His lips trail down my neck, sending shivers all over.
"I love looking at you," he breathes, brushing the hair off my shoulders. "Will you let me look at you?"
My heart hammers, a wild thing seeking his. "Yes."
So he does. And I feel it. For a long...
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C A M I L A
"The shark stalks prey in the deep blue sea. It is a silent hunter of the abyss, blending in just before striking."
"Come on!" I shout at the TV, throwing a balled-up sock at it. "It's a fish, not a freakin' assassin! Does Morgan Freeman know it's a fish? He could be doing good work!"
"They're just trying to make it engaging," Noah mutters, finger-combing my hair as I lay between his legs on the couch. "Not everyone's as immune to dramatics."
I roll my eyes, sinking deeper into his chest. "Yeah, well, I wanna see the damn shark eating someone already."
Charlie barks as the shark zooms through the water on screen and we all flinch.
Fox stands by the window, cradling him like a baby, but he's squirming and barking every time a new fish appears on the screen. "Shhh, buddy, it's okay. They're just fish."
"Exactly!" I say, clapping and pointing to the TV.
Charlie barks louder. Fox holds him closer, his eyes narrowing at me. "You're scaring my dog."
"Your dog?! You better watch your goddamn—"
Noah bands his arms and legs around me when I try to get up, laughing at my back.
I point to Fox. "If my dog can't handle a little ocean life, maybe you should start screening what he watches."
"Oh, because your suggestion to watch a zombie apocalypse movie last night was so much better for him, right?"
"He was into it!" I defend. "Besides, it was good training."
Charlie barks again, this time as if he's taking offence to the whole situation.
"Charlie senses an imbalance," Jed mutters, his eyes glued to the screen. He's clutching a crystal in his hand—amethyst, I think—and he's got this weird blissful look on his face. "The abyssal zone is a mirror of our internal darkness. The creatures there aren't just living—they're reflecting the mysteries of the universe for us."
The room goes silent for a beat.
"Jed, you're so right," I say, "because when I look at a squid, the first thing I think of is my internal darkness. That's also why I eat them."
Jed nods sagely. "Exactly, Camila. It's all connected."
Noah chuckles into my curls, always happy to hide there.
"You laugh now, Noah," I say, "but when the planets align and the cosmic balance is restored, I'll accidentally buy the wrong kibble at Walmart and there will be a zombie apocalypse."
"That's not what cosmic balance is, Camila," Jed chastises.
"Yeah, Camila," Fox mocks. "Zombies don't make good training videos."
