Beyond the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #6)(36)

“I’m glad.”

Salvatore’s soft chuckle brushed over her skin. “My sentiments exactly.” Pausing, the Were sniffed the air. Then seeming to come to a decision, he continued down the hill. “This way.”

“The river?” she muttered.

“Curs hate water.”

Harley licked her suddenly dry lips. “So do Weres.”

“Which means the last thing they’ll expect is for us to travel by boat,” Salvatore pointed out, stepping through the last of the trees.

Harley’s steps faltered as she realized that Salvatore had led them directly to a small wooden dock where a shiny new speedboat was moored.

Damn.

Like any sane Were, she hated the water.

No, it was more than just hate.

She was terrified of water.

There was no rhyme or reason to her fear. It wasn’t as if she could drown. And as far as she knew, she’d never had a childhood trauma that included water.

She only knew that the only good water was the kind that came out of a showerhead and then disappeared down a drain.

“You also claimed that they wouldn’t be able to find us if we were wearing the amulets,” she accused, biting her bottom lip as Salvatore nimbly leapt into the boat, and with a tiny surge of his power, had the motor running.

He glanced back to watch her far more cautious approach, his golden eyes sparkling with rueful amusement.

“Why did I know you would throw that in my face?”

“Do you want to be in the middle of a raging river when that demented Briggs attacks again?”

He paused, easily sensing her tension. “You’re scared of the water.”

Grudgingly she moved down the dock, climbing into the boat with an awkward stiffness.

“I’m not scared. I’m…”

“You’re?”

“Naturally cautious.” The boat rocked and Harley hastily dropped onto the padded seat next to Salvatore. “Have you even driven a boat before?”

He shrugged, reaching over to untie the line. “How hard can it be?”

Harley popped to her feet, her heart stuck in her throat. “No way.”

Salvatore pushed her firmly back into her seat, then before she could protest, he was pulling away from the dock and gunning the boat through the water.

“Don’t worry, Harley,” he said over the roar of the motor. “I’m not going to turn us over.”

“Capsize,” she gritted. “It’s called capsize.”

He laughed. “Fine. I won’t capsize us.”

The river was high and choppy, lashing at the boat as if determined to smash it to tiny bits. Harley’s stomach threatened to revolt, and she grimly latched her attention onto Salvatore’s finely chiseled profile.

In the late afternoon sunlight his skin glowed with a rich bronze, his raven hair whipping in the wind. He looked hard and dangerous and ruthlessly male.

“And what if Briggs makes a surprise visit?” she demanded.

He flashed a teasing grin. “Then capsizing will be the least of our concerns.”

“Not helping.”

“Cara, I don’t know how Briggs managed to find me, but I’m certain it will take him time to heal. This is our best chance to get to Styx.”

She clutched the edges of her seat. “I should never have come back.”

Salvatore kept his gaze trained on the gigantic barge that was headed in their direction, but Harley didn’t miss the sudden tightening of his hands on the wheel.

“Why did you?”

“Come back?” She shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Not nearly so much as why you left.”

“Why wouldn’t I leave? You’re being hunted by a demented, magically enhanced Were and a large number of pissed off curs,” she smoothly lied. No need explaining her fascination with him was what truly scared the heck out of her. His arrogance had already reached epic status. “Only a lunatic would hang around you.”

“If that’s the reason you left, then you wouldn’t have snuck away while I slept.”

“I snuck away because I knew you would try to stop me. I didn’t want to argue.”

He snorted. “Since when?”

“Maybe you should just concentrate on driving.”

Caine paced the small clearing, halting before the three curs who knelt in the dirt.

He wasn’t surprised he was too late.

In fact, after he’d realized Giuliani and Harley had found the amulets he’d hidden in the tunnels, he was shocked the fools had stumbled across them at all.

Unlike his soldiers, Caine hadn’t run blindly after prey he couldn’t track. Instead, he had called for the witch who had made the amulets, knowing she could cast a spell to reveal their location.

At least their general location.

Magic was never an exact science.

Which was why he preferred not to depend on it.

“Forgive us, master, the Were overwhelmed us,” Tio, the cur nearest to him, muttered, his face pressed to the ground. “We failed you.”

“His power,” a second cur, Drew, muttered. “Shit. I never felt anything like it.”

Caine’s jaw clenched. He didn’t like to be reminded of Giuliani’s power. Or how easily he could enforce his will on curs.