Page 11 of Demon On Deck

I look down at Kallie, who is coughing and shivering in my arms, and my own heart rate speeds along like a runaway train.

“Kallie. Kallie! Are you okay? Talk to me, Doll,” I say as I circle slowly back down to the deck of the boat, where the other excursion tour members have gathered to watch.

Once she’s sucked in several gulps of air, she looks at me. There’s such awe and raw emotion there, I forget to land and simply hover, holding her close.

“You jumped in after me.” She whispers

“Of course I did.”

“But you can’t really swim. What if I’d have sunk further?”

“I would have doggie paddled my way to you, and when I caught you, I’d let you take over and rescue me.”

That makes her laugh, which brings on another coughing fit. I land as gently as I can since the boat is still being tossed around like a towel in the dryer.

“Oh my Gods, dude, that was insane! Let us take her from here. We’ve got a medic ready to check her out,” says one of the crew members.

I snarl at the man, making him jump a foot back.

“I’ll take her below deck. She can be seen there,” I snap, already moving to the stairs that lead below. I shake out my wings once more before pulling them back into my back.

“It’s okay, Evren, they’re just trying to help,” Kallie says softly, laying a still shaking hand against my bare chest.

I take a deep breath and try to calm the malestrom of emotions rolling through me.

“I know, Doll, I just need to get you somewhere safe first.”

Below deck, I find a seat and sit with Kallie in my lap.

“I’m okay, Evren,” she says as I adjust my hold on her so she can face the medic approaching. “You can let me go.”

“Humor me, Doll. That scared the shit out of me, and I’m not quite ready to let you go unless you want me to.” I don’t want to be overbearing, but my Gods, that was my own personal horror film. The second I saw she was in danger, all of my own fears vanished; my singular thought was Kallie.

She relaxes into my hold, leaning her back against my now bare chest. I have a brief moment of panic, remembering I’m not in the fittest shape, but Kallie doesn’t seem to care.

The medic checks her out and clears her. When he leaves, she’s quiet, and I wonder if she’s fallen asleep after the trauma. I’m surprised when she talks.

“Evren?”

“Yeah, doll?” I say, resting my chin on her head.

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” She asks quietly.

I pull her just a fraction closer, “I’d love to.”

Adrenaline is still pumping through my veins a few hours after we returned to the cruise ship from the excursion. There’s still a slight tremble in my hands as I touch up my makeup in the mirror.

When that wave knocked the boat and threw me overboard, my life didn’t flash before my eyes. Every regret I had in life did.

Every time I bailed my douchebag ex-husband out of financial ruin. Not trusting my gut when I thought he was cheating. Turning Evren down for dinner.

As I hit the water and began to sink, all I could think of was never seeing him or my sister again. Pain from the impact of the water blinded me, seizing my whole body and preventing me from trying to fight my way back to the surface.

As panic began to sink in, strong arms wrapped around me. One moment, I was sinking, and the next, I was rapidly ascending out of the water and rocketing up into the sky.

As I coughed and gasped for air, Evren’s panicked voice cut through. When I finally found my voice, I struggled for the right words. Knowing how nervous he already was about being out in open water and his worry about his wings, the fact that he didn’t even hesitate to come in after me steals my breath and shifts something in my chest.

Matt never would have done that. Would he have called for help? Sure. But risk his worthless ass to save me? Not a snowball’s chance in hell.