Page 65 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
A hissing snap and a bright flash of light made half the people in the crowd flinch.
“Sorry!” a man on my left side grumbled as he fiddled with the camera in his hand. “Stupid thing’s got a mind of its own.”
The camera he had was the only sort that worked on the isle: a vintage, all-manual type that’d gone out of style one hundred or so years ago. Anything digital, or even anything using a battery, went kaput as soon as it landed on the isle. So not many people had cameras.
And those who did, didn’t rightly know how to work them. As evidenced by the man’s cursing as he fiddled with the knobs and buttons, trying to figure out how to snap a picture.
And he certainlyhad no chance of sorting his camera in time to catch the big entourage’s arrival.
Ssswwwwisshhh.
A man teleported in front of our group, flashing us a thousand-watt smile as he shook some invisible ruffles out of his Hawaiian shirt. “Well,thisis unexpected!”
“It’s Rune!” Jackson breathed in my ear.
There weren’t many people who could wear a red, green, and yellow Hawaiian shirt, paired with khaki shorts, and still look suave. But Rune Bloodworth was one of those people.
He was a bull of a man in his late forties, and his age showed in the grey hair dusting the light brown strands at his temple and the deep laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. Things that were enough to peg him as an adult in the middle of his life, not enough to actually age him or drag down his devilishly good looks. And he wielded that devilish charm well, as he preened and strutted closer to our group, throwing a dashing smile at everyone who hooted and uttered cries of “welcome.”
And I had, indeed, seen him before. His squared and masculine face had been plastered across many supermarket tabloids. Those bright amber eyes of his had judged me whenever I’d grabbed a piece of chocolate from the register racks. But I’d never realized who he was. Until now.
“This is a welcome group, yes?” Rune clapped his hands and chuckled. “Excellent.I love it. Although I’m sure you all have other things you want to do. I would loathe to keep any of you from your vacation. But I do appreciate the welcome.”
A gaggle of other men and women teleported around him as he spoke, all dressed in their Sunday best: suits and ties for the men, and snappy business skirts and dresses for the women.
Apparently, the big head honcho was the only one who got to have a dress down day on the company retreat. Although hehadbeen nice enough to let the men wear colorful ties.
“We should get drinks. Marvin. Marvin! Where’s that blasted—Oh, hahaha,” Rune boomed.
Through the twisting mass of limbs and torsos in front of me, I watched as Marvin sauntered up and sat at Rune’s feet.
“That’s right!” Rune said. “I keep forgetting you’resmall.”
Marvin’s tail twitched.
“These fine folks deserve a drink for standing out here in this smog to make us feel welcome. Don’t you agree, Marv?”
“I suppose,” Marvin drawled.
“Open a tab in my name. And take these folks to the…er…Brew & Bites. Is that it?’
“Yes.”
“Take them there and get them a round of drinks.” Rune clapped his hands. “We really do appreciate you being here, ladies and gents, and all others. As I’m sure you can imagine, we areecstaticto visit the isle with you.”
I swore my eyebrows were going to fly off my face with the way they shot up at that statement. Not a single person in that group of Sorcerers, outside of Rune, lookedexcitedto be here.
“And it’s incredible to see that excitement reflected back to us. To be shown such love.” Rune patted a hand over his heart. “Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Oh, come now, Onyx, itisuplifting, isn’t it?”
A woman had finished her long stroll down the dock and came to a harrumphing stop behind the cluster of Sorcerers. She’d been the only one to walk the dock, instead of teleporting from the ship. And the only one to look at the swarm of onlookers with open disdain on her face.
“She’s excited too. I promise.” Rune laughed. “She just likes to keep people guessing.”
If looks could kill, Onyx’s would’ve melted the skin right off his face.
But in all fairness, she was the sort of woman who made the resting bitch face look breathtaking. She was tall and willowy with rich black hair (fitting, for her name) and big green eyes. Everything about her was delicate, from the angular curve of her jawbone, to her spindly wrists, to her lean and shapely legs. She was like a model, and she dressed the part, donned in a silken green wrap dress, paired with a glittering diamond chokenecklace, and big hoop earrings. Silver rings glittered from six of her fingers as well.
She turned her eyes over our group—the Standie tourists of the isle—scoffed, and walked away, heading for the lobby.
