Rae’s small hands went to Ezra’s arm to push him out of her way. “You can’t do that. They’ll execute you.”
“Zander and I can attempt escape later,” Ezra said. “But you must be free and safe.”
Zander’s respect for Ezra rose a notch. “That’s noble of you, Lupine. But I have a better idea—we’ll all take Rae to safety without surrendering. Much more fun.”
“Not only her,” Ezra said stubbornly. “But the sword. Humans can’t get their hands on it.”
“And they won’t,” Zander said. “It’s up to you, Little Wolf. Do you want to run with Piotr while Ezra and I battle it out with the humans or stay and fight?”
“Stay and fight,” Rae said at once. “We all go or we all stay.”
Zander warmed. “Good for you, sweetheart. Not that Piotr would know how to take you out of here, anyway. You should probably stick with me.”
“Or I could push you overboard,” Rae said, straight-faced.
“I already did the overboard thing, remember?” Zander grinned. “Didn’t slow me down much.” He kept his voice light, hiding his concern. The boat following wasn’t blundering about but coming on at a steady pace. Determined. The pilot just might be as good as Zander.
“Here’s what we’ll do,” he went on. “I’m going to try to elude him in the fog. I know a place to hide. The lifeboat is ready though, in case. If we have to split up, you’ll go with Piotr, Rae, who’s a better sailor than he realizes. You didn’t show your Shifter self at the bar and no one’s seen you around before, so they probably think you’re human. If it comes to it, Piotr and you can leave in the lifeboat, be picked up in open water. From there Piotr will see you safely home to Montana.”
Zander expected Rae to nod, to say his plan was best, that she’d willingly go home to safety.
Rae only met his gaze with a steady one. “I am Shifter and I’m not running out on you. The three of us can take whoever’s on the boat behind us—it must be small to come in after us, which means not many crew. We overpower them if we have to.”
Zander tried to stare her into submission, but she folded her arms and looked stubborn. Rae had courage, that was true, and she’d already proved she could fight. But if she kept her head down, hid her Collar, and acted human, she had a much better chance of coming out of this alive.
Eoin would hunt Zander down and disembowel him if Zander brought any harm to his foster daughter. He’d seen that in the man’s eyes.
“We’ll play it by ear, Little Wolf,” Zander said. “Now, we have to go silent, so pick a place to sit and don’t move.”
Both Rae and Ezra, instead of staying meekly in the cabin, followed Zander back up to the pilot house, Rae snatching up the sword in its sheath on the way.
Silent running meant no engine, no lights, sitting still, and making no noise at all. Sound carried across water, especially in fog. Submarines went quiet to escape sonar, to appear to be simply another rock on the ocean floor.
Zander didn’t know what kind of navigation instruments the other boat had—no matter what, they needed to blend into the darkness, become a part of the island and the wreckage Zander would steer them to. At the same time, he had to keep the drifting boat on course, or they would be wreckage.
Rae took a seat on the bench near Zander’s chair, and Ezra took the other bench, near the door. Piotr stood at Zander’s side, his usually ruddy face pale.
Zander guided the boat into the hiding place he’d chosen. This particular spot had been, he supposed, what had given the island its name of “Graveyard.” They glided past the upturned stern of a ship rusted with water and time. Another hull rose on their right, the bottom of the ship sticking out among the rocks. Bright green weed, the kind that liked volcanic rock and ash, had enjoyed itself on the ship’s metal.
A sharp crease of rock reared in front of them. Zander steered around it and nestled himself in beside another sunken boat, its bow up, the rest of it underwater.
At Zander’s signal, Piotr cut the engine and the rest of the power. Now they were a piece of driftwood, floating among a craggy pile of rock and dead ships.
The boat creaked and water softly lapped at the hull. Zander kept his hand on the wheel, ready to adjust their position as needed.
His Shifter senses heightened as he peered into the blank fog. He could hear everything in sharp clarity, from the noise of the boat searching for them to Rae’s soft breathing beside him. He smelled the brimstone scent of the fog, the crisp bite of the volcanic rock, the soft scent of Rae.
He also, with the unnerving ability his healing gift brought him, sensed the dead.
His healing power, as far as Zander had figured out, was part empathic. Far more to it than that, he knew—he’d met a Shifter empath called Seamus, but that Shifter had no healing abilities like Zander did. He’d also met a half-Fae half-Shifter—Andrea, mate of the Austin Shiftertown’s Guardian—who had pretty good healing ability but still not what Zander could do. Andrea’s magic came from her Fae ancestry, while Zander was pure Shifter. His gift came from Goddess magic alone.
All that boiled inside him and made him keenly aware of exactly how many people had perished in these boats, running blind and far from help. The fact that they were all human made no difference. Zander saw in his mind the position of every single one of them, lying forgotten and lost.
The knowledge clenched around him like a fist, squeezing until he couldn’t breathe. The fear, pain, and the bravery with which these people had faced their last moments cried into his brain and wouldn’t leave him. Zander’s eyes clouded and his hand slipped on the wheel.
A soft touch broke through the whirling mess. Rae had risen silently and now stood against him where he sat in the captain’s chair. Her thigh pressed his, and she closed her fingers around his hand.
Rae didn’t speak, she only looked into Zander’s eyes, but her touch and gaze sent her message to him clearly.
It’s all right. I’m with you.
Or maybe that was what Zander wanted her to say. He understood that she, a Guardian, felt the death too.
Ghosts didn’t exist, no matter what all those people on television who tracked them believed. Auras lingered, it was true, grief and violence leaving its mark.
No matter, Rae’s touch eased the clamor in Zander’s head, and he readjusted the boat against their drift.