Page 67 of Caretaker

Chapter Twenty-Two

No one would take us to the island.

“It’s the weekend,” one ferry operator said. “Only employees and police get a ride over tonight, lady. Come back Thursday.”

“Convince one of them to take us,” I hissed to Alejandro. And when he strode off, I drew Silverlight from her sheath. “I had to bring her.”

Clayton nodded. “I know.”

I stared across the dark lake, my mind churning. Finally, I sighed. “I’ll have to bury her. You said you know someone who’ll bring weapons from the car if we need him?”

He nodded.

Silverlight, warm and familiar, vibrated in my hand. And I knew what to do.

“Shield me,” I told Clayton, and crouched beside the car.

I wasn’t figuring things out—Silverlight was. She expanded in my grip, but gently. The tip of her blade pulsed with a dull white light, and she grew heavy in my grip—urging me to lower her to the ground.

“She’ll bury herself.” Clayton’s murmured tone was full of admiration and maybe the tiniest bit of envy.

I touched the tip of her sharp blade to the earth. The ground began to sizzle, and Silverlight spun feverishly in my grip. I let her go, then watched with wide eyes, barely breathing as my sword twisted herself into the ground.

When she was finished, the earth had closed protectively around her, and she was gone. Hidden.

I rubbed my fingers over the dirt, awed.

“I saw a vampire go to ground once,” Clayton said. “That’s what she just did.”

I stood, my body tight and trembly. “She’s alive, Clayton. Isn’t she?”

Alejandro jogged toward us. “Found someone,” he called. “Let’s go.”

Alejandro had slipped a folded pile of bills to a woman who wanted the money more than she cared to stick to the rules of Byrd Island.

“Good luck finding a way back,” she said, when we climbed aboard her tiny transport. “I’m not hanging around.”

We didn’t care. We just needed to get there.

“Why aren’t visitors allowed on the weekends?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “They need their party nights, girlfriend.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, but she was done talking.

I closed my eyes as the image of Angus’s face swam into my mind. We’re coming for you, Angus. We’re coming.

I was determined, but when I thought too hard about the fact that there were only three of us—a bloodhunter, a golem, and a human—against an island of guards, a secure prison, and a stockpile of weapons, my confidence began to slip.

So I opened my eyes, straightened my spine, and refused to allow doubt to enter my mind. Angus was coming home. Simple as that.

There were no other options.

As far as I could tell, Clayton was healed from Miriam’s torture. His face was blank, his eyes empty, and he was once again the quiet, emotionless man I’d come to know well over the last year.

I wrapped my hand around the railing, right next to his. “Don’t…”

He looked at me, waiting.