Divine (49 page)

“
Yeah,” I
blinked with hesitation, “that sounds wonderful.”

The uncertainty in his
eyes heightened as the familiar look of fury rose up in his face.
“Are you lying, Summer?”

He was seeing right
through me. I had to fix the situation quickly before it spun out of
control. “No, Fox, I . . . I just don't really know where I
want to live, that's all.” That seemed to pacify him.

“
Oh, well, we can
live here for now.”

“
Yeah, sure. That
sounds wonderful.” I gave him a weak smile, hoping that it
would make him believe that I was happy about it.

He sighed lightly and
looked down at me with a more gentle stare. “I'm so glad you
finally realized that I'm the better man.”

My lips pulled in with
hatred at his remark. I faked a smile and trailed my fingers down his
muscular arms, grabbing gently onto his blood-stained hands. “Yeah,”
I agreed, “I
do
know who the better man is.”

“
And?” he
asked with a wicked smile.

I released his hands
and crossed an arm over my chest, bringing my other hand underneath
my chin. Now I was free from his hold. “Hmm, well let me see,”
I teased.

A hint of anger flashed
across his face. “Come on, let me hear you say it.”

My eyes met his with a
narrowed stare. “Jonah's the better man.”

“
Jonah,” he
raged, the devil in him shaking from my confession.

There was no time to
waste; I had to act fast. My fist flew up and punched his
already-beaten nose, making him shriek in pain as his hand covered
over it. I turned and tried to run away but he caught me by the
sleeve of my shirt.

“
You're not going
anywhere,” he screamed as he pulled me back into him.

“
I lied, I don't
love you! I'll never love you!” I threw a punch once more at
his bloody nose which made him stumble backward to the edge of the
narrow cliff, taking me along with him. I pushed with all my might to
get out of his grasp. “Let go of me!”

His balance faltered as
his foot slipped off of the crumbling side of the rock. “If I
die, you're dying with me, Summer!”

On instinct I tried to
counter his weight with my own. I went limp in his grasp, hoping that
I was heavy enough to tear myself away from him. It had worked: my
tired body fell to the hard ground with a thud as my sleeve ripped
away from the grip of his solid fingers. But instead of praising
myself for my escape, I was frozen with a widened look of disbelief
as I watched the strength of his arms flail against the tropical
breeze and his body fall into the open space of air beyond the giant
cliff.

Our eyes met as he made
one last attempt to shock me, throwing his hand forward in my
direction and sending out a bolt of electricity from the palm of his
hand before disappearing completely out of my sight.

I dodged his attack by
rolling on my side and began to sob uncontrollably as I heard his
screams as he fell. His hopeless cries traveled through the air below
until they finally faded into the sound of the crashing ocean waves.

Fighting the urge to
vomit, I pulled myself up and crawled along the pebbly ground to the
tip of the cliff, laying down on my stomach and peering over the
edge. I let out a horrific gasp as I saw the faint color of red that
tinted the white caps of the violent waves.

My head dropped over
the side of the giant rock as I cried out a hurricane of tears that
fell to the water far below; I was responsible for sending him
spiraling down to the pointy rocks that lived beneath the waters
surface.

I killed him.

I didn't
want
to
kill him. My plan was to escape, to get away. Sadly, it ended all too
wrong.

My shaking hand wiped
the tears away from my puffy face and I scooted myself back away from
the cliff-side. Sitting back on my heels, I looked over at the fading
sunset through glassy eyes, the colors blurring together as more
tears welled up in their corners. “Jonah,” I cried,
“please, I need you . . .”

I gathered the strength
to pull myself up from the ground and I dragged my body away from the
steep overhang, desperate for a way to get down to the water so Jonah
could find me.

The descent to the
water wasn't an easy one. It was a steep hill, almost a straight shot
down to a small area of beach, and I wasn't sure I could do it.

I swallowed the
nauseous lump in my throat and began moving over the sharp rocks,
blinking hard, trying to see through the blurriness of my tear-filled
eyes. My whimpering cut through the gentle breeze as I grabbed onto a
smooth bolder and sucked my body against its solidness, scooting
myself around it while holding on for dear life.

Don't look down,
Summer.

I breathed heavily
through my mouth, my nose too stuffed up to even try, and let go with
one hand, reaching a more rigid rock that was easier to grab on to.
The stone's deceptive sharpness stung at my hand and I almost let go
of it. Almost.

I could see that a part
of the hill was smoothed out a bit as I glanced around to my left for
another place to step. I moved my fingers around the jagged bolder
and then gathered my strength, leaping off through the air and
praying that I would land where I needed to.

My feet hit the top of
the slope and sunk into the fine mahogany dirt, making me lose my
balance and fall on my butt. I let out a startled shriek as the
pebbly earth slid away from underneath me, sending me falling quickly
down the remainder of the hill until my shoes finally landed on the
soft sand below.

I made it.

I let out a sob of
relief and brought my dust-covered hands to my face as I staggered
over to the sparkling water. A large rock, perfect for sitting, was
planted firmly next to the sea's edge and I fell onto it, pulling my
body on top and swinging my feet over the side to dangle them into
the salty ocean.

“
Jonah, come find
me,” I cried wildly down into my dirty palms. “Please,
Jonah, please . . .”

Every second seemed
like an hour as I waited for him on the rock.

Where are you,
Jonah? Are you coming for me?

I quieted my sniveling
and worked hard to collect myself as I looked over at the fading
sunset. The light was almost gone; pretty soon I would be left by
myself in the darkness of a place I knew nothing about.

I wiped my face against
my torn sleeve and looked down at the water that splashed around my
shoes. It was so warm and inviting, different from the ocean that
filled the cove back home.

Except for when
Jonah is in it. He makes the water in the cove perfect.

My cheeks raised with a
feeble smile at the memories of swimming in the awakened water with
him. He was the only person who had ever convinced me to swim in the
ocean. He made it safe, made me feel less afraid of its mysteriously
deep waters.

I wiped my hand across
my face and felt the thin layer of grime covering over my swollen
skin. With a heavy sigh I bent over and moved my hands into the silky
water, cupping my palms and bringing them up with a solid splash
across my face. The water felt so good and refreshing as my wet hands
wiped away the dirt and tears. It gave me a small sense of renewal.

The gruesome image of
Fox's dead body crossed my mind as I pulled my hand away from my
mouth and saw a tinge of his blood on my fingers. His blood-soaked
kiss had disgusted me; I could still taste its coppery flavor on my
tongue. And now his battered corpse was floating somewhere out there
in the same water that I was cleaning myself with.

What if the fall
didn't kill him? Is he going to rise up out of the ocean and kill me?

The idea made me
shudder. Even if he really
was
dead, just knowing that his
body was still around me somewhere made me afraid to be alone.

I hung my head and
leaned forward with exhaustion, closing my eyes while the tips of my
rock-skinned fingers dangled in the sea. The salty water stung
harshly at my scrapes, but I didn't care; it almost felt good. Maybe
I was just trying to punish myself for taking the life of another
human being.

Something lightly
tickled around the ends of my submerged fingers, momentarily taking
my mind off of the pain. My eyes shot open and I peered down through
the moving water in desperate search of what was causing the sudden
disturbance. I squinted harder and bent lower to the surface, pulling
in a shocking breath of air at the miraculous discovery. It was Fred.

“
Fred!” I
cried out in disbelief. “Oh my god, Fred, you're alive!”
I scooted off of the edge of rock and fell into the shallow water
next to her, my hands cupping around her tiny yellow body as I sobbed
with joy. “I thought you were dead!”

The water reached up to
my chest as I sat down on the ocean's smooth, sandy bottom. Fred
wiggled out of my hands and swam in little circles around me, acting
like a lost little puppy dog that had found its master again.

She swam over my lap
and I put my hand underneath her, lifting her up right beneath the
waters surface. “Oh, I'm so glad that you're with me Fred,”
I sighed down at her with relief. “But, where's Jonah?”

“
I'm right here.”

My head shot up to see
Jonah walking smoothly out of the waves toward me, his muscular body
slick with dripping ocean water.

Am I seeing things?

No, I wasn't seeing
things. He was really there, walking toward me with yellow glittering
eyes, changing the water along with him with every step that he took.

“
Jonah,” I
cried out with relief as my shaking legs lifted me up and pushed my
body through the current toward him. I jumped up onto him and wrapped
my legs tightly around his waist, sobbing heavily into his neck, my
streams of tears mixing with the salty droplets of water on his skin.
“You found me.”

His arms encircled me
with protectiveness as he held me tightly against him. “I told
you I would always find you.”

“
I know you did.”
I pulled my head back and looked into his dancing eyes. “I was
so scared when I took Fox away and ended up alone with him. I thought
I was never going to see you again, I was afraid that he would . . .”

“
Hey, hey,”
he hushed me gently, “don't worry. You're safe now.”

I relaxed my legs from
around him and slid my feet back into the glittering water, barely
able to stand as he wrapped me in his firm embrace. “I know I'm
safe, now that you're here.”

A heavy sigh of relief
left his lips as he gazed deeply into my eyes. “I'm so glad
that you're okay. When you took Fox away like that, I . . . I thought
he was going to end up killing you. I was so afraid . . .”

“
I know, but
Jonah . . .” I paused, filling my lungs with a deep breath of
air. “I ended up killing
him
.” My voice wavered as
the words left my mouth.

Jonah's serious eyes
searched my face. “I know you did.”

“
What? How? Did
you feel him hit the water?”

“
Yeah, I did. As
soon as you took him away I released the water I was holding back and
dove into it. I waited and waited, hoping that you would find your
way to the ocean at some point. As soon as Fox's body hit the water I
knew where you two were, and I knew that he was dead. And then I felt
your tears hit the water right after that, and I knew you were
alive.”

“
And you came and
found me.”

His face lit up with a
warm smile. “Yes, I came and found you.”

“
I'm so glad you
did.”

He raised his hand
gently to my face, brushing his warm fingers across my forehead,
moving the stray hairs away from my red, cried-out eyes. “You
know what else I'm glad about?” he whispered.

“
What?”

“
I didn't kill
Fred at the cove.”

My head lowered down to
see my perfect little friend swimming around us in the yellow water.
“Yeah, that
is
great. And she found me right before you
did.”

“
Yeah, I made
sure she got to you first.”