The Serpent in the Stone - By Nicki Greenwood Page 0,16

going to go for a swim. I’ll show you where it is.”

“I’ll settle for the camp shower tonight, but that might come in handy tomorrow. Be back by dinner. Is Ian still coming?”

She tried to sound casual. “As far as I know.”

“Sara.” Faith gave her an unnerving Don’t-bullshit-me look.

“I’m fine. I told you, he’s leaving anyway. I’ll see you in a bit.” She headed to her tent.

She gathered a towel and change of clothes, then set off toward the inlet. By the time she reached it, there were only a couple of hours left before dusk. Time enough for a quick bath.

Setting her change of clothes on the high rocks near the water’s edge, she stripped naked, leaving only the necklaces hanging around her neck. The breeze was balmy on her skin; thank God it had warmed up over the course of the day.

Looking at gold-washed ripples, she debated shapeshifting into a seal or some other seagoing creature. The water at this time of year would still be chilly, and a human body wasn’t insulated for cold ocean swimming. She didn’t know much about seals, except what she’d learned that morning from Ian. What little she knew wouldn’t be enough to sustain a shapeshift for more than a few seconds. Shark Markham, indeed. She scanned the water again. “It’s either this, or the camp shower.”

That decided matters. She went down to the water. Gravel gave way to fine granite that shifted under her stride, sandpapery and pleasant on the soles of her feet. The cold as she splashed into the inlet drove the air from her lungs. How much insulation did those seals, have, exactly? She hunched down into the water.

After a while, her body seemed to adapt, and the water felt warmer than she’d first thought. She swam a couple of laps, then dove under the waves. Grabbing a handful of granite sand from the bottom of the inlet, she scrubbed it over her skin until it glowed. The cool water glided along her skin as she swam, a welcome change from the heat and sweat of her workday. Not only that, but it had begun to wash away all the other things on her mind. Letting herself relax for the first time since finding the amulet, she stretched out to meet the sensual wash of current flowing over her body.

She came up in the middle of the inlet and swept her hair back. The distant calls of seabirds mingled with the lessening shush of waves against rock. The tide had begun calming for the night. She supposed she’d better rinse out her grubby clothing as well, before the sunset caught her still out in the water.

When she looked back toward shore, she felt a chill that had nothing to do with temperature.

Her clothes and towel had been moved.

She remembered leaving them on the first rock, a rounded boulder sitting where the shoreline dropped away. They now sat on the ground beside the rock in a jumbled heap. Sara ducked lower into the water, scanning the beach. “Faith?”

No one answered. “Stop kidding around,” she called, expecting her sister to jump out from behind one of the high rocks. Again, nothing happened.

As she realized what her unseen stalker had been searching for, her breath came faster. She checked; the amulet still hung safely around her neck beside her locket. She swam to shore, got out, then began walking toward her pile of clothes.

She’d only made it partway up the beach when she caught the crunch of footsteps on gravel behind her. She spun around, only to halt where she stood.

Ian rounded a clutch of boulders at the opposite end of the beach, carrying a towel. He glanced up from the ground and stopped dead, looking poleaxed. His breath came out in a long, loud whoosh.

Her heartbeat charged through her chest like a steam train. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. Words bottlenecked in her throat.

He closed his mouth. His stare heated and traveled over her naked body.

Fire coursed through her veins, eclipsing the cool water running in rivulets down her back. The primal instinct to answer that look in his eyes sent a wave of chills rippling across her skin.

He took a step, then halted. She saw his hand clench on the towel, and then he tossed it into the air toward her.

She caught it and flung it around herself. Shaking, she spun away, then bent to scrape up her clothes.

Gravel crunched again. Closer, and closer yet. “Sara,” he