“This next wave’s the one—it’ll break, then go back out. When you hear it crash, you push yourself out of there, head first, feet last, just like a baby. Take a deep breath and let go. Fall into the water. I’ll be there to catch you.”
She was shaking her head, and crying and shivering, not because she didn’t believe he would catch her, impossible as that seemed, but because she knew her body wouldn’t cooperate, would refuse to let go, would cling to the cave, paralyzed with cold and fear. But the wave was rolling toward them. I’ll stay in the opening, she thought. I’ll do just that much, not go back into the darkness. I’ll just do that.
She held her ground with her eyes shut, letting the spray hit her and knock the breath out of her. And she heard the last words Declan said, before the ocean stole them away.
“Trust yourself.”
The crash of the wave against the cliff was like the world coming to an end.
Sailor willed strength into her arms, pulled herself out of the cave mouth, scraping her belly, her thighs, her knees. She got one foot under her, braced it against the rock, and then, quite certain she would die, took one last breath and fell into the sea.
Chapter 17
“Drink this.” Rhiannon offered Sailor a mug of steaming amber-colored liquid.
The beach house was warm and dry and filled with people. Sailor was on the long sectional, swathed in blankets, sitting against Declan, whose arms encircled her. “What is it?” she asked, her hand emerging from a cashmere throw to take the mug. She gave it an exploratory sniff.
“This from the girl who’ll try anything?” Declan asked, giving her a squeeze.
That got a laugh out of Barrie, who was on her way in from the kitchen. “Anything as long as it’s vegetarian.”
“If that’s a controlled substance,” Brodie McKay said, “I don’t want to know.”
Rhiannon swatted him on the arm. “It’s tea. Chamomile.”
Declan smiled. He liked seeing a family in his house, Sailor’s cousins, her dog, her cousin’s dog and Brodie. The curtains were drawn, closing out the night ocean, muffling its sounds, and a fire burned in the fireplace. The mood was relief to the point of giddiness. Sailor was still shivering involuntarily every minute or so. Until her cousins showed, she’d been sitting on his lap, which he considered a much better arrangement, but he could see the avid curiosity on the faces of Rhiannon and Barrie, and figured Sailor would have enough explaining to do later without the more graphic displays of affection now.
“What I want to know,” Barrie said to Declan, “is how you found Sailor.”
“Once I figured out that Reggie Maxx was the killer, I knew she and he were fighting it out. But I didn’t know where.” Sailor squirmed in his arms, but he pulled her in closer. “Charlotte knew, though. A window opened between the worlds, and she showed me the cliff face. It’s close by. I knew the exact inlet. I knew Sailor was trapped, like Charlotte’s cat had been the night of the full moon, with the tide coming in. It took me no time at all to reach her. And right there for the taking was Reggie Maxx, waiting to see her drown.”
“The Elven propensity for revenge,” Brodie said.
“It worked in our favor,” Declan said. “Charlotte had a need for revenge, too—but not for herself, mind you. For her cat. Reggie abandoned Tamarind on the beach when he dumped Charlotte’s body. And nobody messed with Charlotte’s cat.”
“So Charlotte saved your life, Sailor,” Rhiannon pointed out, “which was generous, given that she herself is dead.”
“And that you’ve stolen her boyfriend,” Barrie said.
“Ex-boyfriend,” Sailor protested.
“And that you said you didn’t like her acting,” Declan reminded her.
“Charlotte, I take it back,” Sailor said, looking skyward. “You were brilliant, you deserved fourteen Oscars.”
Barrie sighed. “I have to say, I’m shocked by Darius’s role in all this.”
“But he was right, it wasn’t his attack on me that put me in danger,” Sailor said. “It was my own ace detective work.”
“Well, that’s generous of you,” Rhiannon said. “I plan to tell him exactly what I think of him and his vampire version of tough love. Scaring us all like that.”
“There should be a censure of some kind,” Barrie said.
“How does one censure a vampire?” Sailor asked.
“Good point. So what exactly happened to Reggie?” Barrie asked.
“Brodie knows,” Sailor said, nodding at her Elven cousin-to-be.
“When Alessande arrived at the shack,” Brodie said, “and saw the