So why was I sitting on the sand? This McCloud certainly seemed as though he’d be game for anything. One thing was for sure—he wasn’t exactly champing at the bit to get back to the Isle of Night. In his cell, he’d wanted to die before being rescued by Alcántara. Was our bond the reason he stayed with me now?
I realized then that it was more than just the bond that had me lingering by his side. Discovering other vampires—a global community of them—cast a different light on this new world of mine. Yet it hadn’t made things clearer. Rather, the true order of things was only now resolving into shape.
Were there others who desired escape badly enough to die for it? Would my friends, even the vampire Trainees, eventually long for such a thing? And that was precisely what kept me there, on that beach, my body already turned back toward the direction of Eyja næturinnar.
I needed to go back. I needed to see it through.
Headmaster told us once that the Watchers’ aim was to defend, to protect, and sometimes to kill. Did I need to return and one day live up to that motto, except in service to my friends?
I thought of them—the first and only allies I had in the world. Emma and Yasuo. Ronan, Amanda, Judge, even Josh…I feared they’d need my help dealing with some greater evil that had yet to reveal itself.
I heard the chuff of sand and shallow splashing as Carden dropped the boat at the edge of the water. I listened as he brushed off his hands, and then there was silence.
I opened my eyes to find him staring at me. His intensity brought the memory of our kiss, burning in the front of my mind. For him, it’d just been a by-product of feeding—not from any desire for me. I’d finally experienced my first kiss, and it was no more than someone else’s biological function.
And now this daylight scrutiny was making me feel exposed. “What?” I demanded.
“Your hair—it’s like sunlight. ”
I gaped. The compliment—if that was what it was—was totally unexpected. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve been many long years without sunlight,” he said gravely. “A man craves it. ”
The statement implied a few things, and I didn’t understand any of them. It gutted me, making me feel more vulnerable than I had in any fighting ring. I found my tongue. “That’s just the bond talking. ”
He smiled broadly then, enjoying my obvious discomfort. “Probably. But if I’m going to suffer a bond, I may as well enjoy myself. ”
“Suffer? If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead. And if it weren’t for the bond, I’d…” I petered out, reminding myself to beware of our connection. Had it made me so comfortable, I’d almost confessed my original plans for escape?
He raised a brow. “You’d?” His knowing look told me he’d either guessed the truth or felt it somehow. “I think we have something in common, you and I. ”
“Whatever could that be?”
“We both prefer going it alone. ”
This was dangerous territory, and I needed to tread carefully. “You don’t know me,” I told him warily.
“True enough. ” He looked past me, and his face became a blank slate. “It’s time. ”
I turned to see Alcántara walking down the beach toward us, with some kid in tow. As they got closer, I saw that he’d tied the guy’s hands behind his back.
“What the—?”
“Hush. ” Carden stepped in front of me and called to Alcántara, “We’re ready to push off. ”
Alcántara strode straight to the boat, shoving it into the water. Carden joined him, and I took the opportunity to study our new passenger. He was no more than fifteen, sixteen tops, and his obvious terror was disturbing.
“Hey,” I said to him.
He cast me a skittish glance. “Who are you people?”
Who were we? Now there was a good question. “Don’t worry,” I said, unsure what else to say. “It’s cool. ”
He hopped from foot to foot, shivering. I saw he had a pair of baby fangs, like a brand-new Trainee might. I hoped I was right, and it really was cool.
Alcántara beckoned us into the boat. This time it was Carden who rowed us out to the trawler, while Alcántara glowered silently at the boy. “You are a pretty one,” he told him finally. “Qué lindo. And a pretty boy like you would capture quite a ransom. ”
The kid looked ready to pee his pants.