“Try sixty.” Roland stood up and tossed something to Weylin. “Seems like just yesterday.”
Weylin caught the small thing in his hands. “A starter?”
“Yeah. Check the box on the table. There should be a wrench in there that will work.” Roland dug through another box and came up with a small pouch.
“You mean we have to fix the boat before we can use it?” Weylin dug through the tools until he found what he was looking for.
“It’s not broken. It just needs a couple of parts.” Roland walked out of the building and headed for the boat.
“Isn’t that the definition of broken?” Melanie piped in from the back of the group.
“Not if the parts are missing on purpose.” Roland jumped into the boat and dropped to his knees near the console.
Ree looked down at the boat and felt herself frown. The leather seats looked much newer than she would have expected, and the console had shiny knobs and dials. Her eyes slid over the boat to rest on the covered motor. She watched as Paden walked over and unzipped the plastic cover to reveal a large gleaming motor.
“Now, that is a motor.” Paden whistled softly.
“The best I could find out here.” Roland looked at the motor with pride. “This boat has been my project for a few years now.”
“Nice.” Paden folded up the cover and stuck it in a cubbyhole. It didn’t take long for them to get the motor put back together. They were on their way not long after locking up the shed, and it only took a little longer to reach the island than it would have from the other landings.
When they neared the island, Ree watched as the shield shimmered for a moment before dropping away. There were no waiting gods Ree could see, but she felt their presence anyway. They were keeping their word and protecting the island, but not offering any other help or interference. It was all Ree could hope for.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ree trudged into her bedroom and threw her coat onto the chair. She sat down on the bed, pulled her boots off, and peeled off her socks. It had been a long night and day. Standing up, she shed the rest of her clothes on the way to the shower and sighed as soon as she stepped into the warm spray of water. The water ran over her head and down her body, relaxing her shoulders and the pressure in her head. She knew it was a headache from stress, because her body wouldn’t be hurt by allergies or migraines. Grabbing the soap, she started to clean away the grime, but paused when her fingers hit the ridge of the scar on her stomach. She hadn’t really looked yet, but knew it had to be bad. It was almost three inches wide, a shiny ribbon of scar tissue. Reaching around behind her, she felt along her back for the scar she knew had to be there as well. When she found it, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was wider than the one on her stomach, but, thankfully, smooth and not puckered.
The sound of someone opening the door to her bedroom made her freeze. Carefully, she reached out with her power to see who had come in her room. Instead of relaxing, her heart thumped a little harder. Paden stopped outside of the bathroom and tapped on the door.
“Come in.” Ree swallowed and hoped he didn’t hear the slight squeak in her voice. She knew it was unlikely he missed it though, because she could hear him swallow before opening the door. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
Paden didn’t say anything. He just walked in and closed the door behind him. She grabbed the shampoo and tried to work out the knots in her hair. She heard rustling from the other side of the shower door, but couldn’t see anything through the frosted glass. Closing her eyes, she ducked under the showerhead and tried to get all of the shampoo out of her hair. She was debating the merits of cutting her hair when she heard the door open.
“I thought maybe we would conserve water.” Her eyes opened wide and she looked up at Paden’s amused expression. He reached past her for the soap on the ledge above her head. Her heartbeat picked up as she watched him rub the soapy lather over his body.
“Hm.” Ree reached for the bottle of conditioner and tried to keep from knocking everything off the shelf in her nervousness. “Well, we might as well protect the planet in every way.”
“Right.” Stepping around her, Paden ducked under the water and rinsed the soap from his body. She watched as the soapy water ran down his chest. He peeked one eye open and chuckled. “Ree, you’re pouring conditioner on the floor.”
She looked down and realized that she was holding the bottle upside down. She snapped her mouth shut and cursed under her breath. Using her foot, she pushed the mess toward the drain. Paden slid an arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. He pressed his chin to her shoulder and looked down at her stomach. With soft fingers, he traced the scar, making her stomach twitch. A warm glow grew from her center as she watched his hands trail over her skin.
“I’m so sorry, Ree.” His lips brushed against her temple as he leaned back and traced the scar next to her spine. “I should have stayed closer to you.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Pay. I should have been paying better attention.” The tips of his fingers felt electric, running over her skin. She turned around so that she was facing him and put her hands on his chest. The water from the shower trailed down his shoulders, over her hands and cascaded off of her arms. Very gently, he brushed the wet hair out of her face and tilted her face up so he could see her eyes.
“It won’t happen again.” Slowly, he brought his lips down to hers in a soft kiss. She twined her hands around his neck, melting against his body. It turned out to not be such a quick shower, and Ree was sure that they hadn’t conserved much water. However, it was the best shower she had ever experienced.
Later, they lay on her bed, their towels discarded on the floor. Ree propped her chin on his chest and looked up at Paden. He twirled some of her hair around his finger, a small smile playing along the edges of his content expression. She watched him, memorizing his face as if she didn’t already know it perfectly. The sounds of the others moving around the house, mingled with the sounds of the wind outside, made things seem almost peaceful for a little while. Paden chuckled, making her chin bounce.
“What?” Ree wrinkled her nose.
“I can’t believe you didn’t kill me when I got in the shower.” He tugged gently on her hair. “I was a little nervous.”
“Well, I thought about it.” Ree narrowed her eyes at him.
“Oh yeah?” Paden’s grin grew even more.
“Yeah. But I figured that we were supposed to be saving the planet and all, so you had a good case.” Ree smiled.
“You know, I don’t think it worked out the way I planned.” Paden smirked.
“Are you sure about that? Because I’m pretty sure it worked out just the way you planned.” Ree looked around at the messy room pointedly. She still couldn’t control her power when she was with Paden.
He rolled her over, so he was leaning over her. “Well, maybe some of it worked out the way I planned.”
“And what was that?” Ree stared up at him, enjoying the way the low light from the table on her nightstand played on the planes of his face.
“Did you forget already?” Paden nuzzled her neck, trailing kisses along her collar bone.
“I might need a reminder.” Ree sucked in a breath as his hands slid over her body.
“Well, I might be able to help with that.”
The wave of alarm that washed through the house had Ree scrambling to sit up before someone pounded on her door. Paden didn’t ask any questions, just rolled off the bed and pulled his pants on.
“Ree!” Juliette’s voice was loud through the door.
“I’m coming! Hold on!” Paden threw her a shirt from her closet and pulled on a white T-shirt of his own. Ree scrambled into the long sleeved black shirt and ran to her dresser. Once she was decent, she pulled open the door and looked at Juliette’s white face.
“They’re striking back.” Juliette’s words sent a chill through Ree’s body. Paden placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her into the hall.
“What’s happening?” Ree followed Jules as she headed toward one of the large sitting rooms. She could hear the sound of the TV and feel the anger and apprehension from her friends. Stopping in the doorway, Ree stood, staring at the large flat screen. The breaking news banner was scrolling at the bottom, listing the names of missing or dead people: Fourteen dead, six still missing. Pictures of burning houses and wrecked cars flashed before her eyes.
“The police fear that the escalating gang violence is to blame for all of the recent destruction. It was originally thought the missing teenagers involved in the downtown antique store fire were responsible, but now it seems they may have been the ones that were targeted. They are still wanted for questioning. If you have any information concerning these individuals, please contact the Savannah Metropolitan Police Department.” The reporter on the screen looked up into the camera with a serious expression. “The police are warning people to stay in their homes, to avoid answering the door for strangers, and to call them if you see anything suspicious.”
Ree’s stomach churned with anger and her fingers tingled with power. She didn’t realize she was leaking any energy until Paden moved next to her and slid his fingers between hers. She looked up into his angry eyes. He wanted to offer her assurances, but he was just as angry as she was. As they all were.
Roland came walking swiftly into the room, his cold fury radiating through the around the enclosed space. He hung up the cell phone he had been using and shoved it into his pocket. “I’m getting calls from all of the safe houses. There have been attacks on all of them. Thankfully, the shields seem to be holding, even the one that was made by Ares.”
Roland looked at Ree and Paden, but for once, she didn’t feel any of the jealousy that typically followed. Instead, anger permeated his entire body. “I’ve called some of the people we’ve marked from immortal lines. I can’t reach some of them.”
“I’ve pulled a list of all the missing people and the dead.” Melanie walked into the room, looking over the papers in her hands. “They are definitely going after the magical lines.” Mel looked up at them and grimaced. “Some of the people on the news aren’t on our list, but I think it’s fair to assume they must have been people we hadn’t come across yet.”
“They are doing to us what we did to them.” Ree clenched her hands into fists. “We have to get the rest of them out of town.”
“Ree, we can’t do that.” Roland looked at her worriedly.
“Why not, Roland?” Ree narrowed her eyes. “They need to be taken out of harm’s way. Other than the fact that I’m not okay with innocent people being killed by my monster-brother, it doesn’t make any sense to let him have more magical blood to fuel his chances against us.”
“Ree, you’re risking starting a city-wide panic!” Roland looked at her, shocked.
“So what? Damn it! We have to do something! Let the people get the hell out of here! Who cares if they know about—“ Roland was across the room in an instant, his hand pressed to her mouth.
“Ree, you cannot say that. You do not understand how much they will do to protect their secrets.” Roland leaned close and whispered in Ree’s ear. Paden growled deep in his throat before pulling Ree back away from Roland.
“Fine. Then we do it as quietly as possible.” Ree looked at Roland, wondering what had happened to make him so scared of the gods.
“Ree, there aren’t enough of us to get all of those people out of here safely.” Melanie was looking at Roland and Ree worriedly.
“Then call in backup.” Kay’s voice trailed across the room. Ree looked over at the couch where the older woman had been sitting. Such an obvious solution, that Ree wasn’t sure why it hadn’t occurred to her before now.
“Yes! Backup!” Ree looked at Roland and nodded her head as if to emphasize the rightness of the solution.
“That could bring unwanted attention.” Roland rubbed a hand over the scruff on his chin.
“If this is the only way we can do it, then you need to make it happen.” Ree looked at him pleadingly. “We can’t just let them be hunted down, Roland.”
“What about the other humans?” Weylin looked over at everyone.
“They aren’t in any more jeopardy than before, it would seem. The Dark Ones seem to be targeting those with something extra in their blood.” Roland looked at the TV for a minute. “Weylin. Pause that!”
Weylin hit the pause button on the remote and looked at the screen. “Holy shit.”
Ree looked at the screen and froze. Standing in the shadows was a grinning blond young man who made Ree want to scream in horror. Tristan stood in the shadows, surrounded by a bunch of bystanders, the flames from a burning car sending wicked shadows over his smiling face.
“When did all of this start?” Ree moved to the couch, her eyes glued to the frozen image on the TV screen.
“Looks like it’s been going on for almost an hour or so.” Weylin looked from Ree to the TV. He reached over and grabbed her hand. “We’ll get him, Ree.”
She squeezed Weylin’s hand. He seemed to understand the hurt she felt at the evil her brother was committing. “That means he was out and doing this just after sundown.”
“He has become very strong.” Roland looked at the screen with a frown. “The blood from immortals is speeding his growth.”
“What do you mean?” Ree looked back at Roland. “How long does it normally take before the battle happens?”
“Sometimes months.Sometimes weeks or a year. But, this is much faster than I have seen before.”
“Months?A year?” Ree felt her mouth hang open for a minute. “Holy crap! It’s barely been a month!”
“Yes.” Roland looked at her steadily. “When do you think the battle will happen, Ree?”
Ree looked from Roland to everyone else in the room. She looked back to the flat-screen TV and frowned. Her thoughts raced over the people that had died, her parents hiding, the missing people. Her heart squeezed. Her brother had been turned into a monster. “Soon.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ree sat at Sophie’s desk and looked through all the paperwork she had been able to find. Melanie had already looked through the lists of known immortal lines, but Ree felt like there must be something they were missing. She was still working on finding backup to get the rest of the targets out of the city. Frustrated, she ran a hand through her hair and stared at the fire. Roland was insistent they not alert the general public to the actual trouble. He argued for hours with her that calling in other Guardians would send the Gods into a panic. Ree just couldn’t understand what the big deal was, but she was certain she couldn’t leave all of those people to be killed by Tristan. It was just bad strategy, anyway.