Page 84 of Anchored to the Storm

Styx dabbed Saleeni’s face and hair with another towel. As he studied her, his expression showed how much he adored her, even more now.

Then he went to my bed, pulled back the blanket, and laid a fresh towel down. Another dry one went over her pillow to soak up the water in her drenched long hair.

After he made space for me, I knelt and laid her on the dry towel, her back to the pool. I removed the now damp towel from her body and covered her with the blanket.

While I dried off with Saleeni’s damp towel, Styx left only to return with more blankets and another dry towel. He tossed me the towel, then laid the blankets over Saleeni’s unmoving body.

Wrapping the fresh towel around my waist, I followed him to the refrigerator.

He handed me a beer after opening two of them. We clinked them together, then each took a long swig. Then… we both exhaled, long and hard, while staring at the pile of blankets.

I don’t know how long we stood there in disbelief, but soon, we were hugging, wiping tears, so relieved for the full-circle moment. He and his son had started this journey years ago, and now their vision was coming to reality. There was hope that, after all our tragedies, a fantastic love story would have a chance.

Soon, the tears turned into quiet laughter because we couldn’t stop staring at Saleeni, snuggled in my bed and safe. It was as if we both knew she had no idea how protective we were going to be. She was clueless that two men, who had already taken a life or a few, had found our most treasured gift.

I pointed to the inner part of my middle finger, silently telling Styx I wanted a replica of his Gift tat.

He held my shoulder and shook it, nodding and smiling. I knew I’d have one soon.

Drinking our beers, Styx walked us over to the security desk. We typed keys, we studied screens, and exhaled, knowing that for tonight, we were sheltered.

We quietly placed two empty bottles in a garbage can before we embraced again. Then Styx went to his room while I crawled into bed with my dream come true.

Saleeni slept for two days. She didn’t wake to eat or swim. She only woke after I begged her to. Her eyes struggled to open, but then she would offer the sweetest little smile before falling back to sleep. I was worried sick, but Styx kept assuring me the first transition must’ve been hard on her. Told me to trust the process. That it had led us right so far.

“Look,” he said, “that bite mark has already healed and is as cryptic as yours.”

How I managed to mark her as she had done me, with some sort of ancient symbol, was beyond comprehension. I hadn’t maneuvered my fangs to create some design on her skin. I just held on with a vengeance I was feeling guilty about.

Styx was having none of my remorse babble. “Stop it, Silly Rabbit. She bit you, you grew fangs. You bit her, she grew legs.” He walked toward Church, motioning for me to follow. “All part of a bigger picture.”

He opened the rounded wooden door and left it open after going inside. In the center of the windowless room with four white walls sat a large wooden table with twelve Camelot-looking chairs. He stood behind one of them at the head of the table. “Ready?”

I looked to the open door, contemplating. “No.” I looked to him. “I’m too distracted.”

Half expecting a ‘silly rabbit’ lecture, I exhaled when I received a smirk. “Recognizing weaknesses means you are far more ready for this place at the table than you know.” Without delay, he moved on. Grabbing two manila folders, he said, “You’ll save us lots of time, and you’ll be rich much faster, if you ask no questions and sign the name that is on each folder to the marked papers inside.”

“Uh, okay.” I sat down and got to work. One folder read Maddox Gentry and the other Johnny Watts.

When done, I slid them back to him. “Anything else, Gramps?”

He then retrieved an electronic pad from the table. “This is going to be reprogrammed so that no one can get into it without your eyeball. It carries all the passwords I have set up. Until they are burned into memory, you have this.” He held up another device. “This one needs yours and Saleeni’s for her gate.”

I understood the underwater gate security, but all these other passwords were in his head. Wondering why he had me signing papers and take this precaution, my stomach soured. “You plannin’ on leaving me any time soon?”

“Only if forced.”

Lost in thought, I stared into the pad’s camera as Styx reprogrammed it. I appreciated all his effort, but the thought of losing him to whatever threat may have been out there was like losing my foundation. Without it, would I crumble? Would Saleeni be safe?

Pulling my brass knuckles from my front jeans pocket, I slipped them on. My hand opened and closed, antsy to punch something.

“Those are going to come in useful if you keep using them as a tool like that.”

I grimaced at Styx. “What?”

“Your fangs. They started to grow again but retreated when you put those on.” He nodded. “Helps you maintain some self-control.”

I thought of Noma gifting these to me. How she wanted to help strengthen what I considered a shortcoming. My finger. Yet now they were doing even more. “I didn’t know I was ‘shifting’.”