A Shift in the Water by Patricia D. Eddy Read Free Book Online Page B

blanket of pain suffocated him. He couldn’t go any further. Death was coming for him and he found he didn’t care. At least his final sight would be the sea and not the terrible cage or the woman who’d hurt him. He turned his head towards the horizon and whimpered.
    Out in the water, a dark speck bobbed, moving slowly closer. A piece of wood? No. A person. From his prone position hidden behind a pile of rocks, he caught sight of a squat two-story building a few hundred yards away. A car parked at the edge of the beach. A car meant freedom. But a human wasn’t going to let him in his car. Something tugged at him, urging him to move. Belly scraping along the rocks, the wolf crawled towards the car, finding a hiding place behind some bushes that bordered the building.
    The figure emerged from the water. Long red hair spilled out of her swim cap as she tugged it off. Water trailed down her cheeks to the gentle swells hiding beneath her rubber suit. Clad in black, her curved hips gave way to lean legs. Her steps were uneven. She reached under the bumper and withdrew something small and black. A high-pitched beep came from the car. The hatchback opened and the woman sat down on the edge of the trunk and stripped off her wetsuit. A green bikini covered a body that was too thin—almost as emaciated as his was—with a bluish tinge to her skin that he neither understood nor liked. She moved carefully, as if a sudden step or jerk would shatter her.  Beautiful.  The word came to the wolf, though he wasn’t even sure what it meant. He only knew that he wanted to get close to her.
    The wolf skulked from his hiding place. A storm of emotions washed over him, thunder in his ears, lightning against his skin, giving him the energy to stumble closer under the bushes. Spring rain, coconut, almonds. Scents he recognized. Weakness. A bitter, bloody tang. It wasn’t him. It was coming from her. Dark smudges shadowed her eyes. Her lips were pale.  Sick . She tugged on a pair of fleece pants and a sweatshirt over her skimpy bikini. Wool socks, shoes, and a towel around her wet hair were all added before she rose and hurried over to the building. She disappeared inside. She’d left the trunk open.
    Instinct drove him forward, a pull he couldn’t ignore. Mine.  It took him two tries to launch himself into her trunk. Blanket. Home. Safe.   Thoughts he didn’t understand raced through his battered mind.
    Nothing made sense other than the deep feeling of safety that spread over him like the blanket he’d burrowed under. Pain stabbed at every part of him, but he didn’t care. Sleep.

    Mara hurried back to her car with a cup of coffee from the hotel bar and an overwhelming feeling of sadness in her heart. She’d never do this again. At least the swim had refreshed her. She was due for another transfusion in four days and knew that in two, she’d be too tired to do more than get herself out of bed in the morning and shower. But she felt okay now. Her team of doctors, led by Doctor Pendergast, wouldn’t be pleased that she’d spent the past two days swimming, but she didn’t care.  One of the few benefits of dying   is that you can do whatever you want towards the end . It wasn’t as if the two swims were going to dramatically shorten her life.
    All the way to the ferry dock, a strange sensation filled the car. It was almost a scent, thin and metallic. A high-pitched melody, like a faraway harmonica or flute, distracted her. Tinnitus? Why not? It wasn’t like her body responded normally to anything else. She turned up the radio in the hopes of drowning it out.
    Seated on her customary bench next to the front window of the ferry, she spotted odd wisps of smoke rising from the island. It was chilly today, so heating fires weren’t unexpected, but these were more like brush fires. At least it was wet out. In the summer something like that could be devastating.
    Two hours later, her little silver Prius sped down Interstate 5. Mount