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“That’s an understatement,” Micah answers.
We drive the rest of the way to the airport in silence, and I’m grateful. My emotions are all over the place at the moment, and I’m not sure what I’ll say if provoked.
“It’s been a pleasure to meet y’all. I hope you’ll come back again, and we can explore during the daytime. The Outer Banks are truly beautiful,” Brittney says as she pulls in front of the airport.
“Thank you for your time.” Thorne hands her a wad of rolled-up money. “You have been an outstanding tour guide and extremely helpful.”
“Oh, I can’t accept this,” she argues, trying to hand the money back.
“I insist.” He smiles and even in the dark, I can see the redness return to her cheeks.
“If you insist. Anytime you folks need a tour guide, let me know. I’m more than willing to help you out.” She hands Thorne a piece of paper with numbers scratched on it.
I’m surprised to find the jet still sitting in the middle of the runway. The man who we saw earlier is sitting at Brittney’s desk, and the anger has left him. “Hello?” he greets us.
“Is everything okay?” Micah asks.
“Yeah. Your pilot paid enough money, he can park that damn thing anywhere he wants.” He leans back, propping his legs on the desk. “Anytime you folks need to come back, we’re open.”
We walk back to the jet and climb on board. “Welcome back!” the invisible pilot greets us. “I hope you had an eventful evening. We will be departing for a return to Charleston shortly.”
The sound of jet engines roaring to life echoes through the hull, and just as promised, we are in the air and on our way home.
FIFTEEN
three centuries too late
Micah’sasleep within minutes of the jet taking off. Thorne is sitting next to me, and I’m grateful for his comfort. Being around Jimmy brought up memories of Kragen I’d rather forget. In fact, I thought they were gone, but now, in the stillness of the jet, my mind keeps flashing to the horrors of my time with him.
“Are you okay?” Thorne whispers.
“Yes, no…I don’t know.” Long fingers wrap through mine, offering comfort. “Being around Jimmy and feeling his energy brought some old wounds to the surface. After I left, I vowed never to allow myself to feel that way again. For the first time in two hundred years, I did.”
“I’m sorry, Elsie. For what it’s worth, you were amazing back there.”
“If I’m going to get away from Kragen forever, I’m going to have to be strong. I can’t let him get to me.”
Thorne pulls me close as the plane begins its descent. We’re on the ground in Charleston less than an hour after leaving the Outer Banks. The drive back to Francis’s house from the airport seems to take longer than the flight.
“How’d it go?” she asks the moment the front door opens. She and Luna are crocheting something that resembles a blanket.
“We didn’t find Kragen, but we found one of his men,” Micah answers for the team.
“What happened?” Luna asks.
“We met Jimmy in a bar that Kragen, now known as Kraver, visits frequently,” I answer.
Francis abandons her blanket project and is at her laptop minutes later. “Kragen may not have pulled up anything, but Kraver might.”
“Can I ask the obvious question?” Luna says, buried under pounds of yarn. “What would you have done if you would’ve run into Kragen? Waved at him and left quickly? From what you said, he’s deadly, and walking into a bar that he frequents was dumb.” She looks around the room. “Am I the only one thinking clearly?”
I sit on a chair, defeated. “I don’t know what I would’ve done,” I answer truthfully. “But I had to find out if he was there.”
“Gunner Kraver. Born in 1965 in Raleigh, North Carolina, residence now shows a small town in the Outer Banks,” Francis says from her laptop. “That has to be him.”
Something inside of me snaps. I stand, turning toward my new friends. “I can’t do this. I thought I was ready, but I’m not. Thank you all for trying, but I have to leave. I can’t stay here and put you in danger any longer.” Without turning around, I run through the front door and don’t stop moving until I’m standing in front of the Atlantic Ocean. The same damn ocean that brought all of this on. The same ocean where both true love and Kragen found me.
“Leave me alone, you son of a bitch!” I scream at the empty sea in front of me. My life was stolen from me. A life with Thorne by my side. The life I imagined. Gone. All at the hands of a monster. I don’t fight the tears that fall. All our little extravaganza to the Outer Banks did, was alert Jimmy that one of Kragen’s creations is still alive. Why the hell did I let them talk me into something so stupid?
