“Stasia, calm down. Kira’s fine. I just talked to her on the phone. She’s fine.” Willow told me in a soothing tone one would use to calm a confused child.
“No she’s not, she’s been kidnapped. She was tied up and unconscious!”
“She’s okay, I promise. We just talked to her a couple minutes ago. She’s on her way back from Wilmington. She’s coming to see you tonight.” Phoebe rubbed my arm. Pain swept over me like a dark wave and I closed my eyes. Was it a dream? But I wasn’t sleeping; I was in the Hole-
My eyes flew open and I tried to sit up again, “It was a vision! I blacked out, didn’t I?” I stared at them wildly as they shook their heads yes and watched me wearily. “See, that’s why she’s fine now. Because it hasn’t happened yet! I have to tell her-“
“Stasia. You have to calm down and rest. You hit your head and back really hard on the pavement when you blacked out. You need to lie down.” Willow instructed, steadily holding my eyes. That would explain the incessant pounding in my head. I lay back on my pillow and closed my eyes again.
“Fine. But you’ll see…you’ll see.” I couldn’t make out what she said next because sleep pulled me under.
Chapter 24
The next time I woke up, a single candle flickered on my dresser but the rest of the room was dark. The deafening silence made me wonder how late it was, but the soothing dancing light of the candle across the wall had me hypnotized. The pounding in my head had died down some, but it felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. I felt the back of my head and found a large knot that hurt to the touch. The slightest movement caused excruciating pain down my neck and the whole left side of my face. I must have fallen backwards off the bench we were sitting on. My back felt like it was one big bruise. The last thing I remembered was Willow’s face spinning and then I woke up on that beach.
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and sat straight up in bed.
“Hello?” I whispered, my voice scratchy. A figure materialized near the window and my chest tightened with fear. He stepped into the light of the candle.
“Hi,” Finn’s grin was laced with mischief as he sat down on the side of the bed. “How’re you feeling?” He shouldn’t have been allowed to look that good. He was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but the way he moved and the confident vibe he carried with him made my heart race.
“I think I got run over by a truck,” I attempted a smile and my cheek throbbed.
“So that’s where the tire marks on your back came from…” he smirked at me. I started to laugh, but pain exploded in my head.
“Don’t make me laugh,” I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples still smiling, “It hurts.” He watched me for a moment and I was suddenly self conscious of how appalling I must look. Had he been watching me the whole time I was asleep? What if I snored? Or drooled on my pillow?
“How long have you been here?” I asked him.
“Since about 5:00 this evening. No one knows I’m here though, it’s after hours. I’ve been cloaking myself when someone comes in.” He winked at me and grinned at his own cleverness. By the lack of light outside, I’d have to say it was past 9:00pm. The hottest guy on Earth has been in my bedroom all night and I’ve been lying in bed unconscious the whole time. There’s nothing like a bruised body and a little concussion to impress a guy.
“How did you know where our suite was?”
“I saw Phoebe coming back this afternoon, so I cloaked myself and followed her up here. I slipped in through the door before she closed it.”
“Had a lot of experience in the stalking department?” I teased him.
“I’m going to have to plead the fifth,” he grinned at me.
I sat up on my elbows and eyed him curiously. “Have you followed me before?”
“Only a couple-“
“Finn!” I pushed him playfully. I immediately ran through everything I’d said and done in the last week and a half. What if he heard me talking about him? I was going to have to be more careful.
Leave it to me to fall for the one guy who can make himself invisible.
“I just…wanted to see you.” He looked down at my hand and rubbed his thumb across it, sending tingles up my arm. I waited for him to explain further, but he didn’t.
“And….” I prompted.
“Well, the first time, I saw you from my balcony. You were going out in the ocean the weekend you got here. I was curious and a little worried considering it was raining and I’d pulled you from the water the day before,” he continued, rubbing my hand and watching me as he spoke. “I saw the turtles. I could tell they recognized you.” At least I didn’t do anything too embarrassing that day.
Maybe since he seemed to know everything about me, he could clear something up for me.
“Phoebe thinks I have an affinity for sea turtles.”
“She’s right. The turtles could sense that you were nearby, so they came to say hey.”
“When I touched one of them I could see into his mind. It was wild.”
“It’s different for everyone, but my affinity is like that too. I can see into their mind and feel what they feel.” I completely forgot he would have an affinity too.
“Which animal do you have an affinity for?” Visions of dolphins or seals came to mind, but that didn’t seem right.
“Are you sure you want to know the answer to that?” No.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” I cracked a smile.
“They aren’t as…likeable as sea turtles.” Of course not.
“How bad could it be? There aren’t that many scary things in the ocean. Except for electric eels. Or jelly fish. Or sharks – they can rip you apart just for fun.” He smiled again and nodded his head. My eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped.
“Sharks?!” I gaped at him. “You have to be kidding me. Of all the creatures in the ocean, you have an affinity for sharks.” I shook my head disbelieving. A mental picture of Finn swimming with a great white shark popped in my head.
“They aren’t all bad, just misunderstood.” he defended his affinity.
“You can’t convince me they aren’t scary as hell. I saw Jaws.”
He laughed at me, “So does that mean you don’t want to go swim with them?”
“Uh, I’d like to keep all of my body parts. And my life. But thanks for the invite.” Sharks?
Unbelievable. But, I had to admit they were a perfect match; sleek, silent, and deadly. He kicked off his shoes and turned to me.
“Move over,” he instructed.
“Excuse me?”
“How can I lay down if you’re taking up the whole bed?”
“Who says you’re getting in my bed?”
“I’ll be good, I promise.” He grinned, but I wasn’t sure if I believed him. “It’ll make me feel better if I can be close to you and make sure you’re alright.” He batted his dark blue eyes at me. The thought of Finn in my bed made me all jittery. I just wished I wasn’t black and blue with a headache the size of Alaska. He pulled off his shirt in one quick motion and I almost passed out at the sight of his bare chest in the candlelight. I picked my chin up off the floor and pulled back the covers. He slid underneath them and I snuggled up next to him, resting my head on his bare shoulder. I closed my eyes and breathed in his intoxicating scent. The heat coming off of his body wrapped around me and had me moving closer. His bronzed skin felt like silk, but the taught muscles beneath it made me want to touch every part of him.
“Kira came by to see you earlier. She didn’t wake you up, but she whispered to you how sorry she was for not being closer when it happened. She really cares about you.” My vision came crashing back to me.
“I had a vision that Kira was kidnapped when I blacked out.”
“I know.”
