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228 Cassandra Pierce Wow! Way to go, Briana! I didn t think she had that kind of nerve! I m liking her more already. Don t be ridiculous. Briana couldn t have done this. It must have been Todd. Sebastian tapped Joel s face with his open palm. Hey! What happened here? Where is Briana? Do you have to wake him up yet? Ruby swiped a finger along the wooden stool that had apparently served as the bludgeon and licked up the droplet of blood she collected. I haven t fed yet, you know. Sebastian ignored her and continued trying to rouse Joel, who eventually stirred and moaned. Tell me what happened, he demanded again. Where is Briana Dempsey? Hit me, Joel moaned. Took her. Who hit you? Todd? No, Joel wheezed. A fresh stream of blood trickled past his ear, causing Ruby to gasp. Not Todd. Graham Smith. Sebastian stood. Smith it fits. His boat would be a logical place to start. He reached for the desk phone. Ruby covered his hand with hers and looked up at him with a pleading expression. Can t you wait just a few minutes before you call for help? It won t hurt anything and it would help me more than you know. Ruby Look at him! He s not going to remember a thing. Whatever he does mention will get written off as a hallucination. How often do we catch a break like that? Sebastian sighed. Very well but make it fast. I m going to dial for help in exactly thirty seconds. Deal. She paused to smirk. Seems kind of funny to be calling for help from the police station, doesn t it? Gotta love these small towns. Just get on with it. Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense. Report ebook piracy to legal@sirenbookstrand.com. Heirs to Darkisle 229 Sinking to her knees, Ruby cradled Joel s head in her lap and bent down to feed. Sebastian turned away discreetly, the phone still in his hand. He studied the opposite wall until the sounds of giddy feasting ceased. Thirty seconds later, they were back in the car and heading for the docks. Inside the sheriff s office, the phone lay in Joel s outstretched hand, the emergency operator asking over and over again if anyone could hear. * * * * As Graham slumped to the cabin floor, Briana raced from the cabin and back onto the deck. To her horror, she saw that they no longer putted alongside the shore. The boat was heading straight out into open water. Fortunately, she could still see the lights of town. I can do this, she said, getting into the pilot s position and grasping the wheel. She turned it sharply, making the boat tilt so violently that she nearly flew from her seat. Still she hung on and managed to turn the boat back around so it again pointed toward shore. Groping in the near-darkness, she found the throttle and pushed it down, gunning the engine to a higher gear. They began to move steadily in the direction of home. They drew closer to shore, so Briana looked for the control to raise the lights. One dial seemed promising, so she reached down to twist it. Before she could, she felt something knock her hand away roughly. A moment later she sprawled facedown on the deck. Graham stood over her, clutching the back of his head with one hand and holding her wrist in the other. His face contorted in fury and pain. You ungrateful bitch! After all the risks I took for you! What are you going to do, head back to shore so we can both get arrested? I ll take my chances with Will! she shouted back. Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense. Report ebook piracy to legal@sirenbookstrand.com. 230 Cassandra Pierce Morgan s got you so brainwashed you don t even know what you re saying. This is for your own good, Bri! You re coming with me! Stepping over her, he climbed back into the pilot s seat and jerked the wheel back around. Again the boat pivoted with such force that Briana felt herself sliding across the tilting deck. Desperately she grabbed at the gritty boards under her and somehow hoisted herself to her feet. Then she launched herself directly at him and grabbed for the wheel. Gripping it with one hand, Graham roughly pushed her back with the other. Though she fought desperately, Briana knew she didn t have his strength. Years of seamanship had hardened his muscles, and his manic determination supplied an extra burst of sheer force. Still, she refused to let go, no matter how low the boat dipped or how many icy waves crested the bow and hit her face and shoulders. * * * * Ruby pointed to the nearly empty parking lot across the street from the docks. There s Briana s car. How did we miss seeing it before? Probably because it wasn t here yet. They rushed over to look inside. Sebastian saw nothing unusual in the empty front seats, but right away he smelled blood in the back. It s Todd s, Ruby said without hesitation. Trust me on that. I do. Let s look for the boat. Neither of them expressed surprise at finding Graham s usual berth empty. The dinghy Todd had once stolen bobbed quietly in a spot much too large for it. Sebastian walked to the edge of the public pier and scanned the darkness. The harbor lay quiet except for the steady shriek of the sea wind across the bay and the corresponding groan of the jostled surf. Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense. Report ebook piracy to legal@sirenbookstrand.com. Heirs to Darkisle 231 Out farther, much farther, his sharp eyes picked out a boat with its lights on low, moving erratically. No human could have seen it. The next gust of wind carried its scent toward them. Blood. The same blood they d found in the car. Sebastian looked at Ruby, who nodded. That s it, she said in a near-whisper. He couldn t suppress the tremor that ran through his body as he gazed back out at the sea. He looked at the water something every vampire hated almost as ferociously as they hated sunlight. He couldn t drown, of course his breathing was so shallow it hardly counted as breathing at all, but the claustrophobia and the inevitable, immediate sinking of his body to the slimy ocean floor stirred an even more primal fear. We could steal a boat, Ruby suggested. Sebastian barked out a sardonic laugh. You and I have no boating skills. They d be across the bay before we even cleared the pier. Then we re stuck, I guess. His expression hardened. Not quite. I ll have to swim out to them. Panic rose in her so strong that he, too, felt its reverberations. In truth, he shared her anxiety. But he couldn t afford to dwell on that now. It would only make what he had to do that much more difficult. He had to maintain his focus: Briana. Ruby seemed to read his thoughts. There s no proof Briana s out there. It s Todd s blood we smelled. She is. I m sure of it. Ruby s long fingernails dug into his sleeve. You can t do this! she protested. Gently, he brushed her hand off his arm. Watch me, he said. Or better yet, don t. I am your grandfather, after all. We have to maintain some semblance of propriety. Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense. Report ebook piracy to legal@sirenbookstrand.com. 232 Cassandra Pierce Walking away from her, he began to strip off his clothes with brisk efficiency. Sebastian, stop! What if someone sees you? Ignoring his effort to preserve modesty, she grabbed each garment as he shed it: dark wool overcoat, tailored shirt, and expensive leather boots. When he [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |