Chapter Twenty-Three
Sam hesitated for the briefest of seconds when she reached the top of the path leading down to the beach. The sun was sinking below the horizon. If they didn’t hurry, it would be full dark. Not that it would matter to Ezra, but it would make it virtually impossible for her to see. She had a flashlight tucked in the jacket pocket. It was Ezra’s and fell all the way to her knees. With the sleeves rolled up, she knew she looked ridiculous, but it was warm, so she didn’t care.
He’d been silent on the walk here, but he hadn’t ignored her. No, he’d been there to help her over any obstacle and to make sure she was right beside him. He was in full protective mode.
She knew he would have much preferred if she stayed back at the house, but she needed to be a part of dealing with this mess. Not that she had any experience dealing with a dead body before, not outside of a formal funeral setting, and this wasn’t anywhere near the same thing.
“You can go back, and I can handle this.” Ezra stepped in front of her to block her view down to the tiny cove and the body on the beach.
That he wanted to spare her meant a lot. “I need to do this.” She wanted him to understand. She had to stand beside him through the good and the bad, otherwise they’d never have a shot at a real relationship.
He nodded, turned his back on her, and started down the path. She followed and tugged the zipper all the way to her neck. The wind was whipping up, and she was grateful for the heavy jacket and the sweater beneath it.
Sand had blown over a part of Aaron’s body. His eyes were wide open, and his features were locked in an expression of pain. She felt a twinge of sorrow for him before reminding herself he would have killed her in the end. It had been his life or hers, and Ezra had made the choice.
“What do we do?” She slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze to remind him they were together.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll move him back to his boat, take it out to sea, and toss his body overboard. If it’s ever discovered, I’m hoping they’ll decide that the injuries are consistent with his body being tossed against the rocks.”
It should work, because that was exactly what had happened, except it had been Ezra and not the ocean waves that had done the tossing. She glanced at the blood on Aaron’s leg. “What about the wound I gave him?” She looked at Ezra. “Won’t they notice that if his body is found?”
He shook his head and his jaw firmed. “Doubtful. They’d most likely assume it was caused by a sharp rock. If he’s in the water for any length of time, the marine life will feed on him, and it won’t be a problem.”
She shuddered and tried not to think about it. “What can I do to help?”
“Look for the dagger and anything Dexter might have dropped. We can’t leave anything here.” Ezra began to unroll the tarp he’d brought with him.
Sam was glad to be away from the body. She wasn’t squeamish, not usually, but seeing the body was a little off-putting. “I’m on it.”
Since the sun was virtually gone, she dug out the flashlight and began to shine it along the shore, trying to remember exactly where they’d fought. The light caught a flash, and she hurried toward it.
The Spanish dagger was sitting just beyond the reach of the waves. She picked it up and examined it. The priceless artifact seemed to have sustained no damage, other than the blood still staining the hilt.
Sam shuddered and walked to the edge of the water. She couldn’t let it stay there. Nothing could link Aaron with them. When the next wave rolled in, she bent down and let the water wash over the blade. She held it there as the ocean covered the blade again and again until it was finally clean.
She wiped the blade on the leg of her pants and tucked it into her pocket. She was glad they’d found it. It was one of Ezra’s treasures. In spite of the fact she’d used it to stab a man, she loved the piece. It had allowed her to fight back, had given her hope.
She scanned the beach with the flashlight, walking up and down the area, scuffing out any sign of Aaron’s footprints as she went. She was very aware of Ezra wrapping the body and gathering Aaron’s rifle.
“I don’t see anything else,” she told Ezra. He had much better vision than her. He could have found the dagger faster than she had. She knew this was his way of allowing her be a part of things.
Ezra stood beside her. He narrowed his gaze and scanned the sandy and rocky shoreline. He stopped abruptly and moved his gaze back a few inches. When he walked away, she followed, wanting to know what he’d seen.
A scrap of fabric covered in blood fluttered in the wind. He didn’t bother to pick it up, and her skin prickled. The rise in energy was unmistakable. He leaned forward and blew softly. It wasn’t warm wind he blew this time. It was fire. The fabric caught and burned, disappearing into nothingness. The blood stain disappeared, leaving only darkened sand behind.
“Wow, that’s impressive.” That was putting it mildly. “I didn’t know you could do the fire thing.” Made sense, though. In every legend about dragons, they had the ability to discharge fire from their nose or mouth.
“It’s a challenge to control it in this form, but I can do it. We all can.” He wrapped his arm around her and led her back to the base of the path. “Drakon fire destroys completely. The only thing it can’t destroy is another drakon. Our scales are too tough. Only a drakon’s own fire can destroy them.”
“So drakons can’t use it to destroy other drakons.” From an evolutionary standpoint, that made sense.
“Right, but we can still beat the hell out of one another.” On that pleasant note, he left her to retrieve the body. She had so much to discover about Ezra and his culture and was eager to learn. The fact she couldn’t share it with anyone was somewhat of a disappointment. She was an archaeologist, after all. But nothing was more important than protecting Ezra.
“Let’s go.” He had the tarp over his left shoulder and indicated with his free hand that she should lead the way.
She really needed the flashlight now and focused the beam on the ground in front of her. “Do you think the Knights will send someone else?”
“Yes. They already have another man on board the Easton. Even if they buy Dexter’s death as an accident, they’ll investigate. They don’t know what happened to you.”
“What are we going to do about that?” The race for her life had seemed so much longer earlier today, but they weren’t too far from the dock. It was actually a pleasant walk with Ezra beside her and the moon rising in the darkened sky. If it weren’t for the dead body, it might even be considered romantic.
“You have to die.”
Sam stumbled to a halt and swung around, aiming the flashlight right at Ezra. “What?”
He threw his hand over his eyes. “Can you point that damn thing away?”
She knew he hadn’t meant it literally, or at least she hoped not. No, she was certain he would never harm her. Her nerves were just frayed from the happenings of the day. The dead body certainly wasn’t helping settle her. She lowered the flashlight until the beam hit the ground. “Care to explain yourself?”
He sighed, grabbed her free hand, and started walking again. “I have to retrieve the damn dingy you stole from the bottom of the ocean. I’ll need some of your clothes, too. Your jacket for sure. Your sneakers, too.”
“You’re going to stage my death.”
“Yes.” They walked out of the woods and started across the meadow. The light from the house shone like a beacon. “And no, you can’t help. I sunk that boat deep in a crevice so it would never be discovered. I wasn’t thinking ahead. I only wanted to destroy any evidence that might lead the Knights to my home.”
Sam refrained from commenting. Ezra had assumed she’d been working with the Knights when they’d first met. It had made perfect sense to get rid of any evidence. Sort of like what they were doing now.
She followed him down the path to the dock. The sound of their shoes against the wood seemed to echo unusually loud. Or maybe that was her imagination acting up. After all, they were disposing of a dead body.
Ezra stepped on board Aaron’s boat, his balance never wavering. He might have been walking down a sidewalk for all the difference it made to him. He set the tarp down and then stepped back onto the dock.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
She understood. “Okay. I’ll make coffee or something.” She winced, feeling rather useless.
Ezra brushed his fingers over the side of her face. “There’s nothing you can do, but it means a lot to me that you want to help.”
Sam nodded. What could she say to that? It was the truth. She couldn’t exactly dive down and retrieve the boat like he could. She couldn’t be in the cold water like he could. She huddled in his jacket, feeling totally useless and not liking the sensation at all. She was a doer and not used to sitting on the sidelines.
He put his thumb under her chin and raised her head. “There are things I can physically do that you can’t.” That was certainly blunt but accurate. “But having you here makes me stronger, more determined. You have strengths of your own, knowledge, experience. Never doubt your value.”
He brushed a kiss over her lips. “You have more courage than any other woman I’ve ever known.” He gave a rueful laugh. “If it were up to me, I’d lock you inside and surround you with guard dogs.” He brushed a curly, windswept lock behind her ear. “But I know you wouldn’t stay. And that’s what makes you special.”
Her throat tightened and her eyes filled. She swallowed and blinked back tears, praying he would believe her watering eyes were caused by the chilly wind. His words touched her heart.
She cleared her throat. “Go. Do what you have to do and come back.”
He gave a curt nod and began to strip off his clothes. She shivered when he removed his sweater and then his jeans. The dipping temperature had no affect on him. He might as well have been on an island in the Caribbean instead of off the coast of Maine in November.
He folded his clothes and handed them to her. “Can you take these inside for me?”
That she could do. “Absolutely.” There were other things she could do as well. “I’ll have something cooked for when you get back.” He’d be expending a lot of energy and would be hungry.
“I’ll hurry,” he promised.
Sam shook her head. “I’d rather you do it right and safely than fast.”
He flashed her a grin. “You and Tarrant are going to get along famously. You’re a lot alike.”
“A man of infinite wisdom and sense,” she shot back. If she didn’t tease him, she’d probably cry.
“I’m not telling him you said that.” Ezra stepped back on board Aaron’s boat. He was a shadow in the dark, but his tattoo seemed to shimmer beneath the gloom. “Stay inside.” He paused and pinned her with his patented stare, the one that would reduce most men into jabbering idiots it was so fierce. It made Sam smile.
“The phone for my office is broken.”
She winced, knowing that was her fault. She’d had it with her when she’d fled the house and Aaron. The salt water had destroyed it. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m not. I only wish you’d had my phone number.” He handed her his phone, which he’d retrieved from the beach. His clothing hadn’t survived the shift to his dragon form, but his phone miraculously had. “Charge it and use it if you have to.”
“I will,” she promised, even though she couldn’t foresee a situation where she would. Ezra would come home and the Knights had no idea where she was. If she stayed inside, she should be fine.
“I need your sneakers.” He’d mentioned he’d need some of the clothing to stage a shipwreck, but it was suddenly more real.
“Oh, right.” It was harder than she thought to slip off her sneakers and hand them to him. The chill from the thick wooden planks seeped through her thin socks. “What about my coat?” He’d mentioned using that, too.
Ezra glanced away and then back to her. “I put it aboard the boat earlier when you were getting ready.”
“I see.” Ezra was one step ahead of her, always thinking.
She shivered and huddled deeper into his coat. She knew he only wore it when he went to the mainland. He didn’t need it for warmth. But it still held his scent, and that comforted her.
She’d thought she’d be fine here on Ezra’s island, but Aaron had found her.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised.
He cast off the line, started the engine, and backed away from the dock. He waved before he set a course out to sea. She wanted to stay and watch but knew it was safer for them both if she was inside.
The island seemed lonelier, darker, and more ominous without Ezra beside her. She hurried toward the house, using her flashlight to guide the way. The last thing she wanted to do was trip and fall.
If she did, would she injure herself or would Ezra’s blood, which was flowing through her veins, heal her?
She had so much to learn.
She heaved a sigh of relief when she hit the porch stairs. She bolted through the front door and closed it behind her. The lighting in the room wasn’t overly bright. More for ambiance than anything.
She removed the jacket Ezra had loaned her and hung it up in the closet by the front door. She needed coffee. And if she was being truthful, more light. She hit the switch in the kitchen and the room was bathed in a warm, bright glow.
She stood there and took several deep breaths before going to the coffeepot. She tried not to think too much while she filled the machine and set it to brew. Once she was done, she stood in the center of the kitchen, not quite sure what to do.
Her life was irrevocably changed. There was no going back to the normal world, whatever that was. She was in love with a drakon, a mythical creature who wasn’t supposed to exist. She was also in the middle of a war, one that had been waging for centuries.
She began to sway and grabbed the edge of the stone countertop. “Get a grip.” She needed to keep busy, otherwise she’d lose her mind while waiting for Ezra to return. She’d already studied his collection earlier. Not that there wasn’t more to see or learn, but she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to enjoy it.
She needed physical activity.
When all else failed, there was always housework. She left the coffee brewing and headed upstairs. She’d change the bed and gather all the dirty clothes. Once she had the laundry sorted out, maybe she’d clean the bathroom. She needed to make something for Ezra to eat. Soup was always quick and easy and could be heated whenever he returned.
Filled with purpose, she strode into the bedroom. All the bedclothes needed washing, even the comforter and blankets. She went to pull the comforter off the bed and stopped. Shimmering on top of it were large sapphires.
“Oh God.” Sam dropped onto the mattress and picked up one of the sparkling gems. It caught the light, and she stared into the heart of the stone. No, not a stone, a tear. Her drakon’s tear.
She closed her fingers around the gem and held it to her heart. He’d shed them for her. She took a deep breath and then another. Every time she thought she was calmly accepting the situation, something else would remind her things were anything but normal.
But that was okay. Normal was overrated. If having to deal with a bunch of crazy stuff meant she got to have a life with Ezra, she’d gladly take it.
She set the drakon tear on the bedside table and then started searching for the rest. They were sprinkled on and between the blankets and sheets. Several had fallen on the floor. When she was satisfied she had them all, she stripped the bed and gathered all the dirty clothes.
As she dragged the bundle downstairs, she glanced out the window by the door. Where was Ezra? What was he doing?