Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Helaine was thoroughly puzzled by the whole situation and she hoped Latham was overreacting.
For all they knew something had happened to the Harlecky corporation on their home world and the team had had to rush back to deal with the crisis.
After all, Sariah was a vice president and a few of the others had senior titles.
The cove was as peaceful as always and she couldn’t feel too bad about having it all to themselves for the next few days.
Besides, surely Sariah would have left them a note if there’d been anything they needed to know.
As she packed, she became aware of an unusual sound of water flowing under the floor and finally she went outside on the walkway to check. Even when the gentle tides came in and out she’d never heard a noise like this one, a sort of sliding, sucking sound.
“Lords of Space,” she said as she stepped onto the wooden planks.
As far as she could see the water was…retreating was the only word for it.
Fish flopped on wet sand and sea shells and seaweed lay exposed across the mud.
The boats were tilted, the sterns resting on muddy sand while the bows were held up in the air by the moorings.
The effect was wrong and unsettling and she didn’t hesitate to run toward the utility shed, calling Latham’s name.
He met her halfway. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s going to sound silly but the ocean is going away,” she said, not sure how to explain what she’d seen. “It’s not the tide, the whole bay is exposed.”
Latham stiffened as if he’d been shot. He grabbed her hand and dragged her with him in the direction of the bungalows until the ocean came into view.
Or where the turquoise waters usually sparkled and now only exposed mud flats were visible.
“We’ve got to go now,” he said fiercely. “Head for the cliff and I’ll catch up.”
“What do you mean? We’re going hiking now? I’m not wearing my boots—”
He gave her a push. “Please just do as I say because your life depends on it. Run.”
She staggered a few steps, stunned by his attitude but he’d already pivoted and was sprinting full out toward the bungalows.
Upset, she hesitated but then between his urgency and the weird thing happening with the ocean, she grew scared and trotted toward the base of the cliff.
She hadn’t gotten too far up the steep incline when Latham was back, their backpacks flung over his shoulders.
“I can’t go any faster,” she said apologetically, “Not in these shoes.”
“We’re going to die if we don’t get to the top in the next two minutes.” He stood in front of her and bent over. “Get on my back, I’ll carry you.”
Thinking he’d lost his mind, she complied and an instant later he was jogging up the hill faster than she’d ever seen him move before, carrying the packs and her.
“Look behind us,” he said. “Tell me what you see.”
Crazier and crazier. Helaine did as he’d requested while he kept moving upward and then she did a doubletake.
“There’s this weird black line on the horizon.
It—it seems to be moving this direction.
What’s going on?” She heard panic in her voice but this was all too scary.
She checked again and the black line had become a wall, advancing at a great rate of speed.
“Tsunami,” he said. “Let me concentrate on getting us up this damn cliff.”
“Tsunami?” she cried, tightening her hold on him. She’d heard of the phenomenon but didn’t know much about it other than the wave could be hundreds of feet high.
There was a narrow spit of land curving out into the ocean, which encircled the cove and as she watched, neck aching from the angle she had to keep her head at, the wall swept over it as if it wasn’t there.
“Latham—” Words failed her as the tsunami came onward.
A huge gust of wind struck her and she barely retained her hold on him as he staggered, gripping the handrails to anchor himself.
She closed her eyes and when she reopened them it was to see the wall of black, dirty water churning with debris obliterate the bungalows and continue toward the cliff where they now perched. The lip of the wave was above her head.
We aren’t going to make it.
No one could survive in the maelstrom of water, tree trunks, pieces of the bungalows and other debris.
She buried her face against Latham’s back, hearing his body vibrate as he growled.
She’d never heard a sound like that from him before but it was a deep angry rumble running through his entire body.
Underneath her clinging hands and locked legs he seemed to grow taller and thicker.
Her face was rubbing against soft fur instead of his shirt.
He was roaring defiance in Ardannan and moving faster than any man could possibly move, even under the influence of a life or death situation.
She saw the flash of huge talons as he dug in and accelerated up the remaining slope.
Were those golden horns on his head? She closed her eyes again and prayed to the Lords of Space to help them.
Latham clawed his way over the lip of the cliff as the water hit the rocky face.
He kept moving as the ground crumbled beneath his feet under the impact of the tsunami, chunks falling into the seething waters.
He probably ran another three hundred yards before he stopped, sides heaving and allowed Helaine to slide off his back.
She lay on the grass and stared upward at a giant golden-furred bear with Latham’s brilliant bluegreen eyes and fainted.
When she revived, she was lying in the shade of a large flowering tree, her head pillowed on her backpack. Latham was sitting next to her, wearing different clothes than he’d had on earlier, bathing her face in cool water.
“Are you okay?” he asked, setting aside the wet cloth.
“I think so.” She sat up carefully and looked over her shoulder but the cliff edge wasn’t visible. “Are we safe?”
“I moved us a bit further inland so yes, I’d say so.
Tsunamis can be multiple waves and the later ones can be even bigger than the initial surge but we’re at a higher elevation now.
There’s still no com service though so we’re on our own for a while longer.
” He handed her an unopened water bottle. “You should stay hydrated.”
“How did they know it was coming? And why didn’t anyone warn us?” She was indignant.
“No one knew where we were exactly. I’m assuming IDA has a monitoring system for earthquakes on the planet and must have sent a shuttle out to pick the guests up after whatever mega quake generated the wave.
I discovered a spot on the beach where it had hovered.
Yeah, the Harlecky team should have left us a note but I’m guessing there was a lot of panic going on.
” He drank from his own bottle. “We’ll get to the bottom of it all eventually but it’s not my concern at the moment.
I think we need to head inland until we do locate a spot with com service.
Then we call for a rescue and we’ll be back at the main resort before we know it. All good.”
“Do you think the tsunami destroyed it too?” she asked, horrified at the idea.
“Hard to say. Depending on where the quake was and the geography of the ocean, they might not even have had a wave at all. Even if it all was leveled though trust me Ardanna will be conducting rescue operations. We may have been left to our own devices out here at the cove but we’ll be able to get home eventually. ”
“Latham?” She swallowed hard. He regarded her with one eyebrow raised, encouraging her to continue.
“I—I think I had a hallucination there at the end, or did you actually turn into a giant bear? Don’t laugh,” she said hastily, hearing how ridiculous the idea sounded. “I was under a lot of stress and—”
“Yeah, sweetheart, that was me. We wouldn’t have made it without the bear’s strength.”
He sounded so calm and matter of fact she decided maybe she’d misheard him. “You were a bear.”
“A famptror to be exact,” he said. “One who smites with claws.” He pulled her into his lap and she leaned her head against his broad chest, reassured to hear the steady thump of his heart. “You know your mate mark?”
“Yes. You mean I changed you into the bear?”
“Not exactly. Certain Ardannan bloodlines carry the ability to transform into a variety of creatures. In my family it happens to be famptrors. It’s rare—the last ones I can think of were my great uncle and a distant cousin—and before one of us gains the ability we have to be in love with our fated mate and loved by her equally.
So ever since I saw your mate mark and I was sure you loved me as much as I loved you, I’ve been waiting for the transformation to happen.
It takes a push for the first time, something dire to force the change. ”
“Like nearly drowning in a tsunami?” she asked trying to take this in.
“No, like my mate nearly drowning in a tsunami,” he said, kissing her. “I wasn’t about to let you get caught by the wave and the bear as you call it, came to help me out.”
“But how is this even possible? I mean, I realize you aren’t human but still—I thought shifters only existed in romance novels.”
“The galaxy is a big and mysterious place,” he said. “Supposedly a ship of aliens crash landed on Ardanna Prime thousands of years ago and the surviving crew mated with our people. Those bloodlines with the capability to shift tend to be the royalty and the nobility.”
“So now you’re telling me you’re a prince? A—a bear-prince?” Her head was spinning.
Latham laughed. “Fuck no. My family is distantly related to the king but many times removed. Half the planet would have to die off before the government would be making me any kind of a royal highness. Sorry to dash your dreams of being a princess.” He flicked her nose and she batted his hand away.
“Being your mate is good enough for me,” she said.