The Fate of the Muse - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,60

a pop-up tent was in place for wardrobe and makeup. A variety of colorful surfboards were leaning up against a food service truck with a bunch of guys hanging around it. They all stood at attention as the models piled out of the shuttle.

Shayla took my arm, “C’mon, let’s go get you a swimsuit!” she said, dragging me into the tent. They were expecting her, and she repeated her story about me being a surf coach that had just been specially flown in. To my surprise, no one in the wardrobe department questioned her, handing me a dozen or so suits to try.

Shayla winked at me as I headed for the dressing room screen, whispering, “BS, courtesy of my first stepdad!”

I picked the suit I deemed most likely to stay on, wriggling into it. It was barer than I liked, scooping low in front with peekaboo cutouts and decorative brass rings I could have lived without. It would have to do. Beggars can’t be choosers, I reminded myself.

Shayla and the other models were gathered together for hair and makeup, and I slipped out of the tent to check out the beach. The black sand was coarse between my toes, made up entirely of ground up lava rock. You could see tubes where the lava had flowed down to the shore, and black rocks peeked out from the creeping green forest that was doing its best to cover every square inch of earth.

I stood at the water’s edge, delighted by the warm ocean lapping at my feet. It felt like bathwater, and I shivered with anticipation. Unfortunately, the waves were not at all what I’d hoped for. They were small and mushy, breaking directly onto the shore. Even body surfing was pretty much out of the question. I sighed heavily, echoing the soft whoosh of the ocean. Hopefully, there was better surf elsewhere on the island.

One thing I could do was swim, so I picked my way around a few sections of jagged lava, wading through the foam to get into deeper water. The warm saltwater felt great, surrounding me like a soft blanket, and I wished Ethan was beside me to feel it too. I dove under, opening my eyes to see the blurry outlines of a jagged reef below. The seafloor dropped off rapidly, disappearing completely into a black void.

I swam out further, and once I cleared the edge of the crescent, powerful ocean currents started pulling me away, making it difficult for me to stay even with the mouth of the cove. I was a little alarmed, and I started to tread water, catching my breath for the swim back in.

“I can hear her,” a voice rang out.

I froze in the water, looking around. I was alone, and rapidly being swept further out to sea.

“No, it can’t be,” another voice said. This time I put my head under the surface, looking around for mermaids. I couldn’t see anything but a deep bottomless sea.

“Listen to her!”

A shiver of fear ran through me. Was I losing my mind? A surge of adrenaline set my pulse racing, and I put my head down and swam as hard as I could, barely making any progress. I stopped, gasping for breath.

“Try it now,” an urgent voice called out. I put my head down and swam again until I managed to get out of the current. Once I got back into the cove I bobbed in the swells, resting and deciding how to maneuver into shore. I closed my eyes and concentrated, listening for the voices to return, but they were gone. I finally looked up to see a crowd had gathered on the beach. I rode in on a large swell, avoiding the jagged lava to catch my footing on the pebbly rocks. I was wringing out my ponytail as I waded in, surprised to find Shayla running up to me with a panicked look on her face.

“Oh my God! Are you okay?” she cried. There were three big guys behind her with their boards, and a group of models stood off to the side watching them. I recognized Gabe, a friend of Kimo’s I hadn’t seen since we’d surfed together in California. He had the same scared look on his face as Shayla. I noticed his arm was in a cast.

“I’m fine,” I told her, “Hey Gabe! How are you? I smiled, a little embarrassed about my revealing suit. I remembered the fun times we’d spent surfing together, and I was genuinely