Holly

Arius

The salty breeze is a familiar feeling that gets me excited. I feel the salt collecting on my skin and my hair growing heavy. When I breathe in, I feel it saturate my lungs. A thrill runs through my spine as we approach the edge of the cliff.

"It isn't that high, right?" Ira asks, looking over the edge. She is excited and the adrenaline is her high.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" I grin at her. "It's higher than the one we always jumped from in the bay."

"Yeah, and this one is right over the ocean. Look at those waves."

Ira, Michael, Megan, and I decided to go cliff jumping again. This cliff requires us to drive about ten minutes from town. Lots of people jump from here but only the ones who want to fall a far way.

I step away from the edge and slide my shirt over my head. The cold breeze chills my skin and my heart starts to beat heavier. "People jump from it all the time. We will be fine."

Ira backs away from the edge and begins to strip down to her swimsuit too. After shimmying my jeans off, I step towards the cliff again. I pull out the scrunchie and my wavy brown hair flows into my face as the wind whips around me. It has been two weeks since I have seen Arius.

I am depressed with his absence. Even when I yell insults at the ocean because I know he is listening, he still doesn't come to tell me to shut up. I wish he would. The wound in my heart keeps bleeding and I know it sounds dramatic, but I am so sad with him being gone. He makes me so angry but also so excited. It is like I'm addicted to being around him and I really want to hear his voice again.

Michael walks up to us after getting changed in the car. "I hope you guys don't mind. I invited a few friends and they brought theirs."

Ira smiles. "I don't mind. It will be fun."

I agree until I see who it is. A group of guys get out of a jeep parked by Michael's car. One of them is Killian. I groan internally when he notices me and eyes me up.

The closer he walks to me, the more of a predatory chill I feel goes down my back. He is dangerous. I didn't feel this worried before, but it is like something changed with him. Something more unhinged.

He smiles at me, and I swear his teeth are a little sharper. "Hey, Holly. It has been a while."

He begins to step closer, and I feel nervous. "Yeah, it has been."

"Fuck, I'm so excited." Ira jumps up and down preparing herself for the jump.

I stare down at the deep raging waters below, ignoring Killian's eye on my body. It is a fifty-foot drop. As I think about the danger, a grin comes to my face. The thrill of falling is the closest thing I feel when I am around him.

He would be pissed. He might even lecture me.

I stop myself when I remember that he is avoiding me. Or just gone all together.

"Ready, Holly?" I snap my head to Ira and nod.

We both back away from the edge one last time and Ira gestures for me to go first. I bend my knee slightly and take several chilling deep breaths. Pushing the ball of my foot into the ground, I spirit towards the edge.

It comes quickly. The ground is gone, then my gut is flipping over itself. The wind pushes my hair straight up and my body starts to flail voluntarily. I feel myself fall and the ice-cold raging waters come closer and closer. They are pitch black and the farthest thing from welcoming.

This thrill is exhilarating.

The plunge is more shocking than ever. The cold stabs its way into my gut and my skin is instantly numb. I sink far below the surface and open my eyes. The salt burns but I am used to it.

The water is rough and my heart pounds as I work my way to the surface. That is until I see the figure. Black scales so dark it is almost impossible to make him out. Before I can fully register what, I am seeing, a pair of angry blue eyes are staring back at me. It feels unreal that he is in front of me. I almost forget that I am under water and just stare at him in disbelief.

I feel the anger boil in my veins. How fucking dare, he ditched me for two weeks and suddenly reappear and glare at me. Asshole! My lungs are screaming at me to get out of the

"FUCKING WATER!"

After hearing his voice, my anger turns into lightning in my thin arm. I flail it at his face trying to hit him, but I end up looking like a limp noodle in the water that is his domain. 

He rolls his eyes at me, but I just keep glaring at him. My vision blurs a bit as my brain struggles with a lack of oxygen. He must have noticed because I feel his strong arms around my waist as he brings me to the surface.

He brings me to the rocky shore by the bottom of the cliff, away from everyone else. No one can see us from where we are.

"Where have you been?" He walks away from me and rubs his face. "You can't just leave like that!" I feel tears in my eyes. I admit that I have cried several times since he left. The dam is breaking again.

"I was never gone." He puts his hand on the cliff side but keeps his back to me.

"What? You mean you made me think I wouldn't see you again?" My voice quivers and I suck in a breath of air. He hears it and turns to look at me. When he sees the tear roll down my cheek, I see sadness in his eyes. He is normally so angry, so moody. I miss his threats and suggestive language. And now that he is back, all I get is sadness. "Why would you do that?"

He steps closer to me and reaches out to touch me. I step away. "Holly, I'm sorry." I try my best to glare at him, but he looks even sadder. I think my glare came out more like a heartbroken expression. "I was trying to keep you safe. I thought that if I left and just watched from afar, you would move on."

"I didn't. I couldn't, Arius." He reaches out and pulls me into him. I let my head rest against his solid chest, and he holds me close. "Why did you come back now?"

"Something isn't right. I felt like you were in danger."

"From jumping off the cliff?"

"No. Something else."

I pull away. "You won't tell me again." He looks at me, thinking something through.

"I think there is another devil stalking you. This one isn't nice. Usually when another devil is around, they want to fight and kill."

"Who?"

"I don't know. But I feel like he is up there on the cliff with your friends."

I feel a chill go down my back. "Killian."

"Killian?"

"Yeah. He has been very creepy towards me, and his teeth look a little too sharp."

"Fuck." he whispers. "I shouldn't have left. He took my leaving as a sign to get closer to you. Stay away from him, Holly. Please trust me this time."

I look up to meet his eyes. He actually told me something. He was honest with me for the first time. I feel like a kid who has just been given the biggest cookie in the box. I smile. "You told me the truth."

His eyes soften and they drift to my lips. "Holly, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" His hand reaches up and rests on my cheek. I feel sparks and fire in my gut, and I lean into his touch, closing my eyes. "Please, smile more."

When I open my eyes, he is closer to me. I feel his breath on my lips and the butterfly wings flap harder. They beat in my chest and the wind from their wings sends a chill through me. Since when did he get so much better looking?

I feel thirsty. Like it has been a while since I drank something I never tasted. "Arius." His eyes flicker to mine for a moment. "Kiss me."

He doesn't have to be told again. He listens to me and presses his lips against mine. I feel an explosion ignite in my chest. I reach my hand up to run my fingers through his hair and pull him closer. His hand slides down to my lower back and he pulls me flush against his body.

I feel everything and remember that he is naked. I am not bothered in the slightest and I cling to him. He begins to push me, and my back finds the cliff wall. He presses himself against me and I let out a moan.

"Holly." He whispers my name, and his hands start to roam again. His kiss trails down my chin to my neck and I close my eyes, enjoying his touch. His hand slides down my thigh and lifts it up so it wraps around his waist.

I can't get a hold of my senses. Every word he speaks, every touch feels so right. All of me, down to my bones, feel like we fit together. It is as satisfying as putting together two puzzle pieces.

His kisses make their way back up to my mouth. My grip on his hair tightens as he gets closer to returning his attention to my lips. He lets out a breathy moan and I can't focus anymore. When his lips finally find mine again, I press myself into him. His arms wrap around me. It is like he is thirsty too. We have both been dying of thirst and finally found what we have been needing.

"Arius," I whisper. "I need to ask you something." His lips pull away and I feel him rest his face against mine. Our eyes are still closed as we try to catch our breath.

"Yes, Holly?"

God, I love it when he says my name. My senses finally come back to me, and I focus on a question I've been wanting to ask him. "Do you remember your real name?"

He is silent for a moment, and I expect him to tell me not to push further. To forget about the curse. "Just my first name." He says, eyes still closed and face still against mine.

This closeness is something I have never felt before. It feels like I have found my other half.

Other halves.

Something clicks in my mind, but I still can't comprehend it fully. It is too crazy, too impossible. Just something made up by fans of romance werewolf stories.

"When the curse began, Atticus and I stuck together. He couldn't remember his name and I couldn't remember it for him. After several years of this curse, we grew bitter and began to kill as many wild ones as we could." He pauses and pulls his face away from mine to look at me. To gauge my reaction to what he says next. "He isolated himself on some island and I started to indulge in sin."

"Sin?" I ask, nervous that he murdered humans.

"Sex and alcohol."

It doesn't surprise me. He has a filthy mouth like a player. "Why did you come here? To this town?"

"I went looking for Atticus. Then I found you."

His fingers touch my chin and I let him tilt my head up. "Holly, you have no idea how much I needed to find you."

He says it like it was supposed to happen. I shouldn't be denying it because everything else has gone to shit. The world is crazy and so am I.

But for some reason, I don't feel ready to admit it.