Dangerous Tides Read Free

showing off," Elle said. "It took her forever to learn that."
    Joley swatted at Elle with a rolled-up newspaper. "It did not. I could do that before you were born. Get with the program, Hagatha, we're trying to teach Libby how to be a bad girl."
    "Talk about Hagatha," Elle defended herself. "I tried to wake you up this morning and you made rude noises and threatened to toss me off the tower into a sea filled with sharks."
    Joley poked Libby. "See, hon? That's how to be a bad girl. Did I get up and do the vacuuming like her majesty wanted me to do? No, I slept in and she did it for me."
    "As if." Elle snorted. "I didn't do your job. Libby did it so you could catch up on your sleep which you wouldn't need if you weren't up at all hours of the night."
    A collective groan went up. "Libby, you didn't." Joley tried to sound disappointed but she only managed to choke on laughter.
    Libby ducked her head so that her black hair fell in a cloud around her face and shoulders. "I thought you might need a few extra hours. It wasn't a big deal."
    Sarah hugged Libby. "You are incredible and don't even realize it."
    "No, I'm not," Libby insisted. "I want to be a Hagatha. I just don't want to color my hair. Sorry, Joley, thanks for trying, but seriously, pink hair isn't for me."
    Joley grinned at her. "There you go, trying not to hurt my feelings. We need a school for bad girls. It would be the only time in your life you got less than an A."
    Libby lifted her chin and glared at her younger sister. "I could get an A in bad girl class. I always get A's."
    Joley shrugged. "I tried not to get good grades. Once you start, the mom and pop want it to continue. Then you're stuck."
    Hannah nudged Joley with her foot. "Good philosophy. Wish I'd thought of it." She waved her hand toward the kitchen. "And you never stay on task. We might all perish without cookies."
    "Did you do the ones with that butter frosting you make, Hannah?" Kate asked. "I love those."
    "For you." Hannah smiled at Kate but turned to give Sarah a hard look. "But not for you. You sided with Jonas Harrington over the movie the other night. You're in the doghouse so no frosting on your cookies."
    "Hannah," Sarah protested. "You can't deprive me for liking a movie you didn't like."
    "I'm not depriving you because you liked the movie, you treacherous wench, I'm depriving you because you admitted it in front of the caveman and inflated his ego."
    "I'm sure Sarah didn't mean to side with Jonas," Libby said.
    Another round of laughter went up. "You're hopeless, Lib," Hannah said. "I'm showing you how to be Hagatha and you just can't grasp the concept."
    A gust of wind blew through the house as the living room door opened, admitting a tall man with broad shoulders. Jonas Harrington, the local sheriff, slammed the door behind him and strode in as if he owned the place.
    Hannah's gaze jumped to the huge window overlooking the sea, her heart pounding in sudden alarm. The fury of the wind whipped the dark clouds around, but failed to hide the blood-red circle slowly seeping into the blackened ring around the moon. Her hand went to her throat—a purely defensive gesture—as her gaze met her youngest sister's. Elle had the same knowledge of impending danger in her eyes.
    "Hannah?" Libby ran her hand down Hannah's arm to comfort her. "Is something wrong?"
    To distract her sisters, Hannah gestured toward the sheriff and groaned. "Speak of the devil. I swear, it's like you whisper his name and it conjures him up, just like a demon from hell."
    Joley nudged Libby. "See, that's censoring. She was thinking way worse than that, right, Hannah?"
    Hannah nodded. "You'd better believe it." She felt the instant shift of power in the room, the subtle flow of her sisters automatically helping her, keeping her from the curse of stammering or worse, having one of her panic attacks simply because someone other than a family member was with them.
    "Baby doll," Jonas greeted Hannah, deliberately provoking her with