NOCTE (Nocte Trilogy #1)(17)

“And when you’re upset you run down to the beach in the dark? Alone?” Dare cocks his head again and I’m not sure if he’s judging me. I look away.

“No. I just… my favorite place is down here. I come here a lot. Not just when I’m upset.”

“Show me.” Dare’s voice is husky and soft, and it isn’t a request. “Your favorite place, I mean.”

I don’t hesitate. I don’t know why. Maybe because he’s been in my dreams so often, it’s like I know him already.

“Ok.”

I lead him along the beach another hundred feet or so, through the rocks and into a secluded inlet. Hidden by the night, a horse-shoe shaped cove waits for us in the dark.

“Watch where you step,” I tell him, although I know it’s hard to see. “This cove is covered in tidal pools. Actually, wait here for a minute.”

I reluctantly let go of his arm and venture away to find a few pieces of smallish driftwood. I lug it back to the cove and hunt for a canvas bag that I keep here for just these occasions. It’s not under the rock I usually keep it under, so I nose around for a while longer, until Dare calls out.

“Looking for this?” he holds it up. I nod, taking it from him.

“Yeah. Thanks.” Pulling the lighter from the bag, I set the wood ablaze.

It instantly fills the inlet with an ethereal violet light.

Dare stares at it, mesmerized. “It’s purple.”

“It’s the salt from the ocean,” I explain. “It makes the flames purple and blue. But don’t breathe in the smoke. It’s gorgeous, but toxic.”

“So look, don’t breathe?” Dare looks amused.

I nod. “Exactly. Instead of breathing the smoke, why don’t you turn around and look at the cove?”

He does as I ask and I can see on his face that he’s impressed. Small pools are scattered around us, with sea life in each one, plants and shells, crabs and seaweed. Everything seems magical, as the night glows violet.

“During high tide, these are covered up. In fact, you can’t get to the back of the cove. But during low tide, the water is sucked out and you can walk right in and look at everything the water covers up.”

“This is incredible,” Dare decides, walking around and examining everything. “No wonder it’s your favorite place.” He moves lithely, casually. Easily.

In fact, being with him is easy. As each moment passes, I feel less panicked and terrified about Finn, and more comfortable with Dare.

Even though he’s clearly sophisticated, he’s still as comfortable as my favorite pair of jeans. It’s like…he doesn’t judge me. He doesn’t ridicule me. He simply accepts things as I offer them and doesn’t push me for more.

While he kneels to examine a pool, I examine him. He’s wearing dark clothes tonight, dark jeans and a black hoodie. The graceful way he moves makes even a hoodie seem elegant. He’s graceful and refined, nothing like the boys were in school.

It’s refreshing. And knee-weakening.

He turns to me, his gaze dark and curious.

“How did your brother upset you?”

The panic comes back to me in a rush, and for a minute, I stare past Dare, out to sea.

“We’re twins. He wants to go to a different college, but I don’t agree. He needs me.”

Dare stares at me, trying to figure me out. I see the wheels turning. He opens his mouth, but I interrupt before he can say anything.

“You don’t understand,” I tell him preemptively. “My brother has an issue. A mental issue. He’s medicated, but he needs me.”

If I meant to scare him, and I don’t know if I did or didn’t, it doesn’t work. Because Dare just nods, unfazed. “That’s commendable,” he tells me. “That you care so much.”

My head snaps back. “Of course I do,” I snap. “Why wouldn’t I? He’s my brother.”

Dare smiles and holds up his hands. “Calm down,” he says soothingly. “I was just making an observation. Not everyone cares that much, family or not.”

I stare at him. “That’s a sad thought. Why are you out here anyway? In the dark? Alone?” I throw his words from earlier back at him in an effort to change the subject. He smiles in appreciation of my effort.

“Because I was bored. And I thought I could see the stars better from here.”

He’s right. We definitely can. Up on the mountain, the trees block them.

And he likes the stars? Is it possible for him to get more perfect?

He points upward.

“That’s Orion’s belt. And that over there…. That’s Andromeda. I don’t think we can see Perseus tonight.” He pauses and stares down at me. “Do you know their myth?”

His voice is calm and soothing and as I listen to him, I let myself drift away from my current problems and toward him, toward his dark eyes and full lips and long hands.

I nod, remembering what I’d learned about Andromeda last year in Astrology. “Yes. Andromeda’s mother insulted Poseidon, and she was condemned to die by a sea monster, but Perseus saved her and then married her.”

He nods, pleased by my answer. “Yes. And now they linger in the skies to remind young lovers everywhere of the merits of undying love.”