Page 26 of Midnight Serenade
Few things made me nervous anymore, but apparently my king was one of them.It was a disconcerting feeling, but notan unpleasant one. Older vampires were strange, in that we welcomed new or forgotten experiences or feelings as another would welcome fine wine. Even if the feelings or experiences could be considered negative by some.
My liege chuckled. “We’re looking forward to meeting you, Sebastian. Talk with you soon.”
I took a deep breath in and then let it out. Whatever ship they chose, I needed to be on it. I couldn’t leave the king of the vampires to just my staff, excellent though they were. Their visit would need a personal touch. I just hoped he and Consort Mia vacationedafterthis month with Grace. Because I needed Grace too, and if I had to choose, I’d choose Grace.
We setoff from the harbor in a rented boat. I’d hired a captain and a few crew members to take us to Turtle Canyon. It was one of the best places off the coast of Oahu to see sea turtles and actually get to swim with them. I knew from Grace’s reaction the day before that she’d more than likely love Turtle Canyon. It was a popular Oahu destination for a reason.
The captain had told me the snorkeling would be especially good at this time of day because the seas would be fairly calm. We arrived after a few brief minutes, and everyone loaded up on snorkeling gear and last-minute reef-safe sunscreen. Even I had to wear some. Although the full Hawaiian sun felt like a very mild electrical shock to me most of the time, it still had a tendency to burn. I was used to the mild shock. It was actually invigorating most of the time, which other vampires told me was a bizarre reaction. It was probably my age. I was what the young vampires called eccentric.
Grace was in an adorable yellow and blue tankini that made her olive skin tone look golden brown in the sun. She’d braided her long hair into a crown braid to keep it up and out of her face for the day, and she looked like a fairytale princess.
I’d always secretly found it amusing when people told me their stories of how they’d met their significant others. Some said they felt a powerful pull the moment they met. Some claimed they’d justknown.I now regretted all of my private scoffing at those stories over the years. It turned out that, while falling in love at first sight wasn’t possible, having a deep pull toward someone, having the strongest feeling that you’d met the person you were going to spend the rest of your life with, was entirely possible. Because it was currently happening to me. I was all for it, if anyone cared to take my vote. And this was coming from a man who’d put the wordcasualinto casual dating. I was old enough that I felt like I could claim that title.
I’d spent my long life dating casually, never caring to settle down with anyone. I’d never realized it was because I hadn’t met my person yet. My Grace. I’d always just thought that it was me; that there was some deficiency in me that kept me from becoming serious about someone.
I wasn’t a huge extrovert, but I enjoyed being around people. My extroversion was largely because of my insatiably curious nature. I enjoyed meeting new people. I enjoyed their different viewpoints, histories, and cultures, and I never tired of hearing their stories and learning about their lives. I never tired of learning.
As the crew of the boat moved around, setting up shade with a few awnings and getting out drinks and snacks, Grace came to me and asked me to rub lotion onto her back.
It had been quiet all morning between us since our discussion last night. I didn’t want her to retract her desire for a slower pace and for a foundation of friendship between us first. Iagreed wholeheartedly that she should have that if she needed it. But... that didn’t mean that I couldn’t encourage her to consider me fondly when she was ready for a relationship.
I grinned shamelessly as I squeezed some of the white cream onto my hands, enjoying the tropical scent of the lotion. I starting working it into her shoulders, neck, and back. Her skin was already sun-kissed from the tropical sun above us and was warm under my hands.
I moved her tankini straps and rubbed cream under them, just in case her straps shifted while she was snorkeling. I lathered more cream into my hands to warm it up and got the upper part of her neck, including the backs of her ears.
I looked down at her arms and fought a grin. Goosebumps prickled her skin. I’d managed to make a one-minute sunscreen top-off last an entire five minutes, and I didn’t feel one bit bad about it.
Grace turned when I finished and stared up at me with her beautiful brown eyes. “I see what you’re doing,” she said.
“You wanted to go slowly,” I reminded her. “I respect that.” And then I grinned, and I could feel it was shark-like as I said, “I never said I wouldn’t fight for you, Grace.”
She looked frustrated. “I hadn’t realized it was afightat all.”
I cupped her shoulders with my hands. “The prize is your heart, yes? Of course it’s a fight, Grace. A really important one for me.”
She melted; I could see it in the reflection of her eyes, and in the release of tension in her body. Now she knew why I’d been quiet. I hadn’t been angry or petulant at her request, like other boy-men might have been. I’d been planning my battle strategy and working to enact it.
Once again, Mama Liora stayed close to the boat, in case she became fatigued. Meanwhile, Grace and I explored a little more thoroughly around the canyon. Rafe swam off on his own, buthe always kept us in his sights in case we ran into trouble. The coral reef here was vibrant with layered colors of purples, blues, greens and reds that were teeming with various fish and aquatic life.
At first, we didn’t see many turtles—just a few as they lazily swam past us. But just like last night, they seemed to catch Grace’s scent in the water after a few moments, and suddenly it was turtle Grand Central Station.
I could see the delight on Grace’s face as the turtles came to say hello to her. They touched her with their noses, and even though I didn’t think we were supposed to, they let her touch their shells. In fact, they seemed to insist upon it. A few dolphins came over and she laughed as they spun her in circles and nudged her to hold on to a fin. They seemed to sense when she needed air, as they nudged her toward the surface and rose with her.
I could hear Mama Liora and the crew of the chartered boat exclaim at the number of turtles that were in the canyon, and their excitement that the dolphins had joined in, but their noise was a mere backdrop to my focus on Grace.
Suddenly, Grace’s head shot up, and she was laser focused on a dark spot in the water, further in the depths. I looked in the direction of her gaze and was horrified to see someone in scuba gear aiming a spear gun at Grace.
Grace must have thought the scuba diver was trying to harm the dolphins and turtles because I could read her lips as she screamed “NO!” threw out both hands, and darted in front of the dolphin she’d been playing with.
I knew I couldn’t reach her in time, but I hit my vampire speed and tried anyway.
The speargun discharged a long, lethal looking spear that sped towards Grace. The sea creatures dove en masse just as the spear pierced Grace’s right hand, and her left hand threwout what felt like a sonic boom. Since I was in front of Grace, swimming towards her at vampire speed, the boom hit me with full concussive force and threw me nearly thirty yards.
Up was down; down was up. I was so disoriented that I had to cling to a large boulder while my equilibrium returned. My ears rang, and my head was spinning so badly my vision blurred. I shook my head, still unable to hear anything, and glanced frantically around for Grace.
Rafe, who’d shown up out of nowhere, and the dolphins were towing her toward the boat at top speed, and the turtles were following. I could almost see their concern in the way they swarmed her, protecting her back from any more spears. I shook off my disorientation enough that my vision cleared and I glanced back toward the scuba diver, only to find they’d vanished.
It didn’t matter. My priority had to be Grace and getting her medical help. I would deal with the scuba diver later.
