A fortunate son.
Former university star quarterback.
A handsome devil.
My ex-boyfriend.
Yeah…
He is the one I will have to bow to in order to finally find Abby, my only surviving cousin.
Sounds easy enough.
That is if Archer doesn’t use everything he’s got against me. I am the girl who got drunk one awful night during a Block Party four years ago and slept with his best friend. The girl he unleashed his wrath on. The girl who ran as far away as possible, switching universities and burning all bridges.
Dammit. This might have been a bad idea, but the risk is worth it.
I grip the railing tighter. That all seems like an eternity ago. Four years, to be exact. I haven’t seen him or talked to him. But now it’s time. I need to find Abby.
I’ve practiced the speech I will give Archer a hundred times in my head. After all, what happened four years ago wasn’t my fault. That night was hazy. And waking up in Kai Droga’s room was a nightmare come true. What followed was another nightmare, and another, and a never-ending reminder that one night can turn your life into hell.
Until two years later.
And the Change.
Hell has many shades. Many faces.
Kai Droga’s beautiful face that I once wanted to kiss has become a nightmare and a bitter reminder of drunken mistakes.
“Nervous, babe?” Katura stares around at the ocean.
The water is rough. The boat swerves and jerks to one side, then another, hitting the choppy water as it speeds toward the final destination.
Only an hour left, I think.
Katura seems unconcerned about the weather and the sky that is turning the color of boiling tar ahead of us. She always talks like she’s got it all figured out and knows exactly where the world is going to be on any given day.
The boat slams yet into another rough wave, and salty water sprays us head to toe. The temperature is dropping too. I nervously look up at the sky.
“Hey, golden angel, cheer up.” Katura gives me a backward nod.
I don’t even know why she likes me or acts like my big sister. She runs her fingers through my blond hair that is being whipped out in all directions by the violent winds. For a moment, I wonder if she wants to take me down to the captain’s cabin too.
“Soon we will be in paradise,” she says with a smile.
And suddenly, a rumble of thunder cracks across the sky.
“Life vests!” the captain shouts.
My heart starts pounding.
The deckhand starts throwing orange vests in our direction, and we all tumble onto our knees as the boat jerks violently to the side.
The boat slows down.
The captain curses.
It gets darker too rapidly.