A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire #21)(62)

Ridan continued hurtling forward with us toward the island and as he did, he began spouting fire all around us—I guessed to prevent the invisible witch coming too close. I thanked the heavens that we weren’t far from the boundary and we managed to fly through it before Ridan got stabbed in the eye.

Although we were engulfed again by the darkness of The Shade, my skin was still singed. I cast a glance at Derek. His eyes were still fixed on the scene we’d just left. I gazed there too, even as I tried to calm my palpitating heart.

I could make out the hunters’ speedboat dashing away now. Clearly they’d realized they weren’t equipped to battle four angry dragons. Both Neros and Azaiah were hovering near the waves where Jeriad had fallen. I guessed the injured dragon would shift back into his humanoid form for his two companions to easily carry back to the island.

I wasn’t sure how the dragons had known to come, but we had just managed a narrow escape. I shuddered to think what would’ve happened had they arrived even a few moments later. I was certain that those hunters were going to take all of our lives, even as we’d informed them of our innocence.

The view of the ocean became obstructed as Ridan dipped behind a row of trees and touched down in a clearing near the Port.

Derek and I locked eyes, almost certain that the same questions were running through both of our heads. What is up with these hunters? They were so interested in stalking our island—they’d had naval ships stationed near our shores for months now, and they’d even tried to detect our every moment with motion sensors—yet now that they’d had three specimens from The Shade—including the king and queen at that—they’d simply wanted to kill us? If anything, they should have imprisoned us and taken us in for interrogation. The motives of the hunters were a complete mystery to me. What exactly is their game?

Our disturbed nephew, Jeramiah, was yet another enigma. I still wasn’t sure how he’d entered the island, or what exactly he’d thought he would gain by traumatizing and murdering his family members. Revenge? Was that really all that drove him? I guessed it shouldn’t have been surprising. Lust for vengeance had a way of blinding people to what was in front of them.

However jumbled my pain-ridden brain was with doubts and questions about the hunters and my nephew, as Ridan lowered us onto the lawn, there was one feeling of certainty that I couldn’t shake: this wasn’t the last time we’d cross paths with either of them.

Chapter 25: Ben

As I followed River riding atop Jeriad, away from the Black Heights and out of the boundary, I had a bad feeling about River accompanying the dragons. I wished that she could have stayed behind and let the dragons go by themselves. Then, when Amaya caught Jeriad’s eyes with a curse, my fears came to fruition. Through the chaos and commotion, nobody noticed River slip from the dragon’s back and crash into the waves.

I was afraid that she’d fallen too close to the jagged rocks, that she might have been injured by the force of her fall—half-bloods weren’t as sturdy as vampires. I didn’t know exactly how much they could endure. But then she emerged beneath a sky of fire.

“River!” I yelled.

Bolting through the smoke, flames, and even a couple of hunters as they aimed their bullets at the dragons, I leapt off the rocks. I glided over the surface of the ocean and reached River. As the waves rolled over her, she opened her mouth to shout, but the thick cloud of smoke stifled her. Disorientated, she was carried backward by the tide, which, to my horror, started swelling closer and closer to the hunters’ speedboat.

She was strong. I didn’t understand why she didn’t kick her legs furiously and distance herself from it, but then I realized that she couldn’t see the speedboat. I could see in this smog, but the dragons’ offense was blinding her, and by the time she realized where she was headed, it was too late. She brushed up against the side of the speedboat and one of the men noticed her. His arms shot down and grabbed her by the shoulders. Before she could even react, he’d yanked her up over the edge of the boat.

“No!” I roared, my voice sounding on par with the dragons’ bellows as it echoed in my head.

I leapt onto the boat after her. Six hunters were now bent over her, grabbing her limbs as she kicked and thrashed. Then one pulled out a gun and jammed it against her temple, forcing her into submission. I feared that they were going to treat her the same as my parents—that the hunter was seconds away from pulling the trigger—but instead, they fastened metal restraints around her wrists and arms. Then they dragged her through an open hatch. I sped through to find that it led down to a small, lower deck.

She struggled against her restraints, but they must have been strong. For all her supernatural strength, she couldn’t break through them.

As they carried her to a wide bench in one corner, a man yelled from above deck, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” The engine roared, and the speedboat lurched.

The men backed away from River, though four remained watching her, guns still ready in their hands. A pain lanced my chest as River begged, “Please, let me go.” She was soaked to the bone, and it killed me to see how much she was shivering.

I glared around at the hunters, trying to see if I could recognize any of them. Most had removed their shades, but I couldn’t. None of these men bore burns, so I guessed that they had remained on the boat. Despite just witnessing an attack of gigantic, fire-breathing dragons, all looked quite calm, as though they saw this kind of thing every day.