Ocean: The Awakening by Brian Herbert, Jan Herbert Read Free Book Online Page B

check other people, all of whom appeared to be fine, as far as Alicia could tell, but many were still upset. Looking around, she didn’t see very many red marks on them, except for the people with obvious sunburns. Her own sting marks were completely gone now, and she felt a lot better. No one was going back in the water.
    “Nice to meet you, Kimo,” she said to the young Hawaiian, who remained by her. “I’m Alicia Ellsworth.”
    The expression on his handsome face shifted suddenly, into a dark scowl. “Ellsworth? You’re related to the owner of this property?”
    “He’s my grandfather.”
    “Then I’m sorry to tell you, we can’t be friends. I’m Kimo Pohaku .”
    His family name meant nothing to her, and she looked at him blankly.
    He said nothing more and walked away abruptly, making his way up the gentle slope of the beach toward the road. He looked back once, but continued on his way.
    ***

Chapter 8
    By the time Alicia returned to the ranch hotel, the staff was abuzz from the beach attack. In the open-air lobby, filled with lush plants and colorful flowers, one of the hotel musicians, Uki Mikaho, said her grandfather wanted to see her right away.
    The dark-skinned man looked at her with concern, and walked alongside her. They passed a sign with a pen-and-ink drawing of a volcano and a strict warning that guests should not take lava rocks off the islands, because of the superstition that this would cause the volcano goddess Madam Pele to bring revenge upon them and their families. Alicia, with artistic talent, had drawn the sign according to her grandfather’s specifications.
    Uki asked, in broken English, “You all right? Jellyfish no sting bad?”
    “I’m fine, thank you.” Alicia smiled, and hurried on her way. Uki was one of the nicest employees of the hotel, an excellent guitar player and singer, and a favorite of the staff and the guests.
    Foregoing a shower and a change of clothing, she hurried through a flower-draped portico. The door to her grandfather’s office was open, and inside the large, expensively appointed room she found her blond, stocky brother already there, sitting on a side couch with the elderly patriarch of the Ellsworth family.
    The old man motioned her over, and she sat in a chair that was part of a conversation circle around a coffee table. Cold, non-alcoholic drinks in tall glasses were already there and she selected one, a frosty glass of tropical fruit punch. Her grandfather, an avowed teetotaler, never consumed alcohol himself, and expected the same of his employees, though the hotel did serve wine, beer, and liquor to guests. He was tall and slender, with a patrician nose and light blue, penetrating eyes. Despite his advanced age, he had a full head of thick gray hair, combed straight back. She noticed his characteristic aviator sunglasses sitting on a table beside him.
    “I hear you had quite a time this morning,” he said.
    “Box jellyfish and stonefish were at Olamai,” Alicia said. “They’re supposed to be deadly, but no one died, and our wounds were only minor. Mine have healed already.” She narrowed her gaze. “I wonder if it could be part of something larger—linked to training problems we’re having with dolphins and porpoises at the aquatic park. One of the handlers thinks it could be a virus, affecting sea creatures.”
    Preston Ellsworth III scratched his head. “It is peculiar, most peculiar.” He waited while a female servant brought a tray of sandwiches and set it on the table, a pretty young woman named Mina who was also one of the Hawaiian dancers in the troupe of locals who put on shows for tourists in the hotel lobby. She smiled and left, closing the door behind her.
    “Who told you they were box jellyfish and stonefish?” Grandfather asked.
    Alicia hesitated, and for several moments looked out a window at the golf course and the carts that were rolling along a side road. “Several people said it, and they seemed to know. One of them