Page 68 of Secrets of the Forgotten Heir

Knowing that every second’s delay could be fatal, I grabbed the rail with my left hand and edged forward.

‘I’ll kill you! Don’t think I won’t!’ Gilbert screamed. ‘I’ve lost too much to give up now!’

When I was close enough to peer through the glass into the bridge, I stopped to see what I had to deal with. My breath caught in my lungs. We’d been right about the money: open crates filled with cash were piled high. And while I didn’t know how many silver bullets Gilbert had in that gun of his, he wasn’t slowing his shots at Yanni.

With my heart pounding, I waited for his back to turn then broke through the glass. My only weapon was my fists, but they were what I’d been trained to use. The edge of my palm slammed into the back of Gilbert’s neck, sending him stumbling – but he held on to the gun.

‘Yanni, stay back!’ I shouted, in case she got any ideas.

‘Get off me, you bitch!’ Gilbert snarled, spinning to face me. His body writhed unnaturally, slippery and ungraspable like an eel’s. So that was what he was – an eel shifter.

I tried to reason with him. ‘This is over, Gilbert. There’s no way out. Drop the gun and at least give yourself a chance in court.’

‘This is mine!’ he bellowed. ‘I’m owed this! It’s my inheritance! He wanted to give it all away!’

I tried to tighten my grip on his neck but I couldn’t hold him, so I drove my knee into his groin instead. He howled and the gun finally slipped from his hands and rolled toward the edge of the deck.

‘Yanni! He’s disarmed!’ I shouted. The gun teetered, millimetres from plunging into the sea. ‘Fraser!’ I yelled. ‘Grab the gun! We can’t lose it in the water!’

‘Got it!’ his voice called from below.

Beside me Gilbert was whimpering, doubled over in pain. ‘It’s over, Gilbert,’ I said.

‘Damn right it is.’ Yanni shifted back to human form beside me. ‘We’re turning this boat around and heading home.’

As she took charge of Gilbert, I moved to the edge to check that Fraser had retrieved the gun. When I reached the railing, Gilbert spoke again, his voice laced with malice. ‘You may have got rid of my silver bullets,’ he sneered, ‘but I hear bog-standard ones work perfectly well on witches. Let’s see, shall we?’

I froze as I tried to make sense of his words. A moment later his hand flicked to his waistband and I saw the flash of metal in his hand. Oh fuck! He had another gun!

Yanni lunged towards him, but I knew she would be too late.

I stared down the barrel of the gun, the muzzle flashed and then pain consumed me.

Chapter Forty-Five

The sensation of falling was what I remembered the most. I don’t know how high the deck was, but I seemed to plummet downwards forever. Heat was rolling off my body and the pain was so intense it almost forced my mind to go blank. A second later, cold hit me as if I’d slammed into a wall of ice.

‘Beatrix!’

I could hear voices, full of fear and panic, but I didn’t know who was calling my name. Was it my parents? They’d called my name in the same way the night I’d been taken. That was the last time I’d ever spoken to them.

I had felt so far away from them for so long, but now I could feel them moving closer…

The darkness surrounded me – was it going to consume me? Fear stilled my heart.

But then it was as if I were being wrapped in the softest, warmest blanket, every inch of me held in a gentle,comforting embrace. I didn’t know who or what was doing it, but I knew that I was safe. And it was wonderful.

Water filled my ears. At first all I could make out was the crash of waves but then something changed and there were voices too, faint words as if they were coming from miles away.

‘Fraser, is that...? What have youdone?’ That was Yanni’s voice.

‘I didn’t have any choice.’ His voice was slow, sombre.

‘You must have had!’

‘No, I didn’t. It was this or we lost her. We’ll talk about it later.’

‘She has to—’

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