Page 169 of In Rising Tides

A frown creased her brow like she was afraid she was imagining things.

“I’m coming,” he said, closing in on her.

The water lowered as he climbed onto the sandbar.

And then she was reaching for him. Struggling to stand on legs that weren’t there.

She looked down and flicked her tail before turning a horrified expression in his direction.Her mouth stretched wide open, and the light gleamed on serrated teeth.

In two more bounding strides he was there, collapsing to his knees before her and tugging her body into his arms.

He was home.

The missing parts of him slid into place. A key into a lock. It unlocked him entirely, and he sobbed. Unashamedly, wept, holding her at last.

She clung tightly to his wet clothes. Her sharp talons ripped through his sodden tunic and nicked his skin as she grappled for a closer hold.

But it didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered anymore.

He didn’t feel the pain, didn’t feel anything but overwhelming peace and joy.

Squeezing her tightly, he inhaled her storm-kissed scent and was reborn.

“Wilder,” she cried. “Wilder.”

“Shh,” he whispered. “I’m here. I’m here.”

He hadn’t known a moment of peace from the second she had been ripped from his arms until now. He took a deep breath and pressed a multitude of kisses to the top of her head.

Maelys’ shriek reached their ears right before she slammed into them both. Her body knocked him off his knees and into the sand. His arms never left Lyra as Maelys sandwiched Lyra’s other side.

Both women burst into laughing sobs as Lyra wrapped an arm around Maelys and pulled her in tight.

Ridge stood nearby, a smile stretched wide across his face as he dashed away a few tears.

“You’re home,” Maelys said. Her head was pressed against Lyra’s. “You’re finally home.”

Lyra’s smile fell away. She flicked her tail and tore her eyes off Maelys and focused on Wilder.

“I thought I would have shifted back.”

Another wave swept by, and her tail fluttered in the nearby water. He had never seen her in this form before.

On land she had been stunning, but in the water she was ethereal. Her tail glimmered like tiny stars dipped in water.

The color shifted from the pale lavender of flower petals to the vibrant green of life.

Wilder cupped her cheek. “We can figure that part out together.”

She nodded, but bit her lower lip. Wilder’s lips twitched as he caught a closer glimpse of the razor-sharp teeth she bore.

“You have teeth and claws,” he mused, repeating her words from so long ago.

Lyra unclamped her lip and grinned. She stroked a gentle talon down his face, and he shivered as if she raked it down his spine.

Maelys unwound herself from Lyra’s hold as Ridge pulled her up to her feet.