The Turning Tides

CHAPTER Twenty-Seven

SLEEP IN



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I started awake at dawn, with Ethan’s strong body curled around mine. For an instant I froze, afraid it was only a dream, and I might suddenly wake to find myself still trapped inside Edwards’ chamber of horrors. I shivered at the thought, and in response Ethan pulled the blankets up higher, kissing the back of my neck.

“Are you cold?” he whispered.

I snuggled up against him, shuddering with happiness this time, “No.”

I drifted back to sleep on a tide of contentment, dreaming sweet dreams filled with deep blue skies and turquoise seas. The next thing I knew, the sun was streaming glorious golden light through the window. I blinked, rolling over to see Ethan’s eyes, the same color as my dreams, wide open and smiling at me.

“Good morning Dollface,” he said.

I smiled, “Morning.”

“From now on,” he pronounced, “I’m never going to sleep without you next to me.” He spoke with such conviction, I couldn’t doubt what he said was true.

“Okay,” I whispered. He wasn’t going to get any arguments from me.

He traced the contours of my face, running his fingertips along my jawline, “You’re so beautiful.”

I turned away, my cheeks flushing warm, “Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

He pulled me closer, molding himself to me, “I’m taking a day off. We can do whatever you want today, as long as it’s with me.”

I sighed with contentment, thinking with wonder what a difference a day made. I was floating on a sea of happiness, musing that I might as well be in heaven. Warm and safe, Ethan’s voice rumbled in my ear, and his fingers twined in mine. If I was a cat, I’d be purring.

“What do I want to do?” I asked playfully.

“I could stay right here like this forever,” he replied, nuzzling my ear until I giggled.

“Before you go all John and Yoko on me, there is the issue of coffee,” I sighed. “I don’t think I can go forever without it. In fact, I may be going through serious caffeine withdrawal right now.”

He chuckled, kissing my ear and rising up on one elbow, “I suppose I should pick up my truck from the school lot before they tow it. Hey, what happened to your car?”

I told him how they’d ditched the Rover at the airport, and explained the lengths they’d gone to in order to cover their tracks. I could tell he wanted to know what had happened at the lab, but he was careful not to push me, asking only a few gently probing questions.

I thought about how the story would make him feel, and I considered skipping over a few parts. Then I realized if I wanted him to change for me, I was going to have to go against my own instincts and change for him. I forced myself to pour out all the terrifying details, surprised that it had actually happened when I realized how awful it sounded.

He stroked my hair soothingly, listening quietly as I told him everything. I held nothing back, and when I was finally finished with the whole gruesome tale he kissed my cheek, pressing his face on mine, “Don’t ever even think about hurting yourself again.”

“I thought there was no hope. I didn’t want to let them win... but I was too cowardly.”

“No, you were too brave. It takes more courage to keep going than it does to give up.”

“Or faith,” I added.

He sucked in a sharp breath, “I’m so sorry. I swear I’ll never doubt you again.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference. They were going to grab me no matter what. They were only watching me to see if I’d lead them to Nixie.”

I could feel his body tense at the thought. “They all deserved what they got,” he said, “I’d kill them myself if they weren’t already dead!”

“Don’t talk like that,” I said, even though I felt the same way.

“Edwards should have known better. He must not have noticed how bad things tend to happen to people that mess with you.”

The thought had occurred to me. Pretty much everyone who had crossed me ended up dead, and there was only one possible explanation. I’d also noticed that it wasn’t necessarily me that did anything. Whatever this muse magic was, it was certainly unpredictable.

“They were about to take me and Nixie out of the country. Things would have turned out very differently if you hadn’t shown up,” I said.

“I wouldn’t have been much help without Yuri. Thank God he was there when I called. He didn’t even question me– He just raced out here.”

“When did you realize the letter was a fake?” I asked. “Paul seemed to think they did a pretty good job on the forgery.”

“She slipped up and dropped Olivia’s name.” He spat out the first word, and I noticed how “she” was no longer “Mom”, or even “Ruby”. I could tell he’d decided he’d rather be angry than hurt, and I understood. He had a long way to go before he came to terms with it.

“How did you know I was at the lab?” I asked.

“I didn’t. Yuri had a hunch, and it made sense after what you said about all the security there. Anyway, he came down from the city to meet me at the university,” he smiled, “And he helped me convince Max to get us into the lab.”

“Convince?”

He chuckled, “Okay, force. But you saw him! Once we got there, Max really stepped up to the plate– I think he surprised himself. You must have inspired him to help.”

I shook my head, “Poor Max. I think he got the shock of his life… and to top it all off his research is ruined.”

I wondered who else was aware of the lab’s secret mission, thinking of the night that Nixie had been delivered. If she had been captured by the university’s research vessel, surely Professor Powell knew something about it. I heaved a breath, afraid that my work was not finished yet.

“What’s the matter?” Ethan asked.

“I need to go check on Nixie.”

“You should give it a couple of days,” he suggested. “You need to rest.”

I sighed, “I’m worried about her. She was so scared.”

He kissed my cheek, “I’ll go with you when you’re up to it, but I have a feeling she’s fine… Did you see her when Yuri put her in the water? She took off like a bat out of hell!”

With that imagery he had me laughing, and he rolled me over to look into his smiling eyes. Soon he was on top of me, kissing my neck until all my worries were forgotten. I could hear his phone ringing in the background.

“Shouldn’t you see who that is?” I breathed in his ear.

“Mmm…” he kissed me again, “Nope.”

The phone rang and rang, and we both remembered who it was the last time that happened.

“Evie,” we said in unison.

Ethan got up with a groan, returning with the phone. “Bingo,” he said, handing it to me. “I’ll go get you that coffee,” he whispered, kissing my cheek and leaving me to my conversation. I watched him leave the room, clad only in his underwear. I sighed.

I brought the phone to my ear, “Evie?”

“Marina! Are you all right? I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault! How could I have not seen it?” she wailed, nearly hysterical, “I could kill Paul!” she seethed.

“Fate already took care of that one,” I remembered the twisted grimace on his dead face with a shudder.

“Oh, Marina,” she moaned. “A trusted friend recommended him to my employ… How many of the council are in league with Olivia? How could they all be so corrupt?”

I could hear the devastation in her voice, and I knew she was feeling the sting of betrayal, just like me… just like Ethan. “I’m so sorry.”

“How are you? Did they hurt you?” she asked.

I did my best to calm her down, “It’s okay, Aunt Evie… I’m fine. I’m with Ethan. Where are you?”

“Right now, about I’m about forty thousand feet over Chile. I left Argentina as soon as Yuri called.”

“Where’s Cruz?” I asked, alarmed.

“He stayed behind to visit with his sisters– They really are such delightful young ladies, and Cruz is having a ball getting to know them. I told him I had pressing business to attend to, and I’d send the plane back for him and Brad in a week. I couldn’t bear the thought of spoiling his family reunion.”

My heart sank when I remembered Brad, “What about Bradley? What should we tell him about his father?”

She sighed, “I suppose he’ll find out sooner or later. Has the story hit the news yet?”

“News?” I hadn’t given it any thought, and I started wondering who would be the first to arrive on the scene and discover the carnage. “We just left them all where they fell… I don’t even know if anyone’s even found them yet.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’s already had a team out to scrub the scene,” Evie huffed. She said “she” with the same contempt Ethan reserved for his mother, although I knew that Evie was referring to Olivia. “There won’t be a body, a phone, or a single scrap of paper to connect her to the place.”

“That’s probably a good thing,” I said with relief, “There’s no point in getting the authorities involved.”

“True,” Evie agreed, “There’s law, and then there’s justice, and they’re usually two different things. We need to assemble a council meeting immediately and alert the others. We need to make a plan– I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Count me out,” I said firmly, surprising myself. “I want nothing more to do with the council.”

“But Marina… They’re our kind… It’s mandatory…”

“NO. Not for me it isn’t. Not anymore.” I felt my resolve harden as I spoke the words, and a burden I’d been hauling around since the moment I first learned the truth slipped off my shoulders. The worst had already happened; the ladies of the council didn’t scare me.

She was quiet for a minute, “I suppose they’ve caused nothing but trouble for you.”

“You could say that again.” I snorted.

“But, but…” I could tell Evie was at a loss for words. She was so invested in the idea of the council as an instrument for good, that she had been rendered incapable of seeing the dark forces that were present, scheming right under her nose.

“I’ll never go back again,” I said, digging in my heels. It felt good to take a stand.

“Now Marina, you should never say never,” Evie cautioned. She skipped a beat, and wisely changed the subject, “Your father has called me looking for you. He’s worried because your phone keeps going to voicemail.”

I blinked back the image of my phone being hurled over the cliff by Paul, “Does Dad know anything?”

“No. He said you left without saying goodbye, but he seemed most anxious to speak with you.”

I agreed to call my father, telling Evie I’d come to the city as soon as I was up to it, and promising to tell her all the details then. I asked her to look for the Rover at the airport, and she told me Yuri had already located it and was waiting for her and Boris to land in San Francisco. She promised to have it cleaned and waiting for me at her place. Evie was still fuming, promising to report my passport stolen immediately.

“The least I can do is ruin their little stooge’s vacation!” she huffed indignantly.

I called my father, repeating what I’d told Abby about losing my phone. It was technically the truth, and there was no need to add any more details. I apologized for taking off without saying goodbye, and asked him to thank Amrita for looking after Stumpy.

“Ethan’s mother is gone now… So I can come pick him up anytime.”

“I don’t want you to miss any more school, but we’d really like to see you,” he said, “Can you visit this weekend?”

“How about Ethan and I come up Friday after school?” I asked.

“Perfect,” he sounded happy, “We’ll all have dinner.”

“Okay, tell Stumpy we’re coming for him.”

“Good luck peeling him from Amrita’s lap,” The mere mention of her name seemed to put a smile in his voice.

“I love you Dad.”

“I love you too, sweetie.”

I put the phone down, and sat there for a minute, thinking. Something had profoundly changed, and I realized that it was me. I was still my father’s daughter, but I no longer felt like his child. I respected Evie more than anyone I knew, but I no longer considered her to be infallible.

The door burst open, startling me. Ethan came in backwards, balancing a tray bearing two mugs of coffee and a pair of apples. He smiled, setting it down carefully on the bed. I could see that his bedside table had been reduced to a pile of kindling in the corner.

“Thanks,” I smiled back, taking the cup between my palms and breathing deep, “Smells good.” Ethan picked up his cup and sat down carefully, slipping his feet under the blankets to play footsie with me until I giggled.

We sat up in bed, drinking coffee and talking about what we needed to do to get caught up at school. I told him about Megan’s concert, and my visit with Shayla. It had only been a few days ago, but so much had happened, it seemed like I was telling him about the far distant past. We planned on going to San Francisco for dinner on Friday, picking up Stumpy and my car and coming straight home.

Home. It wasn’t this apartment, I realized, or even Aptos. It was Ethan.

He leaned back on the pillows, “I need to get to the grocery store… I haven’t been eating in much lately. We’ll have to order some pizza or something unless you wanna go for a walk.” He picked up an apple and polished it until it was shiny, holding it out to me, “Hungry?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, “Are you trying to tempt me?”

“As much as possible.”

Ethan reached over and took the coffee cup from my hand, placing it purposefully on the tray. He picked it up and stood, setting the tray on the floor at the foot of the bed. I imagined he was getting up to dress, but he grinned at me, lifted the sheets and dove in headfirst.

He tickled me until I shrieked with laughter, finally pulling me under for another swim in the blankets.





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