Smoke. Her nose twitched and she looked back at the boat to see black tendrils of smoke drifting from the rear of the vessel. “The motor’s on fire.”
Then she saw a figure—a woman in shorts with long, blonde hair. The woman was waving frantically from the boat and calling for—
“Help!” The woman’s shout reached Rose as a whisper and she took a step forward.
“No.” Julian pushed her back. “Absolutely not. I get that you’re out to rescue the world and all, but this scene has trap written all over it.”
“It has desperate woman written all over it!”
“Go back to the house. Stay inside. If she’s just some lost tourist, I’ll send her on her way. Marcos can tow her vessel back to Key West. If she’s not…then I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any other trouble.”
“We’re supposed to stay together. You said—”
“For the moment, I want you to stay in the house. I’ll just take a quick trip out there with Marcos and see what’s happening. Generally, we try not to arouse suspicions with humans. If she is just human, we’ll make her understand this is private property.”
But he was still ditching her. “Promise you won’t go to Key West without me. If this is some kind of trick and you’re just lying to me so that you can sail away and leave me trapped here—”
His hold tightened on her wrist. “I’m not lying to you. Stay inside until I assess the threat, then we’ll go, together, back to Key West.”
Okay. Good. She could deal with that.
“Take her in, Rayce.”
She’d actually known the wolf was behind her. Rose had caught his scent just a moment before. Since she couldn’t hear the shifters approach, Rose was trying to focus on recognizing their scents to warn her of their presence.
She turned from Julian and made her way toward the wolf.
“I don’t like this,” she muttered to Rayce.
“You and me both,” he rasped right back.
***
“Ahoy!” Marcos Minos called as he drew the Devil’s Prize closer to the other boat.
“Oh, thank God!” The woman with the long hair gave Marcos and Julian a brilliant smile. “My motor overheated, and I thought I’d have to call a tow from Key West, and then, you know, it could be hours before they got out here.”
The Devil’s Prize was just a few feet away from her vessel.
“Please tell me that one of you knows a lot about motors,” she pleaded, her smile winking again.
Marcos looked at Julian.
Julian held his gaze a moment, communicating that Marcos was not to move, not yet, then he glanced back at the woman. “You’re out here alone?”
“Yes, I am—wait, I’m not supposed to say that, am I?” She gave a nervous laugh. “I mean, you’re always supposed to say that you have a buddy with you for safety if strangers ask…”
No one else was on the boat. He didn’t hear anyone else. Didn’t smell anyone else.
“But you two are my heroes, right?” she continued. Her hands ducked behind the railing. “You’re not going to hurt me?”
“We don’t have any plans to hurt you,” Marcos called.
It was looking as if they didn’t.
“That’s good.” Her smile came back, but her hands stayed down. “What happened to the woman on the beach? Where did she go?”
Julian tensed.
“I really need to find her…” And the woman lifted her hands. She had a gun gripped in one. Without another word, she fired—first at Julian, and the blast hit him in the chest. Fucking hell. The pain slammed hard into him, burning and he stumbled back. He fell onto the deck of the Devil’s Prize even as he saw her swing the gun toward Marcos.
Marcos was human. A shot could kill him.
And Marcos…
He’s my friend.
Roaring, Julian leapt up.
“I’m really sorry about this,” the woman was saying. “But I don’t have a choice. I have to distract, you see. Death has to come.”
The bullet fired. But it didn’t hit Marcos because Julian was in front of him. The bullet thudded into Julian’s side and that was when he realized that it wasn’t just a regular round.
He could feel the drug spreading through his system. Thickening. Numbing him. He sagged to his knees.
She fired again. This time, she hit Marcos.
“I have to find the woman from the beach,” she said. “Where did she go?” She tucked the gun into her waistband and jumped into the water. Julian struggled to keep his eyes open. She’d smelled human. She’d seemed innocent.
He should have known fucking better. He was softening because of Rose. Becoming weak. That couldn’t be allowed.
The woman pulled herself onto the Devil’s Prize. Water dripped down her body as she came toward him. She grabbed his head, tipping it back and he was just fucking helpless. Couldn’t even move at all.
She shoved the gun under his chin. “It got wet, so it might not fire…”
He stared at her. That was all he could do.
“How many guards are on the island? Where’s the girl?”
Even if he could have talked, he wouldn’t have said a word.
“Fine then.” She sighed. And she shot him again. Despite being soaking wet, the gun worked and the tranq bullet flew up through his chin.
Chapter Ten