The Lethal Luau Read online

  “I’ve heard of them, Miss Smarty Pants,” I told her, flipping over to float on my back. “I’m a witch, remember? My auntie is an earth witch, and when I announced I was moving near the ocean, she named off about fifty different ways I could die. She named the blue-rings twice so I wouldn’t forget, just in case they made their way into the Gulf of Mexico. Then she came and visited and fell in love with the resort.” I laughed. “And besides, we weren’t talking about things that could kill me. I’m more worried about things that will eat me!”

  “You’re good, then,” she said, mimicking my pose, then crossing her arms behind her head. “I mean, we’ve got sharks here, but honestly, we have enough dolphins and sirens that they don’t much care for hangin’ out. Plus, they’re not fans of mermaids, either. We’re more than just pretty faces.” She flipped her fin for effect, and the sun glinted off her opalescent scales.

  I glanced toward Colin, not surprised to see him deep in conversation with Dax, Amber’s husband.

  “Where are the kids?” I asked, trying to decide if a cloud looked more like a dachshund or the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile.

  ‘They’re with his mom. School’s out, so they’re spending some time with the grands and their cousins. You’ll be seein’ a lot of us over the next couple weeks.” She pulled her fin back under her so that she was treading water. “Speaking of, it’s beer-thirty. I can float on my back and look at the clouds anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico. The only place I can get a decent drink is here!”

  “Show-off,” I said, grinning. “I could use a drink myself, though. Let’s go.”

  We swam back toward the guys, who’d just caught a killer wave.

  “I love it when you rock the fishbowl!” Dax said, motioning toward the whitecaps breaking on the shore, the last vestiges of the four-foot waves that had just rolled in.

  Making waves was a favorite trick of mine since the Gulf was usually calm. I wasn’t sure how they knew I was doing it, but it wasn’t unusual for Amber and Dax or any number of other local sea folks to turn up and join in the fun whenever I did it. Their kids had given it the accurate yet funny moniker rocking the fishbowl, and it had stuck.

  “One more set of waves,” I said, “then I’m ready for a rum runner. Just one, since I’m saving myself for the luau tonight, but it’s been a hella week.”

  “Speaking of,” Colin said, turning and bracing for the first wave, “are you guys coming tonight?”

  “Maybe,” Dax replied. “We’ll see how we feel closer to time. We’ll probably stay and eat, but I don’t know how late we’ll stay. Even though we don’t have the kids, we’re still on their schedule.”

  I ramped up the last set of waves to make them a little more fun, then spent the next five minutes riding one in and swimming back out just in time to catch the next. As the last one crashed over us, I released my magic, smiling as the last of the whitecaps crashed to shore then settled into the usual placid waters that most people loved.

  “Are you guys walking or swimming to the bar?” Amber asked. “You are gonna join us at the beach bar, right?”

  “Yeah, but we gotta get our clothes and stuff,” Colin replied. “We’ll meet you there.”

  Dax gave us one last glance before he dove in to follow Amber. “We’ll order the first round. Rumrunners for both of you?”

  “Sure,” Colin said, winking at me. “I’m on vacation. Why not.”

  The beach bar was one of the cooler ideas that the resort designers had come up with. They’d carved a niche out of the shore, then installed a floating dock of sorts, except there were underwater stools attached to it that converted it into a bar. If you were swimming in the water, you could just take a seat, ring the service bell, and wait for me or one of the other beach servers to come take your order.

  The local merpeople, selkies, sirens, and other water folks used it a lot, and it brought in a nice chunk of revenue the resort would otherwise miss out on. It wasn’t uncommon for other guests to use it, either, as was evidenced when we got to it.

  Stephanie, a Valkyrie and another good friend of mine, was sitting with several of her friends along the opposite side of the bar from us. I pulled up onto the stool and leaned my elbows on the wooden bar. Even sitting, the water was still at my hips, which was nice considering temperatures had risen to about ten degrees above the melting point of steel.

  Elena, an Italian vampire who’d been a server there for longer than I’d been around, smiled as she strolled down the bar and set our drinks in front of us.

  “It’s about time you took some time off,” she said, then drew her delicate eyebrows down. “Though I understand you still insisted on working this morning.”

  I lifted my shoulders in defense. “I had to! The luau’s tonight, and there was nobody else to set it up. It only took me a couple hours.”

  “Well, you better not come in tomorrow,” she said. “If you do, I’ll have Steph, here, boot you out.”

  “And I’ll do it, too,” the beautiful, chestnut-haired Valkyrie across from me said, her expression fierce. “You promised to take the weekend off, and that’s what you’re going to do.” She crossed her bronze, tattooed arms across her gold bikini top. “Don’t make me call Buttercup to guard you.”

  Buttercup was her pitch-black warhorse. He was massive, winged, and snorted fire. He was also putty in my hands, but I wasn’t going to risk it. Plus, I had no desire to work.

  “Okay, okay,” I said, holding my hands up. “I’ll take the weekend off.”

  “Good,” Steph said with a sharp nod. “Now that we’ve settled that, I’d like you to meet my friends. She motioned to a blonde to her right that was every bit as dangerously stunning as she was. “This is Mariah.”

  She gave me a big smile and held out her hand. “It’s great to meet you, Destiny. I’ve heard so many stories from Steph that I feel like I already know you.”

  I returned her smile and took her hand. “Any friend of Steph’s is a friend of mine.”

  Judging by the symbols tattooed down her arm and the golden bracelet circling her wrist, Mariah was a Valkyrie, too. The woman to her right, however, lacked the tattoos though she sported the intricate bracelet that linked her to the goddesses. She had a bright smile and hair close to my own shade of red, though hers was cut short in a pixie cut that framed a delicate face. Her green eyes were just a tad too luminescent to be human, though that was about the only real giveaway. I tilted my head. Fae, if I’d had to guess.

  “Lisbeth,” she said, amusement lighting her eyes, “but you can call me Liz, and yes, I’m Fae. Well, half. My Mom was a Valkyrie.” A shadow crossed all three of the girls’ faces, and I sensed a tragedy there.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Liz. Destiny. How long are you ladies staying?”

  “Just the weekend,” Liz replied, “so we’re gonna make every minute count.”

  We all chitchatted for a bit until I noticed my fingers starting to shrivel. I waved Elena off when she asked if we wanted another. “I do, but we’re gonna move up to the bar. I’m turning into a prune, and I probably need some sunscreen, too.”

  Beside me, Colin’s stomach rumbled, then mine echoed it. We’d gotten so caught up in visiting and relaxing that we’d forgotten all about our earlier plans to get lunch. “Yeah, and maybe a sandwich wouldn’t hurt, either.”

  Elena laughed. I just put an order in for Tempest because she said she was tired of waiting on you guys. Want me to order you a couple of your usual burgers?”

  “Please,” Colin said. “Extra fries.”

  Before he could say anything else, she zipped off with vampire speed, no doubt hoping to get our orders in before Tempest’s was finished.

  We said goodbye to Amber and Dax, and Steph and her friends said they’d meet us up there. Despite what they all thought, I had zero intention of working until I had to open the tiki Monday morning. They were right; it was time for some Destiny time.

  Chapter 3

  “WOW,” COLIN SAID, TAKING my hand
as we waded toward shore. “Things sure are different when you’re on this side of the bar. It’s nice to sit and relax with you. I always feel weird when you’re working and I’m not, especially when you’re the one waiting on me.”

  I bumped him with my shoulder. “Take it where you can get it, sugar. I don’t wait on just anybody hand and foot.”

  “Well,” he said, grinning down at me. “I wouldn’t say hand and foot. The last time, my drink went empty while you were chatting up that party of gorgons.”

  I laughed. “For one, they’re paying customers. I have to make them happy, and they’re fat tippers to boot. Also, uh, gorgons! They can turn me to stone if they don’t like the service.”

  He pulled my hand up between us and kissed my fingers as we walked. “Well, we can’t have that. No way I could carry you home if I had to if they did that.”

  “Thanks for thinking of my welfare first,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “No problem,” he said, his amber eyes sparkling.

  He led me around to the shaded part of the bar and we slid onto our stools. Bob had apparently seen us coming, because he slid two fresh drinks in front of us before we were even settled, along with the cheeseburgers we’d ordered before. One of the many benefits of having a magical food delivery system—there was no waiting once the burger was done.

  “It’s nice to see you relaxin’,” Bob said, stepping to the end of the bar to sweep some flyaway hair back into his man bun. “Jolene’s gonna come up to the Luau, and she was excited to hear y’all were gonna be there.”

  Jolene was Bob’s wife and was a great person. They were from Tennessee, and that woman could cook like there was no tomorrow. We’d become good friends over the last few years, and I was glad she was going to be there. She didn’t get out as much as Bob and I thought she should.

  “That’s awesome!” I said, squeezing a blob of ketchup onto my plate, then Tempest’s. “When’s she coming?”

  “Around six,” he replied, washing his hands. “The sitter’s only able to stay for a few hours, though, so she won’t be able to stay.”

  I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my left eye and whipped my head around as a man built like a linebacker crashed into Elena, who was carrying a full tray of drinks. She cried out as the tray went flying, and I thrust my hands out just in time to keep the half-dozen cocktails from landing right on me. Carefully, I reversed their course, doing my best to catch every single airborne cherry and pineapple slice and deposit them, along with the rest of the drink, back into the glasses they came from.

  Thankfully, Elena had the grace to equal her incredible speed and managed to rebalance the tray as the rum runners, pina coladas, and appletinis settled back where they belonged. One errant piece of pineapple splatted to a rest on the bar in front of me, but the rest seemed to have survived unscathed.

  “Nice save, Des!” she said, heaving a sigh of relief.

  “I am so sorry,” the man said, guiltily stuffing his phone into the back pocket of his flowered teal board shorts. I was checking to see if I’d missed a text and didn’t even see you until it was too late.”

  Elena, rarely one to sweat it, just smiled at him. “No problem. But be careful next time. You almost killed six innocent cocktails. That’s considered a felony around here!”

  She replaced the fallen pineapple slice with a fresh one and sashayed toward the porch to deliver the rescued libations.

  Blushing, the man shot Colin and me an embarrassed glance. “Bob, please buy these two a round on me.”

  I waved him off, smiling. “You don’t have to do that. It happens all the time. That was nothing compared to the Great Spill of 2019. Full tray of frozen daiquiris all landed on the Angel of Destruction’s wife. Well, most of them, anyway. It’s what happens when you sit here in the splash zone.”

  We’d dubbed the aisle that ran to the restrooms that a couple years before because at least once a week, somebody came plowing through without looking where they were going and sent something flying. No matter how careful we were, it was such a tight space that it just happened.

  “Nevertheless,” he said, flashing us a grateful smile, “I insist. And I’m also intrigued. You get a lot of angels through here?”

  “Some,” I said, unwilling to talk much about the celestial guests who frequented the resort. Some of them were close personal friends of mine, and, just as with all my guests, I was protective of their privacy. “You’d be surprised at the variety of people we get through here.”

  The guy motioned to the chair on the other side of Colin. “Do you guys mind if I sit?”

  “Not at all,” Colin said, sliding our mini-cooler over to clear the space. “Is this your first visit here?”

  “It is,” the man answered, climbing up onto the stool. He pulled in a deep breath and ran his fingers through his sandy hair. “I’m supposed to meet a friend here, but she hasn’t shown up yet. I was checking to see if I’d missed a text from her when I almost caused drink-ageddon there.”

  Something flashed across his features too quickly for me to tell if he was worried or irritated.

  “Ah,” Colin said, his mouth full. “Women.”

  I elbowed him and gave him a dirty look.

  He scrunched his nose at me and grinned before he chased his big bite down with a swig of beer. “I have no doubt she has a good reason.”

  “Regardless, if I have to wait, there are worse places to pass the time,” he said as Bob sat a fresh draft beer in front of him and took his empty. “Since you know about the splash zone, I assume this isn’t your first trip here?”

  I shook my head and popped the cherry from my drink into my mouth. “Nah. I came for the first time three years ago and just never left.”

  At his befuddled look, Colin explained. “She works here. We’re just taking a weekend off.”

  “You have a weekend off, and you stay at your job?” He grinned and took a gulp of beer. “If your days off are as rare as mine, I’d run far and fast once that clock was punched. I’m Charles, by the way.”

  “Destiny and Colin,” Colin replied. “She’s off, but she’s in charge of the place, so she can’t go too far.”

  “Plus,” I added, “despite working here, I love the place. I’m perfectly content being a guest when I’m not playing employee.”

  Charles stopped with his beer halfway to his mouth and glanced over at me. “Wait, Destiny? Is your last name Maganti?”

  I gave him a slow nod. “It is. But why? And how did you know that?”

  “Because the friend I’m waiting on is your cousin, Mila.”

  It was my turn to pause. “Mila never mentioned she was coming here,” I said. “She always texts before she comes.”

  My cousin ran a boutique in nearby Abaddon’s Gate, a supernatural city accessible by magical port. She was an ace earth witch, and people came from all over for her potions, herbs, and beauty products.

  Charles shrugged. “I’m not sure why she didn’t, just like I’m not sure why she isn’t here yet. She’s almost two hours late.”

  That didn’t sit right with me. Of the two of us, I was the late one. Mila considered being on time late. I pulled out my phone and tapped out a quick text. “I’m sure something probably came up at the store. Why was she meeting you here?”

  She hadn’t mentioned that she was dating anybody, and I’d just talked to her the day before. Unease settled over me. She’d looked tired the last few times I’d seen her, and she’d taken to texting more than Face Timing like we usually did.

  “How do you know her?” Colin asked, picking up on my worry.

  “We met through a mutual friend.”

  I started to ask more questions but decided it was none of my business, unless, of course, she didn’t show up in the next hour or answer my text. Then all bets would be off.

  I’ll reach out to Calamity, Tempest said through our link, and I nodded. Calamity was her sister and Mila’s familiar. They could talk to each other regardl
ess of distance, and if Tempest could reach her, I’d feel better about the whole situation. They were always straight with each other.

  “I’m sure you’re right and she’s just tied up at the store,” Colin said, and I arched a brow.

  “Okay,” he said, smiling. “Maybe not the best choice of words, but you know what I mean.”

  I did, and he was right. Mila was a big girl and she also knew I was only a fox-shout away if anything ever happened.

  We chatted with Charles for a bit, then decided to go hang out with Dax and Amber, who’d swam through the access channel to the entryless salt pool on the other side of the patio. The resort really was set up to accommodate everybody, and it was days like this that I was glad. As a non-water being, sitting at the water bar was only feasible for so long, but I could sit at a table or on the side of the pool when I needed to de-prune and still hang out with my friends, and the access to the pool opened up more of the resort to them.

  I made a round for everybody and carried the tray to the pool. Steph and the girls were there, too along with Cyri, a fairy friend.

  We socialized for half an hour but I kept my eye on Charles, who spent most of the time looking at his phone.

  No word yet from Calamity, Tempest said through our bond. I’m getting worried.

  Me too, I replied. If we leave now, we can be back in an hour. I just want to make sure she’s ruined another phone or something.

  Let’s do it, she said.

  “We need to go,” I said to Colin, trying to keep my voice down.

  “Go where? The luau starts in just a bit.” His gaze searched my face, and realization washed across his. “You wanna go to the Gate right now?”

  “I do. Something feels off.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that Mila was in danger, and I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy the luau until I knew she was okay.