Page 56 of Kidnapping of a Myth

“Right.” She nodded and then lifted onto her toes to kiss him. “Thank you for believing me, even though my only proof is the nagging in my gut.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I would follow you even into Hell and then kill the devil to free your soul from his grasp. I belong wherever you are.”

Bel stared up at him, unsure how to respond to such devotion. She wanted to throw her arms around him. She wanted to cry because she’d always feared she would never deserve such unwavering love, but she also couldn’t focus fully on the beautiful beast before her because, for all she knew, Wendy was lying dead onboard that yacht.

“What do you think, my dear?” Eamon asked with a voice too loud for how close she stood. He winked, releasing her from his intensity as he began their performance. “Do you see any you like? Pick one, and it’s yours.”

“Aren’t they a little… big?” She seamlessly slipped into character.

“They’re yachts,” Eamon said. “They’re supposed to be big. People live on these.”

“But I don’t want to live on one,” she increased her volume, hoping Wendy or her brothers would hear her and come outside. “I’d prefer a smaller one we could weekend on.”

“Just the weekend?” Eamon buried his nose in her hair so that only she heard his next words. “There are no people here,” he whispered. “There are no sounds of life in this marina save for the yacht’s crew. I’m worried that’s intentional, so I don’t want you out of my sight.”

Bel nodded, and he continued with a louder voice, “We could take an extended vacation if we got one large enough. We should ask someone to give us a tour so we can see how they live onboard. Maybe then I can convince you to?—”

“Detective Bel?” Michael’s voice rang out, and Bel almost tripped in relief. The boy was alive. “Detective Bel, that is you!” He waved enthusiastically. “Wendy! Detective Bel and her boyfriend are here!”

Eamon’s chuckle sounded like he was choking, but Bel liked the sound of the word, even if it was too simple for what he meant to her. Boyfriend also seemed too young for a man whose appearance read forty but who’d lived through history.

“Bel? Eamon?” Wendy said as she and John burst out onto the deck. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“I remembered your family used this marina,” Eamon explained, smiling as if nothing was amiss. “I’ve been thinking about purchasing a boat, but I want Isobel to like it. I figured since we were close by that I would bring her here and let her look around. Get an idea for what she prefers.”

“That’s cute,” a beaming Wendy said, and suddenly Bel felt stupid. This wasn’t a woman afraid of her husband. This was a newlywed drunk on love. “Do you guys want to come onboard? We’re leaving soon, but you can take a quick tour.”

“Sounds great.” Eamon captured Bel’s hand and tugged her toward the gangway. With every step they took, her relief increased. All three Darling siblings were in one piece. They just needed to get them off that boat.

“Henry, look who’s here!” Wendy shouted, and Bel stiffened as the woman’s husband joined them on the deck. He tried to stifle his shock at seeing their intruders, but Bel saw his annoyance flicker before his polite mask settled back into place. Bel pinched her eyebrows at his expression, realizing too late that they’d given her away. She smiled and leaned into Eamon, praying her face had recovered fast enough to hide her suspicion, but she saw it in his eyes the instant their gazes locked. Henry knew she knew, and his features hardened. He glared at her from behind his wife, and Bel felt every muscle in Eamon’s body stiffen against her side.

It took only a second. One brief moment, and the air shifted. Henry transformed from a happy groom to a menace, and before anyone could react, he drew a gun, aimed at Bel’s chest, and pulled the trigger.

The shot rang out,echoing Bel’s death as the bullet raced for her heart, but Eamon was faster. He lunged sideways, selflessly offering his body as a human shield, and the bullet ripped into his flesh a millisecond later. The impact forced a grunt from his lips, but he barely flinched as it embedded in his shoulder. His arm swung backward, bumping her stomach as she gagged at the sound of the round lodging against his bones, but Eamon merely squared his shoulders in defiance. For a moment, no one moved as they stared at the blood dripping off his fingers and onto the ground. Eamon Stone had survived a gunshot wound as if a ball and not a bullet had hit him. Realization dawned on Henry’s face at the unholy sight, and Bel saw the instant he understood how the boys had escaped The Tinker’s traps.

Eamon’s hand on her stomach tightened into a fist around her shirt as he stepped before her, completely blocking her from the gun’s aim, and then, with a growl, he loomed forward. For a second, Henry’s resolve faltered, and Bel dared to hope. The man knew he was defeated. He couldn’t win against Eamon, and he had no choice but to surrender. The Darling siblings were safe.

“Don’t come any closer!” Henry shouted, and Bel’s stomach dropped as the scene before her played out as if in slow motion. Henry recognized his disadvantage, but instead of yielding, he turned the gun’s aim away from her chest and pressed it against John’s temple.

“No!” Bel screamed as she lunged forward, but Eamon’s powerful grip yanked her back.

“I said don’t come any closer!” Henry dragged the teen before him as a shield. “One more step, and he gets a bullet in his brain.”

“Henry, what are you doing?” Wendy shouted. “Let go of him.”

“Shut up!” He cursed so maliciously that Bel’s heart broke for her new friend as she recoiled from her husband. “Everyone, stop talking, or I will kill him.”

“Henry, please,” Wendy begged.

“I said shut up. Knock the gangway down. We’re leaving.”

“No, please, no.”

“Maybe I should shoot Michael then?” Henry aimed the gun at the ten-year-old, and Wendy screamed, lunging to block her little brother.

“Not him!” John shouted. “Please, take me! You can have me. Just leave my brother alone.”

“Then tell your stupid sister to knock the gangway down and tell that meddlesome detective to stay where she is. Or I will kill you and your brother, got it?”

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