“Shut up, Terah. We have to find Titus if he’s on the island.”
She grinned, hauling Edward on deck with a thump and leaving him for me to deal with. “Hunting is much more fun than arguing. Let me make amends. Allow me to find Titus for you, brother.”
Terah was a blur as she raced through the rain. The blood she’d fed on made her stronger, faster. It also made her emotions spiral. One moment she was fine. The next, she was a whirlpool, threatening to consume everyone and everything who ventured within her grasp.
“Don’t kill him!” I yelled.
Through the wind and rain, the roaring sea and battering waves, I could hear her laughter.
I carried Eve into my quarters, placing her on my bed. Her tech suit was warm and already half dry. Pushing strands of wet hair out of her face, my knuckles brushed her skin. It was ice cold, her lips a purplish blue. “Eve,” I whispered, trying to rouse her. Bending down, I put my cheek beside her lips. Her breath was shallow, but warm on my skin. “Eve.”
I nudged her.
A little louder, I called her name again. “Eve.”
She wouldn’t respond. I pushed her shoulder. I snapped my fingers beside her ear and patted her cheek. I could smell Thatch’s scent on her… cheek. He would die for touching her.
“Eve!” I shouted.
I couldn’t think. What if she doesn’t wake? What if she’s dying? What if traveling is killing her?
I scrubbed a hand down my face and waited, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She was breathing. She would wake up. Titus can help her, I told myself, all the while wishing I’d told her that I didn’t hate her at all. That I still loved her despite all that had happened, and that I knew she didn’t play a part in Victor Dantone’s plan.
I watched her chest rise and fall, rubbed my thumb along the back of her hand, and watched her eyes dance behind their lids. I writhed within myself at the knowledge I was completely helpless. There was nothing I could do to help her.
Only time would tell if she would be okay.
Terah couldn’t have been gone more than a quarter of an hour, but it felt like a decade had passed before she announced her return by bursting through the double doors and tossing a very lucid, angry Titus inside. Irate, he scrambled to his feet, his hand instinctively plucking a stake from the holster on his thigh. His suit was punctured at his middle where blood stained the torn, pale fabric. Rainwater pulled traces through the fabric and the bloody water pooled beneath him, thin, iron-rich rivulets swirling through the puddle.
The rain outside and her speed had insulated Terah from the scent, but now she couldn’t escape it. Terah’s feral eyes focused on the puddle, barely restraining herself. Her chest heaved and her eyes darkened. Every muscle in her went taut. She wanted to feed from him. The scent of his blood was too much for her.
“Terah, no,” I commanded.
She bared her teeth but obeyed, rushing from the room and off the ship, passing by the still unconscious form of Edward. He didn’t have blood enough to sate her thirst. She would find another human to ease the craving the scent of Titus’s blood sparked. I hoped that human survived her hunger.
Titus glanced at me and then looked to Eve sleeping on the bed. “Where am I? Scratch that. When am I?”
“You are on the island of Brutulo. The year is seventeen-seventeen,” I explained. “Eve said she needed your help, so Terah volunteered to find you. You hadn’t seen her?”
“No, I hadn’t. I just landed…not long ago. I… things are hazy.”
“I assumed she knew you were near. I’m certainly glad you were.”
“What happened to her?” he asked, flicking his eyes to Eve.
“She lost consciousness. I can’t rouse her.”
“When she was awake, did she act normal? For her, I mean?”
“Yes, but she exerted herself, quickly weakened, and then collapsed.” I didn’t tell him how she’d become so weak – by hunting their replicas and tossing two of their carcasses into the water below – or how she’d defended herself from my attack.
“It hasn’t been long since we landed, so it could be the strain and stress of travelling, or it might…” He crossed the room. Sitting on the mattress beside Eve, he grabbed her hand, moving it back and forth to catch what little natural light was filtering in from outside, thanks to the storm. “Has her tech been on at all?”
“I’m not certain, but I don’t believe so.”
He nodded and pressed his eyes closed. “You’re not going to like what I need to do.”
“Do you have to open her skin?” I asked, already dreading his answer. Eve’s blood, as strange as it tasted, called to me. I couldn’t be too close when he spilled it. Beyond that, I didn’t want to witness him cut her. I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions if I did. I’d kill him, and I wouldn’t feel the least bit sorry for tearing him limb from limb and throwing the rest of him into the sea.
“It’s the only way I know to reboot it, but she will bleed. It might be too much for you.” He looked from her hand to her face. “It worked last time.”
I stood up. “Why is the smell of her blood so enticing to me? I can pass by anyone with a wound, even you, without losing control. But hers is different.”
“Her blood type is the one you prefer. Mine was formulated just for Terah’s tastes, and Abram’s is Asa’s favorite flavor. Kael left nothing to chance,” he answered tiredly.
I shook my head, disgusted. “I’ll be on deck. You should find everything you need in the drawer of my desk.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” he replied with a smirk and salute of sorts. I restrained myself and didn’t smack the back of his head.
After leaving them, I paced just outside the door, tasting the scent of her blood the moment it wafted through the doors and permeated the sky. Not even the rain could dampen the smell of her. The wind lifted and swirled, but did little more than stir it around. It never took it away.
Drumming my fingers on my thighs, I walked further away, all the way to the bow, when all I wanted to do was run to her and make sure she was okay. To smell her blood from only a breath away...
My pulse throbbed in my ears.
I tore at my hair.
Clenching the railing, the drenched wood popped and groaned under my grip. I wanted to tear another piece off just because it might ease the tension.
Titus was taking an eternity. I was losing my patience.
I pressed my eyes closed and held my breath, trying to forget her scent, the smell of her blood, and the betrayal reflected in her eyes when I tried to hurt her.
Damn it all. They claimed that Kael left nothing to chance. I wondered if he was more of a threat than Victor Dantone, or simply a puppet committed to doing the dirty work of his master.
Finally, I took a deep breath and focused on the briny aroma of the sea. I kept my mind busy by counting the waves that hit the hull.
The moment I heard Eve cry out, I threw open the door and raced to her side. Titus was visibly shaken as he cleaned up after himself, blotting her blood from where it had dripped onto the floor. The bright glow of Eve’s tech lit up the otherwise dim space. Her eyes were wide open and she spoke, but not to Titus and not to me.