The Devil In Disguise (Bad Things #1)(66)

The two agents were returning, a coffin in their hands. It wasn’t a wooden coffin because that would have been too easy for the vamp to break. Like the cell that had housed her in Key West, this coffin was made of very special glass. He could see the battered vamp inside. She was weak, and wounded, but still alive.

For the moment, anyway. He figured it was a good thing that his boss had seemed to lose interest in her of late. This way, the guy wouldn’t mind if she had to endure just a bit more pain.

“Put her down right here.” Garrick pointed to the edge of the boat.

The agents complied, and they held the coffin upright so that he could stare at the vampire’s face. A fairly attractive face, though she was far too thin. Starvation would do that to a woman.

“I need your help,” he said, knowing she could hear him perfectly.

Her eyes narrowed with hate. She was out in the sunlight, but she wasn’t burning or anything, and it wasn’t because of the glass. Since acquiring Rose, he’d learned that old story about sunlight burning vamps? Total myth. And it was actually fairly easy to kill a vamp. The only problem was that they had a tendency to come back from death.

“There’s someone in the water that I need, and you’re going to bring her to me.” He thought it was kind to explain what was happening.

But Rose closed her eyes, effectively trying to shut him out.

He tapped on the glass. “These holes let air in to you.” Because she needed to breathe. He’d learned that when he accidentally suffocated her one day. But then, she’d come back hours later. At first, the boss had been furious about her death. But when the guy had realized that she just came back, he’d stared at her differently. “These same holes will let water in, too,” Garrick added. “Sorry, Rose, but you’re about to drown.”

Her eyes flew open. Terror was in those depths.

“Relax. It’s not as if you won’t wake up again, eventually.” He nodded toward the agents. “Toss her overboard.”

Her mouth opened in a scream.

The coffin flew toward the water.

***

Mina stilled when she heard the splash. She heard it and actually felt the vibration in the water. She turned back and saw that something had fallen over the side of that boat. Something that was slowly sinking down into the water.

She started to swim away but…

She turned back. She had to see what was happening. Curiosity compelled her.

As she neared, Mina saw a woman, struggling frantically, pushing her hands out against—wait, she’s trapped in some kind of box. Mina hadn’t even noticed the box at first because it was clear, like glass. But now she could see that the big box was filling with the water and the woman inside was utterly terrified. Mina’s eyes widened in shock and she surged forward, whipping her tail against the water. She reached that box in seconds and her hands slapped against the glass. She stared into the woman’s frightened gaze. The woman was shouting, but there was no way to make out her words. Mina couldn’t understand her, but she could see the flash of—of fangs? Yes, fangs as the woman’s mouth opened and her face contorted with fear.

She should conserve her energy and air. She won’t have long.

Mina pounded against that glass again. It wouldn’t break beneath her fists so she swam down and tried to lift up the big box. Her tail shoved hard against the water but the box was so heavy she couldn’t lift it.

Why is she in the box? What’s happening?

There were more splashes in the water. Mina looked around, startled, and saw that men in scuba suits were coming toward her. Maybe they could help the woman in the box.

But they had…guns. No, not guns, not exactly. The shape was wrong. Spear guns? Yes. They were staring at her in shock and they weren’t helping the terrified woman. Mina motioned desperately toward that odd, glass box.

One of the men fired. His spear came right at Mina. It sank into the side of her tail and her lips parted as agony pierced her. Another man threw a net around her and he started hauling her away from the box.

They didn’t seem to care about the trapped woman. They were focused just on…catching me.

Mina struggled desperately, but she couldn’t get out of the net. And the woman in the box was sinking ever deeper. The divers didn’t even look back at her. They just left the woman, and they took Mina toward the surface.

She broke the surface of the water, screaming, “Help her! Help her!” But no one paid her any attention. She was hauled out of the water—still bound in that net—and tossed onto the boat. She sprawled hard on the old wooden deck, her body shaking and her tail bleeding.

A woman’s voice cried out, “Dear God, what is she?”

Mina’s head turned to the right. A redhead stared at her in horrified fascination. I should know her. The knowledge whispered through her, but the woman’s identity was just beyond Mina’s grasp.

Another man came forward, the sun glinting off his blond hair. He reached for her, and Mina flinched, but he was just removing the net. He stared at her with wide hazel eyes, and then he smiled. “You are so perfect.”

He was staring at her as if he’d just been given the best prize in the world. And he utterly terrified her.

“There’s a woman in the water,” Mina whispered. “You need to help her.”

He just waved that away. “Mina, I am never letting you go.”