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Caitlin caught sight of the shark making another pass and closed her eyes tight. “Just hold onto me and never let go. I can endure anything if you’re with me.”
Levka let out his breath. If he could get permission from the league to make her his after the fact, maybe all would be well. If they could first avoid the shark.
The predator’s beady eyes sat forward on its broad nose, giving it a sinister appearance, but suddenly the jaws opened, revealing jagged, and serrated teeth close to Arman.
“Bite it, Arman,” Levka shouted.
“You bite it, Levka!” Arman yelled back at him.
“Grab onto him and drain his blood!”
“He could…crap!” The shark bit into Arman’s lifejacket.
Beating the shark’s nose with both fists, Arman yelled ancient curses. Levka reached over and grabbed one of the ties to Amie’s lifejacket before she drifted away. When Levka moved, Caitlin tightened her grip on him.
“I’m not letting go of you,” he tried to reassure her.
Caitlin clenched her teeth, her eyes still shut tight. “Vlad, he said he was a vampire. That you all were, and that I’d be his. He said his league approved it, not yours. Then he bared his sharp pointed fangs at me and sank his teeth into my neck.” She shuddered. “I tried to break free. He telepathically communicated to me that it would hurt more if I struggled. I couldn’t quit fighting him. After that, I don’t remember what happened.”
The shark released Arman’s lifejacket and disappeared underneath the black waters.
“I came to your rescue,” Arman said, his voice strained, part of his lifejacket shredded. “I appeared in your stateroom when I sensed your distress and found Vlad at your throat. I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed the lifejackets, pulled you free from Vlad, and flew out here to where Levka and the girl floundered. I knew Vlad wouldn’t try to fight me for you over the ocean.”
“You saved me when you don’t believe in helping…mortals?”
Arman shrugged. “I’m afraid Levka’s a bad influence on me.”
“You said you can fly? Why can’t you take us out of here?”
“We’re not…” Arman moved in closer to Amie again. “…not capable of flying when we’re in water. I guess it’s like a bird that isn’t a waterfowl, getting its feathers too wet. Anyway, we don’t have the capability to fly long distances over water either. Like over the ocean. Rivers, small lakes, ponds are all right. We have to use ships just like…”
A dorsal fin appeared near Levka.
“We’re on our way!” Ruric communicated. “The captain’s lowered a lifeboat. How in the world did Caitlin and Arman end up in the water with you?”
They noticed then the cruise ship sat nearby, idling in the water. Passengers crowded the decks to get a look at the passengers in the water. Hands pointed in their direction. Probably at the shark that kept circling.
“Hurry the boat up! We have a bull shark ready to make us its next meal,” Levka responded.
The lifeboat’s engine roared in their ears. Smoke billowed out the stern of the cruise ship, and Levka realized the ship itself might still be in danger.
The shark bumped Levka, and his heart jumped. Releasing Caitlin, he turned around and socked the shark in the nose as hard as he could manage. On land his strength was such he probably could have put his fist through the cartilage. But in the water, he was barely more than a mortal except for his mental abilities.
“Grab hold!” a crewman shouted and tossed a rope.
Caitlin treaded water with no lifejacket, her eyes wide with fright. Levka swam to her, wrapped his arm around her, and grabbed the rope when Arman wouldn’t take it.
As quickly as they could, they pulled Caitlin into the lifeboat. Levka helped Arman lift Amie in next. “Her clothes caught fire,” Arman said, his voice grave.
Arman and Levka scrambled to get aboard as the bull shark slid by, brushing against the boat.
One of the crewmen cursed out loud when he saw how big the shark was.
Turning the craft around, another crewman taxied back to the cruise ship.
“How bad is the fire?” Levka asked, pulling Caitlin into his arms. Someone had wrapped a blanket around her. She looked exhausted from the ordeal, not to mention the blood loss.
“As soon as we get you folks on board, we’ve got to head back to the Virgin Islands. We’ll put into port and make arrangements for passengers to fly home.”
