Page 65 of Wild Tempest

Teagan listened intently.

Before long, the howl of outboards drew near. Another boat motored into the bay and pulled into the shallows. It was a bunch of girls in shorts and bikini tops. They had beer and red drink cups. Music pumped from speakers. They cut the power and dropped anchor. The girls hopped out into the surf and marched to the beach.

I recognized one of the girls.

I stood up from the sand and greeted them as they came ashore. "Summer, it's me, Deputy Wild.”

Her eyes brightened. "Oh, hey! What are you doing here?"

"Funny you should ask.” I told her about our predicament.

"We could totally give you a ride back to the island, if you don't mind waiting around a little while.”

I smiled. "I've got all night."

"I'm glad you're here, actually," she said, batting her eyelashes at me. "You can be our security guard in case any undesirables show up.”

I told her about our encounter with the drug dealers.

Her eyes rounded. "No way!”

"You girls really ought to think twice about coming out here alone.”

Summer smiled. "We're not alone. You are here." She looked past me at Teagan, who sat by the fire. "Who's that? Your girlfriend?”

"She’s a friend," I said.

Summer smiled again and took my hand. "You can watch us try to summon the witch again.”

She pulled me up the beach, and Teagan glared at me.

I shrugged innocently and introduced Summer to Teagan.

“I love your name,” Summer said. “It’s so pretty. Just like you.”

It was hard to be mad at Summer after a compliment like that.

We followed the girls through the woods to their ceremonial spot. I helped them build a small fire.

Summer asked Teagan, “Do you want to help us summon the witch?”

“No thanks. I’ll just watch.”

“Come on. It will be fun.”

“Thank you, but that’s not really my thing. I don’t like to summon spirits. Sometimes you don’t know who you’re summoning. It’s not always who you think it is,” Teagan said in a grave voice.

Summer cringed, but remained undeterred. “You should join our coven. I’ve got good vibes about you.”

Teagan humbly declined.

It didn’t take long for the girls to strip down to their birthday suits, hold hands, and begin the invocation as they danced around the fire.

Teagan and I stood back and watched. “I see why you like this island so much.”

“You know, being stranded out here for a few days might not be so bad,” I said, reconsidering it all.

Teagan smacked my arm playfully.