AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I managed to suck in more liquid than air with that gasp and ended up hacking it out painfully while I tried to tread water. For the first time in my life, I cursed my choice of footwear. Chunky leather boots were great for a party and decent for demon hunting, but less-than-ideal for swimming. And my leather jacket wasn’t much better.
The pendant was still clutched in my fist, and I shoved it deep in my pants pocket, fighting the slowly rolling water. I kept my arms and legs moving as I spun in a circle, searching for anything that might help me stay afloat. Or, you know, land. I would have been cool with that too.
And there it was, a tiny tropical island with a white sand beach glowing in the moonlight… way off in the distance.
4
HOOK
“Is she alive?”
The men backed away from the woman’s body without a word, and I got my first good look at her. She probably wasn’t from any of the islands I frequented, not with those clothes. And her hair was strange. It was probably shoulder-length when it wasn’t plastered to her skin, but the color was what drew my attention; dark brown, almost black at the roots, lightening to a brilliant red at the tips.
I’d never seen anything like it. Blues and greens were common among the magical creatures in the realm. Even a few pinks here and there, but nothing quite so bold as that red.
Maybe she was some kind of hybrid. I’d seen some interesting adaptations in recent years, and most of those stemmed from a union between a shifter and a mer.
Her chest hitched and a tiny groan escaped her lips. The dangers of drowning didn’t end just because a person made it to dry ground, especially if she’d inhaled too much saltwater. From the look of her, that was a real possibility.
I crouched beside her and tried to gently roll her on her side to keep her from choking, but the minute I touched her, her eyes snapped open.
“Get the fuck off me!” Her fist connected with my jaw with surprising force, knocking me off balance.
No question it would leave a bruise, for a moment.
My men all took a step forward, and I held up a hand to stop them. Touching her without permission was my misstep, however well intentioned.
The woman looked at my men, narrowed her eyes, then turned that fierce gaze back at me. “Oh, come on.” She groaned the words.
Before I could ask what she was talking about, her eyelids fluttered shut. She drew in a deep breath.
I considered warning her against doing it again, given the way her damp shirt clung to her curves, but she collapsed back against the sand with a dull thud. Her whole body went into convulsions. I finally managed to get her on her side—this time without catching a fist to the face.
She came round enough to spend the next several minutes coughing and gagging up an impressive amount of water. Truly. It was a miracle there had been any room in her lungs for air. When the shudders finally died down, I eased her onto her back.
I had questions, starting with what she was doing on my island, but when I ran a finger down her cheek, she didn’t react in the slightest. I used my thumb to gently pull one of her eyelids open and let it fall shut again.
“She’s out cold,” I said, more to myself than anyone.
I scanned the beach for any belongings that might have washed ashore with her, but only weathered seashells and decaying strips of seaweed littered that particular stretch of sand.
Staring down at her and that wild hair of hers, I couldn’t fathom leaving her out in the elements. “We’ll take her back to the ship.”
One of my men moved to grab her arms as though he intended to drag her to the skiff like a sack of flour, and it was all I could do not to pull out my cutlass and gut him right there. He must have sensed the violence pulsing from me because he backed away from her with his hands up.
“I will take her,” I said, a tad alarmed by my reaction and the possessiveness in my voice.
That didn’t stop me from standing and resting a hand on the pommel of my cutlass to make sure my meaning was clear. William gave me a strange look, but he didn’t question me.
“Come on, men,” he said, motioning down the beach. “We still have a few more traps to set now that the sun is up.”
“Make sure to set a few where the streams reach the sand!” I yelled after them.
There was no guarantee where the Darling boy would end up on the island, but fresh water was something every human needed for survival. Which made laying traps along the streams a good bet.
It was only when the others were headed toward the wall of greenery lining the beach that William stepped closer to me, keeping his eyes on the men with his voice at little more than a whisper. “Is everything all right, sir?”
Well, I’d just had the urge to slit a man from crotch to chin for thinking about touching a woman I’d never met. That was alittleunusual.
