Page 6 of Surging Reef

Kazimir breathed out a sigh of relief when Ashby grabbed the oars. He didn’t think he had the energy to row. His limbs had filled with lead.

“There is a pole outside the rocks.” He gestured toward where he’d taken the boat. “I don’t know if there’s a way to leave it and get back to shore without jumping in the water, but…”

Ashby was rowing in the opposite direction.

“No, we have to hand the boat back.”

“Nope, you might have borrowed it, but I’m stealing it.”

Kazimir stared at him. “You’d better not have me arrested for boat theft. Orange is so not my color.”

Ashby grinned. “I don’t think getting caught in a crappy little rowboat would land you in prison.”

“You don’t know. I kidnapped a vampire—You’re right, I’d end up in the loony bin. Are there still asylums around, or have we abolished those?”

“I don’t think you need to worry about any human authorities.” Ashby rowed as if he’d never done anything else, but his focus was on the shore. “You stole a boat from the vampire queen and freed her prisoner. I would be a little worried about that.”

Kazimir gasped. “What?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you home. Your first wish, right? But we need to get out of here before she notices anything. Hopefully, the waves will take the boat away from land.”

Wouldn’t it wash up on the beach if they let it float away? Kazimir wished he’d studied the sea better. “The water will ebb soon? Will it take the boat out to sea?”

Ashby met his gaze. “If it was fastened to a pole, and you had to get into the water to get to it, I assume you arrived at high water. Anne, while capable of many things, wouldn’t want to risk getting wet to get into a boat when she’s about to prove her power.”

Kazimir nodded slowly, not sure he understood Ashby’s reasoning, but figured it didn’t matter. A queen wouldn’t go swimming to reach her boat.

“Which, of course, means she might be arriving anytime now. If the water is ebbing, the boat will be easily reachable, and I wouldn’t have lasted much longer in the lighthouse.

” Then he grimaced. “Not if she wants me lucid, at least, and I’m sure she does.

She wants me to know what’s being done to me. ”

What? What the fuck was wrong with these people?

Ashby’s gaze turned back to the shore, and he rowed faster. Some of Kazimir’s lethargy made room for fear. “What happens if she catches us?”

Ashby focused on him for a short moment before scanning the beach once more. “She’d kill you and most likely take me back to the lighthouse.”

“Is she…eh…much stronger than you?”

“Physical strength?” Ashby gave him a quick grin. “Nah, she’s not stronger than me, several times stronger than you, though.”

Kazimir nodded. He’d always been average—average height, average weight, average physical condition. He went jogging a few times a week, but he wasn’t one to lift weights. Ashby, though. He looked pretty buff.

“She’s never alone. I’d most likely win a fight one-on-one, but she always travels with guards.”

Ah, of course. Queens didn’t walk around on their own. “Right.”

The shore was close now.

“We need to move fast once we hit the land. I don’t like how exposed we are on the beach.”

Kazimir nodded, unsure if he had moving fast in him. He opened the backpack and patted through his cargo pants until he found the car key. It would’ve been just his luck if he’d dropped it in the lighthouse.

“Ready?” Ashby turned the boat a little, so the bow was aimed straight for the sandy beach. “Hop in the water and grab your bag and Pharos.”

Kazimir did as told but cursed as his shoes got wet. For fuck’s sake.

Once he was out of the boat, Ashby jumped into the water with a splash and pushed it back out again. It didn’t do much, simply bobbed there.

“Fuck.” He took a step in its direction, but the sound of a car made him freeze. “Fuck.” He spun around and ran toward Kazimir. “Move. We need to hide.”

Kazimir’s heart jumped to his throat, and he hugged Pharos to his chest.

* * * *

Fucking hell! It could be some stupid human wanting to look at the sunrise or something, but his gut told him they needed to get the fuck out of here.

“I think it passed the parking lot.” Kazimir’s voice was nothing more than a whisper.

“Are there more parking lots?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve never been to this beach, so I took the first one I came across since I didn’t know where I’d find a boat. She knows where she keeps her boat, so maybe she has a better place to park.”

“Either way, we need to get off the beach. If they walk up on the dunes, they’ll spot us right away.” Ashby put a hand between Kazimir’s shoulder blades and gently pushed him forward.

“Right.” He ran, the sand slowing them down, and it didn’t help that Kazimir was carrying Pharos.

They found a trail between two dunes where the coarse grass stuck up like daggers, and Ashby worried about Kazimir’s bare legs.

A cut could jeopardize everything. The scent of blood wasn’t something a vampire would ignore.

Then Kazimir dropped to his knees, still clutching Pharos.

“What are you doing?” Ashby hissed at him as softly as he could.

“Voices.”

Ashby listened, and yes, there were voices down at the beach. “How far to the car?” He wanted to stand and look, see if it was Anne, but he couldn’t risk being seen.

Kazimir tugged him closer and spoke next to his ear.

His warm breath had a shiver travel Ashby’s spine.

“Not far. We need to go down on the other side of the dune, then there is a gravel parking lot. There’s a wooden fence around it, so only one way out.

” He pressed the car key into his palm. “You go ahead, and I’ll come after. ”

Ashby hesitated for a moment. He didn’t want to leave Kazimir. If Anne found him hiding here with the boat bobbing some distance from the shore, she’d assume he’d been the one to leave it there.

Blowing out a breath, he pried Pharos from Kazimir’s embrace. “Right, we’ll go ahead, have the car ready, and you come as fast and as quietly as you can.” He’d lock the dog in the car and come back for Kazimir.

Kazimir nodded and patted Pharos. “Go. I’ll be right behind you.”

Ashby ran. He ran as fast and as quietly as he could. As far as he could see, there wasn’t anyone around, and when the parking lot came into view, there was only one car there.

He unlocked it and pushed Pharos into the backseat, then he turned to go back for Kazimir. He didn’t have to. Kazimir was running toward him, running faster than he had on the beach.

“Go.” Could people whisper-yell? If so, it was what he was doing. Ashby wanted to make fun of him, but one look on his face told him this was not the time. He opened the front door and got in while Kazimir rounded the car and yanked the passenger door open.

“Go. Go. Go.” He fumbled with the seatbelt, only to drop it as he looked toward the dunes.

Ashby went. The car purred to life, and he drove out of the parking lot as fast as he could.

He turned left since it was the fastest way out on the highway.

When he glanced toward the dunes, a form was silhouetted against the early morning sky.

He hoped they couldn’t see the car well enough from there to find it later.

“Fuck.” Kazimir cradled his head.

“What happened?” They hadn’t been apart for more than a couple of minutes, tops.

“The voices came closer, and I heard a woman order someone to get into the water to get the boat. Then someone, a man, said something about how there had been a car parked in the first parking lot when they’d passed it. I panicked.”

Anne. “He didn’t say anything else about the car?”

“I ran. I don’t think they noticed me, but I figured I had to get to the car before they went to check it out.”

“Good call.” Ashby checked the mirrors—nothing. Then he pushed the seat back so he could sit more comfortably.

“Where are we going?”

Kazimir opened the backpack and brought out his phone, which he plugged in. Then he tapped the little screen on the dashboard, and a map became visible. The destination was set to home.

“We need to stop and fix the seat belts.”

“Seat belts?”

He fiddled with his, strapped himself in, and held up a harness. “Pharos seatbelt.”

Oh…Ashby checked the rearview mirror. Pharos was curled up on the backseat, but he guessed it wasn’t great to have a dog loose in the car. “Let’s go for a bit longer.”

“As long as you don’t hit anything or get pulled over by the cops.”

Ashby smiled at him. “Relax.”

He took his own advice and blew out a breath. His shoulders dropped, and he rolled his head.

He was free.