Read Gray's Domain: Purgatorium Series, Book Two for Free Online Page A

time when the snakes would appear. Brock finished both sandwiches. Her soda can was nearly empty.
    “There’s a sunset cruise this evening,” she said. “My parents and I are going. Come with?”
    “I wouldn’t miss it,” he said.
    She searched her mind for more small talk, wishing Cam would just get on with it.
    “Did you know that Stan and Bridget and even Cam jump into the sea from up here?” she asked, hoping to hint to her friends to hurry up and do something.
    “You’ve done it, too. That was my grisly introduction to this place: the love of my life diving from the highest rock into the crashing waves below. My heart nearly stopped beating.”
    The love of his life.
    Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I only did it because I was scared out of my mind.”
    “I know that, now,” he said. “But at the time, Dr. Gray hadn’t yet explained everything to me.”
    “What did she say to you, anyway?” Now she was curious.
    “She told me that sometimes it takes something really dramatic and painful to help you let go of your mistakes and move on with your life.”
    Cam had once told her the same thing. “What else did she say?”
    “She said it’s not why, but what.”
    “What do you think that means, anyway?”
    “She said we shouldn’t get hung up on why this or that happens or why we do this or that. We should instead focus on what we choose to do with our lives.”
    “Do you agree with her?” Daphne uncrossed and re-crossed her legs.
    “I think so. I mean, I’m not sure that there’s really a single meaning or purpose that’s our destiny. I think we have to make our own meaning.”
    “So what else did she say?”
    Brock stiffened. She could feel him against her legs. Had Dr. Gray said something upsetting to him?
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    “Don’t move,” he whispered.
    Adrenaline surged through her as she realized the moment had come. Without moving her head, she glanced as far as her eyes could reach and that’s when she saw them: Two thick black snakes coiled around Brock’s foot.
    “Oh, crap,” she said. “What do we do?”
    “Don’t move. Just hold still.” He spoke quickly, like he was on the edge of panic as the two snakes slithered up his leg.
    “Do you know if they’re poisonous?”
    “No. Oh, God.”
    The snakes had reached his thigh.
    “We’ve got to do something, Brock. What if they bite?”
    “Grab them behind the head.”
    “Are you kidding me?”
    “Grab them behind the head and fling them away. Do you think you can do that?”
    “What if they bite me? I’m scared, Brock.” She was enjoying his fear a bit too much, she thought. She felt like a participant in one of those set-up reality shows, like Fear Factor and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
    He sat up, and, in one quick move, he reached with both hands and grabbed the snakes as he jumped to his feet. Then he flung the poor creatures out to sea.
    Daphne climbed to her feet, her heart going wild in her chest. What a rush!
    “God, Brock! You were amazing! I can’t believe you just threw them off of you like that!” Especially when, unlike she, he didn’t know they weren’t deadly.
    He took her in his arms. “Are you okay?”
    She nodded as he caressed her cheek and consoled her. Consoled her . She felt a little bad about that, but not that bad. It had been thrilling. “Are you?”
    He nodded. “Let’s get out of here.
    She glanced at the boulder as they packed up their things, but saw no sign of her fellow conspirators.
    As they gathered up the blanket and strolled across the wooden bridge toward the resort, Daphne gazed out at the far-reaching sea, soaked in its brilliance, and smiled. She felt lighter, happier, and more excited than she had ever felt in the two years since Kara’s death.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five: Shark Attack
     
    Later that evening after dinner, Roger and Vince shuttled those taking the sunset cruise out to Willows Anchorage to the resort’s