As if in slow motion, Jonah lowered the blade and cut into Ben’s palm, dragging the knife down from the base of his middle finger to half an inch from his wrist.

  Instantly, the aroma of Ben’s blood punched me in the face. Darkness groped at the edges of my vision. Then my fangs shot out of my gums, clicking in place.

  The predator in me was far from okay.

  “Ooohh, it’s working,” Kate squealed.

  I glanced at the three vampires; they had smirks plastered on their faces.

  Asshats.

  Ben stood still, an empty expression etched on his face as he stared at me.

  Didn’t his hand hurt? Did it bother him to be standing in the middle of four vampires?

  Jonah kept his hand locked around Ben’s fingers, I imagined to prevent Ben from wiping away the blood.

  “Let the games begin,” Edmund said.

  Jonah pushed Ben toward me with such force that Ben stumbled. He threw his hands out in front of him to balance himself. My brain told me to move, but my feet didn’t listen. The scent of his blood had me frozen solid.

  He fell into me. His bloody hand made contact with my left arm.

  I growled, low and deep.

  He quickly righted himself and jumped back.

  Laughter erupted in the room. Stupid vampires.

  “Jo,” Edmund said, still laughing, “I almost forgot. One last thing.”

  Ben moved toward the bed.

  Yeah. That wasn’t far enough. Ben needed to get the heck out of this room.

  “Bring her in,” Edmund said.

  Kate dragged in Darcy!

  Both Ben and I gasped at the same time.

  “Ow! Let go of my hair!” Darcy snapped, stomping on Kate’s foot. “Fucking animals.”

  How did they get Darcy? The Plutariums must’ve nabbed my friend after she left the base. Then another macabre thought skated across my mind. Where was Mr. Jackson?

  “Just so you know I mean business. If you fail then Darcy Rose, sweet-tasting Darcy, will die a slow death,” Edmund said.

  Darcy’s eyes widened when she looked my way, clearly taking in my violet eyes and fangs.

  Yeah. Your best friend is a vampire. Welcome to the new world.

  “Ben? Are you with these animals too?” she asked.

  In a step, Ben stood in front of Darcy with his bloody hand fisted. “Listen, I won’t let them harm you.”

  “Are you helping them?” she shouted.

  “I have to help Jo. If I don’t then they’ll kill you. You need to be strong, Darcy. I’ll find you.” He kissed her on the lips.

  “That’s enough, Slick,” Kate said, pulling Darcy from Ben. “You’re quite the Casanova, aren’t you?”

  I didn’t know what to make of Ben and Darcy and the kiss he planted on her lips.

  “I told you, Edmund, this is going to be fun,” Kate said. “I do love drama.”

  “Ben, you can’t help. That monster over there will kill you.” My best friend pointed at me. Her eyes filled with fear as tears poured from them.

  I bit back the hurt and the pain, more from the truth she spoke than her harsh words. The possibility existed that I would kill Ben before the night was over.

  Kate shoved Darcy out the door as she screamed.

  My heart went out to her, but I couldn’t dwell on her hysteria. Not now.

  “You have until the stroke of midnight to meet me at the Second Street Marina,” Edmund said. “Now, you two lovebirds, have fun. Jo, enjoy your snack.” His lips tipped at the edges, curling into a murderous grin.

  Then Edmund, Kate and Jonah left.

  Footsteps clattered above us. Then an engine roared to life.

  “Jo.”

  Ben’s voice fractured my trance.

  “What?” I snapped.

  I didn’t mean to snap, but I had to keep my mind focused. If I let anger drive me, it might help to get out of this situation.

  “Hey, don’t get mad at me,” he said.

  “Get out of here! Find a sink and wash the blood off.” I didn’t move.

  He walked out. No argument.

  The engine noise faded. A sudden rush of fear blanketed me. Was it just Ben and I stranded on a boat? If so, where were we? And where was the Second Street Marina?

  I didn’t know what frightened me more—potentially feeding on Ben or the large body of water.

  Breathing in and out slowly to get all the oxygen in the room into my lungs, I dropped to the floor. Within a minute, my fangs retracted. Tears cascaded down my cheeks as I covered my face with my hands.

  “Jo,” Ben said, coming back into the room and sitting on his haunches a few feet away. “We should try to get this boat moving.”

  I lifted my head and sniffed the air.

  “The blood is gone,” he whispered. “I washed it off. The bleeding stopped.” He threw me a towel. “Wipe the blood from your arm.”

  “Are you worried about the blood or something else?” I swiped the wet towel over my arm.

  “I’m worried about you.”

  How nice of him to be concerned about me. He really should change his tune about that one, though, especially if I couldn’t control myself.

  Quiet reigned between us.

  “So,” I said, breaking the silence. “Why do you think the serum didn’t work on you?”

  “I don’t know. What I do know is that it is working on the other boys Edmund kidnapped. Like Jack Powell and other high school boys.”

  “Do you know where Edmund’s keeping them?”

  “I only remember the inside of a room. It smelled musty like a basement. I was blindfolded when they took me there, and when they brought me here. But I think the ocean wasn’t far because I also got a whiff of the salt air.” He stood. “Come on, Jo,” he said as he walked over to me and extended his hand.

  Flaring my nostrils, I raked my gaze over him. A smidgeon of his scent lingered, but not as strong. Still, I swatted away his hand. I didn’t trust the vampire within me.

  “None of this makes sense,” I said, pushing to my feet.

  “Yes, it does. Don’t you get it? Edmund wants both of us dead. I heard him tell your uncle that I was no use to him since the serum wouldn’t work on me. Edmund was going to kill me, but Kate stopped him. I didn’t know why then, but I do now.”

  “He wants us to get Jewel,” I said.

  “He wants you to get Jewel. He thinks your bloodlust is going to kill me.”

  “What did they do to you?” I asked as we climbed the stairs to the main cabin.

  “It’s nothing,” he said. “Your uncle ran a series of tests on my blood and marrow. Then he hooked me up to several IV bags of his Frankenstein juice. I was supposed go into all kinds of pain and then sleep. I don’t know. All I know is that when it didn’t work, it pissed him off. Then Edmund tore into him. I’m fine. I’m just glad that my system is immune to that shit. Fucking vampires.”

  Whoa! His last two words rammed me like a Mack truck. Was that what he thought of me? I, suddenly, realized I didn’t get all tingly when Ben walked into the room. Even now standing next to him, I didn’t feel anything except fear. I was afraid for him. Afraid that he would get hurt either by the Plutariums or me. But something else inched to the surface, weaving through the fear—anger.

  Stopping midstride, I turned. “So that’s what you think of me? I’m just a fucking vampire?” I glared at him.

  “Oh. No. I’m sorry. Not you.” Lines formed on his forehead.

  “Not me? Then who? Sam? Your best friend?” Rage drenched my insides. “What if I called you a fucking human? How does that sound to you?”

  “Jo. I’m sorry. Truly. I am. I didn’t mean to imply—” He reached out his hand.

  “Don’t,” I said, backing away. “You don’t get it, do you?”

  Ben and me could never be more than friends, if that was even possible.

  But this wasn’t the time to get into with him. This wasn’t even the time to be near the human, not with my hunger increasing by the minute.

  I climbed the stairs into the main cabin, and walked over to the granite island that separated the galley from the living area. A small leather couch sat in front of a bank of windows that looked out into the open ocean. I took several breaths, trying to tamp down my anger, and my hunger. A sense of doom dropped like a grieving widow’s veil. The wind blew, creating whitecaps on the surface of the water. Dark clouds rolled in, contrasting against the orange glow that colored the horizon. An ominous prickle skittered along the nape of my neck. Nighttime was about to settle over the ocean, and my vampire intuition howled to proceed with caution. Like I had control over Mother Nature.

  I silently laughed. I didn’t have control over anything. Nor did I understand this stupid game of Edmund’s. Something Kate said kept nagging at me: killing two birds with one Mason. What did that mean? Why not just kidnap me and bring me somewhere close to the base? Why the hoopla with the ocean, the yacht, and Ben? Well, the part about Ben made sense, at least, but nothing else was adding up. I wasn’t going to figure out any of the answers in the next few minutes, so I parked the myriad of questions into a mental safe in the back of mind.

  Ben’s scent grew stronger as he finally emerged from the lower cabins. Instantly, my throat caught fire. Darkness flashed, my eyes shifted, fangs descended.

  “Jo?” Ben said, touching my shoulder. “Again, I’m sorry.”

  “Get away from me,” I growled.

  I swallowed, trying to get the saliva to cool the burn in my throat.

  “No,” he spat out. “I’m trying to apologize.”

  I looked up at him, but all I could see was his throbbing jugular, pumping sweet nectar through his veins, calling to the vampire within me.

  “And I’m trying not to kill you. I’m a new vampire, Ben. I don’t have that much willpower. I would like to think that I do, just to prove my father wrong, but you’re making this very difficult for me. It’s not just your blood—the fact that I’m hungry isn’t helping matters. Edmund may be evil, but he isn’t dumb.”

  The inner struggle to keep my hunger sedated was stronger than any other carnage I would face right here, right now.

  “I just want to talk,” he said.

  “Now is definitely not the time. I get that you’re sorry, okay? We need to get moving,” I said. “Do you know how to operate this thing?” I waved my hand around.

  I knew as much about a boat as I did about driving a car—nothing.

  “My dad and I go out with Chief Garrett on his boat. He’s taught me a few things over the past few summers.”

  The boat rocked suddenly.

  “What the heck was that?” I asked, glancing outside.

  Ben ran to the door, and the boat swayed again.

  Crack!

  “When this over, Jo. We need to talk,” he said, then opened the door.

  A large gust of wind swept in, knocking an empty can off the kitchen counter.

  I trailed behind him.

  “Holy shit! What the hell is happening?” I shouted above the howling wind. “Do storms pop up out of nowhere like this?”

  “They can,” Ben said loudly.

  Waves sloshed against the boat, and ominous clouds rolled in and fast.

  A chair on the deck slid, hitting the side rail.

  “I’ll see if I can get someone on the radio. We need to beat this storm in. See if you can find some life jackets.” He climbed the stairs to the top.

  Fear suddenly replaced my anger.

  God, how I longed for my dad or Webb at this moment. They were both experienced Navy. They would know what to do.

  The boat listed from side to side. Suddenly, my stomach lurched and the hairs at the nape of my neck stood on end, warning me. But it wasn’t so much a warning of danger. The howling, whistling wind seemed to whisper the truth: if we capsized, I was a goner.

  19

  The sea only grew angrier over the next thirty minutes as we tried to get the boat going. The engine seemed to have a mind of its own and refused to cooperate. Ben was up on the bridge, trying to get someone on the radio with no luck. To make matters worse, there wasn’t any safety gear on the stupid boat. I searched everywhere for life vests—nothing. Not even flares to signal for help.

  Our time slowly dwindled toward the midnight deadline. While I was worried about that, the storm was more of an immediate concern. Waves pummeled the boat from all angles, swaying it from one side to the other. My stomach seemed to roll with it, but the bloodlust was stronger than the nausea, and I remained ravenous.

  I stayed down on deck, telling Ben that I didn’t want to bother him, but it was more that I didn’t want to be around him. Teasing my hunger any more than necessary would only stoke the predator lurking in the shadows. Add to that his stubborn nature about the word no. I had come real close to sating my hunger with his blood, and he didn’t seem to care. Maybe he was crazier than Edmund.

  I held onto the railing, my knuckles white, as the sea tossed us around like we were on a children’s bounce house at the local McDonald’s restaurant. Standing outside in the violent storm was better than sitting inside a closed cabin, or sitting on the bridge topside with Ben. If I were inside, I’d probably puke my guts out. If I sat next to Ben, more than likely he would be my dinner. Wonderful. Besides, I needed my wits about me and the angry sea helped stabilize my sanity at the moment.

  I opened my senses to the world around me. In-between the wind and the crashing waves, the faint sound of a bell split the salt air. Listening, I concentrated, filtering out the raging sea. Suddenly, the sound of the engine turning over was music to my ears. Dropping my head, I bowed to the ocean god, Neptune, in thanks. As I did, a large wave crashed against the stern, spraying me. Was that his way of saying You’re welcome?

  With step one finally completed, we needed to find our way through this massive body of water. Step two was going to be the ultimate challenge in more ways than one.

  “Jo?” Ben shouted above the wind. “I need your help.”

  Staggering, I turned to glance up at him, my hands still tightly wrapped around the metal railing. What could I possibly do to help him? My sole concerns were not to drown and not to kill him.

  He waved his hand, his cinnamon hair whipping in all directions.

  Nodding toward the irascible sea, I prayed one last time to Neptune, then carefully walked to the base of the stairs. Bracing my hands against the sidewalls, I climbed each step with careful grace, but the wind had a different plan for me. I stumbled and fell backwards. The water-slicked steps were more slippery than a sheet of ice.

  Ben traversed the steps in two strides, holding out his hand.

  “You okay?”

  I welcomed the human gesture as he pulled me upright.

  “Come on. I need you to take the helm. I want to look at the charts inside the cabin to see where we are. It’s impossible to do it out here.”

  How in the world could he find out where we were? It wasn’t like the ocean had street signs.

  “No way, I can’t drive this thing,” I said, rubbing the back of my head.

  “Jo, you have to. Look. Hold two hands on the wheel at ten and two. Just like a car.”

  “I don’t know how to drive a car.”

  Ben looked at me with a pained expression. “Just do it. I’ll be a minute. We need to keep moving. If not, these waves are going to push us even farther out to sea.”

  I guessed he was right. We did have a deadline.

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “Almost nine. I’ll be right back.” He rested his hand on my shoulder. “You’ll be fine. You can see better than me with your eyesight anyway.” He disappeared with the rolled-up charts in his hand.

  I scooted closer to the helm. A thick plexiglass windshield and side barriers kept the outside elements at bay.

  Trying to keep the boat straight. I shifted the steering wheel slightly to the right then left. It was hard, considering the waves grew larger with each passing second. It was as though Neptune were conducting a wave orchestra, leading the crescendo to a finale I was afraid I wasn’t ready for.

  Thank God it wasn’t raining. I sniffed the air. It was coming though.

  When I was human I had always thought people who could smell a storm brewing were nutso, even though I’d learned in science class that before rain began, a sharp, distinct ozone smell permeated the air. Now, as a vampire, with my heightened senses, I was one of those nutty people. Yep, I could definitely smell the sweet, pungent odor of ozone. Considering it was dark now, it was impossible to read the clouds above to determine when they would open up.

  Brushing off the thought of rain, I kept focused on the turbulent sea ahead. A light from the boat illuminated our close surroundings, guiding my way. I wanted to laugh. What was the light going to show me? More water? More waves? What else could be out there? Any boater in their right mind wouldn’t be out in this storm.

  While I maneuvered the craft, I thought of Dad and Sam. God, I’d give my fangs right now to see them both, especially my brother.

  “Sam? Dad?” I said into the raging wind. “I love you guys.”

  In my reverie, a bell dinged. No, wait; it was real. That was the same bell I’d heard earlier. I looked in all directions, trying to see if I could spot it. In my excitement, my hand slipped from the wheel, and the boat veered left. I panicked. Quickly trying to recover, I grabbed the wheel, turning it to the right. The bow hit a wave hard, jerking me sideways. I lost my balance. I twisted my body, trying to recover, but it was futile. The wood floor on the bridge was just as slippery as the deck below. My feet flew out from under me. I extended my arms to break the fall, but my entire body skidded across the floor. My head hit a panel on the opposite side of the bridge. I quickly grabbed onto the bench next to me, pulling myself to a standing position.

  Carefully, I made my way back to the now out-of-control steering wheel, which seemed to have a mind of its own. The boat rocked and rolled before pitching forward. The bow hit a wave head on, sending me backward. My butt hit the back of the leather captain’s chair, then I bounced forward. Using the momentum, I was able to take hold of the wheel. I sucked in several breaths, spouting every bad word I’d learned. Finally, I managed to keep the wheel from freaking out and steadied the course.

 

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