Page 102 of Obsessed in Blood
Hamilton concentrated on each step, a hand braced on the rough wall as he clutched his bag to his chest. When Lucas reached the bottom, Raquel was already at the open door to the tunnel entrance. Lucas kept shutting doors behind them as they went in hopes of making Lorenzo’s security pause to question their route. They’d moved twenty yards down the dark tunnel when the siren sounded.
Raquel stopped and looked back. “Was that us?”
Lucas checked the walls and floor behind him. “We must have triggered something our security hack didn’t catch. Let’s move.”
Raquel’s progress quickened, and Hamilton stayed close on her heels until they were all running. Lucas caught Hamilton any time he stumbled.
The tunnel was estimated to be a couple hundred yards long, and it twisted around curves on its downhill trajectory. Before he knew it, the tunnel emptied into a small cave, and they were assailed by the scent of sea air and damp earth.
He thought he heard Hamilton give a small cry, but he pushed the man forward until Raquel stopped at the edge of the cave.
“I don’t see anyone.” She doused the lamp before taking a step outside, staying low.
Hamilton and Lucas stepped out from behind her. The boat should have already been there. He took a few steps then stopped short when he saw a figure in the dark.
“It’s about time. You’re ten minutes late.” Decker’s tone was urgent. “Looks like you got the package. Watch your footing, it’s pretty rocky.”
Raquel took a few seconds to relight the lamp. She walked next to Hamilton, lending him an arm as they worked their way over the uneven ground toward the water and what Lucas could now make out beyond the light as a small wooden boat. Two shifters stood next to it.
He followed behind Decker and was almost to the boat when Raquel called out with a grunt. She dropped to one knee, Hamilton falling hard against her. She stayed upright and managed to stand, using Hamilton as a prop.
Lucas turned around to see vampires running for them. Lots of them. Too many.
Decker grabbed Hamilton, tossing him over his shoulder. Lucas took Raquel’s arm, and she grabbed on, dropping the lamp as they ran. By the time they reached the boat, which was only a few footsteps away, Decker was in the boat with Hamilton. Raquel leaped in, and Lucas pushed with the two shifters to get the boat in the water.
Once the boat was away from shore, Decker started the motor as the shifters picked up oars to row them into deeper water. Bullets pierced the side of the boat. When another spray of bullets came, the shifters returned fire. Lucas threw his body over Hamilton as he pulled Raquel down. She grunted in pain.
“Are you hit?” Lucas asked. He glanced over at Decker, who bent low as he steered the boat, keeping his eyes forward. A shifter, blood dripping down his arm, kneeled next to him. He changed magazines and continued to fire as the boat moved away from the island and the range of the vampire’s weapons.
“It’s the knife.” Raquel leaned on a hand as she reached for her back, but she wasn’t able to reach the handle of the knife Lucas hadn’t seen.
“Is this from when you first dropped?” He asked.
She nodded.
Lucas held a hand on her back, keeping her low so he could see where the knife had lodged. It hit her shoulder blade and must be stuck in the bone.
“Take three large breaths,” he commanded, and she turned her head to give him a growl but did as he asked. On the second breath, he pulled the blade out.
“You said count three.” She panted, and he waited for the blood, but it was nothing more than a trickle.
“I did.”
“Asshole.” This time her growl was deeper, and, for a minute, he thought she might shift, but she held on until the boat hit the side of the cruiser.
Another shifter and vampire waited on the cruiser and began pulling them from the boat. One of the shifters had taken a stray bullet, and one of the other shifters took him into the salon.
Once they were all on the cruiser and the boat tied on, Lucas settled Hamilton and Raquel near the injured shifter. Then he met Decker at the cockpit.
“We can’t stay for Devon and Cressa.”
Decker took the controls and turned the cruiser north, the lights from the island fading behind them. “They’ll have to find their own way off the island.”
Devon racedup the stairs toward me and when he drew closer, he had a quirky smile.
“Was there a problem?” Though I wasn’t sure why he’d be smiling about it.
“I was just noting how ravishing you looked.”
