Page 39 of Goldilocks (Salt and Starlight #2)

Sam stared blankly at Jasper. “What?”

Before Jasper could say anything else, around the corner came Eric, guided between Fionn and Laurence as Ivan hovered nearby. There was coherence in his gaze now, and he seemed to actually take in his surroundings. A body-deep tremble shook Eric when he laid eyes on the ghoul.

After a deathly silent appraisal, Eric moved his gaze to Sam. “You’re burning,” he said.

Sam blinked. “You’re already burned,” he said back.

“Let’s go to the shade in the garden,” Fionn suggested.

Sam didn’t budge. He looked at Roan lying on the ground.

“Jasper and I will help move him,” Fionn said. Sam had missed Fionn being introduced to Jasper, be it from zoning out or it happening in the house. It wasn’t until a hand enclosed his shoulder and lifted Sam to his feet that he registered they wanted him to move. Sam took one step and staggered, and Ivan, at his side with one arm in a sling, caught him awkwardly.

His ankle throbbed, and his knee protested any weight. Even muscles in his hip spasmed, and Sam didn’t remember anything touching him there.

“Put your arm around my shoulder,” Ivan said. He already had his good arm wrapped around Sam’s lower back. Wordlessly, Sam did as asked, limping with him to the garden. Ivan lowered him onto the bench. “Easy does it,” Ivan said soothingly. The house blocked some sunlight, and trees shaded the rest. It was a relief to be out of the sunshine. Eric sat next to Sam. And an effort of snarls and curses later – the snarls belonging to Roan, the curses Fionn, and the effort Jasper – Roan was propped upright against the trunk of the apple tree nearest Sam. His tail shone against the earthy soil and yellow sun-baked weeds.

Sam’s fingers opened and closed around a hot cup, and he blinked back into focus as Fionn said, “Tea is good in every situation.”

“He’s been half-cooked in the sun, and he’s sweating. He needs something to cool him down,” Ivan argued back.

“It’s adrenaline,” Fionn replied smartly. “He’s coming down now, and he’s going to be shivering and freezing in five minutes. Who else wants a cup?”

“I’ll have one,” Eric said from Sam’s side. Laurence said, “Me too.” And Ivan, standing in front of the bench splitting his attention between peering at Eric then peering at Sam, cursed before saying, “And me.”

“Hah,” Fionn said as he re-entered the house through the kitchen door.

Sam looked down at the tea and saw that on his ankle was Roan’s hand. Resting there, unobtrusive. Sam raised the tea and sipped an overly sweet monstrosity. He choked on it. “Jesus, Fionn,” he cursed, his voice like grit, as Fionn re-emerged with three more cups in hand. “Did you dump the sugar bowl into this?”

“Near as,” Fionn said. “Drink up.” He offered cups to everyone, and Sam forced himself to drink. He had, as Fionn predicted, begun to shiver. But with the shivers came awareness, not just of his body but of his surroundings. Except for Jasper, everyone was scattered around the garden, sipping tea, and licking wounds.

Fionn and Laurence were sat next to each other on two chairs pilfered from the kitchen. Ivan had stopped hovering and sat on the other side of Eric, who was murmuring an answer to a question whilst not taking his eyes off Sam. Sam didn’t turn his head toward him, that muscle down his neck too stiff and promising pain if he tried.

Given that everyone was just sitting around waiting, Sam guessed that meant a certain gifted merman was on the way. “You got a hold of Connor?” Sam asked Laurence.

Laurence nodded. “They’ll be here soon. Eric is top of the list, then you, then Goldilocks.”

“Roan is hurt worse than me,” Sam said.

“I don’t know about that,” Fionn replied. “You’re a little out of it.”

“I’m feeling better. A bit more here. ”

The kitchen door opened, and Jasper limped out. His sword and dagger were sheathed. In his hands were two phones, and Sam recognised the painted back of his own. “These were upstairs,” Jasper explained.

It texted Eric. It texted Eric and lured him here. The horror at the thing’s abilities caused another shiver to race through Sam, and he clutched his teacup tighter.

Fionn was closest to Jasper and peered at the phones. “That one’s Sam’s, this one is…” He took the other device from Jasper. He touched the button on the side, and Laurence leaned against him to look at the screen.

“That’s Austin,” Laurence said.

Sam’s heart gave a dull, pained throb. “Austin’s upstairs?”

“What? No, no way.” Laurence piped up. “Austin was just at the bar, and Jasper said the body up there is…not so fresh.” His voice lost volume as he spoke.

A body.

“Dad’s with Mal,” Sam said.

Eric reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I was with him a few hours ago.”

The ghoul had killed someone.

Laurence tapped on the screen. Fionn narrowed his eyes at him. “How’d you know the code?”

“That’s Austin’s birthday.”

“Jasper, did you recognise them?” Sam asked.

Jasper shook his head. “The man was unknown to me.”

“They were definitely stalking Austin,” Laurence murmured. He and Fionn scrolled through the phone. Sam thought now might be a good time to point out they shouldn’t be going through a dead guy’s phone, that the guards wouldn’t like that. But he wasn’t sure what the guards would make of the dead ghoul in the driveway or the merman bleeding out by his side. Sam turned to check that Roan was still okay and found watchful eyes already on him. Sam couldn’t call the police. Not with Roan like this, shifted and vulnerable. If Jasper hadn’t been here, they wouldn’t have been able to move him an inch. He wasn’t going to call the guards and let him end up in a lab. Connor’s experience had taught Sam enough to know he didn’t want any officials learning about Roan.

Fionn snatched the phone from Laurence, tapping on the screen. “The hell? Who is upstairs?” he demanded.

“What is it?” Laurence asked.

“Photos of my yacht! Diagrams of yachts that sunk! Details about where the weakness in the hulls are, and—”

“Jasper…Does he have dark hair? And is he big, kind of like Nick?” Sam asked.

Jasper nodded.

An obsession with Austin and evidence of sabotage…Sam could make a guess, though he couldn’t say why he felt so certain about it. “It’s Gary,” Sam said.

“The man who punched you at college?” Eric asked hesitantly.

Fionn blinked. He looked up from the phone and pulled a face. “I…I’ll check. If it’s Gary, I’ll recognise him.” He was gone only seconds. “Yeah,” he said, pale-faced.

There was a beat of silence. Eric looked at Ivan, and there was silent communication going on between them.

“So,” Ivan began. “I’m thinking this is a mess. A big, big mess. I’m thinking the guards will make it an even bigger mess. I’m proposing that for all of our sakes – and to keep everyone sitting here safe, especially our unique friends – we take care of the mess ourselves. I’ll do everything. Nobody has any reason to have any sort of guilty conscience, alright? Nobody here harmed anybody. It was just that dead thing in the driveway that did it. That Gary guy? Well, if he had it out for Sam, and now he’s dead in Sam’s house, I’m worried how this will all look.”

“He sunk my yacht,” Fionn added.

Ivan blinked. “Right. He had it out for you too. Do I have your agreement, then? Everything here stays between us?”

Laurence was already nodding, far too quick to agree to covering up a dead body for Sam’s tastes. Fionn looked right at Sam. “Is that what you want to do?” he asked.

Sam’s neck was too stiff to nod his head. “Yeah,” he agreed.

And after meeting his eyes, Fionn nodded too.

“Alright. Good.” Ivan stood and entered the house, and Eric got to his feet and followed. “Be back in a minute,” he said to Sam. Jasper followed the two of them.

Fionn joined Sam on the bench. He set his elbows on his knees and peered up at Sam’s face. “You want another cup of tea?” he asked.

“No, thanks.” Sam breathed in. Breathed out. “Fionn.”

“Yeah?”

“You were really cool.”

Fionn reddened, and his mouth quivered, before a little smile turned up the corners of his lips. “Laurence was running around all panicked, looking for a car. Right place, right time.”

Planting himself between Sam and the ghoul after seeing its strength went far beyond right place, right time . It went far beyond what he’d ever thought Fionn capable of. He’d put his life in danger for Sam. He’d trashed his own car for him.

“You’re not freaking out about…” Sam flicked his eyes in Roan’s direction.

“Nah, I see them out on the water all the time,” Fionn said. “Well, not him , but two other guys. One’s got a copper tail, and the other is pale blue. We race.”

After Fionn’s words sunk in, Sam laughed. “Those two are jerks, aren’t they?”

“Total assholes,” Fionn agreed. “Whenever I beat them, they throw fish at me. Ugh,” Fionn straightened up with a groan. “I was finally warming Dad up to letting me get a new yacht – I had this absolute beauty picked out! Smaller than the one that sunk but built way more for speed; those two dicks would never beat me in a race again! He’s going to take one look at the car and go back to stonewalling me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was worth it.” Fionn sighed. “And I’d do it again.”

“You can come out on the boat with me,” Sam offered.

“I’m taking you up on that,” Fionn said. “I’ve been swimming Curlew Bay, but it’s such a pain cause they’re obviously going to win a swimming race, and they’re such show-boating assholes about it.”

Sam laughed.

When he quelled it, Fionn was looking at him sideways. “So, you’ve been through that thing?” he asked.

There was only one ‘thing’ he could be talking about.

“Yeah. Have you?”

“Nope. Haven’t plucked up the courage yet.”

Sam huffed. “I find it hard to believe you suffer from a lack of courage.”

Fionn’s mouth twisted again; he was clearly fighting a smile. “I guess I’m braver than I knew.” He shrugged as if it were no big deal, but Sam could see that his words meant something to him.

The squeak of the gate drew Sam’s attention. Connor entered the garden, followed by Adonis, and he scanned them all as he stepped up to Laurence. “Are you hurt?”

Laurence jumped to his feet, shaking his head. “No.”

Connor examined Laurence, assessing his little brother from head to toe, before moving his attention toward the bench.

“Sam needs to be healed first,” Laurence said.

“We said Eric,” Sam corrected. “Then Roan.”

“You’re worse than Eric, though,” Laurence objected. “You keep zoning out.”

“No arguing, Sam,” Connor said. “And Adonis can’t do much anyway, so he’s just going to heal whatever’s serious. Can you shift, Goldilocks? I’ll drive you to the ocean.”

Roan could only grunt an answer. The ability to speak taken by exhaustion or injury; Sam didn’t know which. He just knew that his hand on his ankle was warm and reassuring.

Fionn reclaimed his spot next to Laurence. Laurence immediately leaned over, chattering, filling him in. Sam had no objection to that; Fionn had earned a few answers. Connor stepped right into Sam’s space and gently gripped Sam’s shoulders. “Lie down,” Connor urged.

Sam did as asked. His neck hurt fiercely, but he gritted his teeth and didn’t say a word. Adonis knelt next to Sam, and his fingers slid to cup the back of his neck. Heat blossomed, and pleasant unconsciousness engulfed the pain.