Vivian laughed, a sound that made his heart soar. “I never have, but I suppose there’s a first time for everything. Where are we going?”
“To find Daniel,” he said, hoping she wasn’t going to object.
She looked at him for a second, then said, “Thank you.”
Her eyes fluttered closed and she was asleep before he could say anything more. He kissed her on the forehead, then went back to his search, finally coming up with everything he needed. After getting water from the head and checking their course, he went back into the cabin and steeled himself for what he had to do.
Chapter Eleven
***Vivian***
When Vivian awoke hours later, it took her a second to remember where she was and only a few seconds more for the pain in her arm to register. Lifting her head to look at her arm, all she could see was a pink-tinged bandage and wondered how bad the wound was.
She wanted to try moving her arm but was afraid of the pain, so she laid her head down and laid perfectly still. It was then that she noticed the dark sky outside the window and Adam asleep in a chair next to the bed, and her heart swelled.
Forgetting her arm, she tried to shift in the bed, but pain washed over her and made her gasp. Adam’s eyes flew open, and he was next to the bed in an instant. “Are you okay? What happened? Where is the pain? Is it your head?” He rattled off the questions so fast, she couldn’t answer.
Vivian smiled at him. “Slow down; it’s only my arm,” she said, reaching out with the other hand and grabbing his arm. “Sit down next to me and take a deep breath.”
Adam sat down on the bed, leaned over, and put his face in his hands, his shoulders slumped. “I thought there was something else wrong, that you’d hit your head, I don’t know. You were asleep for so long.”
Vivian pulled on his arm until he looked at her. “I’m okay, Adam, you saved me, saved us both. I still don’t know how I feel about you not telling me the truth, but I should have listened to you about Lucas,” she said, her voice shaking.
“I guess we both made mistakes,” he said, trying to smile at her.
Vivian smiled back at him, “We have a lot to talk about, but right now I’d like to know where we are and where we’re going,” she said, pulling her hand away, not ready to forgive yet.
Adam took a deep breath, then got up reluctantly from the bed and sat down in the chair again. She ached to have him hold her, to feel the comfort of his arms around her, but resisted, knowing that if she gave in now, nothing would ever be solved.
“Right now, we’re not going anywhere. The winds have stalled, and there wasn’t much gas in the tanks,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I should have stolen a boat with a full tank.”
Vivian couldn’t help but smile at his joke and some of the tension between them melted. “We’ll have to speak to the owners about that,” she said.
Adam really smiled for the first time, and it was a welcome sight. “Anyway, when the winds come back, we’re set on a course for the Bahamas, and Daniel,” he said, then got a sheepish look on his face.
“But?” she asked.
“I don’t know for sure where to find him. Only a few people know exactly where the island is,” he said.
A big grin spread across Vivian’s face. “I do,” she said.
“What? How? The last story we told was that they were in the Caribbean. How do you know where they are?” Adam asked.
“Where’s my backpack?” she asked. “The one that I was carrying when we left.”
Adam couldn’t remember her carrying a backpack, but she must have been. Then he remembered stripping it off her and throwing it down when he’d gotten her onto the boat. “It’s on the deck,” he said, then jumped to his feet.
When he came back with the bag, Vivian tried to sit up but her arm started throbbing, and she laid back down. “Dump it out on the bed,” she said through clenched teeth.
“I hope there some pain killers in here,” Adam said, doing as she’d instructed.
Everything came out of her bag in a big lump. “Dig through it; it’s got to be in there somewhere,” she said. “It’s a little black box.”
Adam rifled through her things, then held it up triumphantly, a big smile on his face. “I got it,” he said, then the smile disappeared. “But what is it?”
Vivian beamed at him. “It’s a tracking device.”
He turned it over in his hands, then looked back at her. “A tracking device? You mean like in spy movies?”
She grinned at him. “Yep, and the other half is with Daniel, wherever he is. All you have to do is plug it into your phone, and we’ll know exactly where he is,” she said.
“When did you do that? Why did you do that?” Adam asked, shocked.
“At the wedding,” she said. “I was getting tired of not knowing where he was. I just thought this way if I needed him, I could find him. Guess I had a premonition or something.”
Adam shook his head at her. “You are a surprising woman, Vivian, and I’m thankful that you are,” he said, and for a second, she thought he was going to cross the room and kiss her, but the moment passed.
“I’m going to go plug this in right now and reset our course. Hopefully the wind will come back soon, and we can get moving,” he said.
Vivian watched him leave, longing for the intimacy they’d shared only a few hours ago but knowing that everything had changed. She wanted to think about it more, think about all the incredible things Adam had told her, but she was still exhausted, so exhausted that she was forced to close her eyes and let sleep take her.
***Adam***
Adam headed straight for the cockpit and the course plotter, Vivian’s little black box warm in his hand. After just a little fiddling, he discovered that he could plug the tracking device directly into the auto-pilot and almost instantly, he knew where Daniel was.
Giving it instructions to change their course, he wished that the wind would come back. As good as Vivian looked, she needed some medical attention, anti-biotics and some stitches at least. But the sea was calm, like a sheet of glass, and he knew that new course or not, they weren’t going anywhere that night.
It wasn’t until the sun began to rise that the wind began to stir, softly at first, just enough to flutter the flags and stir the sea. Within hours, there was a strong breeze, and they were flying across the water, and Adam was beginning to feel hopeful.
But as the morning progressed, dark clouds began to accumulate on the horizon, and according to his weather information, they were headed straight for them. He readied the boat as best he could for the storm and considered turning back, but decided instead to make a run for the islands, hoping that he could get them there before the storm.
He’d been below several times that afternoon and didn’t like the flush that had appeared on Vivian’s cheeks or the way she had turned her food away barely eaten. She was trying to put up a brave front, but he knew that her arm hurt, and he was sure that she was running a fever.
Checking the weather map and their course, he realized that it wouldn’t be long before the storm was on them. He headed below, knowing that Vivian would need some reassurance; being trapped in the cabin during a storm wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience, but he couldn’t risk bringing her up on deck.
When he stepped through the cabin door, she opened her eyes and smiled at him, then looked out the window. “Did I sleep all afternoon?” she asked.
“No,” he said, sitting down carefully beside her on the bed. “There’s a storm coming. I’m trying to get us to the islands, but it’s going to get a little bumpy for a while.”
Vivian shivered, then grimaced in pain. “Are you cold?” he asked, pulling the blanket up to her chin.
“I can’t seem to get warm,” she said, as another shiver ran through her body.
Adam got up and found another blanket, spread it over her, then felt her forehead. “It feels like you have a little fever,” he said.
Vivian nodded. “My
head hurts a bit too.”
He leaned down and kissed her hot forehead, trying not to grimace when he felt the heat coming off her. “Well, we’ll be there soon, and we’ll get you all fixed up. Try to sleep for a while; it’s not going to be a fun ride once that storm hits.”
Vivian smiled at him. “Thank you for taking care of me, Adam,” she said, then her eyes fluttered closed.
Back on deck, Adam prepared himself to ride out the storm on a boat he didn’t know, with only himself as crew. He put on a life preserver and rain gear, disengaged the auto-pilot, and gripped the wheel tightly, hoping that his experience was enough to get them through the storm.
What he couldn’t know was that only a few hundred miles away, safe from the storm, another man was wondering about Adam’s experience with the sea and hoping for the worst. The evil smile on his face spreading as he watched the storm converge on the little dot moving slowly across the screen.
“Mr. Davenport, I have that information you asked for,” his assistant said, interrupting his thoughts.
He took the printed pages from her hand, then waved her away. “Thank you; that will be all.”
When he saw the faces looking up at him from the pages, his anger returned, but when he saw the names below those faces, it nearly made him lose all control. Slamming them down on the desk, he bellowed for his assistant, who came scurrying back into the room.
“How did this happen?” he demanded.
“I’m not sure how they got the tickets, but we’re looking into it,” she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
“I want answers, and I want them soon,” he bellowed at her.
Turning back to the computer screen, he watched the little dot blinking its way toward the Bahamas and wanted to hit something. But then he realized that this might be just the break he needed to get to Daniel Carlson and the rest of his family.
He’d been hunting the Caribbean for Daniel for years, with no results, but now wondered if that was because they hadn’t been there. It was a brilliant plan: spread rumors they were in the Caribbean and then sail someplace else.
Even Amanda hadn’t been able to detect their deceit; one island looked so much like another. Suddenly, he found himself cheering the little boat on, knowing that when the storm was over, they’d head straight for Daniel.
Anticipation grew as he watched the boat; this time he was ready for Daniel Carlson and his tricks. Willow had proven to be the witch he’d been seeking all these years and although he wished she were stronger, Amanda approved of her, which made his life much easier.
Between the three of them, the dragon shifters wouldn’t stand a chance; there would be no surprises they couldn’t handle this time. Daniel would fall, and then it wouldn’t be hard to destroy the rest of the family one by one until the entire family was erased from the face of the Earth.
He could picture it all in his mind so clearly, just as he could picture the power it would give him above the League. He alone would rule then; no one would dare oppose him, and from there it wasn’t a huge leap to the humans. Soon, he alone would rule the world; humans and shifters alike would bow down to him.
The evil smile spreading across his face, he watched as the little dot continued to blink, the storm bearing down on it. For now, he’d cheer for its passengers and hope they could survive the coming tempest; later he’d see them dead after they’d served their purpose and led him to Daniel.
Chapter Twelve
***Vivian***
Vivian came awake with a cry of pain when a wave hit the boat, jolting her in the bed and making her arm throb. Another wave hit, and the pain doubled, spreading through her body and making her want to scream. When the third wave hit, she thought she was going to throw up.
But then the waves calmed, and the pain began to subside. Taking short, gasping breaths, then longer slow ones, she rode out the pain. The boat was rocking in the turbulent seas, rain hammering on the windows, and lightning flashed in the dark sky.
Closing her eyes, she breathed through the last of the pain, then tried to sit up, but her head swam, and she had to lay back down again. She had no idea what time it was or how long she’d been asleep, but she knew that her arm felt twice its size, and her head was pounding.
Dragging her good arm up to her forehead, she grimaced when she felt the heat and knew that her arm was infected. Suddenly, she was hot, and a wave of claustrophobia washed over her, making her frantically kick off the covers, which then made her arm hurt again.
She laid there, her arm pounding, as the sweat dried, trying to control her breathing. Finally, she did the only thing she could think of and forced herself to think about Adam who was up on deck battling the storm by himself, trying to save them both again.
Pushing aside the worry which sprang to life first, instead, she concentrated on the way it felt to be in his arms, the way it felt to have him make love to her. She thought about the boy she used to know, and the man she now knew, realizing that they weren’t that much different.
Even as children, Adam had taken care of her; she’d fought him then just as she did now, and she wondered why he even bothered. But then she thought about the way he looked at her, and she knew he cared about her, had always cared about her even when they’d been kids.
From deep inside her brain, a memory began to surface of the two of them the last summer they’d spent together. They’d been walking in the woods around his parents’ country estate; she’d just had her twelfth birthday, and he was fourteen.
It seemed so clear to her then, the dappled sunlight streaming through the trees, the sounds of the rest of the kids way behind them. It seemed so real that she took a deep breath expecting to smell the forest but smelled only the salt and sea.
Wondering if she was becoming delirious, she let herself float back into the memory, sighing when it blocked the pain. They’d been talking about nothing important—music, books, movies, the usual things—but then Adam had become very serious.
“My father’s making me go on a date next weekend,” he said, stopping under a tree and leaning against it, his eyes focused on the ground. “I don’t want to go.”
Vivian walked up to him, feeling a little awkward, but glad that he’d confided in her. “You don’t like the girl?” she asked, a strange, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really know her. She’s the daughter of one of his business associates; they’re going to be here visiting,” he explained.
“So, what’s the problem?” she asked, not sure how to help him.
He looked at her for the first time since the conversation had started, and what she saw in his eyes took her breath away. “I wish it were you,” he said, then grabbed her and kissed her.
When he let her go, she could only stare at him, her heart pounding, lips tingling where his had touched them. She’d imagined Adam kissing her so many times, to have it happen so suddenly threw her off balance and before she knew it, she was running through the forest.
The memory floated around her, the feeling of his lips on hers, her juvenile reaction, and her flight through the forest. She wondered what would have happened that day if she’d stayed, if things had turned out differently and her father hadn’t stopped their summer visits.
She was so lost in her thoughts that when a huge wave hit the boat, she wasn’t ready and her arm flew up and banged against the wall. The pain was fierce and immediate, making it impossible not to cry out. But Adam couldn’t hear her, and as the pain radiated from her infected arm through her body, it was so intense that the world swam and soon all was dark.
***Adam***
The warm sun on his face woke him, the cries of seagulls cutting through the sound of the boat skimming through the water. He opened his eyes, then closed them against the bright light, then pushed himself up and opened them again. Taking a minute to look around him, he surveyed the damage the storm had done, then got to his feet.
His
body protested, bone-weary exhaustion making it difficult even to walk the few steps he needed to. When he got to the wheel, he sank into the captain’s chair, almost afraid to look at the navigation panel. To his great relief, they were still on course, and looking across the water, he thought he could see the first of the islands.
Looking at the time, he realized that what should have been just a few hours sail had taken them almost twenty-four. Then he remembered Vivian and jumped to his feet, his exhaustion vanishing as terrible visions of what might have happened to her in the storm erupted in his mind.
When he walked into the cabin, she was lying on the bed just as he’d left her, but the blankets were thrown to the side, and she was shivering. He quickly scooped up the blankets and covered her up, his heart dropping when he saw her pale face and swollen arm.
Grabbing a pair of scissors, he cut off the bandage, gasping when he saw the wound was red and weeping. Her arm was hot to the touch, and when he felt her forehead, it was just as hot. Cursing, he gently patted her cheek, but she wouldn’t wake up.
Feeling panic beginning to take over, he felt her pulse, which was steady and strong, then searched his brain for something to do. Digging through the pile of stuff from her backpack, he found some fever reducer and a washcloth.
After bathing her with cold water for nearly an hour, the fever came down enough that he was able to get her to swallow the pills. But it wasn’t nearly enough and he knew that it was time to use up what was left of the gas in the tanks.
Two hours later, he pulled the boat up to a floating dock and cut the engines, which were sputtering. His arms were shaking with exhaustion and his body hurt from the physical effort of standing, but his only thought was of Vivian.
Stumbling down the stairs, he used the last of his strength to pick her up and carry her on deck, then sank to his knees. The guards who had been watching him the entire time finally came to life, just as he saw Daniel come striding down to the beach.
Dragon’s Forbidden Mate (Dragons Secret Society Book 2) Page 7
