Each time Drake would sink back against the rocks. The coyotes would turn their ears toward the sound and lie perfectly still. They feared Swift Girl.
But Brianna had not seen them. And now it was deepest night, and Swift Girl wasn’t so swift in the dark.
And then Drake had had some luck. Diana herself, wrapped in a shawl or something, had stepped into view on one of the boats. The one with Orc sitting in the bow.
Even by dim starlight he knew her. No one else moved like Diana.
Of course. He should have thought of that. Sam would make sure she had a strong protector, so of course she would be on the boat with Orc.
The sight of her made his whip twitch. He unwrapped it from encircling his waist. He wanted to feel the power in it as he gazed down at her.
She would be brave at first. Say what he might about Diana, she was not soft or weak. But the whip would change her attitude. Nothing that would harm the baby. But that still left Drake plenty of possibilities.
If he could just figure out how to get to her. And past Brianna. And Orc.
He glanced at the big houseboat, the only thing still attached to the dock. It was farther away, and the angle was bad for seeing anything other than the top deck. Dekka had been on watch there. Now she was gone. But Drake knew perfectly well the houseboat had been left there as a lure for him. They wanted him to be stupid enough to attack.
He felt a sudden flash of rage. Sam, oh, so very clever, moving all his vulnerable people out onto the boats. He hadn’t seemed so clever when Drake had whipped the flesh from him and Sam had cried out in pain and tears had streamed from his eyes....”
A low growl of pleasure came from Drake’s lips. It made the coyotes nervous.
Then two things happened: Orc climbed heavily down into a comically small rowboat.
Perfect! Let Orc bring the boat in. Drake would wait until the behemoth was clear and then he could take the boat out to collect Diana.
The only problem was the second thing that was happening: Drake was feeling the queasy sensation he got when Brittney emerged.
He snapped his whip in frustration. But that whip had already shriveled to a third of its usual length.
Drake quickly bit his index finger, drawing blood. He found a flat surface of rock and in the few seconds he had left he scrawled the word “sailbo—”
TWENTY
17 HOURS, 20 MINUTES
SAM WOKE SUDDENLY and knew something had happened.
He lay amid the twisted blanket for a few seconds trying to gather together the threads of unconscious perception. Movements, sounds, hazy notions of murmured conversation.
Then he got quickly to his feet. He pulled on his clothing and stepped out into the main hallway. He was heading for the stairs when he stopped, turned, and saw confirmation: Astrid’s backpack was gone.
He pushed back a sliding closet door. Her shotgun was gone as well.
At that moment Dekka came down the stairs. She was startled to see him up. He was sure he saw a guilty look cross her face before being suppressed.
“She took the letters,” Sam said flatly.
“She knocked me out,” Dekka said. She pointed at the bruise on the side of her head and turned her face so he could see it by the light of the small Sammy sun.
Sam’s lips curled into a feral snarl. “Right. Astrid. Knocked you out.”
“She popped me with the butt of her shotgun.”
“I can see that. I also know what it takes to beat you down, Dekka.”
She flared angrily, but he knew it was the truth, and she knew that he knew.
“I’m sending Brianna after her.”