Killian came awake as if someone had fired a shot of adrenaline into him. He sat up with a ragged gasp and found himself on the deck of a fishing boat.
Charlie appeared above him, backed by the star-dotted sky, and everything inside him felt good just looking at her. She reached down for him. “We don’t have much time.” Her voice seemed off. It had a catch to it.
He clasped her hand and let her pull him up, noting they were no longer in the warehouse. They were on Devlin’s fishing boat. Devlin and Larissa were already up. She stood by the rail, staring out at the sea as they sped over the waves. Devlin paced, rubbing his chin.
Rhiannon was up as well, sitting on the deck, Pandora beside her, as always, Roland’s head rested on her lap as she stroked his hair, her cheeks wet with tears.
He still only had one leg.
“He didn’t regenerate?” Killian whispered in alarm.
“No,” Charlie said. “He hasn’t been awake yet either. We don’t know what that means. Rhiannon’s never seen a vampire with an amputated limb before. She doesn’t know if that sort of thing heals during the day sleep, or over many days’ sleep, or never.” She lowered her gaze and her voice, “She doesn’t even know for sure if he’s going to wake at all.”
“He’ll wake!” Rhiannon said. But her tone of command was missing. She sounded unsure, almost broken.
“Of course he will, Rhiannon. We know that,” Killian said quickly.
“Devlin and his band tried feeding him from their own veins,” Rhiannon said softly. “It didn’t work. Human blood might do the trick, if we had one around.”
“I’d offer my own, if I wasn’t afraid it would poison him,” Charlie said.
Roxy shook her head. “He wouldn’t want it from you when you heart’s hammering like it is. Could kill you. I, on the other hand–”
“You’re still recovering from a gunshot wound, a kidnapping, and a significant lack of nutrition,” Rhiannon said. “Besides, I heard you tell Charlotte that DPI had injected you with something after stitching up your leg. For all we know it could be the same drug Charlotte’s friend Mariah was given–the one that made her blood toxic, corrosive, probably deadly to us. We cannot risk it.”
Killian tore his gaze away from Roland’s sad looking, blackened stump, and met Charlie’s eyes. “Your heart–”
“It’s been racing for about forty-five minutes, now. Gram’s had me doing deep breathing and meditation to try to slow it down. It hasn’t exploded yet, so maybe it’s working.”
“She needs another shot of that Protectol,” Roxy put in. “And she needs it soon.”
“What the hell happened while we slept?” Killian put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder, walking her to the nearest deck chair. He didn’t have to urge her to sit. She was shaking. He felt it. Too much adrenaline coursing through her veins.
“They found us at the warehouse,” she told him. “Christian’s tattoo was some kind of tracking device.” She leaned back in the seat, taking a deep nasal inhale and blowing it out slowly, before going on. “They took him. DPI was about to raid the warehouse, but we gave them the slip and made our way straight to Devlin’s boat. Gram and I hauled you onboard and headed us out to sea.”
“That’s as much of an explanation as we’ve had so far,” Devlin said, “I was just asking where the hell the rest of my group are. I’ve been unable to reach them mentally. They were supposed to meet us onboard at dusk.”
“I know, I heard you tell them,” Charlie said. “We’re still within sight of shore, Devlin. Have been since dusk. They haven’t shown.” She reached for a pair of binoculars she had sitting nearby, but when she held them out to him, he waved them away. Preternatural eyesight was far beyond the capability of the spy glasses. “Maybe DPI found them, too,” Roxy whispered.
“Then they’re dead,” Devlin whispered.
Killian lowered his head, and Larissa put a hand on Devlin’s arm and whispered, “No.”
“I found out–” Charlie stopped there, pressing a hand to her chest, and taking another of those long, deep breaths, then blowing it out slowly. “I can’t.” She looked to Roxy.
“Deep breaths. Deep and slow,” Roxy said, crossing the deck to stand beside her, one hand stroking her hair off her forehead. “Lie still. Silence your mind. Focus only on your breaths.”
She did, and nodded as if it was better, but Killian didn’t think it was. “Tell them the rest,” she whispered.
Roxy nodded. “Charlotte’s former lieutenant told her that her mother is still alive. That they’re holding her, and he let her talk to her on the phone to prove it. But our girl managed to spy the number he’d dialed on the phone’s screen, and I was able to triangulate and get a location, about fifty miles southwest. Which means they’re at sea. Since they threatened to kill Trish unless we walked away and let them take you all, we’re in an understandable hurry to get there.”
“Probably that same ship where they held us prisoner,” Rhiannon said. “The Anemone.”
“I don’t think so, Rhiannon,” Roxy went on. “We’ve checked the maps, and there’s an island within the area where that cell phone is pinging. Ships tend to move. That phone hasn’t.”
Rhiannon took her gaze from Roland’s, briefly. “We need to get back to the Anemone all the same. They have a child there.”
“A child?” Charlie lifted her head. “Rhiannon, what happened on that ship?” She looked at Roxy, but she only shrugged.
Rhiannon returned her gaze to Roland’s face. “I was placed into a sort of...arena-like room and this wild eyed little girl, more animal than human, attacked me.” Shaking her head, moving her fingers over Roland’s forehead, she said, “I thought it was a joke at first, but she was strong. As strong as you, Charlie. Perhaps stronger. And I couldn’t fight back. She was one of The Chosen. But...different.”
“They gave the BDX to a child?” Killian asked, dumbfounded.
“No. No, she was different from the Exers as well. Very different, but similar. I don’t know how else to describe her. She felt like...a hybrid. A new kind of being.” Then she closed her eyes slowly. “I will find that ship again and take that child out of there. She’ll fight me every step of the way. But I will do it.”
She fell back into chanting something mystical and foreign. A spell, maybe, or a prayer, over Roland, her hands constantly stroking, caressing him as she did.
Devlin said, “We were trying to catch up to the Anemone, certain it was the heart of this DPI operation, which I intended to wipe out of existence.” He sent a glance at Rhiannon, at Roland, a resentful one.
“But you stopped to pull us from the sea,” Rhiannon said. “That says more about your character than you probably care to admit, Devlin.”
Devlin turned his head and spat into the water. “I won’t lift a finger to help a mortal. The Chosen, yes, because I have no choice, but I don’t like it. I can’t, however, let one of my own kind die if I can prevent it.”
“It’s a unique sense of honor,” she said. “It surprises me to learn you have any at all.”
“Go fuck yourself, Rhiannon.”
She lifted her brows. “I’d kill you for that if I didn’t owe you. Roland would be dead if not for your twisted moral compass.”
“Roland is dead already, for all you know.”
Rhiannon did no more than move her head and Pandora pinned her yellow gaze on Devlin, crouching deep and growling.
“Keep menacing me with that overgrown feline, and I’ll throw it overboard. This is my ship. You’re not in charge here.”
“I’m in charge anywhere I happen to be, Devlin. And you have pushed me as far as is wise. My nerves are raw. My temper, frayed. One more nudge from you, and my fragile grip will break.”
“I’m going to find that ship, lady. And no matter what you say, when I get there, I’m going to kill them all.”
Rhiannon looked down at Roland and said, “You will not kill them all, Devlin. You will only kill the ones I don’t kill first.”
/> Charlie sat up a little. “You aren’t going to kill any of them. Neither of you. We’re going to the island, not the ship, and we’re going to get my mother back. Alive.”
“Your mother is none of my concern,” Devlin said.
Charlie sprang off the chair and onto her feet in front of him so fast he almost stumbled backwards, and she grabbed him by his shirt. “You can’t hurt me, fuck-face, because I’m one of The Chosen. But I can hurt you. Might do you some good to remember that.” She let him go with a little shove.
Killian’s eyes damn near popped their sockets, he was so surprised. She was fuming, and pissed, and he didn’t doubt she meant every word she said.
Devlin turned and strode away, up to the bridge and the helm, away from all of them.
Rhiannon sent her a look of surprise and approval.
“You should stay still,” Killian told her.
“I can’t stay still. I’ve been injected with fucking speed, how am I supposed to stay still?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Rhiannon was occupied with Roland. Roxy nudged Larissa with her elbow, and the two of them walked around the deck, toward the stern. “So talk,” Charlie said.
Killian heaved a sigh. “I’m worried about your heart.”
“It’s my heart. Let me worry about it.”
“If it starts to feel like it’s going to–”
“It’s not.”
“Not yet. But if does–”
“If it does, then I’ll die.” She bit her lip and cast a glance skyward, like she was looking for help somewhere, but then she clenched her jaw and faced him again. “I won’t let you risk your life for me, Killian. I couldn’t live with it if you traded your life for mine. That’s my decision. I’m not going to change my mind. I’m sorry.”
At sunset, Lieutenant Lucas Townsend gathered the troops to the parade grounds at New Fort Rogers, also known as Location 2. Commandant Barnaby Crowe stood right beside him, his bulldog face unreadable.
“First, recruits, my apologies,” LT said. He clasped his hands behind his back as he spoke, but he wasn’t making eye contact with any of them. He was looking at the horizon beyond them. It made Christian want to turn around and see what the hell he was looking at, but of course, he couldn’t do that.
“What happened at Fort Rogers shouldn’t have happened. No recruit should have died the way your colleagues, my men and women, died back there. It’s unacceptable.” His eyes seemed to well a little. He blinked the moisture away, glanced at Crowe, who nodded once, firmly. LT pulled a folded scrap of paper from his pocket and read from it in a voice that was strangely robotic.
“We now have an antidote to the BDX. It will reverse all of its side effects, and restore you to the way you were before the treatment. You’ll lose your enhanced strength and endurance, but your life expectancy will return to that of any other BD. The Exer Program has been terminated.” He crumbled the paper in his fist, and looked at them slowly, eyes lingering on every one of them for a second. “It’s been an honor to serve with you. You’re good people.”
People muttered, but Commandant Crowe held up his hands. “Save your questions for later, recruits. We’re eager to get this antidote into your systems before any more of you die the way your comrades did at Fort Rogers. Report to the Infirmary immediately.”
Everyone started heading for the infirmary, and Christian didn’t have a choice but to follow along. As they passed by the tent where Charlie’s mother was being held, Christian tried to catch a glimpse of her again, but it was too dark inside. He was racking his brain to figure out a way to get word to Charlie. He knew she and Killian and the others had got away. Someone had heard LT trying to explain that to the commandant, and word had spread through the new camp like wildfire. Christian was glad. He wished he was still with them, but he had to pretend otherwise, bide his time here until he could figure a way to get off the island.
Everyone was gathered in front of the medical tent, and he could see inside. The place was lit, but dimly, and the flaps were tied back. Beds were lined up in rows and rows, as many as they could fit in there. Dr. Mariner and a handful of nurses were taking the Exers from the front of the crowd to the furthest beds, having them strip down to their skivvies and lie down. Arms were swabbed, IV lines inserted.
Christian was uncomfortable in more ways than one. His shoulder hurt like hell, because as soon as he’d been alone long enough here on the island, he’d taken a sharp blade and cut away the tattoo LT had used to track him down. There was a white bandage over the spot now. He figured he’d be in deep trouble for that when LT saw what he’d done, but no one had said a word about it. And that made him even more nervous. On top of that, he wasn’t too happy about the notion of letting them inject him with yet another untested mystery drug. But he didn’t know how the hell he was going to get out of it, either. LT stood on one side of the crowd of Exers, the commandant on the other. Christian was near the back, but things were moving pretty rapidly. There were only a few dozen of them left, after all.
Rhiannon gently lowered Roland’s head from her lap, got to her feet, and walked over to Charlie, taking the deck chair beside her.
“Any improvement?” Charlie asked.
“Not yet.” She stared back at Roland.
Pandora had stretched out beside him, close enough to touch. Every now and then she would turn and give his face a lick, rocking his head to the side as she did. Trying to wake him, Charlie thought. It was sweet.
“Would you like to know how Killian would feel if you died?” Rhiannon asked her suddenly.
Surprised by the question, Charlie looked at her. “I already told you what happened when he tried to turn Mariah. It burned him, Rhiannon. Like acid, he said. I can’t risk that my blood will do the same to him. No more than you were willing to risk that Roxy’s might poison your Roland.” She shook her head. “Besides, it’s my life. My decision.”
“It is. But still, you should know. Here, let me show you.”
Rhiannon pressed her palms to either side of Charlie’s head and stared into her eyes. “Feel what I’m feeling right now, young mortal. At least make an...informed decision.”
It started to wash over her then, a grief that only a being thousands of years old could feel. It was the darkest despair, and that was only the edge of it. She couldn’t bear to feel more, but she sensed there was a black hole of it swirling inside the ancient vampiress. It welled up in Charlie’s chest, tightened her throat too much to let her so much as swallow, and filled her eyes with tears. Her entire soul seemed to go black with the most hopeless feeling conceivable. Complete devastation. Utter loss. Endless, crippling grief.
With a strangled sob, Charlie pulled her head away.
“He loves you,” Rhiannon told her. “And you love him, you little idiot. Love like that is worth any risk. Anything. It’s worth anything. You have to try. Believe me, he’d rather die trying than to live on without you.” She looked back at where Roland lay on the deck. “And if he does die trying, the option to join him will always still be there.”
Charlie was stunned into silence. First, by the sheer power of the pain Rhiannon was in. And then too, she was stunned by what she’d said, which made Charlie think the ancient vampire queen was considering a morning walk herself, should her beloved not return to her. A walk straight into the sunrise.
God she hoped Roland survived. No one deserved the kind of pain she had just now glimpsed. No one.
“Oh my God,” Charlie whispered. She pressed both hands to her chest, then poked around her neck in search of her pulse. “It’s normal. My heartbeat has gone back to normal.”
“I thought it might,” Rhiannon said, and she resumed her former position, pulling Roland’s head into her lap. “The heart can only focus on so much at one time. I gave it more than any heart should be expected to bear. It couldn’t sustain the episode, too.” And then she went back to stroking Roland’s head and chanting.
Charlie
was exhausted. She had to be, after having her heart pound at such a powerful rate for more than two hours. Killian wished he could convince her to sleep, but he didn’t see it happening. She was at the bow, staring out over the water in search of the island, her hair blowing behind her. A sea goddess on her way to exact vengeance upon those who had wronged her.
“They’ll know we’re coming,” Killian said. “Even Rhiannon’s glamourie can’t hide us from sonar.” He was standing on the elevated bridge beside Devlin at the helm. And he couldn’t take his eyes off Charlie.
“If so, they know it already. We’re only a couple of miles out.” Devlin pointed. “Keep watch. The island should come into view soon.”
Killian saw easily through the night, but even then, it was tough to tell the ocean from the night sky—there was no separation. And then, just gradually, there was. The shape of the island rose in the distance, darker than the rest. “I see it!” he said, pointing.
Devlin adjusted the motors. They quieted substantially, and the boat slowed.
“It feels abandoned. Doesn’t it?” Killian asked.
Devlin nodded. “There’s something...it’s weak.”
He guided the boat nearer. Rhiannon had carried Roland below decks and had remained down there with him. Pandora was down there as well, and so was poor Olive, shut up in the galley where she couldn’t panic and fly out over the ocean. Killian was afraid to give voice to his thoughts...that if a vampire didn’t wake by night, he was probably dead. He supposed Rhiannon wouldn’t be able to remain in denial once his body showed signs of beginning to...decompose. But maybe it was better not to bring it up until then. Or at least until after they did what needed doing here tonight. Rescuing Charlie’s mother.
After that, Rhiannon had her own ideas about what came next, and so did Devlin. But all Killian wanted was to take Charlie, her mother, her grandmother and her owl, and get them the hell out of here, to someplace safe.
As if thinking of her summoned her, Rhiannon came up from below and joined the three women who’d gathered at the bow. Roxy and Larissa stood on either side of Charlie, and had spotted the island as well. Killian jogged down the steps from the bridge and went to them, watching as the island took form from the darkness, tall and broad and craggy. It was bigger than it had looked from far away, but the feeling it emitted was one of emptiness. Almost...lifelessness.
No birds called. No insects or reptiles buzzed or chirped. Devlin killed the motor, and the only sound was the water slapping against the hull as momentum carried them nearer an empty dock. There was only one other boat in sight, a small speedboat.
Killian hurried to the starboard side, and grabbing one of the tie lines, jumped over the rail to land on the dock. He tied it off and caught a second line thrown his way by Charlie. She had a determined, stubborn look about her. Not scared. What was there to be afraid of? She’d already lost her mother once. And she’d apparently made up her mind to accept her own death. Not that he intended to put up with that.
As soon as the ropes were tied, the others joined him on the dock, with the exception of Roxy, who stood near the rail, and Larissa, who was piloting the boat back out to sea. Roxy was neither a BD-Exer, nor a vampire. Her place was on the boat, standing guard over Roland. She had two rifles with two 30-round clips for each of them. 120 shots. And as an added precaution, they were leaving one vampiress behind to help her. Larissa. They would take the boat out away from shore and wait for their signal to bring it back.
“No welcoming party,” Charlie whispered. “I’m beginning to wonder if there’s anyone here.”
“Someone’s here,” Rhiannon whispered.
They walked inland from the dock, and it was easy to see the well-worn trail that led to the camp. Three hundred yards later, a village of army green tents. A flagpole with no flag. A backpack on the ground. A feeling of death hung heavy over the island, and more weakly, a sense of waning life, and the summons of one of The Chosen who was dying.
“That one,” Killian whispered, pointing at the big tent with the red cross marking it as the infirmary. “Someone’s alive in there, but in trouble.”
“Check it out,” Devlin said. “The rest of us will fan out, look for any other signs of life.”
Killian took Charlie’s hand as she started to move away from him. “Not you,” he said. “I need you with me.”
“I need you right back,” she told him.
Rhiannon and Devlin had split off in separate directions. Killian and Charlie approached the medical tent. He opened the flap and felt the cold, heavy energy of death hit him squarely in the chest. He could see perfectly in the darkness, but knew she probably couldn’t. And it was for the best. Rows of beds stretched from the front of the tent to the rear of it, every single one of them with a dead person in it.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “They’re recruits. Exers. All of them. My God.”
And he realized she could see after all. She could see the bodies of every young, twenty-something man and woman in the place, all of them freshly dead. Each with an empty IV bag attached by a piece of tubing. They walked slowly among the beds, and Charlie was whispering names. Tom and Kendra and Nikos.
Something crashed to the floor, and Charlie jumped out of her skin and right into Killian’s side, where his arm went around her automatically.
“Help....” The tortured whisper came from down low.
A man dragged himself across the floor toward them.
“Christian!” Charlie ran to him, kneeling. “Christian, what the hell happened here?”
The big man looked up. His arm was bleeding, and Killian realized he’d torn out the IV that must’ve been there. “I got it out in time. I think...it was in time.”
“In time for what?”
“They said...it was an antidote.” He gasped a few shallow breaths. “To the BDX. They said...we’d go back to normal. But I didn’t believe them. So as soon as they left the tent, I yanked my line. Maybe too late, though.”
“Christian, what happened to everyone else in here?” Killian asked.
“They just started...dying. They thought I was dead, too. They didn’t know I could hear them, outside.”
“Hear who?” Charlie demanded. “What did you hear, Christian?
“The commandant. He told LT...we’d served our purpose. Said it was kinder this way. Something about...focusing on the offspring now.”
“The offspring?”
He nodded, gripped Charlie’s arm. “They’re killing us. They’re killing us all. We have to–”
“They’re already dead,” Charlie whispered. “I’m sorry. We checked every bed.”
“Come on, let’s get you out of here.” Killian put his arms under Christian’s and tried to help him to his feet. He noticed the white patch on his shoulder, realized what he must have done to get rid of that tattoo, and shivered.
“Your mother was here, Charlie,” Christian said, his voice weak and choked by grief as he struggled to stand. “She was alive.”
“Where?”
“I’ll show you. Just...don’t leave me.”
“We’re not gonna leave you,” Charlie promised. “You’re our friend, Christian.”
Killian walked Christian to the door, and Charlie came along too, but slower, looking at the beds, at the people in them. Dead, all of them, and he could see it was getting to her.
He put his free hand on her shoulder while keeping the other firmly around Christian. “They’re at peace, Charlie. Let them go.”
She turned and mashed her face into his chest, crying audibly. And he held her, one-armed, kissed her hair. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”
She sniffed, finally pulled it together, glancing toward a walled off section of the infirmary. “Be right back.” Stepping away from him, she hurried into that section. When she came out again she had a rucksack over her shoulder.
“Where was my mother?” she asked Christian as they stepped out of that place of death and into the
night. It was heavy, the death energy. Like a cold wet blanket weighing down the very air, and weighing Killian down with it.
Weakly, Christian lifted a hand and pointed at a smaller tent some fifty yards away. Killian moved quickly. He didn’t know where Rhiannon and Devlin were, and he didn’t like this. They were walking around in plain sight. And there was still someone alive on this island.
Please, let it be her mother. Let her be okay.
When they got a little closer, Killian felt the presence more keenly, but it wasn’t what he expected. “Charlie, does your mother have the Belladonna Antigen like you do?”
“No. Why?”
“Because whoever’s inside that tent does.” He helped Christian sit down in front of a tree. “Just rest a minute, okay? I’ll come right back for you.”
He nodded, looking as if he couldn’t move if he wanted to.
Killian and Charlie continued toward the tent. He didn’t have a gun and wished to hell he did. When they got to the front of it, he reached for the flap, pulling it back the tiniest bit, so they could peer inside.
That bastardly lieutenant sat in a chair in front of a desk, with a handgun, its barrel pressed to his own temple.
Charlie flew at him like she’d been shot from a cannon, taking the gun and knocking him and his chair over, landing on top of him. She reached back, gun in hand. “Take this.”
Killian took it.
Charlie got up, lifting the man by the front of his shirt. “What the hell is this, LT? You gonna kill yourself over all those kids who died? It took you this long to figure out what a fucking blind idiot you were, and you can’t take it?”
He lowered his head, shaking it slowly. “I swear to God, I didn’t know.”
“You knew they were making super fighters out of BDs.”
He nodded, closing his eyes in abject misery.
“And you knew the side effects would kill us sooner instead of making us live longer,” she said.
“Not at first. Not until it started happening. Then we developed the Protectol, and they were working on an antidote.”
“Working on an antidote?” She asked softly. “Then you lied when you said there was one.”
He couldn’t look her in the eyes. He just nodded. “I didn’t know what was really going on, Charlie. I didn’t know they’d just...just kill them all once they had what they wanted from them. Not until it was too late.”
“And what, exactly, did they want from them?” Kilian asked.
“Fuck that. Where’s my mother?” Charlie demanded.
LT looked up at her, making eye contact for the first time. His were bloodshot and red-rimmed. His despondence was not false, Killian thought. It was real. He wanted to die. He almost felt sorry for the man, but Charlie didn’t seem to have a bit of pity for him.
“They took her with them. They want you alive, Charlie. They want your DNA. Because of your grandmother.”
“Took her with them where?”
“The ship.”
“The Anemone?”
He nodded at her, not even registering a hint of surprise that she knew its name.
“Come with me. Now.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving this island. I’m dying with my recruits.”
“No you’re not, Lucas.” She reached out and snatched the gun from Killian, worked the action, aimed it at him. “You’re coming with me. You’re going to help me get my mother back and put a stop to whatever these mad scientists you’re working for are up to. Do you understand? You’re doing that right now. Tonight. And if you still want to die when we’re finished, then I’ll fucking help you. You got me?”
He just shook his head. “What are you gonna do, shoot me? That’s what I want.”
“Is it?” She lowered the barrel to his groin. “Cause I will shoot you, Lucas, but I’ll make damn sure I don’t kill you. Get. The Fuck. Up.”
He got up. She put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him out of the tent. When they got to the tree where they’d left Christian, she made Lucas pick him up and carry him, leaving Killian free to fight, if necessary.
“Call out mentally to Rhiannon and Devlin,” she said, glancing over at Killian as they headed back along the path to the shore. “Have them meet us at the boat, and I’ll signal Roxy.”
She was amazing. She was evolving right before his eyes. Taking charge. Becoming a leader. Feeling empowered.
He did as she asked while she continued talking to Townsend.
“Do you know where that ship is heading?”
“Out to sea,” he said. “There’s no real destination, they just keep moving. They know there are vampires onto them, hunting for them. They’re just trying to stay one step ahead.”
“And why did they leave you behind?”
He lowered his head. “To wait for you, so I could bring you to them. They knew you’d come after your mother.”
“And they also knew I would have my friends with me. What were you supposed to do about that?” She asked again. They were on the dock now, and the fishing boat was chugging back toward them at full power. “Why didn’t they just stay and kill them, themselves?”
“The only ones left were the commandant and his staff. They don’t do battle. They give orders.”
“But they expected you to take on five vampires all by yourself?”
He shook his head slowly. “I’m supposed to call them as soon as you’re all here. Once I do, I have three minutes to get you into the last boat and get us clear before the missile strikes wipe this island out of existence, and the vampires with it.”
“And conveniently incinerate all those bodies,” Killian said softly.
“And then what do you do?” Charlie asked.
“I bring you to them,” Townsend said.
“Well then that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” Charlie untied the speedboat and held its rope.
The fishing boat slowed as it approached the dock. Rhiannon and Devlin came off the path from the camp, in time to see Charlie take Christian from the lieutenant and hand him into Killian’s arms. Then she grabbed LT by his collar, and flung him up and over the rail. He landed sprawling on the deck. She jumped onboard behind him, tied the speedboat’s tow-line to the stern, then went to stand over him, staring down. “As soon as we’re far enough away from this island, you make that call, Lieutenant. Tell them you have me, and we’re on our way.”
Rhiannon watched as Killian carried Christian, unconscious now, up the gangplank Larissa and Roxy had quickly extended. “My goodness,” she said softly. “The more I see of this girl, the better I like her.” She walked up the gangplank behind Killian, and Devlin came behind her.
“Devlin, pull up the plank behind you,” Charlie said. “I tied that little speedboat to the stern. We’ll tow it when we leave here. Rhiannon, take this.” She pulled the bag off her shoulder.
Frowning, Rhiannon looked inside.
“Human blood. For Roland. I took all they had in the infirmary.”
Rhiannon’s brows rose and she blinked as if stunned by Charlie’s actions. Then she turned and hurried below decks to where Roland was.
Chapter Twenty-Two