Page 32 of Midnight Serenade
Sebastian laughed. “I’ll change back to a bat. They won’t see me.”
I was losing my mind; I was sure of it. My mama was probably worried sick right now. Where were the employees!?
I mean, I didn’t want them to swing in like Tarzan rightnowbecause of Sebastian, but a few moments ago would have beengreat!
Sebastian made the last cut through the last harness and I screamed as I slipped down Rafe’s torso. My face ended up in his navel, and I swear I could hear his pants rip as I gripped his waistband in a death grip.
Sebastian tugged me back up so that I was flush with Rafe’s chest again. Rafe was sweating, and his face was red with strain as he used his free hand and arm to wrap around me and clutch me to him tightly. As he did that, Sebastian grabbed the cable that was dangling beside us and threaded it through all the belt loops in my pants, then wrapped it several more times around me before he tied a complicated-looking knot one-handed, which I was greatly impressed by because I couldn’t tie aneasyknot withbothhands.
Then Sebastian snapped off thetitaniumbroken clamp with his bare hands, and Rafe and I started sliding again, quickly building up speed. The tiny Sebastian bat flew to a tree and perched there, waiting for us to make it to the next platform safely.
When we arrived at the platform, there almost wasn’t room for us to land. Four people were already crowding the pocket-sized space, with Rafe and I making six.
Mama was lecturing the employees and managing to look terrified at the same time. A woman who appeared as though she’d been in a brawl, with one eye forming a swollen shiner, was holding her left arm at an awkward angle while she talked to a broad-chested police officer. And the other employee, who looked young, new, and terrified, caught us as we came in and then he and the female employee got to work cutting us loose.
While everyone was shouting questions at us, Rafe and I just clung to each other until my knees didn’t threaten to buckle underneath me and my ears stopped ringing from overwhelming fear. I was sure Rafe was fine, but I really needed a hug right then, and we’d survived something awful together. He was now one of my very best friends, whether he wanted to be or not. We broke apart when Sebastian growled at Rafe from a tree directly above us.
Mama wrapped an arm around my waist and laid her forehead against my back, shaking like a leaf. I could hear her giving thanks in prayer aloud that we’d make it back alive.
When we were all cleared to get off the platform, the police officer went first, helping the female employee who had a possible broken arm, then Rafe and I went, followed by the male employee who still looked green around the gills at the near disaster.
When we reached the bottom of the very long ladder along the side of the platform, Sebastian was standing there in a full fury. I wanted to run and hide, and I wasn’t the one he was furious with.
Sebastian put his arms around me and brought me into full contact with his body. Emotions palpably roiled off of him, but the moment I was in his arms, I could feel him calm and relax. I patted Sebastian’s arms, my heart still beating a rat-a-tat-tat in my chest, and sank into his warmth, closing my eyes at theinstant comfort I always felt when he wrapped his arms around me.
And I’d asked to go slowly with him. Who wanted to go slowly with a man like Sebastian!Idiots, that’s who. Me, I’m the idiot. Sebastian had made every accommodation for me. He’d saved me, taken care of me, made me laugh and swoon, and made me feel like I could be myself. I felt safe with him. And, really, I was beginning to think that Sebastian was just plainmine.Perhaps he was my other half, my mate?
He’d warned me that the battle for my heart was a battle that he took very seriously. I hadn’t realized just how seriously until today. I wanted to wave the white flag of surrender, because I was won.
My adrenaline finally plummeted after being sky high for such a long period of time, and my eyes started to sting. I wasn’t prone to crying much, but I was exhausted, my hand hurt and was bleeding again, my body was sore, and I was angry that each time I got off the ship, something awful happened. How had this happened? When I stepped out of Sebastian’s arms and looked around at the modest group of people gathered around us, I noticed we were missing a person.
“Where’s the female employee who was on the second platform?”
At my question, everyone who’d been talking quietly around Sebastian and I, giving us space and privacy, were suddenly staring at me.
“Blonde hair in a ponytail? Way taller than me?” I held my hand above my head to show about how much taller she was than me.
Two of the employees, one male—our first platform person—and the other female who’d helped us at our third platform, looked at each other. The girl shifted painfully and turned back to us. “She beat me up and shoved me in a locker. She musthave taken my uniform in order to take my spot on the platform, because I woke up in the locker in my underwear.” I glanced down, only just noticing that she was wearing an ill-fitting uniform two sizes too big for her. Probably an extra they’d had on hand in the office.
The police officer was writing everything down. “Description?” he asked. The female employee, Giana, and I worked together to come up with a description to give him, while Sebastian and Rafe spoke quietly a few paces away from us. After they finished, Rafe excused himself to use the restroom, and Sebastian stayed like glue by my side.
“We’ve had one other incident in Oahu,” Sebastian told the police officer. “We were doing an excursion, diving with turtles and dolphins, when a scuba diver took a shot at Grace with a speargun. It speared through the palm of her hand. The scuba diver disappeared, and the police still haven’t found any leads.”
The grizzled veteran wrote the details down on his notepad and eyed me, his bushy eyebrows twitching. “Sounds like someone is stalking you, Miss Liora.”
I let out a shaky breath. “Yes, sir. It does appear that way.”
Chapter 12
Grace
The next few days would beat seadays, with the cruise ship sailing on its way to Samoa. There were no stops between here and there, and I was glad. It was getting to the point that I was afraid of leaving the ship.
Micaela was standing guard at one entrance to the lazy river on theKamaria, and Gray was standing at the other. Kazi and Mama were in our suite, probably sleeping the sleep of the mischievous, while Sebastian and I floated peacefully with a sky full of stars above us.
Nighttime on a cruise ship was usually quieter, depending on what was happening on board. Most families were putting kids to bed, and the parents were turning in after a full day of activities and sun. The singles could get rowdy sometimes, but Sebastian and his employees were great about making sure they didn’t gettoorowdy.
As a matter of fact, theKamariaonly served liquor from like two to ten because Sebastian wanted it to feel safe for the families that came aboard. I thought that was a great idea. He had other ships that were exclusively for singles, but I’d read that most of his ships were family friendly.
