Sea Storm: Children of the Waves by LaVerne Thompson Page A

The sound of people talking had
her mind returning to her. Her head rested on something hard and a hand
caressed her hair. She inhaled. Zek .
She rested on Zek. Already, she knew the feel of him, his scent. She took a
deep breath and opened her eyes.
    Cori held her hand and sat on the floor
near her.
    Des’ gaze moved behind Cori to glance at
Xav who sat in the chair across from them.
    “Good, you’re awake,” Cori exclaimed,
giving her hand a squeeze. “You okay?”
    She pushed away from Zek and sat up but
he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she nestled at his side. Pleased to
see he had some clothes on. “Yes. I think so. What—what happened?
How—how did you get here?” She let go of Cori’s hand.
    Cori sighed and glanced up at Zek. “Zek
told us he tried to explain about the Children of the Waves to you.”
    This time, she pulled out of Zek’s
embrace and moved slightly away from him, so they no longer touched. She could
see now that they’d returned to the house and sat in the main room.
    Zek kept his arm along the back of the
couch. Still within easy touching range.
    Slowly, she shook her head. “He told me
some fanciful story about being the son of a mythical sea god. But what does
that have to do with anything?”
    Cori smiled and glanced back at Xavior
before turning to her again. “Yes, he is. So is Xavior. It’s all true.”
    Des moved her head from side to side.
“Cori, hon, what happened to you?” She glared across the room at Xavior who
hadn’t said a word, just stared at her, then she glared at Zek but her words
were directed at Cori, “Did they do something to you, hon? Drug you, give you
anything?”
    Her friend smiled. “Nope. It’s all true.”
    Des stood up and backed away from all of
them. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here but whatever it
is—Cori, come with me. Let’s get out of here.” She’d taken a hold of
Cori’s hand and tried to tug her along.
    “She’s not going anywhere.” At last,
Xavior spoke. It seemed like one minute he sat in the chair, the next he’d
gotten up and yanked Cori out of her grasp.
    “Des, sweetie, everything is going to be
fine. Xavior has asked me to marry him and I’ve said yes.”
    “I know and I think it’s insane.”
    Cori turned and gazed at the man as though
in a trance or on something.
    This
is all wrong. Des took a
deep breath and kept backing toward the French doors. She glanced over her
shoulder. The boat must still be at the dock. Maybe if she were quick enough,
she could get to it and get the hell outta there. Go and get help. No, she’d
never out run them. Think …she needed
time. Something was seriously off with these people. They even had Cori on some
kind of drugs. What had these men done to them? She’d begun to—no.
Thoughts of Ezekiel and the feelings developing for him had no place here. She
couldn’t let herself dwell on her emotions, when she feared he’d drown .
    Zek got off the couch and approached her.
“Come agapetos, sit down let me explain. Let Cori tell you everything.”
    She didn’t want Zek touching her or
trying to convince her of any of this bullshit. She couldn’t trust herself with
him. But she had to play it smart. “Please, I—I need a minute. Let me
just—let me just get a little air.”
    Cori stared at her. “I promise it will
all be all right.”
    She nodded. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”
    “Do you want me to come with you?” Cori
asked, concern laced her tone.
    Des almost said hell yes, but thought
she’d have a better chance of getting away from this crazy island, if she were
on her own. She’d come back with the authorities. She shook her head, then spun
on her heels and headed outside. She tried not to sprint across the sand.
Instead, she took her time in case anyone paid attention to her. Holding her
arms around her waist, she walked with her head down. Trying to appear deep in
thought, she headed in the direction of the boat she saw returned to the