Something rushed toward her before she could scream. She fired four times, hitting the creature in the chest, but the bullets didn’t slow him. He crashed into her, and they fell to the cracked pavement, knocking the wind from her lungs. She blinked her eyes, bringing a familiar face into focus.
His features were contorted, swollen somehow, but it was Jones. Or it used to be. His breath reeked of sulfur as his forked tongue slid past his tight lips. She struggled to break free, but he outweighed her, his knees pinning her arms to the ground.
What had happened to him? What was he? Her mind raced while her instincts and training took over. Stuffing her jumbled emotions into a compartment, she forced herself to take note of every detail. Remember. You have to remember.
His facial structure still resembled her partner, but now his eyes glowed an inhuman crimson, and his slender, snakelike black tongue glistened in the flashing yellow glow of the broken streetlamp.
His tongue slithered across her cheek, burning her skin as if his saliva was acid. She screamed. “Let me go!”
He hissed, “I tried to find another way to feed it, but nothing worked, you see?” He ran a warm, wet finger along her jawline. The earthy scent of blood stung her nostrils. He growled, “You were worth the wait, chossssen one.”
Betrayal and terror blended into panic as she shrieked.
“Aura?” A commanding voice cut through the horror, followed by a firm squeeze on her shoulder.
She woke up, her throat still sore from shouting.
Just a dream.
She sat up, gasping for air, to find Greyson beside her cot.
Concern lined his eyes. “You were screaming.”
She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it back from her forehead, loathing the tremors in her usually steady hands. “Bad dream.” She glanced his way. “I’m fine. Sorry for…the noise.”
She braced herself for pity or unwanted well-meant advice, but he surprised her by offering his hand instead. “Since yer not going to be sleeping for a while, I want to show you something.”
She peered down at her sweatpants and T-shirt. “I guess I should get dressed.”
“Yer fine, just grab a coat.”
For the first time, she noticed his leather frock coat. It was worn and soft, gripping his shoulders and biceps like a second skin. Not that it mattered, but he was ruggedly handsome.
His looks didn’t change that he’d already proven himself to be a loose cannon during her last undercover operation in Savannah, plus he was a pirate. But she had to admit, grudgingly, that being around him was a constant reminder that she hadn’t been touched by a man in…years.
She ground her teeth and put on her black parka. She reached for her holster and hesitated.
From behind her, he said, “I don’t go anywhere without a weapon, either.”
He seemed to understand her better than most, even though they barely knew each other. It shook her. The last time she’d thought she had a friend, he’d turned out to be a demon…
She cut off the thought and hooked her holster around her waist.
Greyson wasn’t a friend or a partner. He was a necessity for this mission and a distraction from dark memories that still haunted her dreams. Nothing else.
He walked ahead, toward the mainmast. Colton was at the helm, gripping the pegs around the big wheel, apparently covering the night shift for Keegan.
Greyson nodded in his direction. “I’m taking Agent Henderson up to the crow’s nest.”
“Aye.” Colton glanced her way and back to Greyson. “Good night for it. We’re running on the motor tonight. Winds are calm.”
Aura looked up, way up, to the basket around the top of the mainsail. “I think I’m fine down here.”
Greyson chuckled, raising a brow. “It’s a climb, but the view is worth it.”
“Easy for you to say.” She smirked. “You won’t die if you fall.”
He sobered; his gaze locked on hers. “Yer not fallin’ on my watch.”
Her heart fluttered at the conviction in his eyes. The rough nautical accent lent an honesty to his words. Still, she cautioned herself that this was the same man who’d almost gotten her killed when he’d pointed a gun at the coven leader and broken up an initiation ritual.
Sure, he’d thought he was saving Drake, but the coven couldn’t kill either of them anyway. She was mortal. And this man’s loyalty wasn’t hers.
“Sorry.” She tightened her jaw. “I’m still alive because I don’t put my life in other people’s hands.”
He studied her face for a moment before walking over to the railing and lifting the lid on a chest. He dropped a few life vests on the deck and then hooked a safety harness and a bundle of rope onto his shoulder.
His silhouette stretched across the deck as he strode to her side and handed her the harness. “Use this. I’ll climb up first and attach the tether up top. You won’t fall.”
She glanced up at the crow’s nest with the moon glowing behind it. She did want to see the world from up there, and with a safety harness, she’d be able to get up and down without worrying about falling.
“All right.” She slid her arms through the safety harness as Greyson took a running jump, catching the ratlines and racing up like he was jogging up flights of stairs instead of a rope ladder three stories up from the deck.
His upper-body strength had to be… She struggled to shut down the thoughts before she imagined him shirtless.
Too late. She rolled her eyes and looked up at the mainsail. He straddled the top and clipped the safety line into place, then shimmied across the huge beam that held up the mainsail. Her heart raced just watching him.
Once he was up in the crow’s nest, he shouted, “Your turn!”
Now or never. She grinned and grabbed the ropes.
Once her feet were on the rungs, she reached up. Her arms trembled with the effort as she pulled her foot up to the next rung. He made it look so easy. It took her a few minutes to find a slow and steady rhythm, to keep the lines from swinging back and forth, but once she found it, she started to make better time.
Until she looked down.
“Shit,” she growled under her breath as she tightened her grip on the lines.
Greyson shouted from the top. “Keep yer eye on yer destination, not yer doom. Eyes up!”
Handy tip. She sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to look up at Greyson.
“That’s it.” He held up the safety line. “Keep climbing.”
She found her steady pace again until she neared the top. Greyson reached out his hand. “I’ll pull you up.”