Bay of Sighs (The Guardians Trilogy 2)

She knew what to do, to stay close. And though her stomach twisted when one of the sharks closed those jaws around a man, she told herself they were the enemy. As predicted, that enemy turned away, to fire at the sharks.

Sawyer signaled, closed the hand of his wounded arm around his compass. Prepared to travel, Annika shot out more light. And as she felt the pull, the swirl, something struck her hip.

Sharp, shocking. Her vision blurred, and she slipped away.

Blind with pain, Sawyer collapsed on the deck of the boat.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Get us out of here. I’m not sure I’ve got another one in me.”

“Let me see.” Face grim, Bran dropped down beside him as Doyle yanked off his fins.

“Anni.” Though her hands shook, Sasha reloaded the harpoon. “She didn’t come back with us. She’s not with us.”

“What?” Shoving Bran aside, Sawyer lunged to his feet. “I had her. I had her.”

“She dropped away. I could see it—I couldn’t stop it. She—they—a dart in her hip. I couldn’t—”

She got no further. Sawyer vanished.

“Christ. I’m going back in.”

“We’ve got company.” Doyle’s statement stopped Riley from jumping back in the water.

“We’re not leaving them down there.”

“We’re not leaving anybody.” Doyle stepped out of the wheelhouse, grabbed his sword.

They swarmed out of the sky, swooping over the dive boat fifty yards away, diving toward theirs. Though blade and bullet were coated with Bran’s potion and burst dozens into ash, the pitched and ugly battle took precious time. Enough for them to helplessly watch the other boat speed away as they fought.

“They’ve got them!” Weeping, Sasha grabbed Sawyer’s gun, fired over and over. “We have to go after them.”

“They’ve defenses of their own.” As they destroyed the last of the birds, a gray fog rolled over the sea, swallowed the other boat. Bran threw light at it, but it bounced off, like a ball striking a wall. “Bitch.”

“We go after them anyway,” Riley insisted. “They don’t have that big a lead.”

“More than this boat can cover. And you’re bleeding, Gwin.” Doyle set down his sword, pulled the flap from the slice in her wet suit.

“Yeah, one

grazed me. Just grazed.” She looked down at her side. “Just a—ha-ha—flesh wound.”

“You wouldn’t have that if you hadn’t pushed me aside down there. Don’t ever do that again.”

Riley raised her eyebrows at Sasha. “You’re welcome.”

“I mean it. Goddamn it. I can handle myself as well as you.”

“Settle down now,” Bran soothed. “And you, sit down and let me have a look. Doyle, you’d best take us back to shore.”

“We can’t. We can’t go back. We can’t leave them.”

“Fáidh, we need to deal with wounds, get more weapons. And we need to find them. On my life, we will find them. We’ll bring them home.”

She dropped down, covered her face with her hands. “I felt her go numb—a tranquilizer gun, I think. I felt her slipping away from us, but I couldn’t reach her. It happened too fast. I couldn’t get to her.”

“Then believe Sawyer did.”

“He’s shot.”