Night By The Sea Bl Novels & Stories

The cold northern wind hits our faces. I stay at the back of the deck, holding onto the railing and watching the Irish coastline disappear into the darkness. Declan stands beside me, his arm around my shoulders. Harvey is further ahead, speaking quietly with Zion about the approach plan. Maeve sits on a bench, staring at the sea with an expression I can’t quite read. The North Sea is cold and merciless. The waves crash against the hull with force. The water is dark, almost black. The sky is cloudy, with no stars. There’s only the sound of the engine and the wind.

One corner was burned, but I could still see my face. “Wendy,” he said to the photo, his words slurred. “I think… I saw you today… by the sea… wearing a white dress…” I stood beside him and reached out, wanting to touch his hair. However, my hand passed straight through. “I’m sorry…” he kept saying. “I’m sorry… I should have believed you… I should have protected you… I should have…” He broke down crying, like a child, curling up in the chair and hugging the frame.

“No, but before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s start with the basics. We never finished our game the other night. My favorite color is orange.” I hmmed as I thought about it, about my happy place. Jenna and I had gone on vacation to the Bahamas two years prior. It was the most relaxed I’d been in years. “The color of the water in the Bahamas. Swinging in a warm breeze, sipping on a fruity drink, the sun warming my skin, the sand, and the sound of the waves.” “That’s quite a color,” he said. “Sorry, it just reminded me of the reasons why it’s my favorite.”

At night, I was all alone in my room. Kain didn’t return. Brielle too. My head was still pounding. My chest still felt tight with anger. But I could do nothing about it except lie in my bed pathetically. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I moved to the balcony. The lights seemed to have gone off and as I peered at the sea, it appeared black, churning and writhing beautifully. And yet, I knew if someone were to be caught in this waters. If someone happened to fall in, their death would be swift and painful.

The night was dark and the icy breeze from the sea piercing through the skin. It was a stellar, crisp night with only the melody of breaking waves and cicada chiming into the night. The night was still young but the coastal village had retired to sleep, crippled from the day that was. All that was left from the revelry were drunkards crawling in the street. Hana meandered into the dark cold night with her backpack in tow. “There’s no turning back, she said.” A thousand things going through her head.

“Do you believe it?” “I believe in people like Xavier,” he said. “And I believe in the damage they do when no one stops them.” A small smile touched my mouth. “You always were the cynic.” “You always were the dreamer.” “Then let’s rewrite the ending.” Three days later, under a blood-orange sky, we crossed into the scorched southern wilds. *********** RHEA POV The sea was restless tonight. I stood at the watchtower’s edge, cloak snapping like a war banner. Below, waves crashed against the rocks with the fury of old gods. The salt stung my lips. The cold bit deep. But I didn’t move.

“This isn’t the way home.” “I know. You feel like a detour?” He smiled. “What kind of detour?” He nodded toward the dark stretch of beach coming up on our right. The moon was full tonight, bright enough to silver the waves. “Right now? It’s almost midnight, Gio.” I was surprised. “Exactly.” He slowed the car, pulling off onto the narrow access road that led to a quiet stretch of sand. “No one around. Just us, the moon, and the water. When was the last time you ran into the sea at night?”

She just said quietly, “Not tonight.” The brush went still. The eyes faded. The night returned to crickets and the drone of highway wires. She walked on, a lone sentinel under the stars. Crescent Cove – That Same Night Ellie stood by the shore now, sword across her back, Cerebus at her side. The beach was empty, only the surf rolling in, pulling secrets out of the deep. Thunder cracked far out at sea, though no storm brewed. Alpha raised his head. Beta whined. Gamma snapped at shadows.

Labor began at 11:40 PM on a night when the Veridian Sea was completely calm. This was, Evelyn would later note, statistically unusual. The sea was almost never completely calm. Through the dirty, reinforced glass of the safehouse’s high windows, the distant water looked like a sheet of poured lead—motionless, heavy, reflecting nothing but the low, bruised belly of the clouds.

Their shared cries and the slick sounds of their joining colored the night, while the distant city lights glowed below—silent, indifferent witnesses to the boundary they had willingly crossed. ****tbc****