sonora shook he
r head. The few who had tried to dive it hadn't survived. "Why would he do that?"
"Well." The woman held Sonora in suspense for a moment, then lowered her voice. "Some other guys were shooting at him, is what I heard. Not cops though, so ya gotta wonder what's up with that. But some people swear they saw him swimming off, so maybe he made it." The woman shrugged her shoulders and seemed somewhat hopeful he had survived.
"But how...?" Sonora muttered and lifted her eyes back up to the top of the enormous cliff. A shiver ran through her. On a dare, she’d held onto someone’s hand and leaned out over the edge. It was a long way down and only an extraordinary man would think of attempting the jump.
But the dark-haired woman was on to other concerns. "Why random people can go around shooting guns at a perfectly peaceful beach is what I want to know! Since when is that a thing? If the guy is a criminal, police should have been involved! And if he isn't, well then, who were the people shooting?"
Sonora agreed as she turned back to the woman. She looked to the right and left only to find the woman had left as abruptly as she had come. She giggled to herself. The woman was likely off to spring the news on another unsuspecting beach bum.