Bay of Sighs (The Guardians Trilogy 2)

Both Sasha and Annika came out with trays.

“We’ve got more pasta,” Sasha began. “Bread, cheese, fruit, olives, peppers, and anything else Anni could think of.”

“Great. What are the rest of you going to eat?” Sawyer asked and grabbed a hunk of bread.

“Let’s see about the pain.”

“It’s barely there now,” he told Sasha.

“Then let’s get it gone. I’m good at this now. Just relax and keep eating.”

“How about that beer?”

“Half a glass of wine to start,” Bran said. “Then we’ll see how we go. Are you up for a report?”

“I’m definitely up. Thanks, Anni, this is great.”

“I didn’t set the table.”

“Next time. Here’s my POV. When I went back in the water, they had her in a goddamn net. She was out, unconscious. Between us and the sharks, their numbers were down, but not enough. They hit me with something, some sort of tranq, I’d say. Same thing they used on Annika most likely. And the next thing I know, I’m hanging by my arms in that cave. Lots of equipment—thugs with guns, and this tank. They had Annika in a tank of water.

“Sit down, Sash. Really, I’m good.”

“You had some torn muscles in your shoulders, in addition to where you were shot. And burns on your chest.” But Sasha sat.

“Feels okay now. Then he walks in. Mr. Torture.”

“Yadin,” Riley said.

“Introduced himself, real polite. Then he got started.”

He skimmed over the worst of it—what was the point?—but gave them the overview.

“Yadin had it rigged so he could send electrical current into the water. The son of a bitch kept zapping her.”

“And you,” Annika said.

“Depending on your scale, you could say he kept it light, until Malmon got there,” Sawyer continued. “Something off about him, Malmon. I want to say he walked different—like his shoes were too tight. And he wore shades inside the cave, and a long-sleeved shirt. And, I know it sounds weird, but his fingers were too long.”

“His fingers,” Riley repeated.

“Yeah, I know, weird, and I was feeling a little rough by the time he came to join the party.”

“Sawyer is right. He wasn’t like the other men. I felt he was not . . .” Annika struggled for the words. “Complete? Not one thing, not the other.”

“Seventh daughter of a seventh daughter’s instincts,” Riley pointed out, “which march right alongside our resident seer’s. We saw him sign a contract with Nerezza, in blood. I restate my vote for demon.”

“He seemed human enough,” Sawyer continued. “But edgy, jittery somehow. You know that’s not his style, Riley.”

“Nope, cool, calm superiority. The kind that slits your throat—or more likely pays to have it slit—without the slightest rise in blood pressure.”

“He’s pissed, too, because he can’t get the compass to work.”

“He struck Sawyer very hard, and the bindings you took off, Bran, cut into him. The other man talked to him, so he stopped.”

“Yeah, yeah, I guess I blanked there a minute. Malmon lost it. Yadin talked him down.”

“He had the man put the knife in Sawyer, but he told the man to hurt me more.”