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Thorne moves next to a large cypress tree. “Climb up,” he directs Autumn. “This is as close as you two are getting.”
I follow him, pushing Everly behind her sister. “What about the shield?” she asks.
“Hold it over us as long as you can. Don’t releaseyourselves from it. If you’re going to lose control of the shield, keep it over the two of you, and let us go. Do you understand?” I answer.
“I think so.” Everly’s voice sounds exhausted.
“Yours and Autumn’s safety comes first.”
The girls climb the tree, hiding in the recesses of its branches. Once I’m sure they’re in a safe spot, we continue moving toward impending doom or freedom. The irony of me not killing Kragen when I had the chance, to now being forced to do the deed by the Goddess of the Sea, isn’t lost on me. Instead of taking his life on his ship, Thorne and I are stomping our way through a swamp to his front door.
The house is still twenty feet ahead when I feel Everly’s shield lift and a swoosh of energy flow in.“Here we go,”Thorne says through my mind. We don’t waste any more time. Without the protection, we leap from the murky water to the porch of the house seconds later, finding the porch empty. The vampire who was outside earlier is gone, but his energy still lingers.
Thorne rips the door off its hinges, and we enter full speed, finding it empty. No furniture, no people, no vampires…no nothing.
“Where are they?”Thorne asks.
“Kragen’s close. I sense him.”
Back on the porch, I turn a full three hundred and sixty degrees, searching for the source. A few hundred yards away I spot something that fills me with dread. The bow of a pirate ship looms in the distance. It’s not as large as the one he abandoned in North Carolina but a ship, nonetheless.
“Do you see it?”I ask, nodding toward the dark wood.
“Holy shit.”
“How does he plan on getting it out of here? We’re in a swamp for God’s sake.”
“Does Kragen need a plan?”Thorne stares at the ship.“There’s no point in hiding. He knows we’re here. Let’s go say hello, shall we?”
“No need,” a familiar voice says as Kragen lands on the porch in front of us. He’s wearing a pair of cargo shorts, a tank top, and flip-flops. I hold in the laugh that’s trying to escape.
He looks me up and down with a disapproving smirk. “It seems you’ve let yourself go a bit, my dear. You look as if you’ve tromped through a swamp.” He laughs at his joke. “Although I’m not unhappy to see you, I will say I’m surprised to see you so soon. I imagined we’d continue our little cat and mouse game for a hundred more years or so.”
“Believe me, it wasn’t by choice.”
“Don’t tell him the truth,”Thorne warns.
“If you didn’t already figure it out, Captain, I can hear your communications with each other.” Kragen crosses his arms across his chest. His laugh echoes off the nearby trees. “Surprise!” He stares at us. “What, you two thought you were the only special ones?” Heshrugs, turning toward me. “Until Elsbeth, I thought I was the only one.”
“That’s why you took me? Because I was special? Why all the bullshit excuses?”
I want to slap the smile off his face. “Entertainment?” he answers with a shrug.
“Torturing me, allowing others to torture me, holding me captive for a century, chasing me fortwocenturies, and terrorizing me wasfun?I knew you were a sick son of a bitch but not to this extent.”
“I’m just full of surprises.” He turns toward Thorne. “If I’d have realized you had a gift, I could’ve had a pair. Imagine the fun that would have presented.”
I move closer to the pirate. “You’re going to die.”
“That sounds familiar,” he teases. “Shall we play this game again?”
“Samirah’s not here to save you this time,” Thorne adds. “She’s dead.”
“Aww, what a pity. Although, I’m not sure what’s worse. You thinking she saved me, or you thinking I care if she’s dead.”
“Have you ever cared about anyone?” I spew.
“Once,” he answers, looking at Thorne. “Until your men killed her. Imagine my surprise when I found such a gifted young girl on the ship. In fact, Captain, you should thank Elsbeth. If it weren’t for her, I would’ve sunk your entire ship and taken them all as my crew. She saved you and your men.”
