Page 107 of Obsessed in Blood
“That was perfect timing.” Ginger ran her fingers through her hair, trying to pat down the earlier mess she’d made of it. When Braden grunted at her comment, she rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t sure we were getting out of that. They knew you were a shifter, right?”
He nodded, turning down the street after driving around the block. “They can smell us.”
“You mean your doggy scent?” she teased.
He shook his head. “Lucas warned me about you.” He drove toward the warehouse that opened as they approached. He pulled the car inside and drove to a spot toward the back where a large cargo van waited with a ramp. After he drove up the ramp and put the car in park, he shut off the engine and turned in his seat.
“The vamps can smell everything. The perfume you’re wearing, what you ate for lunch, and the tequila you drank to ease your nerves.” He glanced down at her body. “And other things.”
She swallowed. “I guess I knew that. You know I didn’t mean any disrespect. My mouth gets ahead of me sometimes. But I know what Remus, Elijah, and Raquel are doing for Cressa and Devon.”
He grinned. “If that’s the worst you can do, no one will take offense. But I wouldn’t suggest saying it to Remus.”
She felt her face pale. “I’m not completely daft.”
“I don’t know. You’re a human in the middle of what’s becoming a vamp and shifter war. You can’t be normal.”
She relaxed and laughed. “Now that I can agree with. Shall we see if our teams have returned?” She opened the door and squeezed out of the small space between the car and the van.
They walked to the far side of the warehouse where Elijah, Bella, and Jacques waited for them.
“Your explosive was perfect timing,” Braden said. “I think the vamps were getting suspicious.”
“They’re checking everyone that’s coming off the ferry,” Bella replied. “I don’t think we would have gotten by them without it.”
“Where’s Simone and Sergi?”
“Simone was waiting at the meeting spot and didn’t want to leave without Sergi.” Bella had slipped her arm through Jacques’s. “They’ll have to find a different way off the island.”
“Which is exactly what we did.”
The group turned to see Simone striding across the warehouse. Sergi walked several paces back, talking with Mateo.
“How?” Elijah asked.
“We found another boat. I believe they call it a go-fast boat.”
“Lorenzo won’t be happy about that,” Bella said. She smiled, something Ginger never saw her do much. She turned and gave Sergi a long look. “What’s wrong?”
“Decker got Lucas, Raquel, and Hamilton off the island. But Lorenzo’s security showed up and they barely got away.”
Simone frowned. “Which means Devon and Cressa are on their own.”
ChapterThirty-Six
I peeredthrough the leafy hedge and recognized the wooden structure, never knowing it was a pump house. Although I had no reason to have known. Two vamps were stationed by the door. Devon had left me where I was while he checked the perimeter.
“There are only these two.” Devon slid next to me. “We need a diversion.”
“I can do that.” I ran my fingers through my hair, messing it up to what I hoped was something akin to bedhead. Then I rubbed some dirt on my face before pushing my way through the hedge, limping and holding my side, as I heaved for my next breath. An old iron bench caught my eye, and I made to sit down before glancing up and pretending I’d just seen the vamps. Instead of sitting, I backed up, then trotted away, accentuating the limp. I’d pulled my mask off once we were outside. At this point, I was pretty sure Lorenzo knew who had busted up his party.
As predicted, whether they recognized me from being on the island before, or they’d been ordered to detain anyone they found, they came after me. I thought one would remain by the door, and I’d have to deal with them. I grinned when they both came at me.
They were almost on top of me before the first one was tackled and stabbed several times in the lower back—a kidney shot. He’d be down long enough. The second one turned when he heard his mate making gurgling sounds, but Devon was already on his way to him, and he stabbed this one in the heart and twisted the knife, once again immobilizing the vamp. He would need a great deal of blood to heal completely.
We ran back to the pump house. Inside, it was larger than it appeared with massive water tanks that must be filled weekly with water brought from the mainland. That would explain why most of the laundry was sent out for washing. Water would be a precious commodity on this small island if they weren’t able to drill a freshwater well, though there were large cisterns on the far side of the island that were probably used to store rainwater.
I found the door that led downstairs, where several dim lights lit the place. Huge generators pumped electricity for the island. I glanced at Devon. This would be one way to make life more difficult, but Devon shook his head. I shrugged as I remembered vamps and shifters had excellent eyesight in the dark, so I’d be the only one who suffered.
