I gathered up all of my energy, centered it and focused it down my arm and into the sand. I pulled from my love for Finn, my leftover fear from last night, and my anxiety about contacting my mother; channeling all of it into the feathery sand beneath my fingertips. As I watched on apprehensively, the waves became more frequent and slightly larger. I concentrated harder, blocking out everything else except the waves and the energy flowing out of my fingers. Higher and higher the waves rose, becoming more and more powerful. Finn met my gaze as the other guys cheered at the suddenly larger waves.
A sense of pride filled me when a glowing smile broke out across Finn’s face before he began to paddle out with the other guys. The longer I did it, the easier it was to muster up the energy and channel it. Adrenaline pumped through me each time one of them caught a massive wave and called out to one another in excitement.
“Stasia!”
My name startled me and I instinctively lifted my hand from the sand. The rush of energy that slammed into me knocked the breath out of me and I collapsed into a heap on my towel; reeling with dizziness and panting. I’d forgotten about that unfortunate aftereffect. Several woozy seconds later, I propped myself up on my elbows and tried to focus my eyes on something stable. At the moment the world was spinning at a dangerous pace.
“If you tell me you were making those waves from the beach, I’m going to piss myself,” Carmen growled at me, crossing her arms.
“Okay, I wasn’t making those waves,” I rubbed my temples and smirked at her.
“I can’t even do it in the water, but you can do it from the freaking beach? Unbelievable,” she muttered, clearly displeased with herself.
“That’s what you call talent,” Phoebe applauded my experiment; making me smile.
“I didn’t know if it’d work…” I admitted shyly.
“Hey, who hit the off switch on the wave machine?” Cage sprinted up to our towels and tumbled down with the grace of a two ton elephant. I noticed a small black ring on his pinky finger that had to be black onyx as he shook his curly hair; spraying cold water all over Phoebe and Carmen.
“What are you? A cocker spaniel?” Carmen scowled in his direction. As you might expect, that only prompted him to do it again while she scrambled to her feet to avoid the water. A cooling shadow fell over me and squinted up to see Finn gazing down at me. The sun was at his back, making him look like a dark angel - just like the first time I had seen him; providing evidence that he wasn’t only in my dreams. My heart quivered at the thought. He held out his strong hand to me and yanked me up from my towel so quick my feet left the ground, and then he caught me securely around the waist. The sudden feel of his skin against mine was magnified by the warmth of my skin contrasting with the cool feel of the water dripping off of him. His eyes swirled with shades of dark and light blue, culminating into one breathtaking color that had me hypnotized. I swept the dark, wet hair back from his brow and pressed my lips to his. He tasted like the salt water rolling down his skin, and my insides turned to mush as he kissed me back with urgency. With our audience groaning and yelling at us to get a room, he released his grip and set me down gently; arms still draped around my waist.
“You become more amazing every day,” his eyes smiled at me, but his features softened with sadness. I furrowed my brow in concern, but it was gone before I could say anything. That was also the exact moment Phoebe fell in love.
“Oh my God. You guys…” She stood calmly; eyes transfixed on something down the beach.
We followed her star struck gaze and my mouth dropped open. Four golden brown horses with blonde manes were trotting down by the water’s edge in our direction. A smaller colt trailed behind precariously on his lanky legs. They were slightly smaller than the horses I’d seen and there were no saddles, no tags; no sign of ownership.
“I can feel them…” Phoebe marveled with fascination, “But I don’t get it. They aren’t connected to sand.”
“These horses would be,” Ian beamed down at her.
“They’re Shackleford ponies. Wild horses,” Liam informed everyone.
“Wild?” I gawked at Liam in disbelief.
“They’re the descendents of horses that survived various shipwrecks or were left for dead.
They were originally brought over on Spanish ships in the 1600’s,” he educated us further.
“Descendents…” Phoebe whispered, completely enthralled in the horses, “just like us…” She began to walk, as if in a trance, towards the horses. Feeling her presence, they all glanced up at the same time; stopping them in their tracks. The colt bumped into the larger horse in front and teeter-tottered on two scraggly legs before regaining his balance. Carmen giggled behind me. After a moment of simply observing Phoebe, the horses changed course and headed directly for her.
“Phoebe-“ Ian warned, before she held up a hand to let him know it was okay. He remained where he was, but I knew he was ready to protect her at a moment’s notice. Feet glued in place, we watched in awe as the horses reached her. A tense silence ensued as Phoebe and the horses stared at one another for what seemed like several minutes before we saw any sign of movement. With unabated love she began to stroke the lead horse’s mane as he nuzzled up against her shoulder. As if on cue, each subsequent horse allowed the same as they each nuzzled her in an endearing display of respect. It reminded me of how the sea turtles had reacted to my presence so many weeks ago. It’s as if each one wanted to acknowledge her presence individually. As the last horse trotted back down the beach, Phoebe turned and raced back to up to where we still stood frozen in suspense.
“That was the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me!” she bounced up and down with exuberance. “Did you guys see that?! They were so…innocent. They were pretty confused about me at first, because I wasn’t a horse but they could still sense me. After they got over that, they opened up a little more.” She placed a hand over her heart, “They’re so happy here.”
“They aren’t the only ones,” Finn whispered to me; hugging me tight. My heart soared as I wrapped my arms around him; never wanting to leave his side.
Chapter 9
The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon as Finn and I made our way down to the beach for my second lesson. A bubble of anxiety had lodged itself in my throat and I wasn’t sure if I could go through with it. What if I had another vision? What if the ghost girl somehow showed up?
And what was she scared of? I mean she’s a ghost; besides glimpsing her reflection in a mirror, I couldn’t think of anything she could possibly be scared of.
“Do you believe in ghosts?” I questioned Finn on our way down the boardwalk. He shot me a curious sideways glance before answering.
“Of course. Ghosts are as real as you or me. Like I was telling you back on the boat, they’re just souls that have no resting place in the Underworld.”
“So, what’s wrong with them? Why don’t they have a place in the Underworld?” I began to wonder why the ghost girl wouldn’t have been allowed entrance.
“When a person dies, their soul is given admittance to the Underworld by Persephone. If she deems them broken or not at peace; she sends them away. The only place they have to go, is back to this realm.”
“I saw one yesterday,” I blurted out carelessly.
“A ghost?”
“She was a young girl with blonde hair.” I scrunched my nose, “But her head and back were all gory. It wasn’t a pretty sight.” He chuckled at my repulsion.