Angelfire (28 page)

How could I be so selfish? Why would I let him risk so much for me? My thoughts made me angry at myself, for caring for no one but myself.

But he was there. Day and night he was there for me, risking his very existence to protect me from a war that claimed my life over and over again. He never faltered, never wavered, never feared for his own safety. He was beaten, stabbed, abused, and tortured again and again, and yet he still stuck by me, ignoring the possibility that he would die for me one day. It wasn't right. I didn't deserve everything he sacrificed for me. I wasn't worth so high a price.

I wrapped a hand around his face and turned his gaze to mine as I folded my legs underneath me. Kneeling, I smoothed my hand over his rough cheek and into his hair.
I leaned forward and kissed his lips softly just to feel that much closer to him. His kiss tasted like vanilla and sugar, warm and delicious against my lips. The ache in my heart reminded me of how much I loved him and I pressed my lips to his more desperately, as if I were afraid that he might vanish right there next to me. I bit back a tear that might have been happy or sad—I wasn't even sure myself—and pulled away.

“You're amazing” was all I could say to him.

His gaze fell. “I'm not even close.” He leaned toward me, resting his forehead against my shoulder, and his hand slid up my arm. He held me close to him and pressed his lips to my arm, brushing his nose across my skin as I ran my fingers through his hair. I bit on my lip to stop the tears.

I lifted his face, and his eyes opened up into mine. I couldn't help the smile that formed when I could tell that I'd embarrassed him. “Yes, you are. You need to relax. Don't worry about anything for once.”

His troubled look began to fade. “I don't mean to.”

“Let me help you,” I offered. I walked around my bed and climbed in, reaching for his hand. He let me take it and I pulled him toward me. “Lie down with me. Sleep for a little while. You don't need to sit up in the freezing cold on my roof. You owe that to yourself. Forget about everything else. You're always so worried about taking care of me. Let me take care of you for once.”

He lay on his side, the mattress sinking beneath his weight all too intimately, and he slid an arm tentatively around my belly. I didn't say anything as we lay there, and I fell asleep feeling his warm, sugar-sweetened breath on the bend of my neck.

NATHANIEL HAD ARRANGED A FLIGHT FOR US AND air freight for the sarcophagus to Puerto Rico via Miami. My parents bought the story about my spending the holiday with Kate's family at their lake house up north, since I had done it a hundred times before, and everything was falling into place. Despite Nathaniel's preference for working behind the scenes instead of fighting on the front lines, he would be coming along as backup. I hadn't seen him in action yet, but I was intrigued. He didn't fight with the traditional blades Will and I were used to. Nathaniel had a thing for guns.

He managed to have the box containing the sarcophagus classfied as an archaeological artifact, and we had no trouble shipping it on a cargo plane. Nathaniel, rightfully afraid of leaving the Enshi on its own, concealed his presence from the airport staff by staying within the Grim and managed to sneak
onto the flight unseen—invisibility proved to be a handy reaper trick. He would stay with the sarcophagus until we arrived in the Caribbean. Thankfully we didn't have to check our swords along with Nathaniel's guns. That would have been fun to explain.

We arrived in Miami after ten on Wednesday night and after a layover we boarded another plane to San Juan. I was definitely feeling the exhaustion when we finally got to our little motel at almost four in the morning. We got a room in the motel instead of one of the glamorous hotels I would have preferred, but Will said it was for our safety and that of the locals that we would stay in a small building with an easy exit in case Bastian got wind of our location. The motel was off a narrow street and only a couple blocks from the airport. It was a little run-down, and the pavement outside had tufts of weeds sticking out of cracks. When Nathaniel's cargo plane arrived in San Juan, he rented a large truck to carry the sarcophagus and parked behind the motel. He'd be watching the truck like a hawk until dawn in case of attack.

Will let me sleep in until eleven in the morning, which was heaven after the rough week and late night. After my shower in the darling little bathroom, I was anticipating with excitement getting outside and seeing what the city really looked like. I peeked my head out of the bathroom while I blow-dried my hair and spotted Will standing over his suitcase and pulling off his shirt. I felt my face fill with heat
when I saw him shirtless, and I almost looked away.
Almost
. He shrugged on a new tee, and the muscles in his abdomen constricted as he smoothed out the cotton.

“Is Nathaniel still out with the truck?” I asked.

He turned around and eased over to me. “No,” he answered. “He took a taxi to the marina to get a boat. I thought we'd get lunch when he gets back. Sound good?”

I smiled wide. “Definitely. Is he coming with us?”

“No, he's staying with the truck. We can't leave the box alone.” He sounded genuinely disappointed. “I brought him food before he left, though. We both need to eat a lot before tonight, just in case.”

“You mean you already ate?”

“Some.” His tone was so nonchalant, as if everyone ate
before
they went out to a restaurant.

“And you're going to eat
more
?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I told you I didn't want you seeing how much I really have to eat. It would give you nightmares, I assure you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, thank you for protecting me from the painful truths of how much guys
really
eat when girls aren't looking.”

He smiled down at me. “You should take me more seriously.”

“You should take yourself
less
seriously,” I retorted, standing my ground as he leaned in to me.

He laughed. “Are you finished in the bathroom yet?”

“Makeup.”

“Hurry.”

I didn't. I took my sweet time applying liner and mascara over rosy pink shadow. The day was sunny, and I was in a freakishly good mood. I tried not to think about later in the day, when we'd be sailing out to drop the Enshi off the edge of the world.

“Are you serious?” I heard Will shout from back in the room. I poked my head out. “There's nobody else?” He paused. “All right, fine.” Will shut my phone and ran an angry hand through his hair.

“What's up?” I asked, sliding balm over my lips.

“Nathaniel found a fishing boat for us to rent,” he replied, his voice annoyed. “The problem is that it won't be available until after five. No one else would let us take their boat out far enough. What are you
doing
in there? You're taking forever.”

“Makeup!” I repeated, scowling. I put an unneeded extra layer of lip balm on just to annoy him.

“Aren't you concerned about how late we have to leave?”

“Well, five isn't bad,” I offered. “Sunset isn't until, what? Seven?”

He frowned at me. “We have to sail almost eighty miles out to get to the Milwaukee Deep.”

I shrugged. “So? What's that? An hour?”

“Ellie, we aren't driving a car. This is a really big, old
deep-sea trawler. We'll be very lucky if it tops out at fifteen knots.”

“I don't know what that means!”

“It's about seventeen miles an hour.”

I didn't attempt to calculate since I couldn't even count the toes on my feet without getting confused. “Will that get us there by six?”

“No, it's most likely going to take us over four and a half hours.”

My jaw dropped. “We're going to be out there after dark?”

He let out a long breath. “That's what it's looking like.”

“Can't we wait until tomorrow?” I asked hopefully.

He shook his head. “Our plane leaves at nine in the morning and we can't risk spending another day here.”

“Great.”

“I know.”

I huffed. It would be okay, I told myself repeatedly. There was no way the demonic vir could know we were in Puerto Rico. We were safe. “Let's not worry about it. We'll be fine.”

He gave me a quizzical look. “Since when did you become Miss Optimistic?”

“Since I got this hungry, so let's go.”

 

Will called a cab to take us into Old San Juan. I was absolutely enchanted. The streets were ablaze in a rainbow of colors; every building was bright and unique in its own way. Arched windows gave onto wrought-iron balconies lined with
planters full of fragrant flowers spilling over the edges. Every doorway was unique, ornately decorated and protected by beautiful iron grillwork. I'd have to revisit again one day when I wasn't expecting to meet certain doom at sundown.

We stopped at a little café and ate on the stone patio. Though it had a name I could never pronounce, I ordered a colorful salad with all sorts of surprises folded into the greens. Will ordered some kind of chicken stew with rice and beans. It smelled
amazing
, and I stole a few bites of it despite his protests. For a little while, to my surprise, I felt normal again. I liked the feeling. I enjoyed pretending to be a normal girl on vacation with a normal—although gorgeous—guy in a beautiful town.

When we finished eating, we didn't immediately take a cab back to the motel. Will insisted I have a good day. He seemed excessively concerned about whether I was enjoying myself, which didn't put me at ease at all—instead, I suspected that Will thought this might be my last day. We walked through Old San Juan, making our way through the crowds that surrounded street musicians and artists, gazing up at the spectacular sights. We walked along a crowded beach and took a tour of Castillo San Cristóbal before heading back.

When we pulled up to the motel, Nathaniel was sitting in a chair outside the door. He stood when we climbed out of the cab and Will paid the driver.

Nathaniel smiled. “Have a good day?”

“Yeah,” I said with a grin. “It was nice.” I tried to treasure how I felt at that moment, because I knew the feeling wasn't going to last.

We piled into the truck with the sarcophagus and the duffel bag full of Nathaniel's weapons in back and drove to the Port of San Juan on the other side of town. I sat between Will and Nathaniel and stared silently out the windshield, trying not to think about the worst thing that could happen that night. We drove past a seemingly endless line of cruise ships and ferries to the fishing boat docks. These vessels were much smaller than the big tourist ships, but they still towered over me. The distinct smells of salt water, fish, metal, and nylon nets assaulted my nose all at once. Ropes and wires were strung everywhere, and crewmen dodged among them fluidly, going about their chores. We stopped at a huge deep-sea trawler with the name
Elsa
stamped in faded letters on the bow. A stout, greasy, balding man jogged heavily down the loading dock to greet us.

“Hola,”
he said, nodding to us, his beady eyes lingering on me.

“
Hola,
José,” Nathaniel replied. “Sorry we're a little late.”

“All okay,” José bellowed. “You already paid me, so I don't care if you show.” He laughed, his belly bouncing, and he swiped the back of his hand across his filthy, sweaty brow.

Nathaniel forced a smile. It was obvious that he didn't like our new friend. “We'll take the
Elsa
off your hands now.”

José's laughter boomed even louder. “There is no way
you will able to captain my ship with one other guy and a teenage girl and still have it back in this port in one piece. And I don't care how much you pay me, my crew doesn't leave the ship.”

Frustration crinkled Nathaniel's face. “That's not necessary. We'll be perfectly fine.”

“Not a chance,” José said, his voice more serious this time. “Me and my crew come with you.”

“Nathaniel,” Will said in a careful voice, “we don't have a choice.”

Nathaniel closed his eyes in annoyance. “Fine, but remember what I'm paying you for. That includes not asking questions.”

José laughed once again. “I know this. Transport wherever you want. No questions.”

“Thank you. Let's load so we can get there as quickly as possible.”

José shrugged. “This is a hundred-foot trawler and it isn't very fast. It would take a miracle to make it to the Deep before dark. No promises.”

“We'll take what we can get,” Will interjected. He and Nathaniel went back to the truck and pulled out the large black duffel bags containing the arsenal.

“You can put those in the cabin, if you'd like,” José called.

They did just that before heading back to unload the sarcophagus. When they lugged the large wooden box off the truck, the
Elsa
's crew watched them suspiciously. I
prayed they wouldn't get too curious.

José wasn't immune to curiosity either. “What you got in there? And why do you want to take it out over the Deep? You dumping it over?”

Nathaniel glared briefly at him. “No questions, remember?”

The captain nodded in disappointment. “Can't be too heavy, if you're swinging it around like that. And if it isn't heavy, then it isn't important.”

I wanted to laugh.

“This needs to go below,” Will said as they walked past. José pointed the way.

I followed Will and Nathaniel past the cabin and down belowdecks and into the large, stuffy hold, which smelled strongly of fish. Water thumped against the boat's steel sides, making echoes that bounced around the cavernous room. They set the box down and shoved it up against a wall. A heavy padlock kept the lid locked tightly.

“Do you think it'll be okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Will answered. “It's much safer down here than up on deck.”

“If we're attacked, then it won't matter.”

He dipped his head and flashed me a silly grin. “We won't be attacked.”

José's voice called from somewhere above. “
Amigos
, we're casting off soon.”

We went back up to the main deck, staying out of the
crew's way. They lifted and stowed the gangplank, and we finally set off. The gritty trawler rumbled out of port and into the open sea. I peered over the edge of the railing into the dark water, watching the waves. I wandered around the perimeter of the boat to explore. When José appeared around a corner, I stopped.

He walked up to me smelling of fish and cigarette smoke. I failed to keep my nose from wrinkling at his unpleasant stench. “So what are you kids planning on doing once you get over the Deep? You're not going swimming, are you? You some kind of thrill seekers? Where are your parents?”

I shook my head, my pulse building. “I thought you weren't supposed to ask questions.”

He shrugged. “I don't mean any harm. You don't want to go into that water, little girl. There are sharks bigger than the
Elsa
swimming down there. Like monsters from a nightmare.”

“I don't plan on going into the water,” I assured him. In truth, it wasn't sharks that gave me nightmares.

“You going fishing?” he probed. “Why not board one of those fancy fishing boats to do it? Why do you pay an old fool like me for a few hours on this old trawler?”

“I don't exactly know why,” I said, and turned away to walk briskly back toward the bow, hoping he wouldn't follow me.

“You had better not be doing anything illegal!” José called behind me. “I hope you don't have bodies in that
box, and you better not be CIA!”

I rounded the front of the cabin to get away from him, found Will, and stuck close to him for the rest of the voyage. He seemed to sense that the crew was weirding me out, and his protectiveness turned on full force. If anyone got too friendly with me, I could probably beat the crap out of them myself, since I was used to fighting much bigger monsters than a bunch of smelly dudes, but I let Will do his thing. He seemed happiest when he got to play bodyguard.

After an hour on the ship, I began to get bored. I leaned on the railing next to Will as the wind whipped my hair around like a tornado. My natural waves were beginning to rear their ugly heads, and I hadn't remembered to bring a hair tie to tame them. Annoyed, I tucked my hair behind my ears, but the locks didn't stay under control.