Page 62 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
And the only thing Iknewat that moment was that he didn’t have an explanation.
But before he could scrounge for an answer, a shrillDING-DING-DINGfilled the room. The sound of an old dinner bell, the sort that came from a metal triangle.
An immaculately dressed woman who worked the front desk of the lobby during the day strode around the room, banging the metal stick against the dinner bell. She was a tiny wisp of a thing, but she had a personality that made her seem like a giant—a no-nonsense, straight-backed, I-may-be-small-but-I-can-still-kick-your-butt vibe. And she was throwing that off in waves as she shushed anyone who still whispered or giggled.
“I apologize,” she said, “for disturbing your meal. I promise I’ll only take a moment of your time.” The dinner bell made a soft, echoing ding as she tucked it under her arm. “Unfortunately, all tours scheduled for this afternoon have been canceled. You will be refunded”—her voice rose above the unhappy gurgling—“and the tours will be rescheduled. Please understand, this is an extraordinary event—we havenevercanceled tours before on the isle, and you can rest assuredknowing this will not happen again during your stay. We have some special guests arriving this afternoon, which necessitated the cancellation of the day’s itineraries.”
More murmurings filled the restaurant, but there was an air of intrigue now.
Jackson shifted in his seat, his eagerness reached across the table to lug me in the gut.
“Mr. Rune Bloodworth will be arriving at noon,” the woman concluded.
That name meant nothing to me. But evidently it should have, because the chittering in the room increased. And Jackson sat so straight in his chair, he looked like he’d grown to a man twice his height.
“He is bringing several delegates,” the woman prattled on, “to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the isle’s opening. We do apologize for not making you aware of these events sooner, but there is good news…Quietplease.” She waggled the dinner bell when the overlapping voices threatened to drown her out. “Please, a moment more of your time is all I ask. Since you are our esteemed guests, and your visit overlaps with the isle’s anniversary, Mr. Bloodworth has ordered a feast for this evening. Every guest is invited to attend—free of charge.”
“Thankfully she added that last bit in, huh?” I turned to Jackson with a soft laugh. “It wouldn’t have been very good news if we’d had to pay a thousand bucks a head to go to this dinner.”
Jackson wasn’t even looking at me, he wasintentlywatching the woman. His palpable excitement rocketed broiling, feverish waves into me.
Then she waved her arm, sending the dinner bell chiming pleasantly and said, “That’s all. Enjoy your meals.” And he deflated, as though he hadn’t taken a breath during her announcement.
A wave of zeal rammed into me then, from Jackson and just about everyone in the room. Slamming into me with enough force to steal my breath for a heartbeat. Two. Three.
Panic curdled under the happy current.
Mypanic.
Happiness was a wondrous emotion, but it could be woven into a heavy blanket when there was too much of it. And that blanket was stifling me.
Sweat dribbled down my back and formed sticky puddles under my thighs. Beneath the white-washed jeans I wore, my skin prickled. My hand moved, joggling, trying to bounce off some of the excess emotion so I couldbreathe.
“Babe, you look like you’re trying to fly.” Jackson’s chuckling voice sounded like it was milesaway.
I tucked my hands between my legs and braced, focusing on taking shallow, steady breaths, until the feelings ebbed. “This Rune Bloodworth, is he a celebrity?” I managed to ask.
Jackson laughed and shook his head. “Pippi, I love you, but sometimes Iswearyou live under a rock. How do you not know who he is?”
I shrugged.
“He’s the owner of Magix.”
“Oh.” That name rang a bell. Magix, after all, was the corporation thatshreddedany business, Sorcerer-run or otherwise, that offered services for Standies. Like my client at work, VitalTech.
“Are they having a company retreat?” I swiveled my gaze around the undulating masses of people in the restaurant. “Seems an odd place for them to pick. I never hear of any Sorcerers vacationing here. Have you?”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “MagixownsNiverwick Isle.”
“They do?”
“Yes!”
“But I thought they were all in on that ‘Sorcerer for hire’ stuff. That’s what’s putting one of my clients at risk.”
“Theyare,” Jackson said. “But they also have subsidiaries and conglomerates. And one of them is Niverwick. So, yeah, he might not directly work in the tourism sector, but Rune Bloodworth owns this island.”
“Ooookay.”
