“I don’t know.” She let out a deep breath. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t happen again.”
When they got closer to the island, Daniel turned off the spotlight at Harper’s suggestion. They had no idea what was going on there, but they both agreed that having the element of surprise would probably work in their favor.
He pulled The Dirty Gull up next to the dock, and before it had even come to a complete stop, Harper tried to jump over the railing. Before she could make it onto the dock, Daniel grabbed her arm.
“No,” he whispered, his voice low so no one could overhear them. “I’m not letting you go there alone.”
“But—” Harper tried to argue with him, but he just shook his head.
Probably knowing she wouldn’t give him enough time to tie up the boat, he just tossed the anchor over. Daniel climbed onto the dock first, then helped Harper down.
Her feet had barely touched the planks when she heard Gemma yelling. She couldn’t understand completely what she was saying, but it sounded like she was shouting for Alex. Harper wanted to run up to the cabin, but Daniel took her hand, keeping her from running into a dangerous situation like a crazed idiot.
They still hurried along the dock, nearly running, but they slowed when they started up the trail. All the lights in the cabin were on, and they could hear Penn and Gemma talking. The wind blowing through the trees tried to carry their voices away, so they couldn’t understand them.
The front door of the cabin was wide open, so Daniel and Harper ducked off the trail before they could be spotted. Under the cover of trees, they crept closer to the cabin.
Both of them were so focused on the cabin, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening inside of it, that they weren’t watching enough where they were going. Daniel stepped on something and slipped, falling to his knees in a wet puddle.
He’d caught himself from falling on his face by putting his hand out, and when he lifted it, he had something stuck to his palm. It reminded Harper of a dead worm, but it was too thick.
He looked down, and he noticed it before Harper. Daniel jumped, moving away from the dead body as quickly as he could, and wiped his hand clean on his pants. That was when Harper finally looked down and saw Bernie.
Bernie McAllister lay on his back, his stomach torn open, with some of his intestines hanging out.
A scream started in her throat, but before it could escape completely, Daniel had his hand over her mouth. He pressed her back against the trunk of a large oak tree.
“You can’t scream,” Daniel whispered, and Harper nodded, so he removed his hand.
The truth was that Harper didn’t even want to scream. She wanted to sob and run over to Bernie. This was the same old man who had taken care of her during the worst part of her childhood. He’d been nothing but kind to her, and he’d been gutted like a fish.
Thankfully, between Daniel blocking her line of sight and the darkness underneath the trees, she hadn’t been able to get a really good look at Bernie. But she’d seen enough to know he was dead.
Behind them, in the cabin, there was a loud banging, and someone shouting. Harper instantly recognized it as Gemma crying out. That helped her push back the tragedy of Bernie’s killing and focus on saving her sister. She turned to run in blindly, but Daniel kept her pinned against the tree.
“We have to get Gemma now,” Harper said.
“I promise I won’t let her get hurt, but we can’t just run in there. They tore open a grown man. We can’t go in unarmed.”
Harper wanted to disagree with him, but he was right. As much as she wanted to burst through the front door that second and grab Gemma, she knew what those girls were capable of. And if she went in unprepared, she would just end up getting Gemma, Daniel, Alex, and herself killed.
Off to the back of Bernie’s cabin was a large shed, and because he lived alone on an island, he never bothered to lock it. Daniel opened it, but it was pitch-dark inside without a light. He felt around for anything he could use as a weapon and nearly stabbed himself with a pitchfork.
He handed that to Harper but continued searching for something for himself. Then Gemma began to scream, and Harper couldn’t wait any longer. She bolted toward the front door of the cabin, and Daniel took off after her.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Pact
Penn stepped back from Gemma, and for one brief second Gemma felt some relief. Then Penn turned around, putting her back to Gemma. Her wings almost eclipsed Gemma’s view. Gemma was crouched on the floor, and she could see Alex lying across the room from her, completely unconscious.
“Leave him alone!” Gemma scrambled to her feet.