A Spell of Time (A Shade of Vampire #10)(23)

Abby squinted, scanning the shoreline with her supernatural vision. Finally she pointed.

“Someone is out there, beyond the boundary.”

Ben looked in the direction of the harbor and pointed toward one of the submarines. “Let’s go see.”

We hurried over to the port and bundled into a submarine. We followed Ben into the control room. He navigated us away from the jetty, toward the boundary of the island. I hoped nobody had seen us. Our parents didn’t like us going near the boundary.

As we looked through the glass screen, human legs came into view.

“Go up,” I said.

Ben surfaced and we hurried back to the hatch. Ben climbed up first and stuck his head out.

“It’s Micah!” he called down, before climbing out.

“Who’s Micah?”

“One of the werewolves.”

“Careful, Ben,” Abby called up as he balanced on the slippery roof.

I lifted myself up through the hatch. My eyes fell on the spot where a young man with shoulder-length blond hair was floating in the water, one of The Shade’s small wooden boats beside him, capsized.

“Micah,” Ben shouted.

Micah looked around wildly, unable to see the source of the voice since he was outside the boundary.

“Are you all right?” Ben asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “I just strayed too far by accident. I didn’t mean to go outside the boundary.”

“Hold on,” Ben said. “I’m coming for you.”

Ripping off his shirt, Ben dove into the water and reappeared on the other side of the boundary. He reached Micah, gripped hold of his arm and pulled him toward the submarine.

“Thanks,” Micah panted. Griffin reached down and helped haul Ben onto the submarine, and then Micah. Micah towered over me, a small net of fish hung over one shoulder. I stepped aside.

“How is it you weren’t able to come back in?” Griffin asked. “I thought Mona gave you all permission to come and go as you please.”

“Yeah. Knowing my luck, I think I was out fishing during the meeting she called to put that charm on us. It seems I’m able to exit but not re-enter.”

We all dropped back down through the hatch and made our way to the control room. Ben began navigating us back to the shore.

I recognized Micah now that I eyed him more closely. I’d seen him among the crowd before, but had never spoken to him. He sat in the passenger seat directly opposite mine and was making no attempt to hide the way he was staring at me. I found it off-putting and turned my attention to Griff.

“Why don’t you come back to my place after this and I’ll cook us both something?”

“I’d love that.” Griff smiled down at me.

I looked up again at Micah. His hazel-brown eyes were still fixed on me. I got up and pulled Griff with me out of the control room and into the passenger area to avoid Micah’s gaze. He was a beautiful specimen of a man, but I didn’t understand why he was looking at me so unashamedly. It occurred to me that maybe—since he was a werewolf, and also from the supernatural realm—I shouldn’t be so quick to judge him. Maybe their manners were just different. The fact was that until Kiev’s arrival on the island, I’d never encountered a werewolf in my life. They intrigued me, but I had no idea how they behaved. They seemed to be less reserved than vampires.

Whatever his reason for staring at me, I didn’t feel comfortable and was happy to retreat to the passenger room toward the back of the submarine while we travelled back to the island.

Griff and I let the others exit first. Micah was the last we were waiting for. He picked up his fish net and dragged it up through the hatch, some fish still alive and flapping. We followed after, Griff pushing me up first. Ben and Abby were already making their way toward Shadow, who was waiting on the sand. Micah stopped midway along the jetty and turned back to face us.

“I was going to roast some of these.” He gestured to the fish. “Just thought I’d invite you both to join me.”

I’d been looking forward to spending some quality time with my best friend, but I wasn’t sure how to turn Micah down without sounding rude. He already knew we were hungry and I intended to cook for Griff and myself.

I looked after Ben and Abby. They’d already disappeared into the woods with Shadow.

I looked at Griff. He shrugged.

“Thanks. That would be lovely,” I said. I reached out a hand and Micah shook it, his grip wet and intense. “I’m Rose, by the way.”

“Oh,” he said, smiling, “I doubt there’s anyone on this island who doesn’t know who you are, princess.”

I brushed my hand against Griff’s shoulder. “This is Griffin.”

Micah and Griffin shook hands.

“Where do you plan to cook?” I asked.

“On the beach. Nothing like cooking in the fresh sea air.”

We walked along in silence for a few minutes before Micah stopped on a particularly rocky part of the beach.

He laid the fish down on the sand and ran over to the boulders a few meters away. He grabbed two large rocks—one beneath each arm—and walked back over.

“Thanks,” I said as he set the two stones down for me and Griff to sit on. He returned to the spot and came back with one more for himself. Then he fetched a fourth longer slab and placed it between us. He collected some wood from the forest nearby and, with two pieces of flint, started coaxing a fire to life. Griff and I stood in the direction the wind was blowing, helping to block its force as the fire gathered strength.