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“I guess so.” I frowned. It seemed too soon. “Current must’ve been with us.”
Eden sighed. “I’ve been dreaming about a mug of thick, sugary hot chocolate. And after that, a bowl of fish chowder.”
I brushed my lips over her forehead. “Anything you want, angel.”
Rapid steps sounded above, accompanied by urgent voices. My chest tightened. “Something’s the matter.”
“I’ll get them,” Twilight said at almost the same time. She threw open the door. “The boat’s going to blow. We have to get Eden into the dinghy. Now.”
What the fuck? I swung my legs to the floor, Eden in my arms, and jogged up the steps.
The air reeked of fuel. My stomach tightened. This must be Lemaire’s second trap.
“You go with Eden,” Brien told me as Twilight approached with a life jacket. I set Eden down long enough to bundle her into it, then pulled the blankets around her again and swung her back into my arms.
Eden hooked an arm around my neck, watching everything with dazed eyes. The gods damn Lemaire anyway. There must’ve been at least one other vampire on the island. Pascal hadn’t been lying after all.
“How far out are we?” I asked as they helped us into the dinghy.
“A quarter mile. You can’t start the motor here—everything could blow.” Cain waited until I’d settled Eden on the seat opposite mine, then handed me the oars and shoved us off with his foot.
The smell of fuel grew stronger. I snatched up the oars and dug them into the heaving water, rowing away from the motorboat as fast as I could.
Twilight, Cain and Brien pulled off their boots and dove over the side into the ocean. Instead of striking out for Lilith Island, the three of them lined up along the stern and started to push the dinghy.
On the motorboat, a couple of small fires ignited. It wouldn’t be long now.
“Get down,” I ordered Eden, “and hang onto my legs.”
She immediately lowered herself into the bottom of the dinghy, sliding her ass toward me and locking her arms around my calves.
“That’s it.” I rowed harder, aided by the three swimmers. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
Eden’s fine-boned jaw set. She turned her head to look at the motorboat. “I won’t.”
An eerie silence fell, unbroken except for the slap of water against the dinghy’s hull.
I tensed. Here it comes...
I dug the oars into the waves and pulled.
Dug, pulled.
Dug, pulled.
I found myself counting: one, two, three…
On four, the motorboat blew apart in a fiery ball. Burning chunks shot skyward, arcing over the ocean. Then the shock wave hit, nearly throwing us out of the dinghy. Salt water sloshed over the sides and debris rained down around us, miraculously missing the dinghy except for a few glowing ashes.
Bracing my bare feet against the polyester hull, I pulled the oars into the dinghy, clinging to them with one hand and to Eden with the other while we rode out the waves. In the water, Brien, Cain and Twilight never stopped kicking.
When things calmed down again, I set Eden on the bench next to me. “There’s too much water in the dinghy,” I called to my friends. “I’m going to have to empty it before I start the motor.”
“We’ll keep pushing,” Cain returned.
Grabbing a cut-off plastic jug tied to the back ring, I bailed as fast as I could until we were riding higher again, then moved to the bench at the stern.
Twilight was closest to the small outboard motor. “I’m going to fire the motor up now,” I warned her.
