Page 47
“I thought I saw one in the bakery the other day.”
His admission makes me pause.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
He laughs. “It wasn’t important. I forgot about it and it just popped into my head now.” He looks at me. “Why are you frowning?”
“I’m not.” I squeeze his hand. “Did it look like someone you knew?”
Caspian’s free hand fiddles with the hem of his t-shirt. The one he’s wearing today says ‘Drop the bass’ in bold writing above an illustration of a fish dancing beneath a disco ball.
“No and honestly, it was probably just a car’s headlights casting shadows on the blinds, but for the briefest moment, I thought it could have been Pops.” He chuckles under his breath. “Forget I said anything.”
“Humour me,” I say. “What did it look like?”
He stops walking, his eyes darting upwards as he bites his lip as if in thought. “Like a shadow.” He shrugs. “The funny thing is, I saw something similar in my bathroom not too long ago. Flickering like a swarm of bugs closely huddled together. Or television static.” Caspian laughs, shaking his head. “That sounds ridiculous the more I think about it. I hadn’t been sleeping well at the time. I’m sure it was my sleep deprived imagination or a trick of the light.”
My stomach sinks, that sensation of an incoming shift threatening to take over. I take a deep breath, then blow it out, getting myself under control. It wasn’t a ghost he saw. It was that same entity that’s been following that man I saw sneaking around his house. The same one I saw in the woods. I’m sure of it. Tomorrow I will resume my search for them both – the monster and the man, and when I do, I will make sure neither of them ever come near my Caspian again.
“Did it hurt you?” I want to run my hands over his entire body and check that he’s okay, that he wears no marks other than the ones I left behind.
“No. Like I said, it was nothing. Lights or my imagination. I don’t believe in ghosts.”
Like he doesn’t believe in monsters. His confession is like a bucket of cold water thrown over me — a reminder that he can never know who I really am. That I am destined to only ever be this version of Sterling when I’m with him.
I take his hand and pull him towards the dune. “Come sit with me.” Sitting down, I open my legs and pat the space between them. Caspian crouches down, manoeuvring himself so that his back is to my chest. Taking his hands in mine, I kiss both his palms, then place them down on my thighs. He looks over his shoulder and smiles, and I steal a kiss and then another for good measure.
“I know you say you don’t believe in ghosts, but what if some things outside of your understanding do exist? Like the sea lions?”
I have put this off, knowing it will be hard for him to grasp, but he deserves to know, even if all he will do is laugh at me in disbelief. I am also aware that I can only pretend to be a marine biologist for so long before he starts asking questions about my findings.
“What do you mean?” He leans back and turns so his cheek is on my chest. I wrap my arms around his waist, lifting his t-shirt to splay my palm over his warm skin.
“Well…” How do I say this? “You know they appeared out of nowhere one day?” Caspian nods. “And they are unlike any species ever seen before?” He nods again. “That’s because they are unlike any species ever seen before.”
His face lights out, excitement in his pretty brown eyes. “I knew it! Pops thought that was the case. You know, I read once that scientists discover around fifteen thousand new species every year? Insects, plants, marine animals. Amazing that one of those is right here in Newbridge.”
I kiss his temple, loving the scent of his enthusiasm and the texture of his soft hair against my lips. No matter what happens, I have to keep him. I don’t think I could exist in a world where I don’t get to hold Caspian Brody like I am right now.
“I’m certain they are supernatural,” I say, my voice a whisper, going for the honest truth. Caspian stills, his body tensing in my arms.
“You sound like my Pops and Kiernan. Kee says a beast saved me from the sea, you know? The day Pops died. We were out on our boat when a storm hit.”
My heart skips a beat as I listen to his recount of the day. To the way he so adamantly stands firm, he washed up on shore and that his friend is wrong about a mythical creature pulling him out of the water. Inside, my beast is screaming.
I saved you because you are mine. My human. I’m real, Caspian. Real and right here.
“So you think these sea lions are what? Monsters? Cryptids?” he presses, a grin tipping up on one side of his face. Not disbelief, but not belief either.
I nod. “Exactly.”
He’s quiet for a moment before he says. “Let’s say I believe you. Why are they here? Why my beach? Or is this another one of those things you’re not ready to tell me?”
“I haven’t worked that out yet. But there will be a reason. Give me time to figure it out.”
I’ve been back to check on them every morning since I found that blue sand beneath the spot they’re calling home. And apart from a few new eggs, and the fact that the babies grow at a rapid speed compared to their counterparts, there isn’t anything more I’ve learned. When I tried digging, the matriarch of the rookery bared her teeth at me in warning and I backed away so as not to cause her distress.
Caspian changes position so that he’s kneeling in front of me, his hands on my thighs. He leans forward and kisses me, sweet and tender, with a smile growing as he does.
