After an hour drive towards the coast in relative silence and minimal quips, the trio arrived at their location. Eager to get out of the car and the tense atmosphere, Samantha urged Shadow out and jumped after her. A salty wind immediately welcomed her and she could taste the silt of the sea on her tongue.
She looked at the grey beach stretching out in front of them. It wasn’t exactly the kind that tempted people for surfing or swimming, or sunbathing on the sand, but it looked perfect for old pirate treasure.
“A beach is promising,” Sam said as she took off Shadow’s lead and attached it to her belt. She wanted the puppy to have a fun time running around on the sand and playing with the waves, instead of being restricted like she had to be in the city.
“Let Demon Bite sniff the coin!” Lilith suggested as she took off her heels and stepped into the sand with bare feet. “Ooh, that feels nice.”
Rex joined the both of them after he parked the van and grinned, his boyish face lighting up. “I love the beach. Remember when we were little? We’d have competitions building the biggest castles. I always won.”
“I think you remember that wrong.”
Sam held up her hands. “Remember the conditions.”
They both apologised and wandered off, each in their own direction. Rex kicked up some sand and picked up a couple of shells while Lilith wandered towards the water, her arms stretched out as she danced with the wind. It played with her long hair and her dress, teasing and tugging as she moved through it. Sam couldn’t stop looking at her, admiring how beautiful she was. The way she moved, the muscles flexing under her skin, the way her hands fluttered through the air. She was a sight to behold and Samantha wasn’t sure any treasure they could find would be as captivating as her.
“Are you coming?” Lilith called, waving her along to the sea.
Samantha nodded as she swallowed a lump away. There wasn’t a force strong enough to keep her away from the other woman. She encouraged Shadow to follow as she ran along the beach, her feet sinking into the soft sand. She couldn’t remember the last time she came to a beach for fun, instead of a murder or a crime. It had been too long.
Laughing, she collided with Lilith and the woman wrapped her arms around her. The wind tangled their hair together and teased their faces with grains of sand.
Lilith brushed some of the strands out of Sam’s face but it didn’t help. If anything, it knotted their hair even more together.
“You’re so beautiful when you laugh like that,” Lilith complimented, tracing Sam’s lips. “Never stop doing that.”
“I only laugh like that when I’m with you,” Sam admitted, desperate for a kiss. If Rex hadn’t been there, she would’ve swept Lilith off her feet.
“I’m flattered.”
“You should be,” she teased. She rested her forehead against Lilith’s and closed her eyes, taking in the moment. Even if there was no treasure, she got to spend time together with her.
“Oooi!” Rex’s voice sounded like it came from far away. “Stop cuddling and start looking!”
The two women pulled away, smiling like they just shared a secret. Maybe in a way, they did. Lilith intertwined her hand with Sam and pulled her along, skipping along the shore towards Rex.
He stared at their two hands and for a moment, Samantha feared he was going to make an uncomfortable remark. Ready to defend themselves, she waited but it never came.
“Look, over there!” He gestured to a large cluster of rocks near the shoreline. “That looks promising, don’t you think?”
“It looks like a heap of rocks,” Lilith replied.
“Nahh, it looks like a recognisable point. If you’re going to bury something, you need to do it somewhere you’ll easily find it.”
“We don’t even know if there’s something buried,” Sam reminded them both. She knew they were set on treasure but there was no guarantee they’d find anything remotely cool like that. There was a reasonable chance there was no treasure.
“Let’s go!” Rex shouted. “Last one there is a loser!”
He bolted away with Lilith right on his heels. Shadow barked happily as she chased after them, leaving Sam behind. With a bemused grin, she followed them at a leisurely pace, not bothered by the challenge. Despite the bickering, it seemed like the cousins were actually having a good time hanging out. Sam certainly hoped so.
After the short walk to the rocks, she found the two knee-deep in the sea, splashing each other with water and screaming with giddy. Sam smiled, pleased to see them getting along.
“Found anything yet?” she asked, crouching down to lure Shadow to her.
Once the hellhound noticed her, she sprinted towards her and rolled through the sand, making sure to cover herself from top to tail. Her eyes glowed blue and the glow stretched down to the rest of her body, forming elegant patterns that Sam hadn’t seen since the day she found her by the side of the street.
Worried, she pulled the hellhound to her to see if something was wrong.
“Are you hurt?” she asked, stroking the pup and tracing the glowing lines through her fur. “What’s wrong?”
“She looks fine to me,” Rex called from the water.
“Are you sure? She did this when I found her,” Sam asked, stroking Shadow in an attempt to find what was wrong.
“It’s just strong emotions,” Lilith explained as she waded back to dry land. The bottom of her dress was all wet and collected sand as it dragged behind her. “I promise, Demon Bite is okay. You’re taking great care of her.”
Sam hoped so. She had no reason to doubt either of them, especially not judging from Shadow’s excited barking and playful jumps.
“Did you let her smell the coin yet?” Rex asked as he folded up the bottom of his trousers.
That reminded Sam. She reached for the bronze coin and brought it down to Shadow’s snout. The puppy sniffled the metal and gave it a tentative lick. At first, it didn’t seem like she had any reaction to it. But then Shadow barked and raced off, away from the cluster of rocks.
“Let’s go!” Sam shouted, glad she preserved her energy until now. She did her best to keep up with the puppy but Shadow’s unbridled enthusiasm had her running far ahead of all of them.
She bounced along the sand, jumping over pieces of driftwood and barely stopping to sniff some stranded seaweed. Eventually, she stopped in the middle of the beach and waited for Sam and the others to catch up to her.
Huffing and puffing, Sam was relieved that the hellhound had paused. She doubled down, desperate to catch her breath. She was out of practice, that was for sure.
“Let’s dig!” Lilith exclaimed, not nearly as out of breath as Sam.
“I’ll get the shovels,” Rex proposed.
“Great… idea,” Sam panted, pleased to have a little bit more rest. She fell down on the sand, already exhausted.
Lilith sat down next to her and rubbed her back. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, just… need… a moment.”
“You’re cute when you’re out of breath,” Lilith teased, leaning in closer to press a quick kiss on Sam’s lips. “Reminds me of when we were in bed together.”
Heat crept up Sam’s neck and settled on her cheeks. “Are you flirting with me?”
“I most definitely am.”
“What if Rex sees us?” she asked, voicing her concerns.
Lilith shrugged. “So what? I’m not ashamed.” She pulled slightly back. “Are you?”
“No, of course not. I just didn’t know if you were… out to your family.”
“Oh, I am. I have been for ages. Boss is traditional and old-fashioned, but surprisingly tolerant about this sort of thing. I think he finds it reassuring that there won’t be any men trying to stick it to his daughter.”
“Makes… sense? I think?”
“Not the point. Even if he was a homophobic bastard, I would never hide someone as important as you,” Lilith said casually.
“Oh.” Not sure what to say, Sam brushed her fingers through the cold sand, enjoying the gritty texture against her skin. Sometimes, the intensity of how Lilith spoke scared her. Not in a bad way. She just wasn’t used to being with someone so forward and honest, but now that she’d experienced it, she couldn’t imagine not having that.
She heard approaching footsteps and looked up. “Oh, Rex is here.”
“Good.” Lilith brushed her hand along Sam’s cheek and pulled her forward, capturing her in a very deliberate kiss.
The two women broke apart and with her breathing back to normal, Sam got up to greet Rex, hoping he was still okay with it.
He looked at the two of them, not even slightly bothered. “Here. Shovel.”
Sam grabbed one of them and she knew just from touching the rough, wooden handle that her hands would hurt later, but that didn’t stop her. Each equipped with a shovel, they attacked the spot where Shadow had paused. The damp sand shrieked as they shovelled it away, any banter negated by the concentration and effort.
Shovel after shovel, grunt after grunt, they opened up the sand. Sam wasn’t sure how long they were digging before they realised there was nothing here except for the massive hole they created.
She threw her shovel on the ground and sank down next to it. Sweat pearled on her forehead and stained the armpits of her shirt. Even Lilith looked dishevelled.
“Well, that was a big, fucking waste of time,” Rex growled as he threw his shovel down. He screamed into the wind and kicked some sand back into the taunting hole.
“I hate to agree… but I agree,” Lilith said. She rolled her head back and forth in an attempt to loosen her shoulders.
“So… what now?” Samantha asked. “Are we in the wrong place? Is it not the beach?”
Rex shook his head. “This is definitely the right coordinate, but it’s not exact. It could be over there, or over there. Heck, we could be sitting on it.”
“That would be a joke,” Lilith mumbled. She slapped some sand off of her dress and tied part of it into a knot to keep it together. “Do we just keep digging?”
“My hands hurt,” Sam admitted. “And I’m tired. And thirsty. And I think I got sand in my eye.”
“So that’s it? We came all the way here for nothing?” Rex asked as he threw his shovel down.
Lilith yawned. “Nobody asked you to come.”
“You wouldn’t even be here without my help,” he countered.
“We could have been.”
“Doubt it. Do you even know how to use a map?”
Too tired to tolerate their bickering, Sam snapped. “Guys! We all knew this was a long shot. There’s no guarantee these coins even lead anywhere or that we have all of them. The best part of treasure hunting is the hunting, not the treasure at the end.” She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and pushed herself up. “Let’s just go home.”
The other two grumbled in reluctant agreement.
Sam dusted the sand off her shirt and freed the lead from her belt. “Shadow?” She turned to attach the lead to the hellhound but couldn’t find her. Cold panic beat through her as she scanned the beach for a sign of the puppy but came up empty. “Shadow!?”