Page 27 of Boneyard Tides

“Oh!” He lifts his hips up, thrusting against me slightly when he grabs something out of his back pocket.

That something is familiar and is my damn phone.

He flashes the screen at my face. “Handled.” He drops my phone and uses that same hand to come to my throat, squeezing and bringing my lips to his. “When are you going to get it? I am five fucking steps ahead of you, and when I’m not? Malyk is, and when he’s not? Dion is. There’s no escaping us, baby girl.”

I grind my teeth. “What is it you want?”

He laughs, releasing my ass from his grip and resting back against the couch. “You’re not ready for that.”

“Fine,” I answer, crawling off his lap. I back up slowly, my eyes on his. “Then maybe I’ll find my own way off this island.”

Sparrow shrugs. “We don’t need you anymore.”

The words hit my gut like a direct punch, and I hate the way my face falls. This is what I wanted, to be away from them. For them to not need me. But nothing makes sense.

“You’re free to go, Shiloh St. Claire.”

When I’ve walked a distance between us, his lips roll against his teeth.

“For now.”

All of that to let me go? I thought I’d be for sure fighting for my life to get off this island, so why is he letting me go…why are there so many people here?

…and why do I get the feeling that I’m falling into a trap?

I had to keep running. I knew that the longer I stayed here, the less chance I had at getting away. Would they chase me? Yes. Would I die trying? Also yes. I was a fighter. My mother, bless her cold, dead heart, at least raised me with that. The bones of my ancestors were strong, and they didn’t come with any warnings.

I shoved the tree branch out of my way, the ship off in the distance. I needed to get on there so it could take me home. I touched the side of my face, desperate to feel anything. Any fucking thing.

Blood spilled from my thighs and the sun boring down on me only made me lose my footing. I couldn’t see straight. The ocean was tilting, the tree branches getting longer as I slowly fell to the sand, unable to move.

People shuffled around me, and I tried to move my arm again, but it was frozen. Unmoving.

“Get her up and put her back.”

Maybe I was dreaming again? I had to be. This couldn’t be right.

“I think we should just kill her.”

Who was that? None of their voices sounded familiar. Not at all.

“We’re not killing her!” another voice barked.

Was she mad? On my part? Why? She’s obviously an awful person to have put me in the position I was in.

“I know that. But she has to be put back in. It’s the bosses’ orders. Something went wrong. They’re trying to figure it out.”

Shiloh

Itake the keys from Sparrow’s hand, staring up at him with the setting sun at his back. “So you took me here for what? To torment me into running around in circles?”

When I don’t think he’s going to answer, he holds my stare and clenches his jaw. “You think I wanted to spend the last few hours with a bunch of drunk teenagers, Shiloh? No, I didn’t.”

I fold my arms in front of me. Now that I know Cooper is crashed out on the boat and everyone who was here is now gone, I can breathe again. I can talk to Sparrow and hopefully get any and all information out of him. “You keep asking if I am the one. All three of you do. One of what? Who are you looking for?”

“It appears,” he murmurs, his attention falling to my lips. “Not you.”

I ignore the sharp sting that pierces my skin at those words. Ridiculous. Why would it hurt me that I’m not the one they want to kidnap?

---