She slid the next key into the ignition, turned, and got nothing. Cursing, she slapped her palm off the steering wheel. She selected another key as a loud crash sounded and the front of the boat nosedived. Mollie’s head shot up to find two vampires creeping closer to Aida.
Aida lifted her weapon and fired at the first one, but it dashed to the side, and when she turned the gun on the second one, nothing happened. Aida looked helplessly at her empty gun before rushing back toward Mollie.
Mollie slid the next key into the ignition but didn’t have time to turn it as the vamps bounded after her sister. Snatching up her rifle, she aimed at the one closest to Aida. When she pulled the trigger, blood exploded over the seats, and she realized she’d shot the thing in the stomach. Which only served to piss it off more as it howled and focused on her with a lethal glare.
Mollie pulled the trigger again, but nothing happened.
Stay calm. Stay calm.
She had more bullets in her pocket, but she’d be dead before she could reload the gun. Lifting the rifle, she prepared to batter the creature with it as the vampire leapt toward her on all fours like some demented, bloodsucking monkey.
Mike launched another one of the guards off him and into the water as Aida’s shout drew his attention to the boat and the Savage jumping at Mollie. She swung the rifle at the vamp and caught it in the cheek, throwing it off its murderous intent. The attention of the remaining guards shifted from him and Doug to the easier prey in the boat.
“Go!” Doug shouted at him when another Savage pounced on the boat.
Mike leaned back on his heel before bolting across the deck and leaping across the six feet of distance separating the boat from the dock. When he landed, his feet skidded on the slippery surface of the fiberglass hull, but he threw out his arms to keep his balance.
He didn’t have time to slaughter the first Savage. Lifting it by the collar of its shirt, Mike picked it up and heaved it overboard as Mollie again swung the butt of the rifle at the vamp hunting her. The creature dodged the gun while the other one narrowed in on Aida who was backing away toward Mike.
Jumping off the bow, Mike smashed into the monster stalking Aida. Thrown off balance, the Savage staggered back but didn’t go overboard. More gunshots filled the air and pinged off the metal dock. Mike assumed whoever had been in the boathouse was now coming for them, but he didn’t look at the beach.
When the Savage charged her, Mollie threw herself down with so much force she knocked the air from her lungs when she hit the floor. But the move threw the creature off, and it didn’t succeed in getting its hands on her, yet. Struggling to breathe, she rolled toward the bench seat at the back of the boat.
Her back connected with the seat, halting her escape attempt as Mike pounced on the Savage stalking her. She didn’t see what followed, but the Savage’s headless body fell beside her seconds later. Mollie scrambled away from the blood flowing across the white floor and pulled herself up onto the bench seat. Behind Mike, Doug jumped onto the boat and tossed the one who’d been stalking Aida overboard.
More gunshots peppered the dock, running straight up the middle of it. Mollie searched the beach for the shooter but saw no one there. When she tipped her head back, she spotted a man standing at the top of the cliffs with a rifle against his shoulder and a woman at his side.
“It’s Jack!” Doug blurted as Mike slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key.
Chapter Forty-Four
Relief filledMike as he gazed at his friend on the cliffs. Jack was alive! Mike had tried not to think about the possibility his friend could be dead, but it had been a nagging worry at the back of his mind. Somehow, they would get Jack off this island now too, if he could get the boat started.
Mollie’s heart lurched when the boat engine chugged but didn’t turn over. They had the key! More shots peppered the dock, denting the metal and causing sparks to fly up as the vampires on the dock jumped into the water.
“Please start,” she whispered as some of the monsters started swimming toward the boat while others disappeared under the dock.
The boat lurched when fingers curled over the side of it and a head popped up. Water poured down the face of the vamp as he leered at Aida. Mollie jumped to her feet, and Aida grabbed the fire extinguisher from where it hung near the steering wheel. Lifting the extinguisher, Aida bashed the fingers of the vamp trying to climb inside. The creature howled, and its broken fingers couldn’t retain their grip on the boat.
The engine chugged again, caught, then died. Mollie snatched up her rifle and hammered the butt of it into the face of the next vampire whose head popped over the side of the boat. Blood spurted from his broken nose, but he didn’t lose his hold.
“Son of a bitch!” she spat.
Mollie smashed him in the face again and again. When she knocked some of his teeth out, he finally released the boat. The rifle fell to her side, and her shoulders heaved as she searched for another threat, but she didn’t see any more of the bastards trying to climb aboard.
Then, like a shark slipping beneath the surface of the water, something thudded against the bottom of the boat. Another thump followed by a silence more unnerving than the noise. Mollie stared at the floor as if she could see through it as their predators sought some new way to get at their prey.
A screeching sound shattered the silence and set her teeth on edge. It took her a second to realize the noise was being created by fingers scrabbling over the bottom of the boat, seeking purchase, or something… worse.
“I think they’re trying to disable the boat!” she yelled to Mike.
Gunshots continued to ring over the dock though no vampires remained there that Mike could see. Jack wouldn’t swing the gun in their direction to take out the Savages in the water for fear of accidentally hitting one of them or disabling the boat. His friend was only trying to keep the Savages on alert for those bullets.
Mike ignored the sounds from under the boat that reminded him of mice scratching at walls as he turned the key. The boat didn’t have an outboard engine, so the Savages couldn’t dismantle that, but he didn’t know if they could do something else while under there.
“Fucking start,” he muttered.
The engine chugged, sputtered, and died again. What if the damn thing didn’t have any gas? They couldn’t jump into the ocean with the Savages swirling through there, or what if they had somehow managed to disable the boat already?
