Luke crouched beside me, though he didn’t touch me. “You were lucky they didn’t take you too. If they’d known who you were they would have gone for you first. I wasn’t sure that they were even there, but now we know that they have indeed resurfaced.”

I stared up at him in confusion, seeking his eyes for the truth. He still hadn’t answered my question. I didn’t know what to think, could barely grasp what was happening. Nothing—from what I’d seen in the water to how Luke’s kiss had affected me, even the way the nurses obeyed him—had gone right since we set foot on that beach, and Luke was a part of it all.

I made a move to stand and he offered me his hand. Ignoring him, I pulled myself to my feet and slid back onto the bed. My leg ached, even though it had healed. I didn’t care what anyone else said, I would not believe Ashling dead till I saw her body with my own eyes. She wasn’t dead, couldn’t be, even though the facts wanted me to believe otherwise. Even as the monstrosities had dragged her downwards, she’d been alive.

Two police officers came in, and Luke stepped back from me, his face going smooth, and a small line of consternation appearing on his forehead. It actually made him look better, more real and not so otherworldly beautiful.

The officers questioned me about the “incident” and finally the tears came. Sobbing, I told them how she’d screamed for me, how Luke had held me back; in shame I told them how I’d turned back then was grabbed by something and dragged in.

They wrote everything down and the senior officer, Constable Pollett, asked me one last question.

“So if it wasn’t a shark and you don’t have any bite wounds, how do you explain her drowning? It says here that she had her dive certificate, same as you. Have you argued with her lately?” He lifted his pen, prepared to write down any information I gave him.

I frowned. “What are you asking me? Are you implying that I would have something to do with her . . .” I couldn’t even say it. I didn’t believe she was dead, the words wouldn’t come out of my mouth.

Luke stepped closer and I felt a wave of pressure, as if the air had suddenly thickened and condensed around us. “It was a shark officer. I saw the fin, there was blood in the water. What else could it be?” Power rippled through his voice, power that I could feel crawling against my skin, seeking a way in to convince me of his words. I fought it off, panicked at what he might make me believe.

His eyes locked with Constable Pollett’s while his hand played over my fingers like a concerned friend. Constable Pollett’s eyes glazed; he nodded and wrote on his pad. The junior officer just stared slack jawed at the wall.