Chapter 11

 

Hailey was her only supporter. All the others agreed that it would be better if she left the island. At least until everything blew over with Keelan and Evelyn. The sun would be going down soon, and Penny thought they’d at least wait until the following day. She’d barely gotten off the boat when talk turned to putting her back on it.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Kino told her, “but Evelyn wants you dead, especially after what you did to her the other night. She could easily cause a diversion that would get Thane off this island and then she could strike. It’s her way.”

Penny knew he was right, but she didn’t think running away was the solution.

“Where would you have me go?” Penny asked. “Any place you could go would need to be near the ocean and if you could go there, so could Evelyn. So could Keelan for that matter. I’m not a chicken shit. I’d rather stay and face her.”

Of course, she was afraid of the woman. Who wouldn’t be? She was everything Penny was not. She was sexy, clever, menacing, and strong as hell.

“For now, maybe you can catch that plane with Sylvia tomorrow,” Thane said. “Go home. I promise it won’t be for good. Let me take care of things here.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Penny asked. “No way. I’m not leaving you like that.”

“This isn’t up for discussion,” Thane said. “In any other situation, I would let you have your say, and I would honor your opinion, but this is about your safety…”

“…and it’s about a world you know nothing about,” Kino added.

“It’s about keeping our leader’s mate safe,” Kalina said. “And my new friend. He will bring you back after. You have to trust that he will.”

Penny couldn’t argue with their logic. If she stayed on the island, Evelyn could use her to hurt Thane. Yet, she didn’t want to leave his side. A good mate never leaves her other half. How would she prove her strength if she ran away at the first sign of trouble?

“Please,” Thane said as he walked up behind her and set his chin against her shoulder.

For a second, she thought he was going to press on the mark again and she flinched with memories of how great that felt. She wouldn’t want to lose it here in front of the others though.

Not here. Oh, how fucking embarrassing that would be. Might be worth it. But…no. Not here.

“You could see this as an opportunity to wrap up your affairs back home,” Ruby told her. “Think about it. You kind of need to do that anyway. Even if you don’t have much to do back home, you’ll feel much better knowing you said goodbye to everyone and brought some things back with you.”

Ruby’s point made sense. She’d been so excited to embark on this new journey with Thane and the rest of her new family that she hadn’t thought about the simple things she should take care of back home. Her apartment, her clothes, her car…none of that really mattered. She could ditch it all and be fine. But there were some important things she could imagine doing. She could have a final drink with Sylvia and say goodbye to Nora, the older woman who lived two doors down from her. They’d developed a bit of a friendship over the years. She could pet Amber, the beautiful husky that always beamed when it saw her passing on the street, one final time. That dog had cheered her up many times when she was feeling down. At least a dozen other things ran through her mind.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll give you a week, tops, and then I’m on my way back to Queensland. If you don’t pick me up, I’ll jump in the ocean, shift for the first time, and fight through the pain so I can come back to this island and kick your fucking ass.”

“Feisty one,” Kino said as he put his arm around Ruby.

“I love her,” Ruby said.

“It’s settled then,” Thane said. “Let’s go back to the boat. I’ll ride on board with you. Can the rest of you ride alongside us in the water, in case Evelyn or Keelan try anything on the way back? This seems too easy. They might try something, and if they do, I want to be prepared.”

“You got it,” Jagger said.

“Nothing’s gonna hit you,” Rickshaw promised. “We’ve got this.”

“You’ll have Penny back in no time,” Paisley added. “We’ll make sure she makes it to that plane.”

“I’ll stay with Ruby and the kids,” Hailey said, “but you guys keep her safe.

Hailey walked over and kissed Penny on the forehead.

“Come back soon,” she said.

Penny nodded and smiled.

“Alright,” Thane said. “Oliver, why don’t you stay and keep watch here with Hailey. No place is safe right now.”

“Sure thing,” Oliver said.

“Poet, you come with us on the boat,” Thane added.

“Thank you,” Poet said with a slight bow of his head.

Thane leaned down to whisper in Penny’s ear, “He doesn’t really like to shift. He still hasn’t gotten used to the pain. He prefers dry land.”

“Poet,” Penny said. “Why don’t you stay and keep an eye on Ruby. I’m sure she and Hailey could use the extra help.”

“No,” he said. “I’ll go with you. I’m fine.”

He was always so polite.

“See you soon, babe,” Kino said as he hugged Penny and then pulled off his clothes and handed them to Ruby.

Penny couldn’t help looking at this buff, Hawaiian man, with his cock dangling in the open air. It was almost comical how at ease he was with it. She turned to the other side and saw that Jagger had done the same. There he was in his long haired, swinging dick glory. Rickshaw was already naked and was beating on his chest like Tarzan by the time Penny looked his way. Faith pulled her clothes off. Kalina and Paisley followed. Even the women looked amazing. Paisley had her curvy thing going on, but she owned it so well she oozed sexiness. Everyone handed his or her clothes to Ruby. They said their goodbyes and then all ran to the ocean, diving in and never popping back up for air.

Juan Diego began checking the small dingy that would take them out to his larger vessel. Poet helped him use towels to dry a few saltwater puddles that could easily touch hers or Thane’s feet. Penny watched as they did this, and it dawned on her that Poet wasn’t shifting, even though his feet were entirely under water. Thane had told her he couldn’t touch salt water at all without it happening.

“Thane,” she said. “Why is Poet able to touch the water and you aren’t?”

“He’s different,” Thane said. “He’s always been like that. He can touch the water and he’s fine. He shifts on command, choosing when he’ll do it and when he won’t. And he hates it so it’s rare that he’ll do it.”

“Can he teach you?” Penny asked. “To control it?”

“It’s not that simple,” Thane said. “He was born that way. It’s not really something he can tutor me on. But that would be great, wouldn’t it?”

***

Penny was so full of questions. It was one of the things he loved about her. She was always thinking, as if every aspect of life was something she could apply the scientific method to. Hypotheses seemed to hover constantly in her mind. He wished his inability to control his shifting in salt water was something she could solve with ease, but he knew it wasn’t.

Once they were back on the boat, Thane was anxious. He hated being on the water in human form. He feared an attack on the boat, but he also knew that Evelyn would have to bring an army to take down the sharks he had guarding them. The members of his group were fun, friendly, and family-oriented, but they were complete badasses when it came time to fight.

Sitting on the deck of the boat, Thane held Penny in his arms and thought about how lonely he’d be with her gone. He hadn’t known her long, but somehow, he’d poured every inch of his being into her. She was everything now. That’s the way it was with his kind. When they found a mate, they became connected, and separating them could cause serious damage. Knowing she’d be back soon would have to keep him sane, and the fact that she’d return sooner if he took care of their problem would only drive him to do it more quickly.

Evelyn had to go. Plain and simple. Either she left the area, or she died, and Thane knew she wouldn’t willingly leave. She would have to be forced by extreme measures.

“I love you,” he told Penny as he wrapped his arms around her stomach.

She leaned back into him and stared out at the ocean. They were only a few miles from Queensland and the resort docks, and Thane was starting to relax a little. They were almost there. They weren’t in the clear, but they were much safer than they’d been farther from shore.

“You have to come back to me soon,” Thane said.

“You have to let me come back to you soon,” she said. “I’m not leaving because I want to. You remember that. This is your doing.”

“Don’t say it like that,” he replied. “You know I want you here so fucking badly. But I want you safe even more.”

“I know,” she said. “So, fix it so I’m safe. But do it quickly or maybe I’ll get used to life back home.”

They remained quiet and Thane wasn’t sure she was kidding. He turned her head so she was looking at him and saw her smirk growing.

“That’s not funny,” he said.

“What’s that?” Penny asked, pointing off in the distance.

Thane saw something on the water, but it was far away. It was big though. Big and loud. He could hear music and laughter and cries of joy. It sounded like one of those stupid party boats or party barges a lot of the high school graduates and college spring breakers came to the area for. Cancun used to be the place to go. Now it seemed youngsters wanted a new place for some fun in the sun. Australia was that place.

“I think it’s a party barge,” he said.

“And that?” she asked.

Speeding toward them from the opposite direction was a boat, this one smaller than Juan Diego’s but it was fast. With the sun starting to go down, the flashing lights on the boat were easy to see and Thane instantly knew who it was.

“That would be Keelan Kane,” he said. “I knew it. Something’s going on.”

“Evelyn?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet,” he replied. “But the officer is definitely up to no good.”

He turned his attention to the older man driving the boat.

“J.D., slow down,” Thane ordered. “Keep your hand on the shotgun. But don’t shoot unless it’s necessary.”

“Yes, sir,” Juan Diego replied.

“Poet!” Thane yelled down the stairs to the lower deck. “Keep your eyes and ears open. We have a visitor.”

“Maybe you should go below deck,” Thane told Penny.

“Not a chance,” she said. “If things get bad I will, but let’s see what he says.”

Poet climbed up to their level and made his way around to the back of the boat where he sat casually with his notebook opened.

“Cut the engine,” came the mechanical voice of Keelan over his loud speaker. “Cut the engine and prepare to be boarded.”

Keelan Kane came into view, his gun at the ready. Thane’s chest flexed as he gently pushed Penny away from him, so he could stand.

“What’s the problem?” Thane asked as he stood up.

“Got a report of some unruly sharks out on the water,” Keelan said.

“What does that have to do with us?” Thane asked.

“It’s my job to make sure everyone is safe around here. Where are you headed?”

“I’m taking Penny back to the mainland,” Thane said.

“I’m going home,” she said.

“Are you now?” Keelan asked.

“Yes, I am,” Penny said.

“And why would you do that?” he asked. “I thought you liked it around here.”

Thane closed his eyes for a second and pinged his message off Kino and the others beneath them.

“Keelan Kane is up here challenging us,” he told them. “But it’s strange. Almost like he’s buying time for something else.”

“We’ll keep our eyes open,” Kino replied.

“Push him in the water so I can bite his fucking head off,” Faith said.

“Nah,” Jagger said. “I called dibs on that a long time ago, remember?”

“I’m older and stronger,” Faith argued. “I always get dibs.”

“I’m bigger and meaner,” Rickshaw said, “So I do believe I get the dibs.”

“Concentrate,” Thane told them, not liking the sound of their silly banter.

“What are you doing here, Keelan?” Thane asked. “Shouldn’t you be out there protecting those kids on the barge out there? Drunk kids fall in the water all the time.”

“I only wanted to stop by and check on you folks,” Keelan said. “Why do I sense animosity here? You don’t like me or something?”

Before Thane had the opportunity to answer, a blood curdling scream rang through the night air. It came from the direction of the party barge.

“What was that?” Keelan asked.

“I fucking told you!” Thane said. “Evelyn. She must be at the barge.”

“Who?” Keelan asked.

“The woman you were fucking earlier!” Thane yelled at him. “She’s a shark shifter, you fucking moron. And she’s over there right now killing kids.”

For the first time, Keelan looked concerned. It might have even been fear on his face, probably from unknowingly allowing himself to be duped into wasting time stopping Thane’s boat while Evelyn and her gang turned a college party into a buffet.

“Shit!” Keelan said as he turned his boat around and sped toward the barge.

“Kino, Faith, everyone, Evelyn is attacking that party barge!” Thane said mentally to his group. “You have to save those kids.”

“Fuck,” Thane said.

“Go help them,” Penny said. “I’ll be fine.”

“It could be part of her plan,” Thane said. “If I leave you, she could…”

“I don’t think so,” Penny said. “This was the plan. She wants those kids. Shit…”

“What is it?” he asked.

“Sylvia’s on that barge!” Penny said. “She invited me earlier. She’s over there. Please! Go! Poet’s with me. Go!”

Thane kissed her forehead gently and then ran toward the edge of the boat. His body exploded as he dove through the air. His shattered bone pieces morphed into the shark in midair and then he hit the water, soaring through it and heading towards all the screams and all the blood.

Kino and the others were way ahead of him.

“It’s a fucking massacre,” Kino said mentally.

“Penny’s friend is there,” Thane informed them. “We have to stop them.”

He could sense the blood in the water. He could smell it, and his stomach growled the way it always did when he got a whiff of raw meat.

“Control yourselves,” Thane ordered. “Don’t eat anything that’s still alive. Dead things are fair game.”

It wasn’t the most pleasant thing to say, but they were sharks, and they needed to eat. Allowing them to pick up some of the pieces was the only decent thing to do. In fact, it was the only thing that would keep them from losing it and eating living humans. Once tempted with blood, the hunger would become too strong to stop themselves from eating.

The first thing Thane saw was a leg with a converse tennis shoe attached to it. His stomach growled, and he thought of gulping that leg down, but he needed all his senses, and if the hunger took over, he might make bad decisions.

The head of a girl with a blonde ponytail got in his way so he pushed through it and found more arms, legs, faces, and bloody torsos in the water. Through the murky water, Thane swam upward toward the surface and saw the frantically kicking legs and waving of hands as college kids tried to grab hold of anything they could to stay afloat and get out of the water.

One of Evelyn’s sharks swam right in front of him and ate the foot of one kid and the hand of another. Both screamed and fell into the water. Another of Evelyn’s sharks scooped them up, tearing into the face of one kid and the body of the other. It was a bloodbath.

“Kill all of Evelyn’s sharks,” Thane said to his gang. “Every single one!”

It was the first time he’d ever said such a thing. Killing his own, especially one who used to be his lover, had always seemed wrong, but now…after seeing this…she deserved to die. They all did. From somewhere up above, Thane heard gunshots and he knew Keelan was doing his duty. As much as he hated to admit it, they were on the same team right now.

“Got one,” Kino said, “but he took a fucking bite out of me. A good one. I’m hurt.”

“How bad?” Thane asked.

“I’ll live,” he replied. “But another one like that and I’m in trouble.”

“Do you want to head home?”

“No fucking way,” Kino replied. “I see another one. Going in.”

“Got one,” Faith said.

Faith was the toughest of his sharks. She was fucking ruthless in the water and he’d seen her in a bar fight once in human form. She was nasty then too. She didn’t give a shit about competition. Man, woman, she’d fight anyone disrespectful. She’d been begging Thane for years to let her loose on Evelyn.

“Ohhh doggy!” Rickshaw said. “This is fun!”

“Don’t be a show off, babe,” Paisley told her husband.

“If I find Evelyn, she’s mine,” Faith warned.

“If you find her, take her,” Thane said as he shot at one of Evelyn’s sharks, the one with a missing eye, and tore his teeth into the shark’s dorsal fin, ripping it off before circling around quickly and chomping down on the shark’s snout. This one was out of commission before he knew what hit him.

***

Poet stood next to Penny as they both tried to catch a glimpse of what was going on. The screaming was so loud that even from as far away as they were sitting, she could hear them. She said a silent prayer that Thane would be okay, and that he might find Evelyn quickly. If this ended tonight, she wouldn’t have to get on that plane home.

“Wicked, isn’t it?”

Her voice broke through the air and sounded almost musical in its cheerfulness, as if she were singing them out. Penny whipped her head around to see Evelyn standing on the boat, stark naked, dripping wet. The nude bitch wrapped her wet hair around in one hand and then leaned over and grabbed Poet’s pen out of his hand and shoved it through her hair, creating an on-the-spot bun.

Poet didn’t budge. He was as shocked at her arrival as Penny.

“Penny, go below deck,” Poet told her.

“No, don’t move,” Evelyn said. “Please. We should talk.”

“Talk about?” Penny asked.

“How about the fact that you hit me in the face with a fucking beer bottle the other night,” she said, pointing at a small scar at the top of her forehead. “How about that?”

“Some bitches deserve to get hit,” Penny replied.

“Is that right?” Evenly asked.

“That’s right,” Penny said.

“Hmm…” Evelyn replied, and as soon as the sound escaped her mouth, she lunged forward and kicked out with her right foot, slamming it into Penny’s stomach.

Penny fell backward against the boat railing and almost flipped over it but caught her balance. That was all the strength she had though. She fell to her knees, gasping for air. The kick had taken all her breath away.

“Are you okay?” Evelyn asked. “Are you hurt? Can you breathe?”

Her feet were close to Penny, underestimating her, and she’d taken enough martial arts classes to know that she wasn’t an expert by any means, but she knew the basics, and Evelyn was close enough for some of the basics to work.

Penny grabbed both of Evelyn’s ankles and yanked on them, pulling both the bitch’s feet out from under her. She yelped and fell backward hard, smacking her head against J.D.’s steering wheel before hitting the ground. Penny climbed to her knees and went after her, raining punches down at the woman’s face.

Evelyn slapped the fists away easily and launched an elbow up at Penny that cracked her hard on the jaw. The world swirled before her eyes and darkness started to take hold. She was blacking out. Through her fading vision, she caught a glimpse of Poet grabbing Evelyn by her bun and dragging her away. He yanked Evelyn to her feet and ran at the side of the ship, tossing her over the edge.

“Come on,” he said as he tried to help her climb to her feet. “You’ll be much safer down below. The farther from the water, the better.”

They hadn’t even reached the stairs when Evelyn leapt back up onto the ship. For the first time ever, she watched the shift take place. A full-grown shark left the ocean and was halfway through the air when it looked like a strange explosion, and then a ripple that rocked through her body. Then her human form took shape and by the time she hit the boat deck, she did it on two feet.

“That was not nice, Poet,” Evelyn said. “Why don’t you try that shit in the water?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Poet said. “You know what happens when you do.”

“Oh, you won’t like him when he’s angry,” Evelyn taunted him.

She stepped closer. Penny climbed to her feet and was ready to fight if needed, but Evelyn walked past her and toward Poet.

“Have you heard the joke about the albino who walks into a bar?” she asked him.

Poet’s fists clenched.

“No?” Evelyn asked. “Never heard it? Me neither. You know why? Because nobody gives a fuck about an albino.”

With blinding speed, Evelyn spun around and punched Penny in the face, knocking her backwards off the boat and into the water.

“Oops,” was the last thing Penny heard before she felt the cold of the water.

Then it happened. Her body was a glass vase and the saltwater was a hammer, slamming against every bone in her body. Her wrists broke first, or at least it seemed to start at her wrists. Then each finger. They snapped backward and sunk into her skin. Her legs straightened out and then caved inward at the knees. The crunch ran through her body and entered her brain where she felt a thousand miniature nails driven through her skull. It happened in seconds but felt like a lifetime, and then it was over.

Her body began to sink toward the ocean floor. Penny’s eyes fluttered open.

“I’m hurt,” a voice said, but it seemed to be in her mind.

“Take that, motherfucker,” came another voice.

“Does anyone see Evelyn?” came one that sounded like Thane.

The voices came at her and she couldn’t do anything to stop them. And she was drowning. No air came to her and she was too deep to open her mouth and inhale. Mechanically, her body seemed to begin doing what needed to be done to keep her alive. Her fins moved and then air came but only enough to keep her alive. She was moving too slowly.

She was trying to figure out how to speed up when she felt the impact. Something slammed into her hard. It was another shark. Evelyn. She’d jumped in after her. Penny flipped. She lost complete control of her body as it turned over underwater. She couldn’t figure out which way was up, and which was down, and before she could spend any more time on the thought, she felt the teeth at her side. Jagged blades tore at her flesh. Evelyn had bitten the shit out of her. A red stream swirled in the water all around her and Penny got a taste of her own blood.

I’m going to die. I’m going to fucking die without having the chance to fight back.

She turned herself upright and tried to swim away when she saw the shark coming again. Then, from underneath came a larger shark, this one a giant, a great white, with its mouth open and ready. It was the stuff of nightmares, razor sharp teeth and a giant snout. Penny knew she was going to die. This was it. In her head, she said a final goodbye to Thane.

But the shark swerved around Penny and attacked Evelyn, slamming its teeth into her from beneath.

Penny didn’t stay to watch the fight. She turned and made her way toward the boat. She couldn’t compete underwater. It was a game she would lose no matter what, so she needed to get back onboard. Behind her, she could hear the thrashing in the water as Evelyn fought off the much larger shark. Penny thought of how lucky she’d been to have the shark go after Evelyn instead of her.

Excitement ran through her as she saw the boat’s ladder up ahead. She swam toward it as fast as she could handle, and it was like her body knew instinctively what to do. She mentally reached for the ladder the way she would have done if she were in human form, and then in another second of bone shattering madness, her hand grabbed hold of the metal bar. She fought through the pain of shifting and hoisted herself back onto the boat where she collapsed onto her back and sobbed. She’d never felt pain so immense in all her life. Her side ached, and she wondered if she would bleed out and die on the boat deck.

The hands on her were caring and warm.

“Come with me, Miss Penny,” Juan Diego said as he pulled her away from the ladder. “We need to get you away from the water.”

“Poet,” she asked. “Where’s Poet?”

“He…he went in the water after you,” J.D. said.

She thought about it for a second and then said, “The great white?”

“Yes, Miss Penny,” he replied. “He’s different from the others.”

She could only imagine the pain he must go through when shifting into such a large shark, if it hurt her so badly transforming into a smaller one. He hated shifting, yet he’d done it for her.

“Can he beat her?” she asked, concerned about her new friend’s safety.

“Most tiger sharks, yes,” J.D. said. “Unless they are bigger than him. Evelyn? I do not know.”

Hands grabbed the ladder behind her and Poet pulled himself onto the boat, drenched, and shaking. He wasn’t hurt at all, but he looked terrified.

“Are you okay?” Penny asked.

Poet looked up at her and stared at her side.

“I should be asking you that,” he said.

She looked down and saw that she was covered in blood. She fell over, clutching her side.

***

Thane searched the water everywhere and couldn’t find Evelyn.

“Where is she?” he asked, pinging the question off the other sharks.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” came his answer in the form of Axel, headed straight for him.

Axel knew better, but it seemed he’d received a pep talk since their last battle. Evelyn must have either scared the shit out of him or made him believe he was Superman, because the smaller shark was on course to go head-to-head with Thane.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Thane said. “Fucking punk.”

Both sharks dove downward at the same time, then realizing an upward attack wouldn’t work, Axel swung right, and Thane followed.

“Run, little bitch,” he said to Axel.

“I’m not the little bitch,” Axel replied. “The little bitch is being taken care of right now…as we speak.”

“What?!” Thane thought. “Fucker!”

Axel chuckled and made a sharp left turn that baffled Thane for a second. His mind was no longer in the game but had turned to Penny. Was Evelyn attacking her?

That’s why she’s not here.

Thane turned to leave the scene and go after Penny when the younger, smaller shark shot up from the bottom, slamming his snout into Thane’s underbelly, and opening its mouth to take a bite out of Thane. Thane was too smart and too fast for such a stupid attack. He used the crash’s momentum and swung with it, letting Axel’s snout pass right by his caudal fin at the rear, and then swerved around to Axel’s bottom and seized the younger shark’s pelvic fin in his teeth. Axel swam so hard and so fast he ripped his own fin out from Thane’s mouth. Blood filled the water.

Axel tried to swim away but didn’t get far. His pain was too immense. Thane knew that. He’d hurt him bad. He considered letting him go, but he’d told his group to fight for the kill, and being their leader, he needed to do the same. With lightning fast speed, he swam at Axel and opened his mouth around his body, chomping down on him until he tasted blood. Then he chomped again and tore left and right, ripping the belly out from under him. Thane didn’t let go until he saw the fight leave Axel’s body. Then, as he let go and watched the other shark sink to the depths of the sea, he finally turned to go save Penny, and he sensed even from such a great distance, that something bigger was in the water, and it wanted to get to Penny first.

***

Penny’s side throbbed and she knew if she didn’t get to a hospital soon, she would bleed out and die. She wasn’t sure how much the shark blood would help her. Would she heal her own self, or would she die before she could learn to do it?

Poet and J.D. leaned over her, trying to help her wake up, when a new set of hands grabbed hold of the ladder. This time, Evelyn pulled herself onto the boat. She was hurt and bleeding even worse than Penny.

“My God,” J.D. said.

“Evelyn, please stop this,” Poet begged. “You’re both hurt. We can live together in peace and you can both live long happy lives.”

“This bitch dies today,” Evelyn said.

“Why do you hate me so much?” Penny asked.

“I don’t hate you, sweetie,” Evelyn informed her. “I hate him. And if you’re what makes him happy, then you’ve gotta go.”

Penny knew if she didn’t do something soon, and quickly, Evelyn would kill her. Poet was in no shape to go back into the water. He was still trembling by her side. Juan Diego wasn’t going to be any help at all. And Thane was somewhere else. He was busy fighting his own battles. This one she needed to handle by herself.

Evelyn’s footsteps slapped against the boat in wet thuds, so Penny knew she was close. So was Juan Diego who was still squatting down next to her. Even closer was the knife on his belt. It was small, something probably for cutting open fish, but it would work. Summoning all the energy she had left, Penny turned when Evelyn was only a few feet away. Her rage took over and with the raised blade, she charged at her foe, dove at her, and slammed her body against her all while stabbing her in the face and neck repeatedly. They both went overboard.

The water was a cloud of red as both women shifted in an instant. This time, Penny fought through her pain and did her best to remain focused. The fear of losing herself in the confusion that happened between human and shark transformation kept her aware. Evelyn in her tiger shark form snapped at Penny, but Penny moved out of the way in time to dodge the attack. She tried to swim around and attack Evelyn from the side, but her enemy was much wiser, stronger, and faster than she was. Her only advantage was the amount of blood seeping out of Evelyn’s facial wounds. This only allowed Penny to dodge Evelyn’s attacks, but she still didn’t have the skills to launch an attack of her own.

Then, through the bloody ocean fog, things seemed to move in slow motion as Penny saw what was approaching. It was a giant great white shark. Poet had come to save her again.

Thank God. I love you, Poet.

The great white came at them fast, but it was aiming at Penny, not Evelyn.

No, wrong shark, Poet! No!

Penny swam out of the way just as the bigger shark nipped at her fin. Circling around, she watched as the shark soared up toward the bottom of J.D.’s boat where it turned around and aimed right at her again.

Oh shit!

“Poet, no! What are you doing?” Penny said in her mental voice.

“What’s happening?” Thane replied.

“Thane!” she said in her head. “A great white is coming at me. Poet’s coming at me.”

“Poet would never,” Thane said. “That can’t be Poet. Poet, is that you?”

“I’m on the boat,” he said.

“Get in the water, fast!” Thane ordered.

The oncoming great white was much too close for anyone to save Penny. Or at least that’s what she thought. Its face was so close, only a few feet away, and she could never, even in her nightmares, dream up a face so full of hate. Its black eyes were beady, distant, absent love or any kind of caring. A scar ran up one side of its face. It had the look of a real warrior, a shark that had seen its fair share of battles and had been on the winning end of them all. Its jaws opened wide and were about to close on her when a splash sounded off from overhead and a new great white sped down at her, slamming its snout into the head of the other.

Poet had saved her this time. The real Poet.

Both sharks wriggled and spun. Penny wanted so badly to help Poet, but she was in no shape and wasn’t prepared to fight a great white. She would have to handle Evelyn, but it seemed the injured she-shark had fled the scene.

“I’m on my way, Poet!” Thane yelled. “Get out of there if you can.”

“He’s fucking big,” Poet said. “I can’t handle him. I don’t fight like this. I can’t…”

Penny was about to reach the ladder when she looked down and saw the larger of the great whites take a giant bite out of the side of the smaller one.

“Poet!” she yelled.

Poet’s fins shook once, then twice as he held onto his life. The bigger shark let go of him and swam around quickly to attack again. Poet was no longer moving, only sinking toward the ocean floor. With only inches before he would clamp down on her friend again, Penny thought it was over, but then Thane flew into view, sinking his teeth into the side of the great white the same way it had with Poet. Thane’s mouth wasn’t nearly as large as the bigger shark and it only did half the damage.

The great white shook him off and swam away quickly with Thane hot on its trail. Poet sank out of view. Penny went after him. She had no plan, but she knew she couldn’t leave him behind. The trail of his blood was easy to follow, and she found him on the ocean floor.

“Poet!” she cried as she moved closer.

She knew before she reached him that he was gone, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe it. He’d tried so hard to stay out of the water. He wanted nothing to do with the hunting and patrolling the waters the other males seemed to love so much. He only wanted to sit on the beach and write in his notebook. He wanted to be human. After feeling the pain of the shift herself, she understood, and she knew his transformation was a lot worse. To change into such a gigantic shark would take its toll on your body. Yet, he’d done it in a heartbeat to save her. He’d done it twice. And now he would never do it again.

She cried salt water tears as she swam in slow circles around him. He’d died saving her.

“Please wake up,” she begged. “This isn’t right. This is all so stupid. You died for what? For me? I’m supposed to die anyway!”

“He’s gone,” Thane’s voice popped into her head.

She sensed him behind her and knew he was approaching.

“He’s gone,” Thane assured her. “I can sense all my sharks and even though he’s not a tiger shark, I knew him well enough. And no shark can lie still like that.”

“Thane, he can’t be dead,” she argued. “Not for me. Not like this.”

“He’s gone, babe,” he replied. “It’s not your fault. It’s part of our life.”

“Did you kill that bastard?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “He got away. I wasn’t fast enough to catch him.”

“Evelyn did too,” Penny said. “But I hurt her bad. If she does come back around, she won’t be nearly as tough as she was before.”

“Come on,” Thane said. “We need to get you out of here in case they come back.”

“They’re not coming back,” Penny said. “Not today anyway.”

How she knew this, she wasn’t sure, but she knew it. They’d done what they came to do. They’d wreaked havoc on everyone around her. They were done for the day.

“Come on anyway,” Thane said. “Let’s go home.”

“And Poet?” she asked.

“I told you. He’s gone.”

“But we can’t leave him here like this.”

“Where do you think sharks go when they die?” he asked.

She didn’t answer. She didn’t know.

“They go to the ocean floor…or they go into the stomach of whatever killed them,” he said. “It’s our way of life.”

“He would want to be buried on the island,” she said. “With his notebook.”

“He would be fine with this,” he assured her. “Besides, we have no way of getting him out of here. You’re like me now. If you touch the water, you shift. And as sharks we can’t move him out of here.”

She knew he was right. Reluctantly, she followed Thane back to the boat, and said goodbye to Poet forever.