Chapter 2

 

Gliding through the ocean like a torpedo aimed at a submarine, Thane focused all his senses, trying to pick up on exactly where the small motorboat was capsizing. He knew he had less than a minute before the sunlight zone would be bathed in blood. Once that happened, all bets would be off. Even his own would have a hard time holding back once the water ran crimson.

He’d been on the shore of Shamrock Island, his island, when the news came in. Faith had told him. She’d been on her way back from the mainland when she saw the small vessel sinking along the rocky shores of Macleay. The idiot captain had probably been drinking, which was often the case, when he woke up to find he’d run off course. Now, it was too late, and if Thane didn’t reach him and whomever else he had on board, they’d never step foot on dry land again.

A school of marlin scattered as he soared through the water and shifted his dorsal fins to cut right as his senses picked up on the sputtering of an engine still running. The boat would be going nowhere based on the information he’d received from Faith, but it seemed no one had told the captain that.

I’m close. I’m so fucking close I can practically taste him. Please don’t let Evelyn get to him first.

Of course, it would be a him. Female captains, for the most part, were smart enough to stay clear of islands they had no business near. The males always seemed to be the daring ones, pushing boundaries, usually pridefully whisking tourists off to see the schools of sharks. If Evelyn got to him first, it would be the last thing the man would encounter. Nobody, no matter how courageous, wanted to be on the receiving end of what she had in store.

Tunnel vision kicked in and Thane saw it. As if through a giant scope, everything else around the circular sight faded away. It was all about that small dot ahead where five sharks had beat him to the table. Thane would have cleared it if he he’d gotten there first. He would have pulled the tablecloth out from under it, scattered the dishes, and freed the meal. But he wasn’t like the others. They were hungry, ravenous, and they were unraveling the silverware, tucking their napkins into their laps, and licking their lips as they prepared to dine.

Fuck!

He focused and smelled the water. No blood. Motor oil, but no blood.

Thank God.

Using his ability to communicate mentally with other underwater shifters, Thane sent out a message that would ping from one mind to any other in his vicinity. If these sharks weren’t shifters, he was screwed. He could only communicate mentally with his own kind, and he was in no mood to play the charade game he had to use when trying to get a message across to non-shifter sharks.

“You’re too late,” came Evelyn’s female voice, straight to his subconscious. “We’re hungry, baby. And these humans are not yours to save.”

“Don’t do this,” he shot back as he continued to speed toward what was sure to be a mess by the time he got there.

Where the fuck is Kino? Where are Faith and Jagger and the others?

“Consider it already done,” Evelyn said, her voice soft in its wickedness. Like the conniving, evil bitch she always was, she did it all in a soothing voice that made males fall in love with her and beg to be taken into her bed.

Thane had been there, and he’d done that. It was a mistake he’d never repeat.

“Evelyn, I’m begging you,” he said. “This is wrong.”

A cloud of red mist jutted down deep from the surface, spreading out like a scarlet blanket, sending her team into a feeding frenzy and enraging Thane. He’d done everything he could to stop the senseless killing, the murdering of humans that always resulted in retaliation and vengeance from their hunters and law enforcement. He had tried everything to convince his kind that there were other ways. They could shift into human form and eat all the meat they wanted. There was no need to kill humans.

But Evelyn got off on the power. She loved the fear. She lived for the excitement of the hunt, even if her idea of hunting was the equivalent of trying to catch a deer with a hand grenade. Blood everywhere and not exactly what Thane considered a challenge.

“Bitch!” Thane roared mentally as he pushed on, now only wanting to face her and swat away her weak little soldiers.

“Mmm,” she replied. “Delicious. You really should try some.”

As Thane finally reached the red, rapidly spreading cloud, some of it seeped into his nostrils. It was delicious, but it was wrong.

“Take care of him, please,” Evelyn’s voice said, pinging off each shark in her school and making its way over to Thane.

Her inability to focus her communication on one shark tipped him off. He was stronger, faster, and more experienced than all her followers.

“Come at me!” he shouted.

One of the tiger sharks in her family turned toward him with an arm clenched in his teeth. He devoured it quickly and darted toward Thane.

“Big mistake,” Thane said as he skidded right and swung back around in time to sink his teeth into one of the shark’s pectoral fins.

“Motherfucker,” the shark cried. “Let go!”

“Giving you something to remember me by,” Thane said as he ripped his snout right, tearing off a small chunk of the fin and swallowing it. “Next time, stick to sea turtles.”

The shark cried out.

Thane hated hurting his own. He could have done so much more damage, but this was only a warning. Maybe next time this guy would remember him and would steer clear.

“Get him!” Evelyn commanded.

She would never come after him herself. She wouldn’t admit it, but Thane knew she was afraid. Her yuppies would do her bidding, and they would each suffer for it.

Three more sharks charged at him and Thane was sure Axel was one of them. He hated that guy with every ounce of his being. He wasn’t sure which of the sharks transformed into the shaggy blond, blue-eyed human, but if he could figure it out, he’d make sure to leave him a permanent scar he couldn’t hide in his two-legged form.

Like an underwater fighter pilot, Thane swung his body around to the right, but the other sharks followed. Even though he was the biggest of the group and was much more skilled in the fight, he knew he was in danger if all three pounced on him at once.

Where the fuck is Kino?!

“Over here, bruh,” his best friend and right-hand man announced, his voice sinking into his brain.

From somewhere behind him, Kino, Faith, and Jagger dashed into view, slamming into the opposing three swimmers.

“There’s no need for this,” Thane tried to tell Evelyn once more. “Take your school and leave!”

Sharks from both sides swam at each other, dodging and snapping. Finally, Evelyn’s voice echoed through the water as she mentally yelled, “Enough! Retreat!”

“Damn right!” Kino replied.

“You should warn your flunky what happens to sharks who think they can trash talk me, Thane,” Evelyn replied.

“I’ve already heard,” Kino snapped back. “Your sexual abstinence is legendary.”

Thane would have laughed out loud if he were in human form. Evelyn had no ability to refrain from sex. She was known for taking a new man into her bed nearly every night.

“We need to talk,” Thane told Evelyn, and all the other sharks heard.

“Are you trying to call a meeting with me?” she replied. “I’m afraid that has always resulted in far too little talking. You never could resist me.”

Finally, Thane spotted her up ahead as she turned around and swam away from the area. He chased after her.

“Enough is enough,” he told her. “Put an end to this. You’re only calling more attention to us.”

“Attention is good,” she replied. “It keeps our reflexes in tune. Go back to your island and wait for my next attack. It’s what you do best.”

Thane stopped following. It was of no use. She wouldn’t listen to reason. She never had. It’s the reason he made her leave his group in the first place. Now, she was the leader of her own, and she was loving every second of it.