“Aisha!” A scream erupted from my throat.
In the short time that Uma and I had had our backs turned, she had abandoned the group of Bloodless that she had been working on near the wheel and had approached the siblings. Colin, Frederick and Arletta. They… they lay on the ground, decapitated. With blows so quick her hands were almost a blur, she was in the process of hacking the rest of their bodies into chunks.
I leaped from the safety of the mast, down to the blood-encrusted deck with a crash. I hadn’t even considered the danger I was putting myself into. The witch also hurtled forward, but we were both too late.
No.
No!
I gazed with stunned eyes from the twitching pieces of the siblings’ mangled bodies to Aisha. The jinni wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, a look of satisfaction on her face.
“Did you call me?” she asked in an innocent voice, cocking her head to one side.
“You killed the wrong ones!” I screamed like a banshee. I fell to my knees and gazed in horror, barely believing my eyes.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Aisha drawled. “I didn’t realize…”
“You were supposed to start with those over there!” I bellowed, thrusting my finger toward the Bloodless she’d abandoned by the wheel, even as tears streamed down my cheeks.
I was blowing my cover, but I couldn’t even care anymore. She already knew about what I’d planned. Somehow, she had figured it out.
I could no longer contain myself. I’d been through too much in too short a time. This was the final straw for me. I exploded. I barely even registered the words spilling from my mouth as grief consumed me. I hurled every curse word I knew at her before lunging toward the jinni with my sword drawn.
She swept up into the air, dodging my advance.
“So, the witch was going to save those three for you, was she?” Aisha asked as she hovered above me.
I lost the strength to even continue my attempts to attack her any more. I dropped the sword and sank back to the floor. My head thrust back, my face toward the heavens, I howled.
“Why did you do this?” the witch asked the jinni. “I was to take these three back with me. That was the deal.”
The jinni stiffened. “Do you really think I’m that stupid? You’re only choosing these three as a favor to Julie.”
How did she find out? I could only guess that I’d underestimated her hearing.
Aisha swooped down on me, gripping my throat. She hauled me to my feet and then lifted me up into the air. Her eyes sparkled malevolently.
“I told you what would happen if you stepped out of line,” Aisha hissed.
“Let go of her,” the witch spoke up. “What harm has she done to you?”
Still retaining her grip on me, Aisha turned her glower on the witch.
“Oh, I’m afraid that she has done much harm. More harm, I suspect, than you’re aware of. Clearly, the little snake didn’t inform you of the destruction she almost brought upon the supernatural world.” Aisha’s thick jaws clenched hard. “And of what she did to a dear friend of mine.”
The witch faltered. She frowned, her eyes falling on me, and raised a brow.
“Don’t believe her!” I gasped, trying to pry myself free from the jinni’s grasp. “She’s lying. Please, help me!”
“Speaking of dear friends,” Aisha continued, making my blood run cold, “she also murdered one of yours. Arron.”
“Arron?” Surprise flashed in the witch’s eyes.
“She murdered him on your very own beach.”
“She’s lying!” I screamed.
“She’s the only liar here,” Aisha replied, her fingernails digging into my flesh.
“You have to believe me,” I breathed, looking desperately at the witch. “Please. Would you really trust a jinni over a vampire?”
There was doubt in Uma’s eyes as she looked at me. Then, to my horror, she took a step back. Arron must’ve meant a lot to her for her to take a jinni’s words so seriously. It seemed that the girl had shaken Uma enough to want nothing more to do with me.
But she still has Braithe in her castle!
“Wait! Please!”
“I-I’m sorry, Julie,” Uma said, her voice deep. “I don’t know which of you is telling the truth. You two clearly have—”
Her voice faltered as a violent tremor ran through the boat. While Aisha had by now pinned me against a mast, Uma had still been planted on the deck. The shudder made the witch lose her footing, and she fell to the floor. The boat tilted sharply and abruptly, sending the witch crashing along with several Bloodless against the railing of the ship. The next thing I knew, several gargantuan, reddish poles with speared tips thrust down from above. One pierced right through Uma’s gut. I gasped, too stunned to scream. It had all happened so fast, I doubted she’d even had time to realize what was happening to her before it was too late.
The spell of shade the witch had cast to protect me from the sun vanished, plunging me into agony as rays touched me. The witch was dead.
Squinting through the sunlight and trying to get a handle on the burning sensation that erupted in my skin, I followed the poles upward with my eyes, only to realize that they weren’t poles.
My heart stopped and my eyes bulged. I gaped up at what looked like a colossal crab, hanging over the edge of the ship. The middle of its body was a furious red, with two glossy black eyes set wide apart on either side of its head and terrifying pincers that clicked together. Three of its freakishly long, spear-like legs had crashed down over the side of the vessel as it clung on—one of which had ended the witch, while the others had speared through two Bloodless. The monsters’ feet splintered the wooden floorboards as it heaved itself onto the deck, revealing a full set of eight such deadly legs. It let out a nasty screech that made my eardrums ache and raised its forelegs in the air. The legs that had pierced the witch and the Bloodless still had their bodies attached to them.
Horror rushed through me. I knew what these were. These were the legendary Great Sea Arachnids. Some called them water spiders, while others called them crabs, but they were rumored to live in these parts of the ocean. I shouldn’t have been surprised at their arrival. They would have scented the dead bodies in the water.
Four more crabs scrambled up over the side of the ship. As their feet landed, a couple of them lodged through the bodies of Bloodless, skewering them on their long legs just as one had done to Uma. As they began to stomp down on anyone near them—ogres, Bloodless and humans—I realized that piling up bodies on each of their legs like barbecue sticks was how they caught their prey.
Even Aisha appeared to be frozen in shock. One of them lurched forward in our direction, extending its menacing pincers. Taking advantage of the precarious moment and the fact that Aisha was still in her physical form, I gripped her hands and sank my claws in them, forcing her to let go. I tumbled down to the deck amidst the chaos and threw myself beneath a pile of barrels.
I have to get away from this jinni.
Careful to stay close to the ground, and obscured by barrels and upturned tables, I scrambled toward the edge of the boat—keeping myself hidden behind a high pile of rope—and looked downward. My breath hitched. The waves were swarming with the monsters, their bright red heads bobbing above the waves.
I glanced anxiously back over my shoulder in search of the jinni. I spotted her flitting about over the center of the deck. It wouldn’t be long until she’d found me.
As my gaze fell back on the nightmarish arthropods, I had only two choices before me.
Get skewered alive by a hulking crab, or get caught by Aisha.
It actually wasn’t such a hard decision to make.
Julie
I tried to choose a spot to dive in that wasn’t infested with the monsters. Crashing down into the waves, I prayed that I wouldn’t collide headfirst with one of the crabs. I forced my eyes open, even as the salt stung. At least the daylight was more tolerable down here.
Ch
ills ran through me as I spied several monsters just a dozen feet away, and many more rising up from the darkest depths of the ocean for their luncheon. My only ray of hope was that most of them seemed to be approaching the boat from its starboard side, while the area directly beneath the vessel, and also to the port, was less densely populated.
I swam directly beneath the shadow of the vessel, through the gap between the keel and the rudder. So far, no crabs were making a show of moving toward me. All their focus seemed to be on the deck of the ship.
I drifted down deeper, at the same time backing away from the stream of crabs to my right. I had to get away from these waters as fast as I could. Aisha would no doubt check the surrounding waves once she’d verified I was no longer on the deck. Perhaps she’d started scouring the ocean’s surface already.
As I descended, I continued eyeing the arthropods, terrified that one would suddenly take interest in me as an appetizer.
Streams of bubbles and a muffled scream escaped from my mouth as something sharp clamped around my right leg. My eyes shot down to see the jaws of a shark closing around my shin. My claws extended, I slashed at the shark’s eyes, causing it to let go of me and back away in pain. It had reins attached to it. It was one of the sharks that pulled the ogres’ ship. I had drifted too close to the vessel’s bow.
The shark had cut two nasty gashes in my leg. They hurt like hell, but I was grateful at least that he hadn’t torn my entire leg off.
A mad jinni, giant crabs, lethal sharks… I wondered how many more obstacles life could throw my way.
Haven’t I suffered my fair share already? Wasn’t losing Hans and his siblings enough?
I didn’t think my heart could take any more nasty surprises.
Even as my right leg ached, I forced both of my legs into action, propelling me deeper. Keeping an eye on the stream of crabs rising to the surface, eventually I reached the last of the horde. There must have been at least fifty of them in total attacking the ship now.
I moved further away from the boat, maintaining my depth. I’d swum so deep by now, I was beginning to feel the pressure on my lungs. I’d need to resurface sometime soon, but not until I felt a safe distance away.
Constantly glancing over my shoulder as I swam, I sped forward for miles before finally allowing myself to surface for breath. The sun’s rays touched me uninhibited. Wincing, I kept my head down low as I took in deep, steady breaths. I gazed back at the ship. In my panic, I’d swum further than I had expected. It was just a small fleck on the waves now. I couldn’t spot the jinni, but I couldn’t afford to become complacent either. As soon as I’d renewed my body with oxygen, I submerged myself in the ocean again and continued swimming away.
I wasn’t sure what would happen to all those Bloodless who’d been on the ogres’ ship. It seemed that the spider crabs weren’t exactly discriminatory about whom or what they caught. Maybe those creepy arthropods would do the job Uma, Aisha and I had set out to do—wipe the Bloodless out.
But I couldn’t pay any thought to that now.
There was only one thing on my mind as I raced away:
Braithe.
* * *
I wasn’t even sure how I managed it, but I did. I found my way back to Uma’s island alive. As I entered shallow waters and crawled out of the waves and onto the beach, a surge of relief rushed through me, despite the sun digging into me once again.
Barely taking a moment to catch my breath, I hurried away from the beach and raced up the hill to Uma’s castle. This time, I didn’t knock. Uma had already said that her sister was away visiting relatives. There would in theory be nobody at home… except for Hans’ brother.
I kicked the door down with my supernatural strength and raced across the hallway and down a corridor, toward the treatment room where Braithe had been taken.
When I forced open the door, to my relief, he was still here. I’d half feared that Aisha might reach here before me, having guessed that Braithe, too, was somebody I loved.
Braithe lay naked on the treatment table, eyes closed. He was still asleep in what seemed to be the same position we’d left him in. His wrists and ankles were still restrained, and I guessed that the witch had probably pumped him with another few doses of her tranquilizer potion before she left.
I approached the bed cautiously and touched his cold, deathly pale face. As I gazed down at his freakish appearance, I tried to ignore what Braithe had become and notice only the shadows of his former features. The features that reminded me so much of his brother, Hans.
I couldn’t waste any more time. Swallowing hard, I gazed about the room. A pile of drug-laced blow darts heaped on one of the counters caught my eye. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to use the ones Uma had equipped me with, along with the blow gun. My memory was hazy as to at exactly which moment I’d lost them in the fray.
I swept all the darts off the counter and into an empty drawstring bag that hung from the back of a chair. I also spied another blow gun—two in fact. I took them and fastened both to my belt, just for good measure, along with a sword I found leaning against the wall. Then the only thing left for me to retrieve from this room was Braithe himself. I rummaged around for keys that would unlock Braithe’s restraints, and found them hanging from a hook above the sink.
Still anxious that he might wake up again, I moved slowly and cautiously as I unclasped the cuffs. Then, holding both of his icy, bony hands, I tugged, pulling him into a sitting position. His head dropped and lolled over his chest. His slumber was definitely deep.
I dared slip one arm around his waist, and then hauled him off the table, supporting his body against me—no easy task for someone as short as myself. His legs ended up dragging on the floor as I hurried with him toward the exit, but there was nothing I could do to avoid it.
“It’s okay, Braithe,” I whispered, my voice choked as I thought of Frederick, Colin and Arletta. I would never even have the chance to attempt saving them. They were gone. “We’ll sort you out.”
I dragged him out of the castle and down the hill, toward the island’s small harbor. The day was getting on, and although the sun was still agonizing, it wasn’t quite as piercing as before. Still, it melted my flesh as we hurried down toward the jetty. There were several boats on each side. The one I ought to choose was clear—there was only one with a covering over it. Even though it was small, it would be better than nothing.
I pulled Braithe beneath the shelter of the vessel and tried to lay him down in a semi-comfortable position before moving to the bow. By a stroke of good fortune, there were already a couple of dolphins attached to the boat on a loose tether. I reeled them in and, clutching the reins tightly, sat down beneath the shelter.
We had our engine. Now we could flee.
River
A bright light lit up the backs of my eyelids. As consciousness returned to my brain, I opened my eyes and sat up slowly. My vision was hazy at first, but even with impaired sight I could immediately tell that I was somewhere unfamiliar. First of all, I was lying in a bed. A proper bed, with a soft mattress—not like the operating table that I last remembered lying on. My vision came into focus. There was a white curtain drawn around the bed, enclosing me in my own private space.
“Hello?” I called, only realizing as I spoke just how parched and sore my throat was. A glass of water sat on top of a bedside table to my right. I reached for it and swallowed it in a few gulps. Then I swung my legs off the bed—or at least tried to. Shoving the blanket away from me, I realized that my ankles were still being held by restraints, although my wrists had been freed. Stuck on the bed, I reached my arms out as far as I could without falling off the edge of the mattress and managed to grab hold of the curtain. As I drew it aside, I found myself gazing around at what appeared to be a large hall filled with curtained compartments just like mine. It looked like a hospital ward. And it was quiet. Eerily quiet.
“Hello?” I said, louder this time, my voice echoing off the walls.
No resp
onse. I couldn’t hear breathing, or signs that there was anybody in this hall except for me.
I’d been so disorientated as to my whereabouts that the obvious question only just dawned on me. What did they do to me? I couldn’t feel any pain, except for the usual coldness I was accustomed to. Staring down at my body, I realized that I’d been changed. I still wore black, but the material was different. I wore light cotton pajamas. I shuddered. Who changed me? I hoped that it had been Jocelyn, or another female hunter.
My eyes scanned the length of my arms, and then I removed my shirt. My chest seemed quite normal. My gaze lowered to my stomach, then to my abdomen… where I froze. There was a faint, thin scar running the width of my lower abdomen. My breath hitched. I leaned forward to get a closer look, running a finger along the mark. As I stared at it, a stronger emotion overtook the horror I felt at what these people had done—or rather, not knowing what they had done.
My fists clenched as anger washed over me in waves.
They couldn’t treat me like a lab rat. This couldn’t be legal.
How dare they do this to me.
Ben
As I hurtled away from the hunters’ lair, I scanned the frosty surroundings. I traveled in the opposite direction from the road I had followed to the ski resort. A few miles behind the cluster of glass buildings was acres of some type of training grounds, cleared of all snow. They were scattered among some of the lower mountains. As I kept speeding and neared what I believed would be the end of the hunters’ property, I caught sight of another open field at the foot of an overhanging cliff—about a mile or so away from the training grounds.