Between the Land and the Sea

Between the Land and the Sea - By Derrolyn Anderson

PROLOGUE

The surfer sat upright on his board, blue eyes intensely focused as he scanned the action at the breakers. Rising and falling with the ocean swells, he was poised to spring into action when the moment came, completely oblivious to the drama being played out below him.

Driven by mounting hunger, the shark needed to feed, and it prowled the coastline on a lethal mission. Fathomless black eyes scanned the water for prey as its muscular tail lashed back and forth rhythmically. Once it had made its choice the outcome was a foregone conclusion. It was an efficient eating machine, emotionless and methodical. Certain death swimming.

She followed along behind it, gliding with effortless grace. The hungry predator didn’t realize that it was being stalked, shadowed by a creature far more ancient and powerful than itself. She wasn’t going to allow it to hunt in her territory. Its intended victims were her charges and she felt a kinship to them. Watching and waiting, she trailed at a distance, a protective force of nature.

The big fish slowed and began to circle, and she knew from experience that it had selected a target. Looking up, she could see a surfboard floating on the surface flanked by the legs of a wave rider. The hungry predator began its final rush towards what it thought was a sea lion. Eyes rolled back for protection, it became a deadly missile, a terrible surge of gray slicing though the water like a knife. Massive jaws opened to reveal row upon row of serrated teeth, ready to bite down at exactly the right moment.

With a few powerful thrusts of her tail she swiftly flew through the water with tremendous speed, intercepting the shark at the last possible moment. She drove into its gills with her shoulder, knocking it off course and stunning it temporarily. Startled, it regained its bearings and righted itself, unaccustomed to being thwarted. Suddenly terrified of the interloper, the shark quickly retreated.

Pleased with herself, she surfaced to get a better look.

The surfer had glanced down just in time to see the huge jaws closing in on him. He knew what was coming and had braced himself, resigned to his fate. To his amazement he was spared.

A split second before he was awaiting death, and now he was looking into the most beautiful face he had ever seen. A girl with eyes the color of the sea, eyes that locked onto his and disappeared under the water in a flash.