Page 11 of Surging Reef
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Ashby owed the man, and he had taken more blood than he normally did. It would weigh on him if this human fell asleep behind the wheel and killed himself on his way home.
“What’s your name?”
“Kazimir.”
“Weird name.”
Kazimir huffed. “Ashby sounds like a surname.”
“Maybe it is.”
Kazimir stared at him until he wanted to squirm, which was interesting. He couldn’t remember the last time a human had been able to make him squirm. “Ashby Kalen, my name is Ashby Kalen.”
Kazimir nodded and headed toward the doorway, backpack slung over one shoulder and the dog limping next to him. Ashby followed.
The salty air greeted him as he stepped out onto the dock area. The island was mostly hidden underneath the water, but it was there. Would Anne come in the morning when the water was lower? Urgency clawed at him. They had to get out of here.
“How did you get here?”
Kazimir pointed down through a hole in the metal platform. There was a ladder, and Ashby could make out a rowing boat bobbing next to it.
“Borrowed a boat.”
Borrowed? Ashby was pretty sure it was stolen, was pretty sure it was Anne’s boat, which made him grin. “Awesome. Did you get here by car? To the beach, I mean.”
Kazimir nodded.
“And you’re parked where?”
Kazimir looked toward the beach and gestured toward the right side of the shoreline. “There is a parking lot behind the dunes. I didn’t know I’d have to walk the entire beach and onto the rocks before I could get hold of a boat.”
Ashby nodded. He didn’t care, but he’d take them as close to the parking lot as he could, and then he’d release the boat to the sea. The longer it took for Anne to realize he was gone, the better.
He might be able to escape her.
How much effort would she put into finding him? His escape would make her look bad, and if it was one thing she couldn’t tolerate, it was people making a fool out of her.
He’d have to leave Waterside, would be forced to stay in hiding for a while.
“Climb down.” They had to get out of here while they had the chance.
“I need to carry Pharos, and I don’t know if I can…What if the boat wobbles? Is it deep here?”
Ashby descended through the hole. His leg was still hurting, but it was healing. Thank fuck, it was healing. He had almost given up hope of ever walking out of here.
He clung to the metal ladder and reached for the boat with his foot. Once he made contact, he pulled it closer. It wobbled as he put his weight on it, but he put both his feet on the seat while still holding on to the ladder. “Okay, climb down.”
Ashby looked up to see Kazimir’s underwear-clad ass coming his way. It was a nice ass. “Why aren’t you wearing pants?”
“Didn’t want them to get wet. Should’ve removed my shirt too, but I wasn’t thinking.”
Wet. Yeah, he’d been wet when Ashby fed from him. It hadn’t registered until now. “Did you swim here?” He looked atthe boat. Had he pulled the boat along?
Kazimir was near the bottom of the ladder and looked into Ashby’s eyes. “No. I had to wade in to get to the boat, but then a crab scurried over my foot, so I let out a manly shriek and swam instead.”
Ashby snorted. Humans.
