Faith Heights

Chapter 35

Water crashed around me with an icy vengeance. It took me an moment to gain my bearings, but it helped that the ocean remained calm. I kicked back to the surface and sucked in what felt like the planet's entire supply of air. Slowly, I rubbed my eyes against the stinging water, and took in my surroundings. 

My frantic mind was a contrast to the calm, sparkling water around me. To the left of the rocks beneath the cliff was a length of sand that led up a steep hill, presumably back to the cliff's face. Nick waded toward me, his hair flung to the side of his forehead liked melted charcoal. He smiled as if- well, as if we hadn't just risked our lives.

He laughed excitedly. "You did it!"

Confusion burrowed into my features, cutting off the adrenaline thumping through my body, like a weir in a river. 

"I almost died! I was heading straight for those rocks." My hands went to my waist. "But then I felt you grab me..."

He grinned mischievously. "Told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

I looked back up at the cliff. I definitely would have been mangled bait if I landed where I'd been headed. "How did you do that?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, as if I'd asked about the weather. "I didn't do anything."

I didn't believe him, but I let the lie go. Nick saved my life, regardless of whether he'd helped endanger it in the first place. I supposed I knew that he had to be a supernatural being to have known about the school's soulmate program, but so far, it had escaped my mind to ask exactly what he was. Somehow, he had grasped my waist as I'd closed in on the rocks, and threw me out into the water. For a few seconds, I'd felt like I was flying.

Slow, placid waves began to rock the water around us. Nick managed to bob in the water, but I had to keep reaching out to him for support. The beach wasn't at a far distance, but I couldn't feel the ground anywhere near my reaching toes. I looked down into the water around Nick, searching.

He smirked. "Don't worry, my shorts didn't come off in the jump."

"No, I was just checking for a tail."

He laughed. "I'm not a mermaid. And that's almost insulting in its unoriginality. Any other guesses?"

I almost said superman, with the black hair and near-blue eyes, but I bit my lip. "Some sort of supernatural acrobat?"

"Try again."

"Spider-monkey?"

He snorted. "Nope."

I grumbled. "Fine. I give up. What are you?"

He splashed backwards, letting the back of his head submerge into the water. He looked up at the sun, slowly making its way to the middle of the clear sky. "Some things are better left as mysteries."

"Tell me." I urged.

He looked across at me and moaned. "Don't look at me like that. You look like Bambi asking what happened to his mother." He sighed. "I'll tell you before the day's over. Happy?"

I wasn't, but I grudgingly agreed. It was better than nothing.

We spent a while longer in the water, wading over the gentle waves. I'd never been a particularly strong swimmer, but I couldn't turn him down when he suggested racing back to the beach. He beat me, of course, but he'd slowed down enough to let me get in a few weak shoves to try and derail his victory. When we reached the sand, I crossed my arms against the breeze, the air now colder than the water. We hadn't brought any towels, and my dress wasn't transparent, but it clung to my figure in a way that didn't leave much to the imagination.