Where the Sea Takes Me by Heidi R. Kling

Author:Heidi R. Kling [Kling, Heidi R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, NA romance, Romance, heartbreak, Entangled, fear, Surf, Contemporary, Embrace, California, danger, lust, river boat, new adult, attraction, Cambodia, Coming of Age, motorcycle, Contemporary Romance, exotic, new adult romance, Adventure, sex slaves, Young Adult, Dreams, Suspense, NA, Thriller, college
Goodreads: 33509084
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Published: 2018-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

After I dried off, dressed, and was walking back to the clinic, I felt eyes on me. At first, I was freaked out, but then I realized what it was. I spun around and found Deni filming me.

“Get out of here, you troublemaker,” I told him with a playful swing at his camera. He pointed it away from me and nudged my shoulder.

“I was filming the skyscape,” he said. “You are getting so, what is the word? Cocky?”

“Cocky is you, mister.”

“Lies.”

“You are lies!” I said with a laugh.

“Nyai Loro Kidul,” Deni said, chuckling back. “You are scary when you are mad. I better watch out.”

He took my duffel bag out of my arms and swung it over his shoulder. His camera bag slung easily over his white-T-shirt chest.

“What does that mean?”

“What?”

“That thing you just said. Don’t make me try and pronounce it,” I said.

“Nyai Loro Kidul,” he said, wiggling his fingers in the air. “You mean that?”

“Yes, Deni,” I said with mock frustration.

Like in Jakarta, cars, motorbikes, pedestrians, and bikes looped around and around in a seemingly nonsensical matter that made perfect sense to the people of this land. The same way how Deni and I looped around and around each other in a nonsensical manner made sense to us.

We were like traffic, Deni and me.

“She’s a mermaid,” he said. “Nyai Loro Kidul. She claims to take the soul of anyone she wishes. She claims the lives of fisherman or tourists sunning their bodies, but like you she prefers handsome young men.”

“Oh?” I hopped over a piece of trash on the sidewalk. “Is that what I prefer?”

“I think so,” he said coyly. “She’s a Javanese spirit-queen and our princesses respect her beauty as well, paying homage. Guess what else she does?”

“Besides stealing the souls of handsome young men?”

“Guess.”

“She uses the handsome young men’s souls to make cake?”

Deni winced and then laughed. “No. But that is a good guess. She changes her shape several times a day.”

“Like a shape-shifter?”

“I suppose so yes. She can be a beautiful young woman during a full moon and at other times appear as an old woman.”

“Shape-shifting is cool. I could shape-shift.”

Deni pulled me out of the way of a foot cart careening toward us with two yelling men pushing it.

“Close one,” I said with a grateful grin.

On a roll, he continued with his story thread. “There are witches, too. Do you like to hear about witches?”

“How could I resist hearing about witches?” I asked, thoroughly enjoying myself after a not-so-great stint in the pool.

“The beautiful princess of the Pajajaran Kingdom in West Java fled to the Southern Sea after being struck by black magic. You know the dark magic?”

“Yes. I mean, not personally but it means bad magic.”

“Yes. Bad. The black magic was cast by a witch under the order of a jealous rival in the palace and caused the beautiful princess to suffer a disgusting skin disease. You know skin disease?”

“Not personally,” I teased, and he wagged his finger at me with a warning grin.

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