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“No!” Thorne warns. “I won’t allow it.”
“Clearly, you are in no position toallowanything.” He turns toward me. “Once that ship reaches this one, everyone will die. Come with me now, and I’ll allow them to live.”
“Everyone?” My voice is shaky.
“Everyone,” he echoes.
I slip my hand inside of his and close my eyes. “Good girl,” he says before lifting me into the sky.
“No!” Thorne’s voice is the last thing I hear before the world goes dark.
FIVE
captive
The smellof copper and death fills my nose as I fight to open my eyes. I recognize the smell immediately as blood. My mind replays the events of Charles’s death and being taken by the creature. That was a dream. It had to be a dream. There’s no other explanation. The sensation of something wet sliding down my cheek lets me know I am awake.
I’m lying on something hard, and my body is in a strange position, with my legs curled underneath. The more aware I become, the more I realize everything hurts.
“Hello?” I try to call out.
“Shut up, girl. Are you dumb?” a hoarse voice says from somewhere in the room.
“Where am I?”
The voice laughs, sounding more animalistic than human. “You’re aboard Kragen’s ship.”
“Kragen?”
“Aye, the vampire that brought you here.”
“Vampire?” I ask, remembering the same word Smith said before the creature lifted me into the sky. “They’re real?”
The voice laughs again. “Very much so.”
“Who are you?” I struggle to sit up, not able to move much of anything.
“I am no one. At least not anymore.” The voice sounds sad. “I used to be someone once upon a time. Now I’m just a shell of a human as you will be soon.”
I slide my back against something solid and lower my head into my hands. “I can’t see anything.”
“That’s because we’re in the bottom of the ship. There are no windows or light. Your eyes will adjust.”
“Are we alone?”
“We are not alone, but we’re the only ones living.”
Sliding my hand around, I bump into something cold and solid. Oh, my God. I remember that feeling from my father. There’s a dead body next to me. I can’t control the tears that flow.
“Don’t waste your water,” the voice warns. “You’ll need everything you can get. Most of them die from dehydration or starvation. You choose.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know. A few days, weeks, months.” The voice gets quiet. “I’ve lost track at this point. I must not be very tasty. I’m still alive.”
“Tasty?”
“Why do you think you’re here, girl?” I don’t answer. “You’re here as a snack when they can’t go on land.”
