Page 89 of Family (Academy of Misfits 3)

“Boat?” Camden and Eastern say simultaneously.

I look over my shoulder at Eastern who grimaces. He hates boats, or rather the water boats float upon. A trip on the River Thames when we were ten had him chucking up his guts. Tracy said it was motion sickness, though he’s never had problem with any other form of transportation.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Eastern mutters.

“To get across to the island you need to go by boat. There’s no road connected to the mainland. But if we don’t get to my schooner before the storm is due to hit, we’re not going anywhere.”

“What’s a fucking schooner?” Camden mutters, glancing over at me.

“I don’t know,” I retort. “Sounds like a fashion label to me.”

“A schooner is asailboat. I’m the captain,” Malakai explains, putting the car into drive and doing a smooth 180-degree turn.

I snort with laughter. With his silver rings, pierced ear and tattoos, he’s a modern-day pirate if ever I saw one and not some posh, clean-shaven captain. “Grim really does know a lot of interesting people,” I say under my breath.

“Grimisan interesting person,” Ford counters, hearing me.

“You all need to shut the hell up so I can concentrate,” Malakai snaps as he pulls out from the service road and onto the main one. “Keep your mouths shut and your eyes peeled. Just because we’ve made it this far doesn’t mean we’re not being followed. I owe Grim a debt, and she’s called it in. If I don’t get you on that island then I’m still indebted to her, and I don’t like to owe anyone a goddamn thing.”

“Then I guess we’ll shut the fuck up because we need to get on that island,” I retort, meeting Malakai’s gaze in the rear-view mirror. He nods his head. Ten minutes later and going 80mph down the motorway it becomes clear we made it out of Oceanside without getting caught.

For now.

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