Page 19 of Midnight Serenade
Mama obviously felt no compunction about letting her cat get slobbered on. “Now, Sir Winsor, Sebastian said Kazi is a gentlemen. You two need to get along. Behave!”
Apparently, Sir Winsor did not like this piece of advice. He scrambled under the bed, hissing as Kazi tried to stick his long tongue underneath and bathe Sir Winsor some more.
Micaela cracked up. “Food and entertainment! Excellent!”
Mama neededto rest after her flight, so we stayed on the boat so she could nap. After dinner, we got our suits and cover-ups on and headed to deck one to meet Sebastian at the tender entrance.
The ocean wind was whipping my hair around, so I grabbed an elastic and pulled it into a low ponytail to keep it out of my face. Micaela did the same, but Mama’s hair was short, so she didn’t have to do anything but smile in delight at the ocean.
Sebastian stood next to me at the railing. “Are you going to tell me what the excursion is yet?” I arched an eyebrow. “Thank you, by the way. For everything. For getting Mama, for setting up something fun for us today. I really appreciate it.”
“It was my pleasure. I think I’m going to keep the excursion a secret, if you don’t mind.”
I bit my lip. I was not good with surprises, but he’d booked something for us specifically, so I tried my best to be patient. Once we got to land, we drove a good thirty minutes, then met another boat. We were the last ones to arrive, and the boat carried at least thirty other people on it.
Mama and I were holding on to each other’s arms, vibrating with excitement. I couldn’t imagine what excursion we might be doing in the water at night. I was a little nervous that it would end up being me in a cage with sharks swarming around. I didn’t think I’d like that. Or maybe we were heading to a cavern that could only be accessed by the sea, and it was better viewed at night? A phosphorescent cavern? That sounded fun.
But we stopped in the middle of nowhere, with no caves in sight. Now I wasreallyconfused.
The crew carefully lowered what looked like illuminated flotation devices into the water. While a few of the crew members anchored the devices in place, the rest handed out snorkel gear to everyone.
There were no good places to steady myself while I put on my flippers, but Sebastian let me perch on his knee for a minute. My cheeks, I’m sure, were flaming red after I secured the flippers in place and waddled to the ladder. Sebastian chuckled darkly behind me, and I shivered. The weather was a balmy eighty-five degrees out, yet one handsome vampire had the power to make me shiver just from his laughter.
It occurred to me then that I was, perhaps, in over my head. I’d never considered that before. I’d been through some tough challenges in my life, and I’d always risen to meet them. Always. But... I’d never met a vampire before, or a man like Sebastian. I’d never been a part of the paranormal world before. Heck, I’d barely left my house once I’d become an adult. Even as a child, my mom had to homeschool me. I wasn’t exactly smooth in social situations. For many years, it had just been my mom and me.
So, a vampire that was as smooth as chocolate and twice as delicious? Umm, way past my pay grade.
As though he could read my mind, Sebastian went down the ladder and into the water first, then took my hand to help me, then Mama down. Micaela didn’t want help, and Sebastian seemed to know this instinctively because he didn’t offer.
An employee for the snorkeling company spoke. “Those of you who are comfortable without the floatation devices are welcome to snorkel around this area. But stay close. The mantas will be drawn to the lights here on the bottom of the flotation device, and you won’t want to miss out.”
I gawped at Sebastian, who looked ridiculously handsome, even soaking wet. I probably looked like a drowned rat. “Manta rays!” I took both of his hands and swam in a circle around him, bobbing around in the water like a crazy person. “Oh my gosh! I’m so excited!”
“Gracie, I’m going to use the flotation device, okay?”
I glanced over at my mom, who was happily clinging to the huge flotation device in the water. “Okay, Mama.”
Sebastian and I stayed close to the main group but floated freely. We dove under the water, holding our breath, then surfaced, blowing air through our snorkels like a whale through their blowholes. After a few minutes, the mantas came.
At first, it felt magical. The water was calm. The air above the water was really still and smelled heavenly, like green things and coconuts. The mantas came in twos and threes, and people oohed and aahed. A few of the women squealed when one of the creatures got close to them, and the guy next to them, holding onto the flotation device, plugged one ear with his finger and scowled at the shrieking women.
And then, it all turned scaryveryquickly. Suddenly, it was as though the mantas had gotten a good whiff of me in the water, and like sharks to blood, they all converged on me. I was about five feet below the surface, and maybe a dozen of the smaller manta rays, which were still fourteen feet long or so, suddenly swarmed around me in a tight circle, cutting off any escape. Seeing my distress, Sebastian darted over quickly and roughly pushed through the mantas. He held me protectively in the circle of his arms and kept the creatures from touching me as we quickly made for the surface.
“What’s happening?” I cried after yanking my snorkel from my mouth.
Sebastian pulled his snorkel out too and tried to soothe me by gently running his fingers up and down my arms. “It’s okay. It’s just because you’re a siren. I didn’t think this would happen, or I would have warned you ahead of time.”
I clung to him, shivering. “I don’t think I would have come if I’d known.” I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to see them circling below me. I was well and truly freaked out now.
“Can you... feel them?”
I gave him an odd look, but then, as my pulse slowed down, and my breathing became less ragged and gasping, Ididfeel something odd.
Joy.
And the feeling was definitely not coming from me, because I was still feeling stark terror.
Sebastian leaned closer to me, whispering so the people around us couldn’t hear our conversation. I still huddled within the circle of his arms as he kicked lazily to keep us in place. “They’re dancing for you. They’re joyful to see you, and they’re showing off. You should be able to feel them.”
